Top Harvard professor leaves US for China, plastic waste into petrol: 7 science highlights

From Mexico’s tiny satellites on Chinese rocket to a plastics-to-petrol first, here are some highlights from SCMP’s recent science reporting

Reading Time:1 minute

Liu Jun, one of the world’s leading statisticians and a longtime professor at Harvard University, has returned to China full time, accepting a prestigious chair at Tsinghua University last month. Photo: Handout

Published: 3:02pm, 10 Sep 2025Updated: 3:54pm, 10 Sep 2025

We have put together stories from our coverage on science from the past two weeks to help you stay informed. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing.

1. Harvard’s top mathematician Liu Jun leaves US for China

Liu Jun, one of the world’s leading statisticians and a long-time professor at Harvard, has returned to China full-time, accepting a prestigious chair at Tsinghua University last month.

2. China’s ‘silent sanction’ on US semiconductors creates a weapons generation gap

In addition to the spectacle of last week’s military parade in Tiananmen Square, with its rows of never-before-seen weapons and equipment, was a less visible but highly consequential shift.

3. In a first, US-China team turns plastic waste into petrol in 1 step

Global cumulative plastic production is said to have reached 10 billion tonnes. Photo: Getty Images

Scientists in the US and China say they have developed a one-step method to safely turn toxic mixed plastic waste into petrol, with more than 95 per cent efficiency at room temperature.

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00