Lead Story
Compelling Explanations
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South Korean superstar scientist Hwang Woo-suk, leader of a team that has this year successfully cloned an Afghan hound and created 11 new stem cell lines that are immunologically compatible with specific DNA donors, told the journal Nature Medicine in April that Koreans have an advantage over Westerners in delicate laboratory work, saying precision tasks were best done by “Oriental hands”: “We can pick up very slippery corn or rice with the steel chopsticks.”
The Litigious Society
In April the Chinese government announced this year’s list of 845 “vanguard workers,” a title bestowed every five years upon citizens who, though not traditional laborers, nonetheless embody communist ideals of selflessness and sacrifice. Among the honorees was Houston Rockets center Yao Ming, who resides in Texas and in 2003 made about $14.5 million in salary and endorsements, or roughly 14,500 times what his fellow workers typically earn.
