The US-led joint patrol in the Red Sea following Houthi militia attacks against ships heading toward Israel shows that the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in Gaza is not only affecting the whole region, but also the international community. Chinese analysts pointed out that the root cause of the trade route problem is the ongoing conflict in Gaza, and only a sustainable cease-fire and allowing humanitarian aid to enter Gaza via land and sea routes can solve the problem in the Red Sea. 

China will pay close attention to the situation, and Chinese naval vessels that conduct UN authorized anti-piracy missions in the region will keep performing their duty, analysts said, adding that China will stick to the priority of realizing a cease-fire and clear the way for humanitarian aid for the people in Gaza, rather than joining the US to conduct any military operations without UN authorization to escalate the crisis in Gaza. 

The US and a host of other nations are creating a new force to protect ships transiting the Red Sea that have come under attack by drones and ballistic missiles fired from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced Tuesday in Bahrain, the AP reported.

The UK, Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles and Spain have joined, Austin said. Some of those countries will conduct joint patrols while others will provide intelligence support in the southern Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

The Houthi militia attacked two commercial ships in the Red Sea with naval drones on Monday. The recent attacks have caused concerns about the impact on the passage of oil, grain and other goods on what is an important global trade route, and have pushed up the cost of insuring and shipping goods through the Red Sea, Reuters reported.

The Shanghai-based news website The Paper reported on Tuesday that following other international shipping companies including Denmark's Maersk and France's CMA, Chinese shipping giants like COSCO and Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) also suspended transport through the Red Sea.

Ma Xiaolin, dean of the Institute for Studies on the Mediterranean Rim at Zhejiang International Studies University, told the Global Times on Tuesday that the trade route via the Red Sea is truly important for China as it connects Europe, Asia and Africa, so China will pay close attention to the situation.

"However, although China has naval vessels in the region, their mission is about anti-piracy, rather than intervening in regional issues and other countries' internal affairs. Only a solution to the ongoing crisis in Gaza can effectively solve the problem in the Red Sea," Ma said. 

On December 9, Al Jazeera reported that the armed group in Yemen claimed that "it will target all ships heading to Israel, regardless of their nationality, and warned all international shipping companies against dealing with Israeli ports."

"If Gaza does not receive the food and medicines it needs, all ships in the Red Sea bound for Israeli ports, regardless of their nationality, will become a target for our armed forces," the group's spokesperson said in a statement on Saturday, according to Al Jazeera.

Song Zhongping, a Chinese military expert and TV commentator, told the Global Times on Tuesday that the "Houthis are specifically targeting Israel, so it's unlikely it will attack Chinese vessels. China doesn't need to be too worried about the situation and the Chinese warships in the region will stick to their plan."

"China will keep making efforts to realize a sustainable cease-fire and clear the way for humanitarian aid to get into the Gaza Strip. This is the real priority that needs to be done," Wang Jin, an associate professor at the Institute of Middle Eastern Studies at Northwest University, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

If Washington and its allies want to solve the Red Sea problem, they should play a responsible role in the UN Security Council to pass a cease-fire resolution and to put concrete efforts into improving the humanitarian situation in Gaza, which would be more effective than sending warships to conduct joint patrols, experts said. 

The humanitarian situation in Gaza remains severe. According to Reuters on Tuesday, Israeli missiles and air strikes on the Rafah area in southern Gaza struck three houses killing at least 20 Palestinians, Gaza health officials said on Tuesday. Tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians have crammed into Rafah on Gaza's border with Egypt to escape Israeli bombardments.

The lack of unity in the UN that is mainly caused by the US is another key reason why the situation is far from easing. The UN Security Council delayed until Tuesday morning a vote on an Arab-sponsored resolution calling for a halt to hostilities in Gaza to allow for urgently needed aid deliveries to a massive number of civilians as members intensified negotiations to try to avoid another veto by the US, the AP reported.

Wang Wenbin, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said at a routine press conference on Tuesday that "the UN General Assembly has adopted two resolutions with an overwhelming majority. We hope the US will listen to the voice of the international community, stop single-handedly blocking Security Council resolutions, and play its due role to promote an immediate cease-fire and prevent an even larger humanitarian catastrophe."

Team China's record of youngest champion in the Asian Games has been rewritten in less than two days. On Wednesday, 13-year-old skateboarder Cui Chenxi clinched a gold in women's street final, taking the title away from 15-year-old Chen Ye, who was just crowned in men's park on Monday. 

China's Generation Z skateboarders have rocked the Asian Games so hard like no one had imagined - bagging three of four gold medals of the discipline. Alongside Cui, 18-year-old Zeng Wenhui bagged silver in women's street on Wednesday morning. In men's street, China's 16-year-old Zhang Jie snatched a gold while his teammate 19-year-old Su Jianjun won a bronze. In the women's park final held on Monday, Chinese athlete Li Yujuan won the silver medal, while Mao Jiasi won the bronze.

Cui told the Global Times after the final that the title will not put extra pressure on her. 

"I made a mistake in my first run, and on the second attempt, my coach wanted me to be steady, but I was eager to try a riskier maneuver on my own, and in the end it worked out," Cui said.

After winning the final, Cui put on the Chinese national flag on her back and skated around the venue to a loud cheer. In the audience sat her tearing father.

The gold medalist said that she is aiming for the Paris Olympics. "First I will concentrate on getting there, then I can make a big attack," she told the Global Times. Her teammate Zeng also said she will concentrate on qualifying for Paris. 

Zeng expressed her wishes to Cui, who is five years younger than her, saying she is quite excellent. 

"You are the future of Team China," Zeng said, facing Cui. "I will work harder with you in the future, too."

In the women's street final, the Philippines' Mergielyn Didal was the only competitor over 18. Unfortunately, the defending champion could not deliver her best performance due to injury. Nonetheless, she received overwhelming support from the Chinese audience even when she failed to land the tricks.

"The venue is overwhelming," Didal told the Global Times after the match. "Since we arrived here in Hangzhou, everyone is always cheering you. It's exciting to see the people welcoming you."

During the match, Didal was often seen cheering her young opponents. 

"That is just how unique skateboarding is," she told the Global Times. "I'm just hying them up. Even if we were competing against them, we don't treat them like enemies. We've got to cheer for each other."

Different from traditional sports, there is no fixed action pattern in skateboarding. It requires skaters to freely use their imagination and creativity, which is challenging and highly interesting.

Skateboarding made its Asian Games debut in Jakarta, Indonesia, in 2018, but later received more mainstream attention as a competitive sport after its Olympic debut at the Tokyo Games in 2021.

Throughout the four days of the skateboarding competition, there was a friendly, young and relaxed atmosphere in the arena. As the Chinese skateboarding team sees the emergence of several young players with great potential at the Hangzhou Games, China's public attention on skateboarding is growing and the street spirit the sport brings is infectious.

All these teens showed confidence and ease as well as very high standards. Fifteen-year-old new Asian champion Chen Ye told the Global Times that he now has the confidence to pursue higher goals.

"Now that I've won the championship in an Asian event, I hope to perform better in global events and participate in more high-level competitions. In the future, I may participate in more Olympic ranking events," Chen said.

Zhang Jie, 16-year-old, the newest winner of men's street final on Wednesday afternoon, also said that his goal for Paris 2024 is to enter the top eight.

A monkey’s brain builds a picture of a human face somewhat like a Mr. Potato Head — piecing it together bit by bit.

The code that a monkey’s brain uses to represent faces relies not on groups of nerve cells tuned to specific faces — as has been previously proposed — but on a population of about 200 cells that code for different sets of facial characteristics. Added together, the information contributed by each nerve cell lets the brain efficiently capture any face, researchers report June 1 in Cell.
“It’s a turning point in neuroscience — a major breakthrough,” says Rodrigo Quian Quiroga, a neuroscientist at the University of Leicester in England who wasn’t part of the work. “It’s a very simple mechanism to explain something as complex as recognizing faces.”

Until now, Quiroga says, the leading explanation for the way the primate brain recognizes faces proposed that individual nerve cells, or neurons, respond to certain types of faces (SN: 6/25/05, p. 406). A system like that might work for the few dozen people with whom you regularly interact. But accounting for all of the peripheral people encountered in a lifetime would require a lot of neurons.

It now seems that the brain might have a more efficient strategy, says Doris Tsao, a neuroscientist at Caltech.

Tsao and coauthor Le Chang used statistical analyses to identify 50 variables that accounted for the greatest differences between 200 face photos. Those variables represented somewhat complex changes in the face — for instance, the hairline rising while the face becomes wider and the eyes becomes further-set.

The researchers turned those variables into a 50-dimensional “face space,” with each face being a point and each dimension being an axis along which a set of features varied.
Then, Tsao and Chang extracted 2,000 faces from that map, each linked to specific coordinates. While projecting the faces one at a time onto a screen in front of two macaque monkeys, the team recorded the activity in single neurons in parts of the monkey’s temporal lobe known to respond specifically to faces. All together, the recordings captured activity from 205 neurons.

Each face cell was tuned to one of the 50 axes previously identified, Tsao and Chang found. The rate at which each cell sent electrical signals was proportional to a given face’s coordinate position along an axis. But a cell didn’t respond to changes in features not captured by that axis. For instance, a cell tuned to an axis where nose width and eye size changed wouldn’t respond to changes in lip shape.
Adding together the features conveyed by each cell’s activity creates a picture of a complete face. And like a computer creating a full-color display by mixing different proportions of red, green and blue light, the coordinate system lets a brain paint any face in a spectrum.

“It was a total surprise,” Tsao says. Even when the faces were turned in profile, the same cells still responded to the same features.

Tsao and Chang were then able to re-create that process in reverse using an algorithm. When they plugged in the activity patterns of the 205 recorded neurons, the computer spat out an image that looked almost exactly like what they had shown the monkeys.

“People view neurons as black boxes,” says Ed Connor, a neuroscientist at Johns Hopkins University who wasn’t part of the study. “This is a striking demonstration that you can really understand what the brain is doing.”

Elsewhere in the brain, though, neurons don’t use this facial coordinate system. In 2005, Quiroga discovered individual neurons attuned to particular people in the hippocampus, a part of the brain involved in memory. He found, for instance, a single neuron that fired off messages in response to a photo of Jennifer Aniston or conceptually related images, like her name written out or a picture of her Friends costar Lisa Kudrow.

The new results fit well into that picture, Tsao and Quiroga agree. Tsao compares her system to a GPS for facial identity. “These cells are coding the coordinates. And you can use these coordinates for anything you want. You can build a specific lookup table that codes these into specific identities — like Barack Obama, or your mother.”

Quiroga’s hippocampal cells, just a few neural connections away, are like the output of that table — a sort of speed dial for people and concepts previously encountered.

The different coding strategies might be tied to differences in what these brain areas do. “When we remember things, we forget details but we remember concepts,” Quiroga says. But for telling faces apart, and especially for processing unfamiliar faces, “details are key.”

A strange property of spider silk helps explain how the arachnids avoid twirling wildly at the end of their ropes.

Researchers from China and England harvested silk from two species of golden orb weaver spiders, Nephila edulis and Nephila pilipes, and tested it with a torsion pendulum. The device has a hanging weight that rotates clockwise or counterclockwise, twisting whatever fiber it hangs from. When a typical fiber is twisted, the weight spins back and forth around an equilibrium point, eventually returning to its original orientation.
But unlike several fibers the scientists tested — copper wires, carbon fibers and even human hair — the spider silk deformed when twisted. That distortion changed the silk’s equilibrium point and cut down on the back-and-forth spinning, the scientists report in the July 3 Applied Physics Letters. Eventually, scientists might design spin-resistant ropes for mountain climbers, who, like spiders, should avoid doing the twist.

A new type of soft robot can go under the knife and make a full recovery in about a day.

Researchers fashioned a robotic hand, gripper and muscle from self-healing rubbery material. To test their robots’ resilience, the engineers sliced each with a scalpel, then put them in an oven. After cranking up the heat to 80° Celsius, baking the bots for 40 minutes, then cooling them to room temperature, the researchers found that all three bots’ cuts had completely closed up. Twenty-four hours later, the machines had regained at least 98 percent of their original strength and flexibility, the researchers report online August 16 in Science Robotics.
Incisions broke bonds between two chemical ingredients that make up the material, furan and maleimide. At higher temperatures, these chemical compounds can also split up, as well as move around more easily. So as the researchers cooled the material, the compounds were able to re-bond with those on the other side of an incision.
“This material could heal, in theory, an infinite number of times,” says study coauthor Bram Vanderborght, an engineer at Vrije University Brussels.

The work helps address a major limitation of squishy, flexible robots — which are better suited than their traditional, rigid counterparts for navigating rough terrain and handling fragile objects, but are vulnerable to punctures and tears. Self-healing machines could pave the way for creating more durable, reusable soft bots.

The Washington Wizards got out to as good of a start as any team in the NBA, shocking the masses to take first place in the Eastern Conference through the first month of the season.

Following Thursday's loss to the Miami Heat, the Wizards have surrendered their spot atop of the East, failing to pick up a win in one of their toughest tests early on.
They still own a strong 10-5 record and have some quality wins on their resume – they beat both of last year's Conference Finalists in the Atlanta Hawks and Milwaukee Bucks, the Boston Celtics twice, the Toronto Raptors on the road and a blowout win over the Memphis Grizzlies. But along with the loss to the Heat, they also failed tests against the Brooklyn Nets and Charlotte Hornets.

With almost an entirely new roster following the trade that sent Russell Westbrook to the Los Angeles Lakers, the Wizards pieces have clicked quickly.

Is this team good enough to make the playoffs, though? Three members of our Sporting News staff discuss.
Will the Wizards be a playoff team?
Kyle Irving (@KyleIrv_): I'm a believer. The Wizards will be a playoff team.

Going into the season, I thought this was just a roster of misfit toys. Returning Kyle Kuzma, Montrezl Harrell and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in the trade for Westbrook and signing Spencer Dinwiddie, they brought in four solid players, but I wasn't convinced it was a group who could make any noise in the improving East.

Turns out, I was very wrong. Yes, they've failed a few tough tests, but they've also beaten some good teams.

Harrell looks like the player who won Sixth Man of the Year back in 2018-19, averaging over 17 points and eight rebounds per game with five double-doubles in 15 games. Kuzma is thriving in a new situation with a bigger role, nearly averaging a double-double, and Dinwiddie has complimented Bradley Beal perfectly in the backcourt.

They also have dealt with a handful of injuries and absences, and their starting forward and former lottery pick Rui Hachimura hasn't even taken the floor yet for personal reasons.

The craziest part is after being one of the worst defensive teams in the NBA last season, new head coach Wes Unseld Jr. has this team ranked in the top-five in the league in defensive rating so far.

There's still a lot of basketball to be played this year, but I don't see why Washington can't maintain this hot start and stay in the playoff picture.
Yash Matange (@yashmatange2694): Despite the loss in Miami, which is now three straight for the Wizards, I believe they are a playoff team.

They might not go too far in the postseason but I believe they could make it to the playoffs by avoiding the Play-In Tournament. I see them finishing behind the Heat, Nets, Bulls, Bucks and maybe the Celtics or Hawks (whichever makes the better recovery after their rough start) in the East standings.

Their depth, acquired as a result of the Westbrook trade this past offseason, is a huge reason why they have done so well. Players from that trade like Harrell (bringing it every night off the bench), Kuzma (high-volume rebounding, small-ball big), Dinwiddie (good complementary guard to Beal), Caldwell-Pope (3-and-D wing) and Aaron Holiday (bench guard) have all played key roles in the team's games so far, especially the wins.
Why I believe the Wizards can carry this form all through the regular season is the play of Beal. While the 2021 All-NBA player is scoring 23.4 (through 11 games) on shooting splits of 41.1 percent from the field and 28.0 from beyond the arc, it's nowhere close to his level from last year when he averaged a near league-high 31.3 points on 48.5 percent shooting from the field and 34.9 percent from beyond the arc.

His slump (if you want to call it that) is on track with a few other superstars finding their way with the new ball and officiating rules. So, I see him bouncing back.

Also, I have to give a huge shoutout to Unseld Jr., a coach with 16 years of experience as an assistant, for making this team with tremendous depth click. Of course, GM Tommy Shepherd as well. Having said that, with the East being top-heavy, I don't see them going too far in the postseason. If everything falls their way in a best-case scenario, it could be a Conference Semifinals appearance. Otherwise, I see them bowing out in the first round.
Nick Metallinos (@NickMetallinos): It’s still early in the season, and I will wait until I’ve seen more to make a final call, but the Wizards' loss to the Heat is another example of coming up short against championship level opponents in 2021-22. I think they're a playoff team, but they won't make any noise when they get there.

As mentioned in the intro, two of the team’s five losses have been against the Nets and Heat, two certified powerhouses in the East.

However, they will continue to be steady throughout the regular season because they are getting contributions evenly from their roster. From Beal to Kuzma to Dinwiddie, they’re getting solid offensive numbers, but once the postseason begins they’re going to need more firepower than that.

Their defense is currently fourth-best in the league in terms of defensive rating, but they will definitely need more offense when teams inevitably focus on slowing down Beal on the road to the playoffs.

The Week 12 College Football Playoff rankings were easily adjustable for the selection committee. But they also set up to be a potentially chaotic final weekend of football.

Only one top-10 team in the most recent set of rankings lost on Saturday. That would be Oklahoma, a team the committee clearly didn't value in the first two sets of rankings, considering the Sooners' position at No. 8 overall in each of those weeks. The top seven teams remained the same following their loss, with Notre Dame, Oklahoma State and Wake Forest moving up to fill in the Sooners' spot.
A looming concern for this committee is what will happen if each of the one-loss Power 5 favorites win out the rest of the season. That could create a logjam of Oregon, Ohio State/Michigan/Michigan State and Oklahoma State/Oklahoma. That's to say nothing of the SEC, which could presumably lock up two spots should Alabama beat Georgia in the SEC championship.

Then there's the question of a potentially undefeated Cincinnati team, which if left out would join UCF as a twice-undefeated Group of 5 team that never got a chance to compete for a title.

There's still plenty of football left to be played, including the two Michigan teams vs. Ohio State in the Big Ten; Alabama taking on two ranked teams in the last three weeks of the season; Bedlam; and a not-insignificant end to the season for Cincy, which plays a ranked team in Houston.

It's all shaping up to be a wild, fun and potentially chaotic stretch to end the season. Best take a deep breath while you're still able. Until then, here's the latest top 25 rankings from Week 12:
College Football Playoff rankings 2021
Who are the top four CFP teams of third CFP poll of 2021?
Ranking Team Record
1 Georgia 10-0
2 Alabama 9-1
3 Oregon 9-1
4 Ohio State 9-1
Who are the first two teams out of third CFP poll of 2021?
Ranking Team Record
5 Cincinnati 10-0
6 Michigan 9-1
CFP top 25 rankings from third CFP poll of 2021
Rank Team Record
1 Georgia 10-0
2 Alabama 9-1
3 Oregon 9-1
4 Ohio State 9-1
5 Cincinnati 10-0
6 Michigan 9-1
7 Michigan State 9-1
8 Notre Dame 9-1
9 Oklahoma State 9-1
10 Wake Forest 9-1
11 Baylor 8-2
12 Ole Miss 8-2
13 Oklahoma 9-1
14 BYU 8-2
15 Wisconsin 7-3
16 Texas A&M 7-3
17 Iowa 8-2
18 Pitt 8-2
19 San Diego State 9-1
20 N.C. State 7-3
21 Arkansas 7-3
22 UTSA 10-0
23 Utah 7-3
24 Houston 9-1
25 Mississippi State 6-4