Chinese scientists have created starch(淀粉) using carbon dioxide, hydrogen and electricity, according to a study     1     was published in the journal Science on Sept 24.

It's the first time in the world that synthesis(合成) of starch from CO₂     2     (achieve). Scientists believe it will have a     3     (revolution) impact on future agricultural production and bio-manufacturing.

According to Ma Yanhe,     4     author of the study, the process of plants     5     (create) carbohydrates like starch through photosynthesis(光合作用)is complex and     6     (efficient). It takes a plant about 60 steps of metabolic(新陈代谢的) reactions to turn CO₂, water and sunlight into starch. But now Chinese scientists have simplified the process from 60 steps into 11.

Creating carbohydrates more efficiently is so important for     7     (sustainable) on Earth, noted ChinaDaily. If such an approach can be scaled up(扩展) to the level of industrialization, it     8     (save) more than 90 percent of the farm land and freshwater resources, and avoid negative effects on the environment     9     pesticides and chemical fertilizers(肥料), and it will improve food     10     (secure) and promote sustainable societies, according to Cai Tao, another author of the study.

Dr Stewart Adams, the man who discovered ibuprofen (布洛芬，退烧药), died on January 30, 2019, at the Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham. He was 95. The following was taken from an interview with him about how his discovery of ibuprofen came about.

It was about 2:30 pm on Tuesday December 19, 1961,     1     there was a knock on the door. A technician entered the office of Dr Stewart Adams at Boots’ research laboratories in Nottingham with the latest data from ongoing trials. It was just     2     he wanted to see. The compound being tested against others, including aspirin, had successfully reduced or eliminated signs of any inflammation (炎症). This was the first indication     3     the research, begun five years earlier, might pay off.

The year 1956     4    (be) the beginning of the search for a drug that would relieve rheumatoid arthritis (类风湿关节炎), traditionally treated with large doses of aspirin. Dr Adams had a hunch (直觉，预感) about     5     compounds to test and narrowed them down over five years.

A group of compounds called carboxyls (羧基)     6    (prove) particularly interesting to Dr Adams’ team. His colleague, John Nicholson, found a number, but one caught their attention. Dr Adams said: “Of several hundred, we picked out the best, sent it for clinical trial — but it wasn’t active in rheumatoid arthritis.”

It was a major setback for Dr Adams and his colleagues, but they were undiminished in their determination. The researchers made a slight chemical modification to the compounds and moved into a new group of compounds, propionics (丙酸),     7     were discovered by Boots.

Of all the compounds, Compound 1472 had produced little or no inflammation during a test carried out. A similar test     8    (run) two days later using the same compound, 1472. As modest doses were stepped up, there was still no or reduced inflammation. Drug development takes time and is expensive. It was 30 months     9     ibuprofen became a product candidate at Boots.

During the 1970s Boots tested ibuprofen for further properties and it was marketed for dental pain, period pain and headaches. In 1983, it became the first drug to move from prescription only to over-the-counter. The big smile arrived when ibuprofen was approved for sale over-the-counter by the Food and Drug Agency in the United States     10     the need for a doctor’s prescription. It was to rank alongside aspirin and paracetamol (对乙酰氨基酚) for its properties as an analgesic (止痛) and is regarded as more effective.

When scientists accidentally killed     1    turned out to be the world’s oldest living creature, it was bad enough. Now, their mistake has been worsened after further research found it was even older – at 507 years.

The ocean quahog, a type of deep-sea clam, was dredged (捕捞) alive from the bottom of the North Atlantic near Iceland in 2006 by researchers. They then put it in a fridge-freezer,     2    is normal practice, unaware of     3    age. It was only when it was taken to a laboratory     4    scientists from Bangor University studied it and concluded it was 400 years old.

The discovery made it into the Guinness Book of World Records. However, by this time, it was too late for Ming the Mollusc(软体动物),     5    (name) after the Chinese dynasty     6    its life began. Unfortunately, researchers who calculated Ming’s age killed it instantly by opening its shell.

The researchers opened the ancient clam up to judge its age by counting growth rings inside. But the rings were so close together     7    scientists ended up having to count the rings on the outside to be accurate,     8    (lead) CBS journalists to point out that if scientists had just started there, Ming could have lived on. Now, after examining the quahog     9    (closely), and     10    (use) more advanced methods, the researchers have found the animal was actually 100 years older than they first thought.

Dr Paul Butler, from the University’s School of Ocean Sciences, said: “We got it wrong the first time and maybe we were a bit hasty publishing our findings back then. But we are absolutely certain that we’ve got the right age now.” The mollusc was born in 1499 – just seven years after Columbus discovered America and before Henry VIII had even married his first wife, Catherine of Aragon in 1509.