China Science & Technology Forum

[JSCh]

Public Release: 3-Mar-2016
The secret to 3-D graphene? Just freeze it
New study shows how researchers tame the notoriously fickle supermaterial in aerogel form with 3-D printer and ice

University at Buffalo

IMAGE: 3-D graphene created by an international research team led by Unversity at Buffalo engineers. Credit: University at Buffalo.​

BUFFALO, N.Y. - Graphene is a wonder material saddled with great expectations.

Discovered in 2004, it is 1 million times thinner than a human hair, 300 times stronger than steel and it's the best known conductor of heat and electricity. These qualities could, among other things, make computers faster, batteries more powerful and solar panels more efficient.

But the material is tough to manipulate beyond its two-dimensional form.

Recently, scientists poured graphene oxide suspension, a gel-like form of the material, into freezing molds to create 3-D objects. The process works, but only with simple structures that have limited commercial applications.

Another option is to use a 3-D printer. In this scenario, scientists typically mix graphene with a polymer or other thickening agent. This helps keep the structure from falling apart. But when the polymer is removed via thermal process, it damages the delicate structure.

A research team - comprised of engineers from the University at Buffalo, Kansas State University and the Harbin Institute of Technology in China - may have solved that problem.

A study published Feb. 10 in the journal Small describes how the team used a modified 3-D printer and frozen water to create lattice-shaped cubes and a three-dimensional truss with overhangs using graphene oxide. The structures could be an important step toward making graphene commercially viable in electronics, medical diagnostic devices and other industries.

"Graphene is notoriously difficult to manipulate, but the structures we built show that it's possible to control its shape in three-dimensional forms," said Chi Zhou, assistant professor of industrial and systems engineering at UB's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and a corresponding author of the study.

Zhou is a member of the Sustainable Manufacturing and Advanced Robotic Technologies (SMART), a UB Community of Excellence launched in 2015; he also is a member of UB's New York State Center of Excellence in Materials Informatics.

In their experiments, the research team mixed the graphene oxide with water. They then printed the lattice framework on a surface of -25°C. The graphene is sandwiched between the layers of frozen ice, which act as a structural support.

After the process is completed, the lattice is dipped in liquid nitrogen, which helps form even stronger hydrogen bonds. The lattice is then placed in a freeze dryer, where the ice is changed into gas and removed. The end result is a complex, three-dimensional structure made of graphene aerogel that retains its shape at room temperature.

"By keeping the graphene in a cold environment, we were able to ensure that it retained the shape we designed. This is an important step toward making graphene a commercially viable material," said Dong Lin, assistant professor of industrial and manufacturing systems engineering at Kansas State University, and the study's other corresponding author.

The researchers plan to build on their findings by investigating how to create aerogel structures formed of multiple materials.

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First authors of the study are Qiangqiang Zhang, a student at Harbin, and Feng Zhang, a student at UB. Contributing authors are Hui Li, a student at Harbin, and Sai Pradeep Medarametla, a student at Kansas State University.

The research team received support from Mark T. Swihart, UB Distinguished Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering, and Jonathan F. Lovell, assistant professor of biomedical engineering at UB. Both Swihart and Lovell are faculty members within UB's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-03/uab-tst030316.php

 

[JSCh]

China's major projects to be implemented in coming five years
Xinhua, March 5, 2016

China will carry out hundreds of programs and projects of scientific, economic and political significance in the upcoming five years, according to the draft 13th five-year plan on economic and social development submitted to the national legislature on Saturday.

Following are some of them.

1. Aero-engine, gas turbine

2. Quantum communication and computer

3. Brain science, brain-like research

4. National cyberspace security

5. Deep space exploration

6. Seed industry

7. Clean, efficient use of coal

8. Integrated information network

9. New materials

10. Laboratories for scientists

11. 10,000 elite entrepreneurs

12. 10,000 overseas talents back to China

13. 1 million professionals every year

14. 1,200 bases to train skilled professionals

15. 800 million mu of high-standard farmland

16. Internet plus modern agriculture

17. Big planes

18. New-generation heavy lift carrier rockets, new satellites

19. Deep-sea exploration, seabed resources utilization

20. New-generation high-speed heavy load railway equipment system

21. Advanced digital-controlled machine tools

22. Industrial, medical and military robots

23. Advanced medical and chemical equipment

24. Artificial intelligence terminals, 5G mobile telecom technology, advanced sensors, wearable devices

25. Application of gene science

26. Commercialization of Beidou and remote sensing satellites

27. 5 million new energy vehicles

28. Optical communication system

29. Internet of Things

30. Big data application

31. International e-commerce

32. 30,000-km high-speed railways covering 80 percent of major cities

33. 30,000-km new expressways

34. Sichuan-Tibet railway

35. Over 50 new civil airports

36. Shipping hubs and smart ports

37. 3,000-km new urban rail transit

38. Postal access for all villages

39. Internet of vehicles, ships

40. Automatic driving system

41. Intelligent electricity system

42. New hydro power plants with an aggregate capacity of 60,000 mw

43. Nuclear power plants with 58,000 mw installed capacity

44. Deep-sea oil and shale oil, gas

45. Expanded oil, uranium storage

46. Water diversion projects

47. Big reservoirs in Tibet and other areas

48. Water-control projects in Xinjiang and other areas

49. Harnessing projects for 244 rivers

50. Urbanization of 100 million people in central and west China

51. Smart cities and sponge cities

52. Tap water covering 80 percent of rural population

53. Longgong-1 deep-sea experimental platform

54. New observant station in Arctic, new scientific base in Antarctic

55. Global maritime monitoring system

56. Ecological restoration of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and other ecologically important areas

57. 5 million km of rural road

58. World-class universities

59. Protection of Chinese ancient books

60. Cultivating professionals capable of telling China story.

 

[JSCh]

Biodegradable Power Generators Could Power Medical Implants - IEEE Spectrum
By Charles Q. Choi
Posted 4 Mar 2016 | 19:00 GMT

Photo: Beijing Institute of Nanoenergy and Nanosystems/Chinese Academy of Sciences​

Biodegradable devices that generate energy from the same effect behind most static electricity could help power transient electronic implants that dissolve in the body, researchers say.

Implantable electronic devices now help treat everything from damaged hearts to traumatic brain injuries. For example, pacemakers can help keep hearts beating properly, while brain sensors can monitor patients for potentially dangerous swelling in the brain.

However, when standard electronic implants run out of power, they need to be removed lest they eventually become sites of infection. But their surgical removal can result in potentially dangerous complications. Scientists are developing transient implantable electronics that dissolve once they are no longer needed, but these mostly rely on external sources of power, limiting their applications.

Now researchers have developed a biodegradable power source that harnesses the phenomenon known triboelectricity, the most common cause of static electricity. When two different materials repeatedly touch and then separate, the surface of one material can steal electrons from the surface of the other. This is why rubbing feet on a carpet or a running a comb through hair can build up electric charge. The scientists detailed their findings online in the 4 March edition of the journal Science Advances.

At the heart of the new device are two layers of commercially available, inexpensive, biodegradable polymers, such as PLGA and PCL, which are used in medical sutures. One layer is a thin flat film, while the other layer is a sheet coated with rods up to 300 nanometers high. The layers are separated from one another by blocks of biodegradable polymer; they generate electricity when they are pushed together and pulled apart.

In the lab, the researchers found that their biodegradable nanogenerator could achieve a power density of 32.6 milliwatts per square meter. They discovered that it could successfully power a neuron-stimulation device that helps control neuron growth. “Our results open the gate to fully degradable electronic devices,” says study co-author Zhong Lin Wang, a materials scientist at the Beijing Institute of Nanoenergy and Nanosystems. “A whole device can be absorbed in body and would not need to be removed through additional surgery.”

The researchers note that they can tune the lifetime of their nanogenerator from hours to years, depending on the needs of the implantable electronics it is designed to power. They suggest that future devices could be powered by the mechanical energy from heartbeats or respiration.

“We provide a potential power source by reclaiming biomechanical energy from the human body,” Wang says.

__________________
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Abstract
Transient electronics built with degradable organic and inorganic materials is an emerging area and has shown great potential for in vivo sensors and therapeutic devices. However, most of these devices require external power sources to function, which may limit their applications for in vivo cases. We report a biodegradable triboelectric nanogenerator (BD-TENG) for in vivo biomechanical energy harvesting, which can be degraded and resorbed in an animal body after completing its work cycle without any adverse long-term effects. Tunable electrical output capabilities and degradation features were achieved by fabricated BD-TENG using different materials. When applying BD-TENG to power two complementary micrograting electrodes, a DC-pulsed electrical field was generated, and the nerve cell growth was successfully orientated, showing its feasibility for neuron-repairing process. Our work demonstrates the potential of BD-TENG as a power source for transient medical devices.

Biodegradable triboelectric nanogenerator as a life-time designed implantable power source | Science Advances​

 

[JSCh]

China Headlines: Sky is the limit for China's national strategy
Source: Xinhua 2016-03-06 17:10:03
by Xinhua writers Yu Fei and Quan Xiaoshu

BEIJING, March 6 (Xinhua) -- For thousands of years thinkers have grappled to understand the origins of the universe. Now, this question has been included, alongside more terrestrial topics such as agriculture, in China's new economic and social development plan.

In the draft outline of the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020), which was presented to the Fourth Session of the 12th National People's Congress for review on Saturday, the evolution of the universe was given pride of place on the scientific research list. It was followed by material structure, the origins of life, and neurology.

"This is the first time China has included the origins of the universe in its medium- and long-term plan," Han Song, a Chinese sci-fi writer, said.

"So, like the ancient philosophers Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu more than 2,000 years ago, modern thinkers are deliberating the ultimate question of existence," Han said.

"Fundamental questions, like this, have the power to influence solutions to some of the most prominent problems faced by society, and the world at large," said Han.

According to the draft, China will launch projects exploring quantum communication, deep space exploration, water saving and irrigation, and pollution control -- areas that have been identified as having far reaching consequences.

With economic downward pressure forecast to continue over the coming five years, China is committed to fostering new development momentum through innovation.

Zhang Xinmin, a researcher with the Institute of High Energy Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and also a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), said that the inclusion of research into the 13th Five-Year Plan shows that the country is beginning to value basic science.

Zhang, who is involved in research into primordial gravitational waves in Ali, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, said research is the origin of innovation. Without it, innovation on a large scale is unachievable.

Study on universe evolution seems unrelated to solving more pressing issues, such as lifting tens of millions of people out of poverty by 2020.

However, Hugo Award-winning author Liu Cixin, said many problems rely on advances in science and technology.

Currently, about five percent of research investment is channelled to fundamental research. Whereas in the United States and Germany, that figure is 40 percent and 28 percent.

"Since the 13th Five-Year Plan includes basic research, we expect more science facilities will be built. More investment will bring more opportunities," Liu said.

On Dec. 17, 2015, the dark matter particle explorer (DAMPE), the country's first astronomical satellite, was sent to explore the secrets of the universe.

"Although China still lags behind scientifically-advanced countries in some areas, we should not belittle ourselves. We have made great strides in basic science and space science. As long as we are diligent, in the near future we will achieve great success," said Chang Jin, chief scientist with DAMPE and vice director of the CAS Purple Mountain Observatory.

Another three scientific satellites -- one for quantum science experiments, another for microgravity research and space life science, and a hard X-ray telescope that will observe black holes, neutron stars and other phenomena -- will be launched this year.

Wu Ji, director of CAS National Space Science Center, said that since China's first satellite was launched into space 45 years ago, a number of communication, remote sensing and navigation satellites have followed.

"If China wants to be a strong global nation, it should not only care about the immediate interests, but also contribute to humankind. Only that can win China the real respect of the world," Wu said.

According to Wu, the space center has mapped out the space science strategy for the coming 15 years, featuring areas such as the formation and evolution of the universe; extra terrestrial intelligence and extra-solar planets; the formation and evolution of the solar system; solar activity and its impact on the geo-space environment; evolution of the Earth system; physical laws beyond the existing basic physical theory; material movement; and life activity in space.

China will produce another five or six scientific satellites by 2020, which will aid research into black hole, dark matter, quantum physics and space environment, Wu said.

"If you want to innovate, you must have knowledge of the sciences. Space science is inseparable from China's innovation-driven development," said Wu.

Ye Peijian, a CAS academic and a member of the CPPCC National Committee, said China's probe is expected to land on Mars in 2021.

"Exploring the red planet and deep space will mean that China can establish itself as a scientific and technological expert. The knock on effect is that inventions and independent intellectual property rights will surge, and, as a result, China's core competence will increase, pushing development in other industries," said Jia Yang, deputy chief designer of Yutu, China's first moon rover.

"As China continues with its lunar mission, glimpsing farther and farther into deep space, it will play a bigger role in solving key frontier scientific questions," Jia added.

 

[JSCh]

World’s first internally motorized minimally invasive surgical robotic system
March 3, 2016

Animal trials using the NSRS prototype were carried successfully in December 2015. Credit: The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

An innovative project to develop a novel surgical robotic system (NSRS) with haptic (tactile) feedback and capable of single incision or natural orifice (incision-less) robotic surgery has been initiated by a team led by The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

To minimize surgical trauma and improve the safety of current robotic surgery, an innovative project to develop a novel surgical robotic system (NSRS) with haptic (tactile) feedback and capable of single incision or natural orifice (incision-less) robotic surgery has been initiated by Professor Yeung Chung-Kwong (Prof Yeung), Honorary Clinical Professor, Department of Surgery, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong (HKU). A team of experienced engineers led by Professor Yung Kai-Leung (Prof Yung), Professor and Associate Head of the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) was invited to develop the system as an engineering partner since 2012.

Through applying Prof Yung's expertise in making precision instrument in space, and with important input of expertise in robotic surgery from Prof Yeung, the team has made the breakthrough possible recently. A NSRS with surgical robotic arms that are driven by internal micro-motors and capable of up to 10 degrees of freedom in movement has been developed and successfully utilised in three consecutive animal surgical experiments by Professor Law Wai-Lun (Prof Law), the Anthony and Anne Cheung Professor in Innovative and Minimally Invasive Surgery, Clinical Professor, Director of Surgical Skills Centre, Department of Surgery, and Associate Dean of Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, HKU together with Prof Yeung. This innovative project is funded by NISI (HK) Limited (NISI), a company specializing in non-invasive surgical innovations, and supported by the Innovation and Technology Commission of the Hong Kong SAR Government.

Currently there is only one dominant surgical robotic system on the market. The system is expensive and has many limitations, including the need for multiple incisions, lack of haptic (force or tactile sensation) feedback, and bulkiness. Furthermore, it is not designed for natural orifice (NOTES, or incision-less) robotic surgery. By contrast NSRS, the new robotic system, can be inserted through a single, small incision or even a natural orifice and expanded inside the human body to perform various surgical operations.

Compared with currently available surgical robots, which require multiple (3-6) abdominal incisions, NSRS has fully internally motorized surgical arms which can enter the human body through one tiny incision, or even a natural orifice, for various abdominal or pelvic surgical operations. Since the robotic arms are driven by custom-made micro-motors adjacent to the end-effectors, they can operate with high precision and provide a good sensation of the force applied (haptic feedback). NSRS is the first robotic system in the world with arms having in-vivo motors that are both small enough and able to generate sufficient force to perform various surgical operations inside the human body, paving the way for future non-invasive surgery.

Three consecutive successful animal surgical experiments using the NSRS prototype were carried out at the Surgical Skills Centre, Department of Surgery, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, HKU since December 2015. In the most recent successful experiment conducted on 3 February, 2016, robotic cholecystectomy was successfully completed within one hour in a live pig with NSRS. "It is our belief that by integrating cutting-edge technologies with the surgical robotic platform we can make future robotic surgery much safer and less invasive, thus providing significantly better care for our patients", said Prof Yeung. Prof Law added, "We will continue to test the new robotic system in animal and cadaver models for more complicated procedures, using a single-incision and natural orifice approach. Our objective is to apply this system to various robotic surgeries in human in the near future."

Prof Timothy W. Tong, President of PolyU said, "PolyU is well experienced in making innovative sophisticated instruments for different deep space exploration missions. Our multi-disciplinary approach of innovatively combining materials' properties, design and mechatronics has led to the production of reduced size, light-weight and high precision instruments. The next challenge is the application of these space technologies for civilian purposes." Prof Yung noted, "The development of NSRS is one obvious example of applying space technologies and we are delighted to note that this PolyU engineering innovation will help turn a new page in minimally invasive surgery, thus enhancing the well-being of patients."

 

[JSCh]

Scientists solved the weather and wind mystery of the capsized cruise ship Oriental Star | EurekAlert! Science News
Science China Press

Figure 1 shows fallen trees and radar observations near the shipwreck of Oriental Star. Credit: ©Science China Press​

The cruise ship Oriental Star, with 454 people on board, capsized on the Yangtze River of China at ~2131 LST(Local Standard Time, LST=UTC+0800) on 1 June 2015, leaving 442 fatalities (Fig.1a and c). A recent study revealed the weather and wind situation when the shipwreck occurred.

The paper was titled "Wind Estimation around the Shipwreck of the 'Oriental Star' based on Field Damage Surveys and Radar Observations", which was published by the Science Bulletin in Vol.61, No. 4, with Dr. Zhiyong Meng of Peking University as the corresponding author. The authors solved the mystery of weather and strong winds near the shipwreck location when the disaster happened based on radar analyses and ground and aerial damage surveys.

From the very beginning of the event, there has been no agreement on what kind of weather the ship encountered. Since the horizontal scale of storms can be as small as several hundreds of meters, and the conventional meteorological observatories are so sparse that no direct wind observations were available within a distance of 13 km from the shipwreck location, and the nearest radar could only detect radial velocity higher than 700 m above ground level, the wind features at that moment can only be estimated from the damages to the trees and structures in help of radar observations.

This study investigated the wind and affecting weather systems around the shipwreck location based on radar analyses and ground and aerial damage surveys. The on-site damage surveys were performed for eight days under the collaboration of China Meteorological Administration, Universities, and Changjiang Maritime Safety Administration. The damages to the structure, trees, and crops were measured and recorded. Two drones were employed in aerial surveys to conduct a carpet monitoring in the severely damaged area especially near the shipwreck location by photograph and video shootings. The authors mentioned that this is the first time that drone was used in weather damage survey in the meteorological history of China.

Figure 2 shows the ground and aerial views of a downburst ~ 5 km north of the shipwreck. ©Science China Press​

The study showed that the ship was located near the apex of a bow echo embedded in a squall line (Fig.1c). Accompanied with the strengthening of strong heavy rainfall (Fig. 1d) and the rear-inflow jet (Fig.1e) of the bow-echo, the wind speed at ~ 700 m AGL ~ 1 km north of the wreck location increased to at least 22 m s-1 at 2127 LST (Fig.1f). Several places with apparent microburst damage were found within 10 km from the wreck location (Fig.2). Within 2 km from the shipwreck, most trees were found to fall southeastwards with curved tree fall patterns at a scale of about 30 m at several isolated places. These fallen trees were likely caused by microburst straight-line wind and/or embedded small vortices, rather than tornadoes. Based on a snapped tree only about 600 m from the shipwreck (Fig. 1b), it is estimated that Oriental Star encountered strong winds of at least 31 m s-1 when it capsized.

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This research was funded by National Key Basic Research Program of China (No. 2013CB430100) and National Natural Science Funds for Distinguished Young Scholar (No. 41425018).

See the article: MENG Zhiyong, YAO Dan, BAI Lanqiang, ZHENG Yongguang, XUE Ming, ZHANG Xiaoling, ZHAO Kun. TIAN Fuyou, and WANG Mingjun, 2016: Wind Estimation around the Shipwreck of the "Oriental Star" Based on Field Damage Survey and Radar Observaions, Science Bulletin, 2016, Vol 61, No. 4: 330-337

Wind estimation around the shipwreck of Oriental Star based on field damage surveys and radar observations - Springer

Wind estimation around the shipwreck of Oriental Star based on field damage surveys and radar observations

 

[JSCh]

Science is a major plank in China’s new spending plan | Science | AAAS

• By Kathleen McLaughlin
• Mar. 7, 2016 , 4:00 PM

China will invest heavily in S&T over the next 5 years and cut red tape hampering science spending with the hope that innovation will help the country weather its economic slowdown.

In a speech to open the National People’s Congress on 5 March, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang—the country’s top economic official—gave a broad-brush overview of the central government’s draft plan for economic development during the 13th 5-year plan, which runs from 2016 to 2020. Major elements include boosting science spending, which will rise 9.1% this year to 271 billion yuans ($41 billion), reducing bureaucratic barriers for scientists, and improving environmental protection while curbing carbon emissions and other pollutants.

“Innovation is the primary driving force for development and must occupy a central place in China's development strategy,” Li told delegates on the first day of the 2-week congress. Li’s speech, considered a guidepost for the specific policies that will be fleshed out in the next year or two, used the word “innovation” 61 times—nearly double the mentions it received in his work report last year, the state-run Xinhua News Agency pointed out.

The 5-year plan, which serves as a framework for the Chinese Communist Party’s long-term development goals, contains few concrete details on exactly how such measures will be implemented or funded. Instead, it contains a long list of priorities, from building national science centers and space programs to expansion of major infrastructure with thousands of kilometers of new high-speed rail and roadways. China’s new plan promises that by 2020, R&D investment will account for 2.5% of gross domestic product, compared with 2.05% in 2014.

Chinese scientists welcome the budget boost for science, but note that the real impact remains in the as-yet unknown details. “The government always has big plans, but it’s an uncertain time for the economy so we have to watch what happens next. Implementation is crucial,” says Wang Tao, an energy and climate analyst with the Carnegie-Tsinghua Center for Global Policy in Beijing.

China’s economic growth slowed to 6.9% in 2015, and the government has set a 5-year GDP growth target of 6.5% to 7%. In Li’s outline, technology and infrastructure investments figure prominently in what officials clearly hope is a new growth strategy less reliant on manufacturing and heavy industry.

Themes in the new 5-year plan include the domestic production of gas-turbine engines and planes, and increased focus on neuroscience and genetic research, national cyberspace security, and deep space exploration. Chinese aerospace officials told state media last week they hope to launch a Mars probe by 2020. Big data, high-tech medical devices, and cloud computing also earned mention as priority projects. Li spoke of tax breaks for companies that invest in high-priority endeavors and promised a reduction of bureaucratic hurdles to promote R&D.

“We will implement the strategy of innovation-driven development, see that science and technology become more deeply embedded in the economy, and improve the overall quality and competitiveness of the real economy,” Li said.

The plan spells out some measures for China’s environmental protection and energy production, but it’s unclear how much the measures will differ from what is already underway. By 2020, the government wants to reduce energy consumption by 15% and carbon emissions by 18%. In a news conference yesterday, Xu Shaoshi, the head of the National Development and Reform Commission in Beijing, said China will remove 500 million tons of coal production capacity in the next 3 to 5 years. Meanwhile, nuclear power capacity is slated to double to 58 gigawatts installed by 2020.

China is reorganizing its environment ministry to create separate departments focused on water, air, and soil. Scientists applaud what they view as a concerted government effort to tackle soil pollution. “After so many years of rapid industrialization and urbanization in China, soil pollution is clearly now evident and needs due attention,” says Yong-Guan Zhu, director general of the Institute of Urban Environment in Xiamen. He says that measures should include creation of a national soil surveillance system.

With reporting by Christina Larson.

DOI: 10.1126/science.aaf4155

 

[JSCh]

China develops desert robots to monitor sandstorm
Xinhua 2016-03-09 13:29

Desert robots. (File photo)​

A team of scientists in northwest China have developed two specialized robots that will record sand and dust levels related to desertification.

The robots, one six-legged and the other wheeled with a loading capacity of 8 kg and 80 kg respectively, can measure wind speed, air pressure, humidity, sand vibration and wind erosion, said Yang Zelin, a member of Ningxia University research team, on Wednesday.

The robots, which are equipped with solar panels, use microwaves to relay data over an area of 25 kilometers. They can run for one hour, said Yang.

Currently desert data is mainly collected from aerological stations, as it was previously difficult to collect on-the-ground information.

"The various sensors installed on the robots are only 50 centimeters from the ground, offering us the much needed in situ data we require," said Yang.

The robots are the result of a collaboration project between Ningxia University, Shanghai Jiaotong University, the University of Pennsylvania and the Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Ningxia, a dry and barren region in northwest China, borders Tengger Desert, China's fourth largest desert, which stretches over 43,000 square kilometers.

 

[cirr]

Exploiting earth-moon space: China's ambition after space station

Source: Xinhua 2016-03-07

BEIJING, March 7 (Xinhua) -- China will manage to exploit the space between earth and the moon for solar power and other resources after it builds a space station in 2020, Lt Gen. Zhang Yulin, said Monday.

The deputy chief of the armament development department of the Central Military Commission said preliminary work on the program had already begun.

"The earth-moon space will be strategically important for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation," said the national lawmaker.

China's military authority is one of the several departments working on the national space program.

Zhang told Xinhua on the sidelines of the ongoing annual legislative session that generating solar power in space will be much more efficient than on earth. Silicon dioxide used in solar panels, is inexhaustible on the moon, while water in the moon's polar regions and on asteroids can be electrolyzed into oxygen and hydrogen to make propellant for spacecraft.

With propellant and solar panels, a solar power plant could be constructed in space between earth and the moon, impossible with current technology as an industrial-scale power plant would weigh over 10,000 tonnes. The International Space Station, the biggest man-made object to be sent into orbit, weighs just over 400 tonnes.

Besides power, the earth-moon space has a lot of other resources, he said, adding that the current manned earth-moon space program could lay the foundation for a manned Mars program and other deep-space exploration.

"The future of China's manned space program, is not a moon landing, which is quite simple, or even the manned Mars program which remains difficult, but continual exploration the earth-moon space with ever developing technology."

A series of space missions is planned to verify key technology for the space station. Around 2020, a medium-sized space station with three modules and weighing 60 tonnes will be put into orbit.

Exploiting earth-moon space: China's ambition after space station
- Xinhua | English.news.cn

 

[JSCh]

Childhood cataracts repaired using stem cells
Cells already present in the eye are able to generate a new lens—if we let them.

by Diana Gitig - Mar 9, 2016 7:14 pm UTC

Cataracts—the clouding of the lens in our eyes—are the leading cause of blindness in the world. Though we often associate them with the elderly, they're also a major cause of vision loss in infants, especially in the developing world. In either case, they are dealt with surgically, by removing the entire lens and replacing it with either a transplanted lens or an artificial one.

More than twenty million people undergo this surgery annually, but it often comes with a host of complications, and children in particular usually still need glasses afterward. But now some researchers have shown that it's possible to skip the replacement lens and get stem cells to repair the damage, a procedure that results in fewer complications.

Researchers in China noticed that the eye contains lens epithelial stem/progenitor cells (LECs) that continue to divide, even in forty-year-old adults. Injury can stimulate them to grow into three-dimensional, transparent, light refracting, lens-like structures. Rather than using artificial lenses, these researchers thought, maybe they could get infants to regrow their own new lenses.

First they tried their new procedure in rabbits and baby macaques. Normally, the surgical procedure involves making a large wound and removing most of the LECs with the cataract, as has traditionally been done in order to insert the artificial lens. But if the LECs hold the very key to regenerating a functional lens, this might not be the best way to go about things.

So instead, they made a small wound that preserved the LECs that were already in place while removing only the clouded native lens. By seven weeks, the eyes of the animals that had surgery looked the same as those that hadn’t.

Next they tried their procedure in twelve infants—or, as they helpfully note, twenty-four eyes. Their results in terms of visual acuity six months after surgery were as good as those achieved with the traditional method. But the artificial implants almost always result in complications that further restrict vision—ironically, these problems are due to the abnormal growth of the few residual LECs.

This new, minimally invasive technique reduced the most common complication twenty-fold—only one out of their twelve patients ended up with it, compared to 24 out of 25 control infants who got the traditional procedure at the same time.

Adult cataracts are not the same as the pediatric variety, but since adult LECs have regenerative capacity, perhaps this procedure could be modified to deal with age-related cataracts as well. This first instance of human lens regeneration could well be a step on the path toward using endogenous stem cells to repair other tissues that need regeneration.

Nature, 2016. DOI: 10.1038/nature17181

Childhood cataracts repaired using stem cells | Ars Technica

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'Stunning' operation regenerates eye's lens - BBC News
By James Gallagher Health editor, BBC News website

• 9 March 2016
• From the section Health

Image copyright SPL​

A pioneering procedure to regenerate the eye has successfully treated children with cataracts in China.

More than half of all cases of blindness are caused by cataracts - the clouding of the eye's lens.

An implanted lens is normally needed to restore sight, but the operation described in Nature activated stem cells in the eye to grow a new one.

Experts describe the breakthrough as one of the finest achievements in regenerative medicine.

The lens sits just behind the pupil and focuses light on to the retina.

About 20 million people are blind because of cataracts, which become more common with age - although some children are born with them.

Conventional treatment uses ultrasound to soften and break up the lens, which is then flushed out.

An artificial intraocular lens must then be implanted back into the eye, but this can result in complications, particularly in children.

The technique developed by scientists at the Sun Yat-sen University and the University of California, San Diego removes the cloudy cataract from inside the lens via a tiny incision.

Crucially it leaves the outer surface - called the lens capsule - intact.

This structure is lined with lens epithelial stem cells, which normally repair damage.

The scientists hoped that preserving them would regenerate the lens.

The team reported that tests on rabbits and monkeys were successful, so the approach was trialled in 12 children.

Within eight months the regenerated lens was back to the same size as normal.

The study is one of the finest achievements in the field of regenerative medicine until now
Dr Dusko Ilic, King's College London​

Dr Kang Zhang, one of the researchers, told the BBC News website: "This is the first time an entire lens has been regenerated. The children were operated on in China and they continue to be doing very well with normal vision."

It also showed a dramatically lower complication rate "by almost every measure, supporting the superiority of the treatment".

However, he says larger trials are needed before it should become the standard treatment for patients.

The procedure was tried in children because their lens epithelial stem cells are more youthful and more able to regenerate than in older patients.

Yet the overwhelming majority of cataracts are in the elderly.

Dr Zhang says tests have already started on older pairs of eyes and says the early research "looks very encouraging".

Commenting on the findings, Prof Robin Ali from the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, said the work was "stunning".

He told the BBC News website: "This new approach offers greatly improved prospects for the treatment of paediatric cataracts as it results in regeneration of a normal lens that grows naturally."

He said getting similar results in adults "is likely to be more difficult to achieve" but could "have a major impact".

"It might be superior to the artificial lenses that are currently implanted, as the natural lenses should be able to accommodate looking at different distances more effectively," he added.

Dr Dusko Ilic, a reader in stem cell science at King's College London, said: "The study is one of the finest achievements in the field of regenerative medicine until now.

"It is science at its best."

Far-reaching
Dr Zhang believes that targeting stem cells already sitting in the eye could have "great potential" for treating a wide range of diseases from macular degeneration to glaucoma.

A separate study by Osaka University in Japan and Cardiff University, used stem cells to mirror the development of the eye.

They were able to produce a range of specialised eye tissues including those that make the cornea, conjunctiva, lens and retina.

The findings, also published in Nature, showed the lab-grown tissues could restore sight to rabbits with corneal blindness.

One of the researchers, Prof Andrew Quantock, said: "Our work not only holds potential for developing cells for treatment of other areas of the eye, but could set the stage for future human clinical trials of anterior eye transplantation to restore visual function."

 

[JSCh]

Drone boasting AI unveiled in China
By Qiu Quanlin in Shenzhen (chinadaily.com.cn) Updated: 2016-03-07 19:03

DJI's latest product Phantom 4, which can aviod obstacles and tracks objects, is unveiled in Shenzhen, March 5, 2016. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]​

DJI Technology, the world's largest consumer drone maker in terms of market share, has unveiled its new product equipped with artificial intelligence to Chinese users on Saturday.

Phantom 4, which can avoid obstacles and track objects in operation, marked the company's further efforts to increase its global market share in the drone industry with smart technologies, said Qiao Yan, chief executive officer of DJI Studio.

Based in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, DJI currently accounts for 70 percent of the global drone market, according to the company.

"Phantom 4 is able to see, think and decide, in accordance with user's habits, flying like a smart genius," Qiao said.

The Phantom 4 was globally unveiled in New York on March 1. The company will later hold a show event in Seoul on Friday.

qiuquanlin@chinadaily.com.cn

 

[JSCh]

Chinese collaboration for accelerator-driven systems
11 March 2016

A strategic cooperation agreement to develop accelerator-driven systems has been signed between China General Nuclear (CGN) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). Such systems could be used to transmutate used nuclear fuel or run subcritical nuclear reactors powered by thorium.

​

The signing of the ADANES agreement (Image: CAS)​

The agreement on Accelerator-Driven Advanced Nuclear Energy Systems (ADANES) was signed in Beijing on 9 March by CGN deputy general manager Zheng Dongshan and CAS deputy secretary general Tan Tieniu following a forum between the two organizations.

CGN said the agreement would be based on "complementary advantages, win-win cooperation and common development" in the research and development of accelerator-driven systems. "By signing this agreement, the two sides will further establish long-term strategic alliances and partnerships to accelerate the development of advanced nuclear energy systems," it said.

The transmutation of long-lived radioactive waste can be carried out in an accelerator-driven system, where neutrons produced by an accelerator are directed at a blanket assembly containing the waste along with fissionable fuel. Following neutron capture, the heavy isotopes in the blanket assembly subsequently fission, producing energy in doing so. Such systems could also be used to generate power from the abundant element thorium.

An accelerator-driven system can only run when neutrons are supplied to it because it burns material which does not have a high enough fission-to-capture ratio for neutrons to maintain a fission chain reaction. Such a reactor, therefore, could be turned off simply by stopping the proton beam, rather than needing to insert control rods to absorb neutrons and make the fuel assembly subcritical. Because they stop when the input current is switched off, accelerator-driven systems are seen as safer than normal fission reactors.

Cooperation between CGN and CAS goes back many years. In September 2006, they signed a framework agreement on scientific and technical cooperation, as well as an agreement on the Daya Bay reactor neutrino experiment project.

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News

 

[JSCh]

Public Release: 11-Mar-2016
Chinese scientists realize quantum simulation of the Unruh effect
Science China Press

(a) The NMR quantum simulator consists of 13C, 1H and 19F nuclear spins in chloroform; (b) The experimental pulse sequence for simulating the Unruh effect. ©Science China Press​

Quantum mechanics and relativity theory are two pillars of modern physics. With their amalgamation, many novel phenomena have been identified. For example, the Unruh effect [1] is one of the most significant outcomes of the quantum field theory. This effect serves as an important tool to investigate phenomena such as thermal emission of particles from black holes and cosmological horizons [2]. It has been 40 years since the discovery of the Unruh effect, however, this effect is too weak to be observed with current technique. There have been a lot of attempts in searching for the observational evidence of the Unruh effect and in general the experimental observation is still of great challenge. To address this issue, quantum simulators [3, 4] may provide a promising approach. Quantum simulation is widely applied for simulating the quantum systems which cannot be efficiently simulated by classical computers or are not directly tractable by the current techniques in the laboratory.

The researchers, led by Prof. Jiangfeng Du from University of Science and Technology of China, reported an experimental simulation of the Unruh effect with an NMR quantum simulator [5]. The experiments were performed on a Bruker Avance III 400MHz spectrometer. The researchers used a sample of 13C, 1H and 19F nuclear spins in chloroform as the NMR quantum simulator, as shown in Figure 1(a). The simulated Unruh effect on the quantum states can be realized by the pulse sequence acting on the sample, as depicted in Figure 1(b). By the quantum simulator, they experimentally demonstrated the behavior of Unruh temperature with acceleration, which agrees nicely with the theoretical prediction, as shown in Figure 2. Furthermore, they investigated the quantum correlations quantified by quantum discord between two fermionic modes as seen by two relatively accelerated observers. It is shown for the first time that the quantum correlations can be created by the Unruh effect from the classically correlated states. This work was recently published in the Science China-Physics, Mechanics & Astronomy.

It is interesting that the Unruh effect was in Feynman's blackboard as one of the issues to learn at the time of his death in 1988, while it was also Feynman who conceived the idea of quantum simulation in 1982. This quantum simulation of the Unruh effect will provide a promising window to explore the quantum physics of accelerated systems, which widely appear in black hole physics, cosmology and particle physics.

###​

This research was funded by the National Key Basic Research Program of China (Grant Nos. 2013CB921800 and 2014CB848700) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11227901, 91021005, 11375167, 11374308, 11104262 and 11275183).

[1] W. G. Unruh, Phys. Rev. D 14, 870 (1976).

[2] L. C. B. Crispino, A. Higuchi, and G. E. A. Matsas, Rev. Mod. Phys. 80, 787 (2008).

[3] R. Feynman, Int. J. Theor. Phys. 21, 467 (1982).

[4] S. Lloyd, Science 273, 1073 (1996).

[5] F. Jin, H. Chen, X. Rong, H. Zhou, M. Shi, Q. Zhang, C. Ju, Y. Cai, S. Luo, X. Peng, and J. Du, Experimental simulation of the Unruh effect on an NMR quantum simulator, Science China-Physics, Mechanics & Astronomy, 2016, Vol. 59, Issue (3): 630302, DOI: 10.1007/s11433-016-5779-7

Experimental simulation of the Unruh effect on an NMR quantum simulator

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11433-016-5779-7

Chinese scientists realize quantum simulation of the Unruh effect | EurekAlert! Science News

 

[JSCh]

China Exclusive: Bio-engineered pig corneas help Chinese see anew
Source: Xinhua 2016-03-12 18:42:12

GUANGZHOU, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Bio-engineered corneas made from pigs' eyes may help millions of Chinese patients to see again, ophthalmologists have said.

A 14-year-old boy regained his sight after receiving a pig cornea transplant on Feb. 25, according to Yuan Jin of Sun Yat-sen University ophthalmology center, in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou.

The boy injured his right eye with a firecracker during New Year celebrations.

"He developed ulcer in his right eye and had lost his sight before the transplant. A week after the transplant, he had regained some vision. In the future his sight may be close to normal," said Yuan.

The cornea is the eye's outermost transparent layer. Every year, more than five million Chinese patients are blinded by cornea disorders or damage. The demand for cornea transplants far exceeds supply, so bio-engineered solutions could restore the eyesight of millions of Chinese,Yuan said.

Research into the use of animal corneas began in 2003 at Ainier Cornea Engineering Company, Shenzhen and the Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an. After success in animal tests, clinical tests were carried out in 2010 on 100 patients in four hospitals in Beijing and Wuhan, with 94 patients regaining some or all of their vision. Pig corneas proved just as successful as human, said Zhang Mingchang, director of ophthalmology at Wuhan Union Hospital.

Forty-seven patients who received the transplant at Wuhan Union Hospital have fully recovered their eyesight, said Zhang. Artificial corneas are not a miracle cure for all disorders though. They cannot help, for example, with severe penetration wounds.

Zhang Bin, director of Ainier Cornea, said initial trials were conducted using tissue from chickens, cows, ducks, geese, monkeys and sheep before pigs were selected. Some corneas may carry viruses and pig tissue was found to have the lowest risk of infection in the recipient. The bio-mechanical properties of human and pig corneas are very similar, he said.

The company gained China Food and Drug Administration approval in April last year for "Acornea," the first such commercial product to be accredited, and it has since gone into mass production.

"It takes 20 days of quite complex processes from removing the tissue from the donor to produce one Acornea," Zhang said.

 

[Beast]

China Exclusive: Bio-engineered pig corneas help Chinese see anew
Source: Xinhua 2016-03-12 18:42:12

GUANGZHOU, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Bio-engineered corneas made from pigs' eyes may help millions of Chinese patients to see again, ophthalmologists have said.

A 14-year-old boy regained his sight after receiving a pig cornea transplant on Feb. 25, according to Yuan Jin of Sun Yat-sen University ophthalmology center, in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou.

The boy injured his right eye with a firecracker during New Year celebrations.

"He developed ulcer in his right eye and had lost his sight before the transplant. A week after the transplant, he had regained some vision. In the future his sight may be close to normal," said Yuan.

The cornea is the eye's outermost transparent layer. Every year, more than five million Chinese patients are blinded by cornea disorders or damage. The demand for cornea transplants far exceeds supply, so bio-engineered solutions could restore the eyesight of millions of Chinese,Yuan said.

Research into the use of animal corneas began in 2003 at Ainier Cornea Engineering Company, Shenzhen and the Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an. After success in animal tests, clinical tests were carried out in 2010 on 100 patients in four hospitals in Beijing and Wuhan, with 94 patients regaining some or all of their vision. Pig corneas proved just as successful as human, said Zhang Mingchang, director of ophthalmology at Wuhan Union Hospital.

Forty-seven patients who received the transplant at Wuhan Union Hospital have fully recovered their eyesight, said Zhang. Artificial corneas are not a miracle cure for all disorders though. They cannot help, for example, with severe penetration wounds.

Zhang Bin, director of Ainier Cornea, said initial trials were conducted using tissue from chickens, cows, ducks, geese, monkeys and sheep before pigs were selected. Some corneas may carry viruses and pig tissue was found to have the lowest risk of infection in the recipient. The bio-mechanical properties of human and pig corneas are very similar, he said.

The company gained China Food and Drug Administration approval in April last year for "Acornea," the first such commercial product to be accredited, and it has since gone into mass production.

"It takes 20 days of quite complex processes from removing the tissue from the donor to produce one Acornea," Zhang said.

That will put the Judaism believer and muslim out of that context.