news

1 5 missing after Typhoon Son-Tinh sinks boat

Chinadaily-SANYA - Five people were missing after Typhoon Son-Tinh sank their boat in the South China

Sea near the city of Sanya on Sunday, maritime authorities said.

Local sea rescue center in Sanya, Hainan Province, received a report at about 6 a.m. saying

an unpowered engineering vessel half-sanked near a cargo terminal of Sanya after being hit by

strong winds.Five crew members were awaiting rescue as they clung to the deck that remained above the

sea, the report said. Sanya's maritime safety administration said they have launched a search that involved rescue

vessels and helicopters.

The island province of Hainan experienced gales and high waves since Saturday as Typhoon

Son-Tinh brushed into the region. Local authorities have urged all shipping boats to return to

harbor and ferry services into and out of the island has been suspended out of safety concerns.

Shenzhou X to blast off with 3 in 2013

China's Shenzhou X spaceship will launch next year carrying three crew members into orbit, the

country's space program has announced.

Yang Liwei, deputy director of China Manned Space Engineering Office, made the

announcement during a space engineering exhibition in Shanghai on Oct 27, but he did not

announce a specific launch date, only adding the astronauts will be veterans and may include another woman.

Yang said Shenzhou X's task is to further improve the docking technology and the astronauts'

working procedure in space and help solidify China's manned space technology, aiming at a

breakthrough in the fields of space experiments, environment control, life support systems and time of flight.

China's manned space engineering is still in a stage of technological breakthrough and

sending civilians into orbit for space tourism is not under consideration right now, Yang said,

adding that it was just a matter of time.

Summer babies less likely to be CEOs: study

VANCOUVER - The date of birth may affect one's chance to climb up to the topmost corporate

position in future career, a Canadian study shows.

The study, carried out by researchers from Sauder School of Business at University of British

Columbia, is based on a sample of 375 CEOs from S&P 500, between 1992 and 2009.

Set to appear in the December issue of the journal Economics Letters, the study found that

only 6.13 percent and 5.87 percent of the CEOs were born in June and July, respectively.

By comparison, people born in March and April represented 12.53 percent and 10.67 percent

of the sample, it said.

Professor Maurice Levi, a co-author of the study, said their findings indicate that summer

babies are less likely to be CEOs due to a "birth-date effect".

In the United States, cut-off dates for school admission fall between September and January.

Students born between June and July are the youngest in their class, while those born in Marchand April are the oldest, taking into account that children with birthdays too close to the cut-off

soften start their school behind or ahead of schedule.

"With advantages on intellectual development, older children in the same grade tend to perform

better than the youngers," explained Levi. "Early success is often rewarded with leadership and 2 learning opportunities, leading to future advantages that are magnified throughout life."

Helmet reduces death from head injury for cyclists: study

VANCOUVER - Cyclists who don't wear helmets are up to three times more likely to die from

head injury, according to a Canadian report released Monday.

The report, led by a researcher of a hospital fully affiliated with the University of Toronto, was

published online in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

Dr Nav Persaud, lead author of the study and a physician in the Department of Family and

Community Medicine at St Michael's Hospital, said the study was the first of its kind to show

wearing a helmet prevented death.

"Previous studies have shown that wearing a helmet is effective in minor collisions," Dr Persaudsaid.

"But this study shows that helmets prevent injuries from more serious collisions as well."

Dr Persaud and colleagues studied 129 cycling deaths between 2006 and 2010 in the

Canadian province of Ontario. They compared people who had died from head injury to those

that had died from other serious injuries, and then looked at how many in each group were wearing a helmet.

"Our current laws say helmets are mandatory for those under 18, but our report found 88percent of those who died were older than 18," Dr Persaud said. "And 18 percent were over the

age of 60. So, the law is missing most people."