Top Ten News Stories on China's S&T Progresses
On January 26, 2003, the top ten news stories on China's S&T progresses selected by academicians under a screening process jointly sponsored by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Chinese Academy of Engineering and the newspaper Science Times were unveiled. They are as follows:
1) Chinese scientists have for the first time in the world worked out accurate rice genome charts and accurate sequencing charts of No. 4 rice chromosome. The accurate rice genome charts completed by the Genome Information Center under the Chinese Academy of Sciences and others have covered 97% of the genetic sequencing of Chinese rice, of which 97% of the genes have found their accurate position over chromosomes with a 99.99% base pair accuracy for 94% of the chromosome sequence positioning, an internationally acknowledged criteria for accurate genome charts. In the meantime, Chinese scientists have completed the accurate sequencing of No. 4 chromosome assigned by the international genome project, which has constituted the largest individual genome chromosome worked out by China independently for its accurate sequencing, and made a major contribution to eventually unveiling the genetic mysteries of rice.
2) Successful and consecutive launch of Shenzhou III and Shenzhou IV spacecrafts. In a short period of 9 months, China has successfully launched and retrieved its two spacecrafts, which demonstrated a major progress made in China's manned space flight project.
3) China discovered its first world-class gas field with a proven reserve of 600 billion cubic meters. On the basis of a couple of years prospecting, China discovered a super large gas field in Yikezhaomeng, Inner Mongolia with a proven reserve amounting to 602.527 billion cubic meters, which is equivalent to a super large oil field with a reserve of 600 million tons. This is not only the largest natural gas field so far discovered but also the first gas field of the world-class reserve in the country.
4) The open diversion channel of Three Gorges Project called a success in cutting off the river flow. Running for a total length of 3.7 kilometers and with a width of 350 meters, the said open diversion channel has stood the most difficult river cutting-off mission in the construction of hydraulic power projects in the world.
5) China successfully developed its own third generation mobile telecommunication system. Thanks to its 3-year painstaking R&D efforts and a huge investment nearly RMB 1 billion, China successfully worked out three third generation mobile telecommunication systems in line with national technical standards, of which TD-SCDMA has become the first Chinese proposed standards officially accepted by ITU in the history of world telecommunication.
6) China has preliminarily grasped the key technologies for designing and manufacturing modern CPU. The Institute of Computation Science under the Chinese Academy of Sciences has successfully developed Longxin I CPU, the first high performance common CPU in the country. China's first proprietary server with the core technologies named Longteng equipped with Longxin I CPU also made its birth, which demonstrates that China has basically grasped the key technologies designing and manufacturing such chips, ending up the history that Chinese information industry had no its own “heart”. The said CPU chip is sized 4 mm with the maximum floating and fixing points calculation speed over 200 million times per second respectively.
7) Zhejiang Provincial Academy of Agricultural Sciences brought out the new rape species claiming the highest oil content in the world. Applied with genetic engineering techniques, the Atomic Energy Institute under the Academy developed a
echnology able to manipulate rape's oil composition, with which they worked out two new rape varieties named Chaoyou I and Chaoyou II, both proud of an increased oil content by 25% with Chaoyou II claiming the world highest oil content at 52.82% among its counterparts.
8) The successful development of huge laser device Shenguang II. Huge laser device Shenguang II developed by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Institute of Engineering Physics has gathered a hundred and more optic instruments in an area of a football course size. It is located in Shanghai Institute of Optic Machinery under the Chinese Academy of Sciences. When eight strong laser beams hit a tiny target ball through magnifying chains in 3 dimensional arrays, a strong power equivalent to the total or several times the power generated by the whole world power grids was emitted in a blink of time as short as one billionth second and an extremely high pressure and temperature thus formed to trigger the fusion reaction. The success of Shenguang II demonstrates China's world advanced level in high power laser and laser nuclear fusion studies.
9) Chinese scientists preliminarily unveiled the mysteries of human cell senile decaying. On the basis of their many-year studies, the medical study team of Beijing University has preliminarily concluded that gene P16 dominating human cell senile decaying process is a key link in controlling human cell decaying process from the hereditary perspective. They also unveiled the cause of the high expression of P16 in the decaying, which preliminarily unveiled the mysteries of human cell decaying and is China's original contribution to understanding the decaying mechanism of human cells. It created a new approach to further addressing human cell decaying.
10) Legend's super computer. Legend Group made in the year the debut of its proprietary core technology super computer with an on-the-spot measured speed over 1000 billion times per second. The super computer has recorded a calculation speed of 1002.7 billion times per second, reached the level of 24th place among the world top 500 super computers. The ones sitting before the 24th are either manufactured by Japan or USA.
China's Top Ten S&T Events in 2002
The selection of China's top ten S&T events that caught the most public attention in 2002, an activity co-sponsored by the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology, S&T Daily Press, and CCTV made the debut of its results on January 27, 2003. They are:
1) Chinese scientists have preliminarily unveiled the mysteries of human cell decaying.
2) Top National S&T Awards were conferred to Wang Xuan and Huang Kun.
3) China's Shenzhou III and Shenzhou IV spacecraft were successfully launched and returned.
4) Chinese scientists have for the first time in the world worked out biochips able to test cancers.
5) China made the world first continental scientific drilling try in decomposed rocks of super high pressure.
6) China discovered its world-class gas field with a reserve of 600 billion cubic meters.
7) China developed the world first new technology for AC-DC power integration.
8) Chinese scientists landed breakthroughs in addressing plateau tundra problems in the construction of Fenghuoshan Tunnel along Qinghai-Tibet rail line.
9) China launched its full program for improving its citizens' S&T quality and promulgated PRC Law on Science and Technology Diffusion.
10) China successfully worked out its proprietary CPU chip, Longxin I CPU and rewrite the history that China's telecommunication industry had no its own “heart”.
Winged Dinosaur Discovered in China
Dr. Xu Xing, Dr. Zhou Zhonghe and their colleagues of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing not long ago announced their major breakthroughs in the study of birds' ability to fly. They discovered through their careful study of dinosaur fossils unearthed in Liaoning that these dinosaurs, the ancestors of birds, had grown 4 wings, most probably having gliding capability. The discovery has provided critical evidence for the hypothesis that bird's flying ability came from arboreal-gliding animals and experienced their own gliding phase. The British journal Nature published their story in the cover page on January 23, 2003.
In 2000, Xu Xing and his colleagues discovered that some dinosaurs had the features of arboreal animals and guessed that the birds' ancestor dinosaurs may first learned to parachute and glide by taking advantage of gravity before getting to the phase of flapping flight.
The new discovery confirmed the hypothesis. The careful study of the skin structures of dinosaur fossils in the Cretaceous period unearthed in the west section of Liaoning has convinced Dr. Xu Xing and others that these dinosaurs had preliminary flying capability. They found asymmetric flying feather pattern on these dinosaur fossils, which is considered to be connected with flight. The most extraordinary thing is that these dinosaurs had two sets of wings, one on the forelimbs and the other on their legs. That means these dinosaurs have four wings, which have never been seen among any other vertebrate animals. Scientists guessed that the leg wings may serve for flying balance which is extremely important to developing early flying capability.
The World First Geochemical Map for Platinum and Palladium
The Chinese scientists working for Henan Provincial Mining Testing Center have successfully worked out the world first platinum and palladium geochemical map with the help of platinum trace elements measuring techniques.
The Center started its development of new platinum and palladium rock testing and analyzing techniques from 1986. Thanks to their extended period of exploration, the scientists there have gradually mastered the state-of-art platinum trace elements measuring and analyzing techniques. In 2002, the Center completed its assignment of analyzing platinum and palladium for a 76-element geochemical map and produced the world first platinum and palladium geochemical map.
It is briefed that the Center has discovered brand new platinum and palladium mines in China with the help of the said techniques and the geochemical map. In 1994, the Center made analysis of 24 samples provided by South Africa with the said techniques and reached results entirely agreeable with the real geological conditions in the country. South African scientists found new mineral reserves in their country under the guidance of the new map.
It is reported that the techniques are of numerous merits such as high accuracy and low cost and have achieved satisfactory results at different scales, levels and regional applications. The techniques have greatly helped China expand its areas looking for mines with rare platinum and palladium and made China sit in the world leading position in platinum trace elements measuring and analyzing.
China Mapping Glove Mountain Area
The investigators of China's 19th Antarctic Expedition team are working on the extensive mapping of the Glove area. This extended mapping activity is made on the basis of China's previous remote sensing mapping of 110 square kilometers over the area in 1998, and will cover nearly all its surface range (3200 km2). Chinese expedition team will establish 6 to 8 control points over the major sections of Glove mountain and deploy satellite ground positioning instrument there. They will complete Glove grid mapping before further moving into the satellite based imaging mapping. The development is not only the first of its kind to China but also to the world in terms of its extensive range of remote sensing mapping, which will provide accurate space information for China's multi-disciplinary expeditions such as on geology and meteorite over the Glove area.
Wild Crazy Grass Killer Developed
Thanks to their tireless 15-year efforts, Chinese scientists have for the first time in the world worked out the proprietary vaccines applicable to domestic stocks for killing cray grass toxin.
It is briefed that the crazy grass killer developed by Shaan'xi Yanglingdanong Biotech Co. Ltd. has been applied over animal husbandry areas on an experimental basis for one year in Qinghai and Inner Mongolia where crazy grass went rampant.
So far no accidents of crazy grass toxication have been reported in these areas while stocks have been gaining more weight and offsprings. The vaccine has gone through the indirect blood coagulation and ELISA testing with a protection rate reaching 88% or more.
The project, financed by the National Natural Science Foundation and Sweden International Science Foundation passed its verification check in 2001. Under the support of the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology, its pilot experiment has seen breakthrough progress and passed experts approval check organized by Shan'xi Provincial S&T Department on January 17, 2003.
The Third World Science Academy Conference in China
Lu Yongxiang, Vice President of the Third World Science Academy and President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences announced on January 13, 2003 that China would host the 14th session of Academician Conference of the Third World Science Academy on October 16-19, 2003 in Beijing. The 9th Academic Conference of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the celebration ceremony for the 20th anniversary of the foundation of the Academy and the 8th Organizational Network Conference of the Academy will also be held during the same period.
At these meetings, the participating academicians of the Third World Science Academy, governmental officials and representatives from international organizations will make their discussion surrounding the main theme of “science and development”, promoting the scientific development in the third world countries and south-south cooperation.
The Third World Science Academy routinely selects about 40 new academicians each year. As of October, 2002, the Academy has 626 academicians in total from 77 countries and regions in the world. At present, China has 86 the Third World Science academicians, of whom 74 are also wearing academician hats of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and 2 the academicians of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.
During the 4-day academician meeting, participants will enjoy scientific lectures presented by renowned scientists such as Ding Zhaozhong and President of US Academy of Sciences. In the meantime, a workshop on China's scientific development will be held during the session, covering 8 topics such as China's scientific development, China's S&T development strategies, life sciences, information sciences, genetic information science, remote sensing and digital earth, meteorological science, and science and ethics.
China's First Arctic Station
On January 15, 2003, Wang Shuguang, Administrator of Chinese Marine Bureau disclosed that China would establish its first scientific expedition station in the Arctic in 2003 so as to allow Chinese scientists to work on upper air physical observations, geological studies and biological resources investigation in an improved environment. It is briefed that China will build this station into an open base for integrated earth science studies, providing a platform for both domestic Arctic basic studies as well as cooperation with other countries and resources sharing. The station will be managed under a modern scientific mechanism to accommodate the high level scientific development of Chinese expeditions in the region.
New World Record for Nuclear Power Generation
On January 28, 2003, the testing of security doom of No. 2 generation unit of Qinshan Nuclear Power Station applauded a complete success with a leakage rate recorded at only 0.132% reactor volume per day, or 26.4% of the verification criteria in a short period of 8 days. The experiment met the requirements proposed by verification regulations. The test results have broken two world records for the lowest leakage rate and the shortest testing period, which demonstrated China’s world leading position in security doom construction quality and management. It is briefed that the previous best leakage record of nuclear power security doom is 0.21% reactor volume/day created by No. 1 generation unit of Qinshan Nuclear Power Station.
The so-called security doom test is the largest individual testing during the trial period jointly undertaken by Qinshan No. 3 Nuclear Power Co. Ltd. and Canadian Atomic Energy Co. Ltd. The purpose of testing is to know if the reactor site has been up to the designed requirement for leakage in case of infrastructure accidents. The desired testing criteria is supposed to be not larger than 0.5% reactor volume/day for the total leakage rate under a pressure of 124 kpa.
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