Chinese version of Neuralink unveiled on tech forum; Scottish spaceport moves closer to satellite launches and more

Below is a summary of current scientific news overviews.

Chinese version of Neuralink unveiled on tech forum

A Chinese state-backed company on Thursday unveiled a brain chip similar to the technology developed by Elon Musk’s startup Neuralink. The company, Beijing who added that the technology was “independently developed” and China’s first “powerful invasive BCI”.

Scotland’s spaceport is moving closer to satellite launches

Britain’s SaxaVord spaceport has moved a step closer to being able to put satellites into orbit after regulators granted it a license to provide security services, paving the way for its first launch later this year. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said in a statement on Thursday that it had approved a range control license for the SaxaVord site, located in the Shetland Islands off the north coast of Scotland.

Argentinian scientists find speedy 90-million-year-old herbivore dinosaur

Paleontologists from Argentina announced the discovery of a new medium-sized herbivorous dinosaur, which could run fast and lived about 90 million years ago in the Late Cretaceous Period in what is now Patagonia. The animal, named Chakisaurus nekul, was found in the Pueblo Blanco Nature Reserve, in the southern province of Río Negro, an area rich in fossils where many mammals, turtles and fish have been found, along with other types of dinosaurs.

China sends astronauts to the Chinese space station for a six-month stay

China on Thursday sent three astronauts to its permanently inhabited space station for a six-month stay, in a regular rotation of Chinese astronauts aboard the ‘Tiangong’ orbiting high above Earth’s atmosphere. The Shenzhou-18, or “Divine Vessel,” spacecraft and its three passengers lifted off atop a Long March-2F rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China at 8:58 p.m. (1258 GMT), according to state media.

(With input from agencies.)