China Science & Technology Forum

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Physics first: Alpha particle preformation constant confirmed in China

August 1, 2013

Professor Ren Zhongzhou and his group from Department of Physics at Nanjing University published new research in the journal Science China on Aug. 1, 2013, that defines the alpha particle preformation constant successfully and accurately based on experimental observation for the first time.

An alpha particle is two protons and two neutrons bound together into a particle that is identical to a helium nucleus that is expelled in the radioactive decay of elements.

The alpha particle preformation constant describes energy constraints that are necessary for an alpha particle to be produced and expelled in radioactive decay and other reactions.

The alpha particle preformation constant had been theoretically defined for individual elements many times previously but this new research is the first empirical measurement of the alpha particle preformation constant.

The researchers developed an empirical formula that for the first time directly deduces the preformation factor of the alpha particle from the experimental data. The alpha preformation factor of 171 even-even nuclei was developed and proved to be accurate by measurement of heavy isotope decay.The term even-even nuclei refers to the stability of a given atomic nucleus based on the sum of the masses of protons and neutrons in the nucleus. Odd nuclei are less stable than even nuclei.

The researchers also determined that the alpha preformation probability is independent of the previous models that have been used to deduce the constant. Alpha preformation probability describes the energy mechanics necessary for the production of an alpha particle.

The practical indications of this development are a better use of alpha decay as a dating mechanism and the potential prediction of the stability of heavy atoms that are stable. Heavy atoms with atomic numbers greater than 103 that are stable have not been produced to date but are theoretically possible.

Physics first: Alpha particle preformation constant confirmed in China - Birmingham science news | Examiner.com

 

[shuttler]

China launches screen you can fold up like paper


Chinadaily

Updated: 2013-08-12 21:41 ( chinadaily.com.cn)

The first flexible AMOLED color screen in China, which can be folded up and carried around like a piece of paper, has been developed by a university in Guangzhou, according to China News Service.

4.8英寸彩色柔性AMOLED显示屏
4.8 inches color flexible AMOLED display

该显示屏具有超薄、可弯曲的特点
The display has thin, flexible features

South China University of Technology announced the news on Aug 9 and said the screen is 4.8 inches in diameter, 100 micrometers thick and no more than 1 gram in weight.

The screen can work as a TV display unit while simultaneously functioning as curtains, clothes or fashion accessories, the university said.

Several major international companies, like Samsung, LG and Sharp, are also actively developing the flexible AMOLED display technology, the report said.




华南理工成功研制出国内第一块彩色柔性AMOLED显示屏

投稿时间：2013-08-06 15:34 发布时间：2013-08-08 11:24 来源：材料科学与工程学院

South China successfully developed the first domestic color flexible AMOLED display

Received :2013 -08-06 15:34 Published :2013 -08-08 11:24 Source: Materials Science and Engineering

link


华南理工大学
South China University of Technology

Also reporting here earlier:
Thanks to @theniubt

http://www.defence.pk/forums/china-far-east/270607-china-developed-ln-izo-based-4-8-flexible-amoled-panel.html

 

[cirr]

How China plans to become a leader in robotics

By Chen Fei August 16, 2013

Chen Fei is a postdoctoral researcher at the Italian Institute of Technology.

Video：How China plans to become a leader in robotics – Quartz

With rapid economic development in the past 20 years, China urgently feels the need to move from a manufacturing-driven to an innovation-driven economy. As a result, the state is supporting many bold research initiatives to develop and attract highly skilled individuals who will be needed to lead this transition. Thanks to recent dramatic developments in hardware and software, economists anticipate that the Chinese robotics industry will meet its spring season this year.

China’s Five Year Plan establishes the core concept of development in all areas of society. In 2011, China started its 12th Five Year Plan, and for the first time ever, the service robot was identified as an important area for development. It is anticipated that many new Chinese robotics companies will emerge in the near future to meet the growth targets set out in the plan.

However, due to the economic crisis, the situation is changing subtly. I travelled around several main cities in China in early 2013 to learn from experts in the current automation industry, and it was apparent that because the new generation of Chinese workers ask for higher pay and lower workloads, it is very difficult for China’s massive manufacturing industry to recruit new workers. Not surprisingly, leading foreign industrial robot companies, such as Kuka, ABB and Fanuc are taking advantage of this problem to market their robots to the manufacturing sector.

Local companies are likewise developing Chinese industrial robots that may have relatively low performance, but which are nonetheless able to meet industrial requirements. One such example is the Million Robots Project from the Chinese electronics manufacturing giant Foxconn. While the industrial robot market is growing, however, service robots still remain the province of university labs and research institutes.

Funding high-risk research in China

In China, almost all high-risk, high-reward research is conducted by central government agencies: the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), the Ministry of Education (ME), the Ministry of Science and Technology (MST), and the Organization Department of CPC Central Committee (ODCCC).

NSFC aims to support young researchers by awarding modest grants from the Young Scientists Fund. This is the most popular funding mechanism for young researchers when they first begin conducting independent research as it is relatively easy to apply for and receive. The Ministry of Education manages several projects aimed to recruit top young and mid-career researchers both in and out of China to work as academic leaders and awards large grants to them.

The Ministry of Science and Technology manages several projects that are significant to researchers engaged in high risk, high reward research, including the National Basic Research Program of China and the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China. The ODCCC too funds high risk research initiatives through the Thousand Talent Project (TTP), a three-year term project with possible extension.

The goal of the TTP is to recruit thousands of foreign researchers with strong expertise in hardware and software to help develop innovation in China. There are already more than 100 foreign researchers working in China since 2008, the year TTP started.

Where the money goes

It can be difficult for people outside China to learn about the projects these granting programs support because—in part due to language barriers and visa restrictions—Chinese researchers tend to participate in domestic conferences rather than international ones.

While robotics researchers from around the world keenly watch videos of Boston Dynamic’s Bigdog walking freely on uneven and slippery mountain roads, or Honda’s Asimo dancing and hopping on one foot, the Chinese government is also busy establishing similar projects in a more low key fashion (see this PlasticPals YouTube playlist for a sample of what the whole must be).

Chinese humanoid robots doing a sword dance

Having visited Chinese laboratories and spoken face-to-face with researchers, I have seen many bold robotics initiatives that are currently underway. One particularly challenging area of development is the humanoid robot, and two of the best robotics laboratories for this are in China at the Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT) and Zhejiang University (ZHU), both of which have succeeded in producing the first humanoid robots that can perform Tai Chi and play ping pong (see here and here). These robots were not specifically designed for game play—they were in fact developed as part of China’s domestic service robots initiative – but Tai Chi and ping pong have helped researchers test their robots’ image processing and dexterity.

China is also pursing its own version of BigDog. In 2011, the 863 program established another 3-year project with funding up to $700m that aims to build a Biomimetic Quadruped Robot like Boston Dynamic’s BigDog. Almost all the important robotics labs in Chinese universities are competing for this funding. The Harbin Institute of Technology , Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Sheenyang Institute of Automation Chinese Academy of Science, Shan Dong University, and other universities and institutes each released their version of BigDog one after another.

These homegrown initiatives may not yet have the performance capabilities of their better-known counterparts, but the Chinese are well on their way to catching up to the world leaders in robotics research.

 

[cirr]

The world's first single-pixel （quantum）3D camera：

Engineering principle prototype by Shanghai Institue of Optics and Fine Mechanics。

Detailed report in Chinese on 27.08.2013：?????????????3???? ??????????-????

No hidings for stealth aircrafts。

 

[cirr]

An earlier brief report in English：

January 29, 2013

First 3-D Ghost Images From A Single Pixel

Chinese physicists use ghost imaging technique to make 3D images with a single pixel

Ghost imaging is the extraordinary technique of bouncing a laser beam off an object and making high quality images from the reflected light using a single pixel. This single pixel records many data points which must be stitched together to create the image.

But there is no scanning involved (which would be equivalent to taking an ordinary picture very slowly).

Instead, the data from the single pixel is compared against the intensity of the original laser beam, which must be randomised by passing it through frosted glass. Then any correlations between the original and reflected beam reveal information about the object in the image.

It is these correlations that physicists use to assemble the picture, known as a ghost image.

That may sound rather fiddly and time consuming but it is actually hugely efficient. The amount of data required to create an image in this way is tiny compared to the amount that ordinary imaging requires. It is possible to record the equivalent of a 5 megapixel image using just 50,000 pixels.

Physicists have demonstrated this technique in various different ways since 1995 but it is only in the last few years that they’ve begun to understand it properly and started to exploit it.

Today, Wenlin Gong and pals at the Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics in China reveal just how powerful the technique can be. They’ve designed and built a ghost imaging device that uses a single pixel to record three dimensional images.

The modification from previous ghost imaging systems is simple. They use short laser pulses of just 10 ns to briefly illuminate the object of interest and then turn on their single pixel for a short period of time so that it captures light reflected only from a specific distance.

This kind of gating produces image slices that can then be put together to create a three dimensional scene, a technique known as laser detection and ranging or LADAR.

To show off their idea, these guys use a green laser and a small telescope fitted with a single pixel to capture 3-D images of ordinary objects about a kilometre away. The image above, for example, shows a group of houses and trees about 900 metres away and has a spatial resolution of 25cm and a depth resolution of 60 cm.

That’s impressive. It doesn’t take much imagination to realise that this could be rather useful. As Wenlin Gong and pals put it modestly: “This technique has a great application prospect in remote sensing,” Quite!

First 3-D Ghost Images From A Single Pixel | MIT Technology Review

 

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A group of Chinese researchers discover a new method to combat multi drug resistant pneumonia


Discovery of a potent benzoxaborole-based anti-pneumococcal agent targeting leucyl-tRNA synthetase

Link: Scientific Reports : Nature
Published 20 August 2013

Superbug pneumonia under the microscope
Photo credit: Activist post

X-ray pic of a pneumonia infected lung
Credit: drugs.com


Extract

Pneumonia is a severe acute respiratory infectious disease that causes lung dysfunction, and it is considered the leading cause of morbidity and mortality among children worldwide.

The WHO estimated that penumonia kills over 2 million children each year, accounting for 19 per cent of under-five deaths1. Streptococcus pneumoniae is the primary pathogen of bacterial pneumonia, which resides in the human nasopharynx and can be transmitted through respiratory secretions in all age groups.

Currently, pneumonia is treated using several classes of antibiotics such as penicillins, macrolides and vancomycins. The effectiveness of widely available antibiotics is essential for reducing pneumonia mortality.

However, pneumococci has developed severe resistance to a variety of drugs and the numbers of clinically isolated resistant strains are in steadily increasing in recent years.

One major resistance of concern is the prevelance of penicillin-resistant S. pneumoniae which has been recognized as a community-acquired pathogen. More recently, the development of pneumococci resistance to over 3 kinds of antibiotics have been reported around the world.

The global emergence of multidrug-resistant S. pneumoniae and the high cost of vancomycin have restricted the effectiveness of clinically available drugs1, presenting a greater threat to public health. Therefore, there is an urgent need for the development of new anti-pneumococcal agents that show no cross-resistance to current drugs.

Here we report the compound ZCL039, a benzoxaborole-based derivative of AN2690, as a potent anti-pneumococcal agent that inhibits S. pneumoniae LeuRS (SpLeuRS) activity.

We show using kinetic, biochemical analyses combined with the crystal structure of ZCL039-AMP in complex with the separated SpLeuRS editing domain, that ZCL039 binds to the LeuRS editing active site which requires the presence of tRNALeu, and employs an uncompetitive inhibition mechanism. Further docking models establish that ZCL039 clashes with the eukaryal/archaeal specific insertion I4ae helix within editing domains. These findings demonstrate the potential of benzoxaboroles as effective LeuRS inhibitors for pneumococcus infection therapy, and provide future structure-guided drug


Affiliations

State Key Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Center for RNA research, Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China

Qing-Hua Hu, Ru-Juan Liu, Zhi-Peng Fang, Min Tan, Meng Wang & En-Duo Wang



School of Pharmacy, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China

Jiong Zhang & Hu-Chen Zhou


Department of Microbiology, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Medical Biodefense, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China

Ying-Ying Ding & Wei Pan





中国科学院上海生命科学研究院
State Key Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Center for RNA research, Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai

上海交通大学 药学院
School of Pharmacy, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai

上海交大校园 Shanghai Jiaotong Univerty compus

 

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上海第二军医院大学
Department of Microbiology, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Medical Biodefense, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai

All photo credits: dxycdn.com

 

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Discovery of a new versatile material - supramolecular nanotube fibre

Self-assembling yarn shows its strength

27 August 2013 Mark Peplow
Chemistry World

The nanotube yarn can be spun into a thread © Wiley-VCH

It is soft, strong and very, very long. Chinese chemists have created metres of a yarn that self-assembles from nothing more than a mixture of simple monomers in water.

Carbon nanotubes can already be spun into yarns to make extremely strong threads. Supramolecular nanotubes, formed by molecules spontaneously linking up through non-covalent bonds, could offer a simpler, low-cost alternative – if only they weren’t so fragile. ‘Soft supramolecular nanotubes have proved to be very difficult to spin,’ says Minghua Liu at the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Chemistry in Beijing.

Liu’s team has now built a much stronger supramolecular yarn from monomers of N,N-eicosanedioyl-di-L-histidine – essentially a long carbon chain with a histidine at each end. Mixed into slightly alkaline water, the molecules assemble themselves into flat sheets, which then roll up into nanotubes that are about 40nm wide and several hundred micrometres long.

When the researchers dipped a needle into the mixture they were able to slowly draw out a continuous yarn of thousands of nanotubes bundled together. Using an electric motor and a spool, the scientists could pull out metre-long yarns – several of these can be twisted together to make a helical thread.

‘The great thing here is that it is done simply, from a small molecule – up to now the best results were achieved with quite complex supramolecular “monomers”,’ says David Amabilino at the Materials Science Institute of Barcelona in Spain, who studies supramolecular self-assembly. It’s ‘certainly a very significant breakthrough’, he adds.

The yarn is a few micrometres wide, and once dried has a remarkable tensile strength of about 50MPa, comparable to polypropylene. The chemists suggest that the supramolecular nanotubes are held together by hydrogen bonding between the monomer’s amide groups, and hydrophobic interactions between its long alkyl chains.

‘This is the first type of supramolecular polymer fibre with such good mechanical properties and shows that small molecules and summing non-covalent interactions can lead to robust materials,’ says Amabilino.

Liu expects that the threads will be biocompatible and hopes to test them as a scaffold for growing cells. For example, it might serve as a template for repairing nerves, says Liu: ‘In the axons of nerve cells in the human body, microtubules assemble into long fibers to perform their functions, which have similar architecture to our nanotube yarns.’ Once tissue growth is underway, the supramolecular network could be disassembled, perhaps by changing the pH.

The tubes might also be used to carry or separate molecules. Liu’s team showed that a toluene solution of fluorescent molecule tetraphenylporphyrin could travel more than 1cm per hour along the tube. And as the nanotubes are chiral, ‘they may be useful for chiral recognition or separation’, he suggests. His team is now developing a range of similar yarns by tweaking the monomer building blocks and varying the self-assembly conditions.

REFERENCES

Y Liu et al, Adv. Mater., 2013, DOI: 10.1002/adma.201302345

Also read:

Self-Assembled Supramolecular Nanotube Yarn

Liu - 2013 - Advanced Materials - Wiley Online Library


Yaqing Liu-1, Tianyu Wang-1,*, Yong Huan-2, Zhibo Li-3, Guowei He-2, Minghua Liu-1,*
Article first published online: 13 AUG 2013

Author Affiliations

1- Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Science (BNLMS), CAS Key Laboratory of Colloid, Interface, and Chemical Thermodynamics, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, PR China

2- State Key Laboratory of Nonlinear Mechanics (LNM), Institute of Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, PR China

3- State Key Laboratory of Polymer Physics and Chemistry, Joint Laboratory of Polymer Science and Material, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, PR China
DOI: 10.1002/adma.201302345





中国科学院力学研究所
State Key Laboratory of Nonlinear Mechanics (LNM), Institute of Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences

中国科学院化学研究所
Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences

 

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An update with links to specific threads

http://www.defence.pk/forums/china-far-east/277640-important-discovery-combating-hiv-aids-found.html

http://www.defence.pk/forums/china-far-east/277229-chinese-researchers-make-invisibility-cloak-15-minutes.html

http://www.defence.pk/forums/china-far-east/277393-nature-2012-global-top-200-ranking-chinese-research-institutions.html

http://www.defence.pk/forums/china-far-east/277576-chinese-university-scientists-build-tiny-robot-battle-human-diseases.html

 

[Cyberian]

Wow. I am truly impressed. This thread is amazing.

 

[cirr]

BYD Announces Future Supercar With 3.9s 0-100

Sep 10, 2013

Posted By Ash

China Car Times

At a recent technical focused meet and greet with the Chinese automotive media, BYD announced a series of new technology cars including multiple new forced induction engines, two new hybrid powertrains and a range topping supercar.

BYD is not know for its design flair or its sporting credentials, the fledgling company has been producing cars that are rather like certain Toyota models for a number of years but in recent months have begun to stamp their own design trends into their model range.

BYD’s past is well known, it rose to fame with the Corolla inspired F3 and then fell to the ashes due to the F3 being a fairly poorly made car at the time, BYD then went back to the drawing board and redeveloped its internal systems. It no longer tries to produce everything in house and now has a focus on good quality cars packed with high technology at a fair price, the BYD Su Rui launched last year signifies BYD’s new trend.

In the future BYD will be focusing on safety, convenience and enjoyment. On the safety side of things BYD is planning for its models to have Heads Up Display systems on the dashboard as well as 360 degree visual system to give drivers a greater awareness of their surroundings. For convenience all future cars will have keyless start, communications systems, cruise control, voice control, and of course BYD’s well known patented remote control system. For entertainment, BYD’s base system will use a 10.2 inch screen entertainment system that is boosted to 12.2 inch in higher models, independent rear air conditioning system, electronic sliding doors, and a 5.1 surround sound system.

Engines are not being looked over either, BYD’s self developed turbo direct injection which first debuted with their current flagship 1.5T is being expanded to 1.2T, 1.8T and 2.0T which will be paired to both dry and wet dual clutch gearboxes, again both self developed by BYD.

Although BYD are focusing on direct injection turbo systems they are not forgetting their hybrid/EV goals, the company has announced that by mixing its 2.0T engine with its hybrid system an average car will be able to do 0-100kph in just 4.9 seconds.

We have seen BYD’s next generation Qin Hybrid concept before, that particular system is fitted with a 1.5T and BYD’s electric motor and iron phosphate battery system, the result is a 0-100kph time of 5.9seconds and an expected 300bhp with fuel use of just 2L per 100km with the car hitting the market in the fourth quarter of this year. But the next in line is the most interesting. Following on with the Chinese dynasty name theme, BYD are set to introduce a ‘Tang’ hybrid vehicle which will make the Qin look obsolete when it launches in 2014. The Tang will use BYD’s aforementioned 2.0T and hybrid system to propel it from 0-100 in 4.9 seconds, this system is likely to launch on the BYD S7 SUV first as it was showcased at the North American Auto Show previously.

And to top it all, BYD are planning for a new pure electric vehicle called the E9. BYD are being extremely tight lipped about the E9 but they have revealed it will be an electric supercar that will hit 0-100kp/h in just 3.9 seconds putting it on par with the Tesla Roadster which achieved a similar 3.7 seconds.

BYD Auto | BYD Announces Future Supercar With 3.9s 0-100 | China Car Times - China Auto News

The Qin Hybrid

So future BYD cars will be named after Chinese dynasties ？

 

[cirr]

First BYD Qin seen on the Road in China

PUBLISHED ON AUGUST 28, 2013 BY TYCHO DE FEIJTER

The very first BYD Qin hybrid we see on the road in China, seen in the great city of Shenzhen in Guangdong Province. The Qin has temporarily license plates behind the windows, indicating this is a test car. The Qin was expected to hit the China car market this month, but it seems launch has been delayed to a moment in time later this year.

The Qin is powered by a hybrid drivetrain consisting of a 1.5 liter turbo four cylinder petrol engine and an electric motor. Combined output is an impressive 315hp and 440nm, making the Qin the most powerful mass-market hybrid passenger car on earth. Top speed is 185km/h and 0-100 takes 6.9 seconds. The 1.5 turbo poops out 165hp, the electric motor another 150. BYD claims a combined fuel consumption of 2 liters per 100 kilometer.

Great mad thingies, great tech; gonna be a great BYD. Price will start around 180.000 yuan.

First BYD Qin seen on the Road in China | CarNewsChina.com - China Auto News

 

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Also read these：


http://www.defence.pk/forums/china-far-east/277953-china-successfully-develops-manufactures-1-strongest-fibres-f-12-a.html#post4773319

http://www.defence.pk/forums/china-...d-state-laser-source-frontier-equipments.html


http://www.defence.pk/forums/china-...nches-three-yaogan-weixing-17-satellites.html


http://www.defence.pk/forums/china-far-east/275430-chinas-mega-projects.html


http://www.defence.pk/forums/china-far-east/274278-world-s-first-single-pixel-quantum-3d-camera.html


http://www.defence.pk/forums/china-...emi-floating-gate-transistors-microelect.html


http://www.defence.pk/forums/china-far-east/272838-china-develops-own-tech-enrich-uranium.html

 

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Scientists make land arable again

Updated: 2013-09-16 01:53 By Cheng Yingqi ( China Daily)

chinadaily.com.cn

The 562-kilometer road connecting Urumqi and Hotan, which once was plagued by problems caused by the sand, now has desert plants as protection. The spread of sand in Xinjiang stops, and a major road to Urumqi is saved


For 2,000 years, people have battled the relentless wind and sand of the unforgiving Taklimakan Desert.

Ancient civilizations along the Silk Road were swept aside, leaving traces of their existence only in the remains of temples and frescos.

Qira county in the southwest of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region is one of the most severely hit regions.

Without scientific methods to combat desertification, the march of the sands of time would have continued.

But scientists have found an oasis of triumph after three decades.

The Qira research station of the Chinese Academy of Sciences was established in 1983. With the help of the scientists from the station, a transitional zone was established, and gradually the sand was pushed back more than 5 kilometers.

Jappar Mashrap, 49, lives in Qira and has witnessed the change and benefited from the work of the scientists.

Mashrap’s endangered home was on the fringe of the desert and the family had to move in the late 1960s as the sand crept closer.

But thanks to the work of the scientists, the desert’s march was stopped and Mashrap has a home again.

Now on Children’s Day, people often take their children to the amusement park, but things were quite different when I was a boy, Mashrap said.

"In those days, to celebrate festivals, my parents had to take me a long way to find grass where we could play.’’

The sand also threatened a major road running through on the north-south axis of the Taklimakan Desert.

The 562-kilometer road, completed in 1995, shortens the route between Urumqi and Hotan by 500 km. But it had been plagued by problems caused by the sand.

Xu Xinwen, director of the station, and his team devoted much of their efforts to securing the road.

Sometimes the sand on the road piles up a few meters high,"" Xu said. Various methods were tried, including fencing and barriers, but each had a drawback."
The most effective barrier for sand is greening, Xu said.

Since 2003, 20 million drought-enduring plants, including (clockwise from top left) Echinops sphaerocephalus, Poacyngrn hendersonii and Calligonum rubicundum, have been planted along the road. Photos by Hou Yiguo / for Chind Daily

However, in a desert that has annual precipitation of just 10 millimeters, "planting a tree and nurturing it to full growth is even more difficult than raising a child", Xu said.

Xu found seeds and plants that can survive in the bitter salt water under the sand, such as Chinese tamarisk, calligonum and Haloxylon ammodendron.

Since 2003, 20 million drought-enduring plants have been planted along the road, forming a 72-to 78- meter green belt.

The plants are irrigated by underground water pumped up 114 water wells. Compared to the cost of maintaining fences and barriers, irrigating the plants save some 30 million yuan ($4.9 million) every year.

The discoveries and applications of the desert plants is a lengthy process, according to Guan Kaiyun, director of the Turpan Eremophytes Botanic Garden.

Our researchers working in the stations find the plants and seeds, and we are in charge of plant introduction and acclimatization, which sometimes takes more than a decade to finish, Guan said.

In the parched Turpan Basin sits the world’s only botanic garden of Asian desert flora. When a new plant is found, the samples are usually taken back to the garden, where scientists find ways to help the plants adapt to the new environment.

Spending four decades introducing and preserving desert plants, the botanic garden now has 700 different species, 50 of them endangered. Estimates put the number of plant species in the desert at about 5,000.

The plants also provide scientists with research opportunities.

One example Guan gives is Ammopiptanthus nanus, an endangered evergreen shrub in Xinjiang on which scientists recently extracted a protein that can combat deep cold.

That protein explains the reason that Ammopiptanthus nanus survives the extreme low temperatures. And it’s worth further study because we might use it in genetically modified techniques in the future, Guan said.

Tian Changyan, deputy director of the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, has devoted 10 years to finding the perfect plants that could improve the saline-alkali soil.

Some plants can only grow in excessively saline soil. If we cultivate these plants on moderately saline soil, the plants will extract the salt out of the soil and improve its fertility, Tian said.

From 305 different salt-tolerant species, Tian identified six that were the most efficient. Experiments on a 67-hectare test field showed the plants were able to reduce the soil salt from 3 percent to less than 0.6 percent within three years.

Compared to the old method of washing the saline soil with water, the plants are much more effective and sustainable, Tian said.

Scientists at the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography have devised a major project which could change the landscape forever. By 2020, the institute will build a gene bank of arid regional plants covering 10,000 plant species. Also, a world-class botanical garden is planned for Ili Kazak autonomous prefecture.

The arid regional plants have excellent genetic features, so the genes are a significant strategic resource of the country, Guan said.

The genes have great potential for our future development of agriculture, medicine and the military.

 

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China to build 4,500-meter manned submersible

English.news.cn 2013-09-17 15:15:05

news.xinhuanet.com

ABOARD XIANGYANGHONG 09, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- Chinese scientists have launched a program to build a new manned submersible expected to dive as deep as 4,500 meters and capable of carrying out scientific research on a majority of the earth's seabeds.

The program was revealed by Hu Zhen with China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation, who is in charge of the technology development of the submersible program under the Ministry of Science and Technology, in an interview on board the Xiangyanghong 09, carrier boat of the Jiaolong submersible. The Jiaolong has dived successfully to a depth of 7,062 meters, ranking China among the world's most advanced countries in the deep-sea submersible field.

Upon completing overall maintenance of the Jiaolong, Hu and his colleagues are scheduled to undertake study on developing a second deep-sea diving vehicle for the country's seabed research.

The country's first submersible, Jiaolong, has successfully carried out 73 deep-sea dives so far, Hu said, noting that its operations have become easier over time as the submersible has grown more reliable and stable.

The Jiaolong will soon be handed over to the China Ocean Mineral Resources Research and Development Association, and at that time study will focus on key technologies involved in the 4,500-meter submersible, the scientist told Xinhua.

According to Hu, the key parts of the new submersible, such as robotic arms and a high-pressure crew-compartment made of titanium alloy, will be developed independently by Chinese scientists.

The Jiaolong can reach as many as 99.8 percent of all seabeds on Earth, and the new submersible is expected to be able to patrol most seabeds, including those in the South China Sea, Hu said.

The second submersible will have a number of new features compared to the older Jiaolong. It will have five windows for observing the seabed from different angles, and its manned capsule will have three seats and a ladder.

The new submersible will be easier and more comfortable for the crew to operate. Additionally, the new craft will be flat-bottomed, making it easier for the vehicle to be moved on board its carrier.

The new research program was recently inaugurated by the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation will be responsible for development of the new submersible, Hu said.