【推荐1】Knotting his brows at some medical reports, one old man sensed a potential danger. On that day, 59 citizens in Wuhan had caught pneumonia (肺炎) of unknown etiology. The phenomenon reminded him of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak that had spread across China 17 years ago. It was he who had come up with an effective treatment for SARS.

China’s most respectable epidemiologist (流行病学家), 84-year-old Zhong Nanshan, is widely known to the public as the hero who defeated SARS. After a lifetime researching respiratory diseases, he was keenly aware that the new pneumonia may not be a simple disease, but a Pandora’s box that could engulf the world.

Zhong grew up in a family of doctors, and lives by a simple motto: save lives and always be honest. In 2003, when SARS spread across China, he volunteered to treat patients, staying in hospital wards for weeks on end to study the disease. At the same time, he also spent countless nights in his lab looking for a cure for the deadly disease. His efforts paid off. Months later, his treatment plan for SARS was adopted by China and then the whole world, saving thousands of lives.

Zhong is also known for an incident. When authorities announced that the virus had been brought under control, he publicly criticized the assessment, deciding instead to tell the public the truth. In one post-SARS interview, he said: “I couldn’t help myself. I said it’s not all under control.” His virtue (美德) won widespread praise from the Chinese public, who hailed him as a hero.

Seventeen years later, the old man is once again leading a team in a battle. Although this new virus is known to be particularly dangerous to the elderly, Zhong paid little attention to his own safety. On January 29, he and his colleagues spent over six hours on an online medical inquiry, checking five patients who were in critical condition.

“The hospitals are our battlefield, and doctors and nurses are warriors. When we are needed, we should charge forward, because this is our duty!” said Zhong.

As well as treating the patients, Zhong is also a messenger who delivers factual updates of COVID-19 to the public. Being unfamiliar with social medical platforms, he has asked colleagues to help him make videos aimed at calming fears about the virus and teaching the public how to prevent the disease, such as how to wash hands or wear a mask correctly.

While praised as hero, Zhong told the media that Wuhan, the center of China’s COVID-19 outbreak and where tens of thousands of citizens have been confined to their homes for weeks to prevent the spread of the disease, also deserves that honor.

【推荐2】It’s 4 a.m. on Monday when my colleague, Yi Bingkun, and I finished the night shift. It’s the 50th hour since our medical team arrived in Wuhan to help fight against the novel corona virus (新型冠状病毒). The situation here is far more grievous than what we imagined, with more suspected cases and an acute shortage of medical staff. We are here to bring them hope, but it seems that we assume more responsibilities.

The ward was almost overloaded during our first night shift and we continued to receive more patients. My colleague and I plunged into work without delay after wearing protective suits.

However, an emergency occurred when a patient went into sudden cardiac arrest when we had just changed shifts. Yi Bingkun rushed to give chest compressions to the patient to make his heart beat again and I called a doctor for help.

Though all rescue measures failed, the patient’s family, however, sent their gratitude to us. Their every single: “Thank you” made me feel warm and that the efforts we had made were worthwhile. But Kun brought me more warmth. I once asked him whether he felt afraid about the possibility of becoming infected when saving the patient. He told me that “Yes, I was really scared at the time because I do have my family and my kid. But I was more afraid that the life might disappear in front of me.” I really admire his courage. Our night shift should have been finished at midnight, but it ended at 3 a. m. that night. We found our clothes were wet after we took off protective suits. What is impressive is that my colleagues messaged us, asking why Kun and I didn’t come back with the clock pointing to 1 a.m., 2 a.m. or even 3 a.m. They urged us to let them know we were okay as soon as we came back.

The weather is really cold but we feel warm from the bottoms of our hearts. Come on, all my colleagues! Come on, Wuhan! Come on, China!

【推荐3】In 2015, Professor Wang Zhenyi, who specializes in treating acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) (急性早幼粒细胞白血病), received a letter of thanks from America. The writer of the letter was Mrs. Berna-dette Giandomenico, who once suffered from APL but was cured with all-trans-retinoic acid (ATRA) (全反式维甲酸), a treatment developed by Wang and his medical team.

Working at Ruijin Hospital, Wang has been devoting his life to the treatment of leukemia. He received the country’s highest honor in science and technology in 2010.

Born in 1924 in Shanghai, Wang was inspired by a family friend’s experience of pursuing a career in medicine as a child. His grandmother's death caused by typhoid further strengthened his resolve to fight against diseases and rescue patients. With outstanding academic performance, Wang became a doctor at Guangci Hospital, today's Ruijin Hospital.

In 1978, a research paper from Israeli experts gave Wang inspiration on studying how leukemia cells could become normal. His research didn’t progress as expected, though. In 1983, another research paper shed light on his study. As the paper suggested, after being treated with 13-cis-retinoic acid, white blood cells in patients with APL could become normal. Considering the difficulties and high cost of producing a drug made from 13-cis-retinoic acid, Wang’s team decided to replace that ingredient with ATRA, and they finally verified its positive effect after several months’ experiments. In 1986, the drug was first adopted in treating a five-year-old patient. It turned out successful. After eight years of research, Wang’s team eventually made the first breakthrough in the battle against APL.

To make sure every APL patient could afford the medicine, Wang has not patented his research result to date. “One cannot be a real doctor if one does not have expertise in medicine,” Wang said in an interview. “However, without a kind heart, a skilled doctor may cause harm to patients.”

Having worked in the field of hematopathology (血液病理学) for over 70 years, Wang has been well recognized for his remarkable contribution to saving lives.

【推荐1】Not too big, not too small. Not too hot, not too cold. A newly discovered planet looks just right for life as we know it, according to an international group of astronomers.

Circling a star about 500 light years away, the planet called Kepler-186f is about the same size as Earth. It goes round its star at the right distance for liquid water on the surface. That is an essential condition for life. But it is not exactly like Earth, it’s more of an Earth’s cousin. It’s not an Earth’s twin. It shares the same characteristics as Earth, but their parent stars are very different.

Kepler-186f circles a star that is smaller and cooler than our sun. But the planet appears to be a closer relative than most of the hundreds of others discovered so far. Some are huge gas-covered giants with thick atmospheres. Others circle too closely to their stars and are too hot for life. For the first time, we can actually say we now have a planet that is both Earth-sized and circles in its star’s livable zone.

The next step would be to look for signs of life in the atmospheres of these distant world. That would take a more advanced telescope. But budget cuts threaten that task, says University of California at Los Angeles astrophysicist (天体物理学家) Ben.

“In theory, we could do this in the next couple of decades. But in practice, because there’s no money, it’s not going to happen. It’s not going to happen in my lifetime, for example,” said Ben. However, NASA’s Elisa Quintana believes that when the next-generation space telescope is used, it will find that we are not alone in the universe. In the meantime, the search continues for other worlds where life may find a home.