Focus on Science

Smallpox, an old and terrible fulminating infectious disease, is caused by smallpox virus. Patient infected by smallpox is characterized by pustule over the body. Seriously ill patitents might lose their lives, and patients with slight symptoms will be left scars over his body. As early as 4th century, Ge Hong, a medical scientist in Eastern Jin dynasty( 316-420 AD), had mentioned smallpox in his medical books. While in the 16th century, Chinese medical books were found records about inoculation that was used as a treatment to cure such disease. It is recorded that 40 million people lost their lives because of smallpox in Europe alone in the 17th century. At the end of 18th century, after over 20 years probe trial, an English physician—Edward Jenner-- discovered that by inoculating a person withpustules from the pox infection of a cow, smallpox could be prevented. The World Health Organization once declared if no patient infected by such disease for two consectutive years, then they could declare that smallpox had been eradicated from the human world. On October 25th , 1977, the last smallpox patient was found in Africas Somalia, and from that day until 1979, no new smallpox patient had been found around the world, thus, October 25th ,1979 was designated as “ a day for eradication of smallpox for human being “.

"In the next five years, great changes will take place in search mode , which means the ratio of exposition need by words will be surpassed by voice and pictures."

—Yanhong Li( Robin) CEO of Chinas giant inforamtion company--Baidu

“Our touch experience might be processed by nerve cell of our skin before it spread to our brain.”

—Andrew Pruszynski

"Each contemporary Chinese has an African ancestor, it is not the commonly acknowleged that Yuanmou Apeman in Yunnan province, China, and Peking Man in Beijing are the ancestors of us Chinese."

—Yaping Zhang

“if Europa has a global system of plate tectonics, then it might be more like the earth than we have imagined.”

—Simon Kattenhorn