Science News Roundup: Australian scientists find huge new healthy coral reef off northern coast; Chinese spacecraft set for Mars landing in May and more

Australian scientists find huge new healthy coral reef off northern coast Australian scientists found a detached coral reef on the Great Barrier Reef that exceeds the height of the Empire State Building and the Eiffel Tower, the Schmidt Ocean Institute said this week, the first such discovery in over 100 years.

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

Australian scientists find huge new healthy coral reef off northern coast

Australian scientists found a detached coral reef on the Great Barrier Reef that exceeds the height of the Empire State Building and the Eiffel Tower, the Schmidt Ocean Institute said this week, the first such discovery in over 100 years. The "blade like" reef is nearly 500 metres tall and 1.5 kilometres wide, said the institute founded by ex-Google boss Eric Schmidt and his wife Wendy. It lies 40 metres below the ocean surface and about six kilometres from the edge of Great Barrier Reef.

Make Science Great Again: U.S. researchers dream of life after Trump

From his lab in Toulouse, France, Benjamin Sanderson models the range of extreme risks to humans from climate change, research he hopes can inform policymakers planning for worsening wildfires and floods. It is the kind of work he once performed in the United States - and hopes to again soon. Sanderson is among dozens of U.S.-based climate scientists who shifted their research to France, or sought refuge in academia or in left-leaning states like California after Republican Donald Trump was elected in 2016. They worried his administration’s distrust of science would impact their ability to finance and advance their work.

Chinese spacecraft set for Mars landing in May: state media

A Chinese spacecraft is expected to land on Mars in May, state-run media reported on Thursday, citing a space agency official. The spacecraft, which left Earth in July, is set to land in Utopia Planitia, a plain in the northern hemisphere of Mars, the China News Service reported, citing Liu Tongjie, spokesman for the Mars mission.

Miniature organs help test potential coronavirus drugs; GI symptoms linked to severe COVID-19

The following is a roundup of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus.

Miniature lungs, colons help test COVID-19 treatments Saudi Arabia plans $2 billion boost for space programme by 2030

Saudi Arabia is planning an 8 billion riyals ($2.1 billion) boost for its space programme by 2030 under an economic diversification plan that aims to attract foreign investment and create thousands of jobs for young Saudis. The Saudi Space Commission (SSC), set up by a royal decree in late 2018 to stimulate space-related research and industrial activities, has finalised a plan for the government, expected to be revealed later this year, under which the sector's budget would receive an initial boost of 2 billion riyals.

(With inputs from agencies.)