China Science & Technology Forum

[cirr]

• October 18, 2016, 11:30 P.M. ET

SMIC To Build The World’s Largest 8-Inch Wafer Fab: 50% Upside Seen

By Shuli Ren

Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. or SMIC (981.Hong Kong), soared 3% in Hong Kong after announcing an expansion project for its Tianjin factory to become the world’s largest 8-inch wafer fab.

In addition to expanding the cutting-edge 8-inch wafer fab, SMIC last week held a groundbreaking ceremony for a new 12-inch wafer fab in Shanghai. Total investment in that fab will be close to 100 billion yuan ($15 billion), reported China’s state-owned Xinhua News Agency. China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Shanghai government have given strong support for this project.

While investors are understandably concerned with rising depreciation expenses (as SMIC builds new factories, it’s got to incur more depreciation charges down the road), Nomura Securities believes these two projects can place SMIC to “become global no. 3″, competing against Taiwan’s TSMC (TSM) and Korea’s Samsung Electronics (SSNLF) (and Intel (INTC) of course). The broker this morning raised its price target to 1.50 Hong Kong dollars, or another 50% upside. Analyst Leping Huang wrote:

We think SMIC illustrated a clear capacity expansion plan in the coming years including (1) joint venture in Beijing/Shanghai with local government focusing on leading edge node (14nm/28nm), (2) 100% subsidiary focusing on high margin 8-inch and 12-inch mature node process (40/45nm, 65nm). We expect this approach can help SMIC to simultaneously tackling the top-line growth opportunities in leading edge as well as profit generation opportunity in mature node. Our analysis shows those capacity expansion plan will boost SMIC’s capacity by 250% if equipment are fully installed.

J-curve ROE improvement via operating leverage expansion. We forecast SMIC to maintain 23% CAGR revenue growth from 2016-2020F, driven by rising demand from Chinese customers. On the cost side, we expect SMIC’s EBITDA Margin to improve from 34% in FY15 to 43% in FY20F thanks to the improving operating leverage.

http://blogs.barrons.com/asiastocks...rlds-largest-8-inch-wafer-fab-50-upside-seen/

@Bussard Ramjet

 

[JSCh]

Fish fossil upends scientists’ view of jaw evolution
Specimen suggests that people and ancient fish have more in common than previously thought.

• Anna Nowogrodzki
• 20 October 2016

An artist’s impression of the newly described ancient fish Qilinyu rostrata.
Dinghua Yang

A fossil fish found in Yunnan, China, has filled in a gaping hole in how researchers thought the vertebrate jaw evolved.

The 423-million-year-old specimen, dubbed Qilinyu rostrata, is part of an ancient group of armoured fish called placoderms. The fossil is the oldest ever found with a modern three-part jaw, which includes two bones in the upper jaw and one in the lower jaw. Researchers reported their find on 20 October in Science.



Fish fossil upends scientists’ view of jaw evolution : Nature News & Comment


Zhu, M. et al. A Silurian maxillate placoderm illuminates jaw evolution. Science (2016). DOI: 10.1126/science.aah3764

Jaws from the jawless

Until a fossil called Entelognathus was found to contain a tripartite jaw a few years ago, it was believed that the skeletons of early osteichthyans (bony fish), the ancestors of all vertebrates, were derived independently of those of the earlier placoderms (so-called jawless fish). Zhu et al. now describe a second Silurian placoderm that more securely bridges the jawless toothlike plates of placoderms to the development of the jawed condition that ultimately led to the three-boned jaw in ancestors of modern vertebrates (see the Perspective by Long). This finding upends the traditional belief that the two types of jaw were nonhomologous and sheds light on the evolution of the complex maxilla, a key component of diversification across many modern taxa, including humans.

Science, this issue p. 334; see also p. 280​

 

[JSCh]

Chinese researchers develop algorithms for smart energy grid
October 20, 2016

A fallen tree, a lightning strike—it doesn't take much to disrupt the electrical grid. An outage could last just a few minutes, but restoring electricity to millions of people typically takes hours, days or even weeks. The outdated system, developed a century ago, is due for an overhaul.

Enter the energy internet. It's based on the idea that electricity could be distributed similarly to the actual internet. The energy internet isn't yet reality, but scientists at Northeastern University in Shenyang, China, have proposed a way to actualize the theory.



http://phys.org/news/2016-10-chinese-algorithms-smart-energy-grid.html

More information: Distributed Optimal Co-multi-microgrids Energy Management for Energy Internet: ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?arnumber=7589482

 

[JSCh]

Self-healable battery
October 20, 2016

Electronics that can be embedded in clothing are a growing trend. However, power sources remain a problem. In the journal Angewandte Chemie, scientists have now introduced thin, flexible, lithium ion batteries with self-healing properties that can be safely worn on the body. Even after completely breaking apart, the battery can grow back together without significant impact on its electrochemical properties.



Self-healable battery -- ScienceDaily

Journal Reference:

1. Yang Zhao, Ye Zhang, Hao Sun, Xiaoli Dong, Jingyu Cao, Lie Wang, Yifan Xu, Jing Ren, Yunil Hwang, In Hyuk Son, Xianliang Huang, Yonggang Wang, Huisheng Peng. A Self-Healing Aqueous Lithium-Ion Battery. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2016; DOI: 10.1002/anie.201607951

 

[JSCh]

How Hot Is Lightning?
Scientists create artificial lightning strikes to study the temperature inside real bolts of lightning.

• Wednesday, October 19, 2016 - 12:00
• Yuen Yiu, Staff Writer

Thor's Battle Against the Jötnar (1872) by Mårten Eskil Winge
Image credits: Swedish National Museum of Fine Arts​

(Inside Science) -- Lightning is one of the most destructive forces in nature. But for all the folklore and legends amassed over human history on lightning, we know surprisingly little about the inner workings of this powerful phenomenon, including something as simple as how the current that flows through a thunder-inducing flash is related to the temperature of the strike.

"The basic physics of lightning, such as lightning initiation and lightning propagation, is not fully understood at this point," said Robert Moore, a lightning researcher from University of Florida in Gainesville.

"We know the basics, but not the details. So when anybody makes headway, it is major news."

Lightning causes more than $5 billion in damages every year in the U.S., as well as more fatalities than hurricanes.

"A direct hit from a lightning strike can melt a power cable or start a forest fire, where the amount of heat from the lightning plays a major role," said Xiangchao Li, a scientist from China who specializes in lightning research. Li and his team discovered a mathematical relationship between the current intensity and the temperature inside lightning. Their result was published last month in the journal Scientific Reports.


How Hot Is Lightning? | Inside Science

X. Li, J. Zhang, L. Chen, Q. Xue & R. Zhu, Measuring Method for Lightning Channel Temperature, Scientific Reports (2016), DOI:10.1038/srep33906

 

[JSCh]

Press Release
October 21, 2016

Scientists show how plants turn a “light switch” on and off

In research published today in Science, an international team of researchers led by scientists at the RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science in Japan, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, China, and the University of California, Los Angeles, have uncovered the mechanisms through which cryptochrome 2—a key photoreceptor that allows plants to respond to blue light—is switched on and off, allowing plants to remain responsive to light.

Plants rely on light to carry out photosynthesis, though which they produce energy, but response to light is important in other ways as well. Plants grow during the nighttime, using the energy they stored during the daytime, and long-day plants begin to flower when the day grows longer and the night shorter. Though it was long known that blue light played a key role in activating plants’ response in the natural light environment, through the action of cryptochromes—blue light photoreceptors—and other photoreceptors, the mechanism through which the response was turned on and off remained elusive.

In recent years, significant progress has been made in understanding the function of cryptochromes. Initially it was hypothesized that the receptors were activated and inactivated through a process of “photoreduction”—a system like that used in the process of photosynthesis where electrons are transferred, moving energy across molecules.

To determine whether this was the real mechanism, the group began by screening transgenic lines of Arabidopsis—a model grass used in plant genetics—using the FOX library developed by Takanari Ichikawa and Minami Matsui of the former RIKEN Plant Science Center, to find lines that expressed phenotypes similar to a mutant strain that does not respond properly to blue light. They identified lines that overexpress a protein, named BIC1, which corresponded to the mutant phenotype. They determined that this protein blocks the action of the cryptochrome 2 photoreceptor.

Further, through a series of experiments, they were able to show that it was not a process of photoreduction, and uncovered the exact mechanism through which this takes place. It turns out that cryptochrome 2 undergoes a conformational change—taking a dimer form—when exposed to blue light, and that this homodimer form is the active form. The dimer form, however, disappeared in the presence of the BIC1 protein. “We have shown,” says Matsui, one of the leaders of the study, “that there is a desensitization mechanism, where the photoactivated photoreceptor is regulated in blue light to avoid excess response. This is important as it allows plants to maintain the homeostasis of their blue light responsiveness in order to adapt to the fluctuating light environment in nature.”

Matsui continues, “Through this work, we hope to learn how we can use the action of BIC1 to develop plants with better biomass characteristics. This work is also important because animal cryptochromes also form homodimers, and this can help us gain clues into how the circadian rhythm is maintained in animals.”



Scientists show how plants turn a “light switch” on and off | RIKEN

Reference

Qin Wang, Zecheng Zuo, Xu Wang, Lianfeng Gu, Takeshi Yoshizumi, Zhaohe Yang, Liang Yang, Qing Liu, Wei Liu, Yun-Jeong Han, Jeong-Il Kim, Bin Liu, James A. Wohlschlegel, Minami Matsui, Yoshito Oka, Chentao Lin, "Photoactivation and inactivation mechanisms of Arabidopsis cryptochrome 2", Science, doi: 10.1126/science.aaf9030

Turning off the blue-light response
In plants, blue light is perceived by cryptochromes, which, once activated, set off signaling events that regulate gene expression, circadian rhythms, and photomorphogenesis. Wang et al. now show that in the model plant Arabidopsis, one of the functions of activated cryptochromes, which are dimers or oligomers when active, is to activate production of the protein BIC1 (blue-light inhibitor of cryptochromes 1) (see the Perspective by Fankhauser and Ulm). BIC1 then favors monomerization and thus inactivation of the cryptochromes. This feedback loop resets the system so that blue-light responses can be turned off as well as turned on.

Science, this issue p. 343; see also p. 282
​

 

[JSCh]

Public Release: 21-Oct-2016
Converting optical frequencies with 10^(-21) uncertainty
Science China Press

Frequency synthesizers from audio frequency to the microwave region have been widely used in daily life, high technology and scientific research. Those frequency synthesizers can output a signal with frequency related to the input light frequency (fin) as fin/R. Meanwhile, the phase coherence, frequency stability and accuracy of the output signal inherit from the input signal. While in the optical region, there was no such a device. Since the invention of lasers, scientists are able to realize optical frequency conversion with nonlinear optical process. For example, second harmonic generation can convert optical frequencies as fout = fin/0.5, where fout is the output light frequency. However, optical frequency conversion with arbitrary ratios has not been realized for a long time.

The invention of optical frequency comb paved the way for optical frequency divider. In 2003, international comparison among four optical frequency combs from East China Normal University (ECNU, China), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST, USA) and International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) was performed, which demonstrated that the frequency synthesis uncertainty of optical frequency combs based on different types of femtosecond lasers was at the 10^(-19) level (Long-Sheng Ma, et. al, Science, Vol. 303, page.1843, 2004). Recently, the group from ECNU has realized a low noise, accurate optical frequency divider by combining several key techniques of an optically-referenced frequency comb, a collinear self-referencing interferometer for detecting the comb carrier-envelope offset frequency, an optically-referenced RF time base, and the transfer oscillator scheme. By comparing against the frequency ratio between the fundamental and second harmonic of a 1064 nm laser instead of a second copy of the identical optical frequency divider, the division uncertainty is demonstrated to be 1.4 × 10^(-21). The optical frequency divider can accurately divide an optical frequency with an arbitrary preset ratio to several different wavelengths. Scientists are able to measure optical frequency ratios directly from the division ratios of the optical frequency dividers when the output and input light of the optical frequency dividers correspond to clock frequencies.

Optical frequency divider will be instrumental in the applications of optical clocks. "Recent progress in optical atomic clocks demonstrates record fractional frequency instability and uncertainty at the 10^(-18) level. The unprecedented accuracy is fostering a revolution in science and technology. Using optical clocks, searches for possible variations of fundamental constants are carried out in laboratories by precisely measuring the frequency ratios of two different atomic transitions of optical clocks over time. In relativistic geodesy, long-distance geopotential difference will be accurately measured by comparing the frequencies of remotely-located optical clocks linked with optical fibers, where the frequencies of optical clocks have to be accurately converted to the fiber telecom band for long-distance transmission. In metrology, the fundamental unit for time, the second, in the International System of Units (SI) will be redefined based on optical atomic clocks. Frequency comparisons between optical clocks based on different atom species have to be performed in order to affirm the agreement between optical clocks with uncertainty beyond the current SI second, as well as to demonstrate the frequency reproducibility of optical clocks. Moreover, in atomic and molecular precision spectroscopy hopes are high that accurate and stable clock light can be transferred to wider spectral range. All those applications rely on accurate frequency ratio measurement between spectrally-separated optical clocks or frequency conversion of optical clocks."

In a research article published in the Beijing-based National Science Review, Yao et. al. introduce an optical frequency divider with division uncertainty at the 10^(-21) level. The division uncertainty induced by the optical frequency divider is therefore three orders of magnitude better than the most accurate optical clocks, promising optical frequency division without degrading the performance of optical clocks. They hope this type of optical frequency divider will be also instrumental in precision measurement.


Converting optical frequencies with 10^(-21) uncertainty | EurekAlert! Science News

Journal Reference:

Yuan Yao, Yanyi Jiang, Hongfu Yu, Zhiyi Bi, and Longsheng Ma, Optical frequency divider with division uncertainty at the 10^(-21) level, Natl Sci Rev (September 2016), DOI: 10.1093/nsr/nww063​

 

[JSCh]

Monday, October 24, 2016, 09:49
Drones for monthslong missions in the pipeline
By Zhao Lei
Academy to display its next-generation, solar-powered model at Zhuhai Air Show

An undated photo of the China Academy of Aerospace Aerodynamics' solar-powered drone during a flight test in Northwest China. (Provided To China Daily)

Aviation researchers in China are developing solar-powered drones capable of staying airborne for at least a month, a senior designer has revealed.

Shi Wen, head of unmanned aircraft development at the China Academy of Aerospace Aerodynamics, said in an exclusive interview that his team has developed prototypes to demonstrate new technologies and equipment.

Last week, his team conducted the maiden flight of a giant solar-powered drone at an airport in northwestern China. Shi said the 14-meter-long drone has a 45-meter wing span, longer than a Boeing 737, and can carry a payload of 20 kilograms.

He said mass-produced models will eventually be able to fly for one to six months, and added: "We plan to make one that can stay in the air for five years. Our next-generation drones will have a 60- to 70-meter wing span and will be able to carry a payload of at least 50 kg."

Scale models of the solar-powered drone as well as advanced combat drones developed by the academy will go on show at the 11th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition, commonly known as the Zhuhai Air Show, on Nov 1.

The academy began to research drones in 2002 and conducted its first test flight three years later, according to Shi, who said its engineers have gone on to develop advanced aerodynamic designs, ultralight frames, flight control systems and high-quality solar cells.

Scientists are continuing work to improve batteries and motors, he said, adding that China is already a top maker of solar-powered drones, second only to the United States.

The academy, part of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp, is one of the country's largest military drone developers. Shi said its CH series has been sold to 20 military buyers in more than 10 countries.

Solar-powered drones can fly at altitudes of 20 to 30 kilometers for a long time, which means they can be used as "atmospheric satellites" to provide services conventionally dominated by satellites in space, Shi said.

He added that they have big potential in military reconnaissance, electronic warfare, maritime surveillance, traffic navigation, telecommunications and aerial surveys.

Shi said he expects solar-powered drones to have an enormous market and they are receiving a lot of attention from potential users.

Wu Peixin, an aviation industry analyst in Beijing, said researchers around the world are striving to develop high-efficiency solar cells, reliable ultralight frames and power management systems to promote solar-powered drones for large-scale use.

Technology company AeroVironment Inc in California has been developing solar-powered unmanned aerial vehicles since the late 1970s, and some of its models have been funded by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Internet giant Facebook has also invested in the field in the hope of being able to connect the entire world to the web. The company has developed a drone called Aquila that will beam internet signals to rural areas that lack the telecom infrastructure needed for internet connectivity, fortune.com reported.

The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich has produced the solar-powered AtlantikSolar unmanned aircraft system to demonstrate and test technologies.

 

[JSCh]

24 October 2016
Clearing "Visual Noise" to Improve Underwater Vision and Deep Sea Exploration

Researchers are using logical stochastic resonance to improve underwater viewing

WASHINGTON — Mankind has long been peering into the depths of the sea. From finding fish to avoiding rocks, the ability to see as far as possible through turbid water has been important for thousands of years. More recently, scientists are using sophisticated cameras to study sea floor geology and deep-sea animal behaviors but are continually challenged to get a clear picture of the remote fathoms of the ocean.

Now, a team of researchers from Ocean University of China in Qingdao, China, may have helped improve the quality of underwater visualizations. In a novel methodology for improving underwater viewing, they applied a mathematical approach known as logical stochastic resonance (LSR). When applied to poor-quality underwater images, the LSR algorithms improved the team’s ability to visually detect objects. The results of their investigation are published in the journal Optics Letters, from The Optical Society.


Clearing "Visual Noise" to Improve Underwater Vision and Deep Sea Exploration | News Releases | The Optical Society

Paper: B. Zheng, N. Wang, H. Zheng, Y. Zhinbin and J. Wang. “Object Extraction from Underwater Image through Logical Stochastic Resonance,” Opt. Lett. 41, 4967-4970. DOI: 10.1364/OL.41.004967.

 

[TaiShang]

China's Weibo to help microbloggers build their brands
Xinhua, October 25, 2016

China's microblogging site Weibo plans to build a one-stop system to help some of its most-followed users turn their online influence into money, the company's CEO said Tuesday.

Weibo, the largest domestic microblogging platform, will help users define their brand focus, attract and accumulate followers and cash in on their popularity through advertisements, pay-per-read posts and other marketing tools, Weibo CEO Wang Gaofei told the ongoing 2016 V-Influence Summit on the country's growing new media platforms and fan economy.

Microbloggers have raked in 11.7 billion yuan (1.73 billion U.S.dollars) via Weibo's current services. Promotions that link to online shopping generated the highest earnings, 10.8 billion yuan in total, for users, followed by pay-per-read posts and brand promotions at 470 million and 430 million yuan, respectively.

Weibo has around 340,000 microbloggers deemed "influential," meaning those whose articles or posts are read by at least 100,000 people each month, up 34 percent year on year, while those with 10 million monthly readers saw a 70 percent increase year on year.

The company has earmarked 100 million yuan to support the promotion of influential microbloggers; 500 million yuan in short-length video promotion; and has plans to release a live voice streaming service next year, according to Wang.

Weibo has partnered with over 300 multi-channel networks (MCN) to help microbloggers grow their brands with programming, funding, cross-promotion, audience development and other services, Wang added.

The NASDAQ-listed company overtook its U.S. counterpart Twitter in market capitalization for the first time during trading earlier this month thanks to its strong revenue and user growth. The company is expected to release its third quarter financial performance in late November.

Weibo had 282 million active monthly users by the end of the second quarter of this year and aims to have 500 million within three years, according to Wang.

 

[TaiShang]

Chinese firms lead world in innovation spending growth
Xinhua, October 26, 2016

Chinese companies led their global peers in research and development (R&D) spending growth, with an annual rate of 18.6 percent, according to the "2016 Global Innovation 1000 Study" report, released Wednesday by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

A total of 130 Chinese companies were included among the 1,000 Global Innovation entities of 2016, up from 123 in the 2015 report. These companies spent 46.8 billion U.S. dollars in total on R&D.

As a result, R&D spending contributed by Chinese companies also increased, up from 5.8 percent in the 2015 report to 6.9 percent in this year's report.

With R&D spending at 2.2 billion U.S. dollars and R&D intensity (R&D divided by total sales) of 13.6 percent, Alibaba was the biggest R&D spender among such public companies.

Huawei, although a non-public company and not on the list, spent 59.6 billion yuan (8.8 billion U.S. dollars) on R&D in 2015, making it the highest spender in China, according to the report.

"As R&D spending by European companies and Japanese companies declined by 9 percent and 8 percent, and by North American companies grew by 8 percent, Chinese companies were in the lead," said Adam Xu, partner and leader of Digital Practice with Strategy&.

"Due to China's innovation-driven development strategy, Chinese companies have increased investment into R&D, indicating that they were shifting their advantage from competitive costs to innovation to build up their technological capabilities to win over the global market," Xu said.

@Shotgunner51

 

[TaiShang]

Twitter said to be planning more job cuts soon
China Daily, October 26, 2016

Twitter Inc is planning widespread job cuts, to be announced as soon as this week, according to people familiar with the matter.

The company may cut about 8 percent of the workforce, or about 300 people, the same percentage it did last year when co-founder Jack Dorsey took over as chief executive officer, the people said. Planning for the cuts is still fluid and the number could change, they added. The people asked not to be identified talking about private company plans.

An announcement about the job reductions may come before Twitter releases third-quarter earnings on Thursday, one of the people said. A Twitter representative declined to comment.

Twitter, which has been losing money, is trying to control spending as sales growth slows. The company recently hired bankers to explore a sale, but the companies that had expressed interest in bidding－Salesforce.com Inc, The Walt Disney Co and Alphabet Inc－later backed out from the process.

Twitter's losses and 40 percent fall in its share price the past 12 months have made it more difficult for the company to pay its engineers with stock. That has made it harder for Twitter to compete for talent with giant rivals like Alphabet Inc's Google and Facebook Inc. Reducing employee numbers would relieve some of this pressure.

***

As US social media goes down in effectiveness and financial viability, China's internet and social media ecosystem has just begun expanding. Practical advantages of keeping US social media and internet from China's market at the time China's own brands were small and vulnerable.

Now Baidu can eat Google alive in any day in AI, driverless cars and VR.

 

[TaiShang]

Home-made ticket system for airlines flies high
China Daily, October 27, 2016

Passengers use the self-service boarding system at the Beijing Capital International Airport. [Photo/China Daily]

Beijing-based China TravelSky Holding Co, a State-owned aviation information provider, plans to expand its research and development efforts so as to innovate and upgrade its electronic ticket system, the first such China-made software.

Flag carrier Air China Ltd transferred to the completely home-developed TravelSky system in April. Barring a few, most other domestic airlines also use it now, saving more than 60 percent of costs that imported software entails.

TravelSky has ensured safe custody of passenger, flight and airline data collected so far.

TravelSky's R&D investments for the system now account for more than 35 percent of its total costs.

"For every flight ticket that is sold through our e-ticket system, we charge only one-sixth of commission charged by foreign e-ticket systems," said Huang Yuanchang, chairman of the board of supervisors at TravelSky.

"Our average profit margin is 35 percent to 40 percent, and this is the best performance compared with the peers globally."

In 2001, the China Civil Computer and Information Center brought all airline companies together to establish TravelSky Technology Ltd, to provide them with accurate and authentic information on airports and flights.

It is China's main e-ticket system and the world's third-largest in terms of business-handling capacity. A passenger can search flight information, buy tickets, change or cancel flight reservations, and modify remarks.

Last year, TravelSky netted sales revenues worth 5.5 billion yuan ($825 million) and generated profits of more than 2 billion yuan, the company said. Sales have surged in recent years as the Chinese have been overcome by wanderlust of late.

The surge will continue in the next decade as China's emerging middle class takes to the skies. Passengers will increase by threefold, according to a report by global consulting firm McKinsey & Co.

Peng Mingtian, deputy chief engineer of the R&D center at TravelSky, said: "At the moment, the 24x7 ticketing software is taking a lot of pressure. If the backup system malfunctions or stops for whatever reason, nearly all domestic airlines will face problems.

"Our biggest challenge, therefore, is to preempt problems because any problems would erode customers' confidence, which would make it difficult to promote the system again. We need to ensure its safe operation even as we upgrade it."

More than a decade ago, TravelSky started trials of the software. It also developed China's first self-check-in system at airports.

Back in 2003 and 2004, major airlines started using electronic systems to sell tickets online. In the first few years, volume as well as sales surged 300 percent annually.

TravelSky completed restructuring its main business and assets, and got listed in Hong Kong in 2008.

In its niche, TravelSky doesn't have any rivals domestically as entry barriers for private players are high.

"We aim to lure more foreign airlines to shift to our system. We also want to further improve the system quality and lower the costs," Huang said.

***

Domestication of key industries is the part and parcel of China's new era development. We will observe foreign interests being squeezed and forced to innovate and cut prices if they wish to stay competitive in China's cut throat competitive market. The bloodbath will not be limited with Apple and the likes.

 

[JSCh]

Bio-inspired lower-limb 'wearing robotic exoskeleton' for human gait rehab
Stroke and spinal cord injury rehab may soon be improved by a 'wearable robotic exoskeleton' designed by a team of researchers in China and Denmark

American Institute of Physics

This is a prototype of the lower-limb exoskeleton being developed at Beihang University in Beijing, China. Credit: Beihang University

WASHINGTON, D.C., Oct. 25, 2016 -- Stroke and spinal cord injury patients often require gait rehabilitation to regain the ability to walk or to help strengthen their muscles. Wearable "robot-assisted training" is quickly emerging as a method that helps improve this rehab process.

In a major advance, researchers from Beihang University in China and Aalborg University in Denmark have designed a lower-limb robot exoskeleton -- a wearable robot -- that features natural knee movement to greatly improve patients' comfort and willingness to wear it for gait rehab.


Bio-inspired lower-limb 'wearing robotic exoskeleton' for human gait rehab | EurekAlert! Science News

Mingxing Lyu, Weihai Chen, Xilun Ding, Jianhua Wang, Shaoping Bai and Huichao Ren. "Design of a biologically inspired lower limb exoskeleton for human gait rehabilitation," Rev. Sci. Instrum. (2016). DOI: 10.1063/1.4964136

 

[JSCh]

China starts developing new-era exascale supercomputer
Xinhua | Updated: 2016-10-28 08:29

TIANJIN - Scientists have started to develop a sample machine that will play a part in the development of a new era supercomputer capable of a billion-billion calculations per second, researchers said Tuesday.

The National Supercomputer Center in Tianjin is developing the exascale supercomputer with the National University of Defense Technology (NUDT), said Meng Xiangfei, assistant director of the center.

The aim is to make the computer, which will be capable of a quintillion calculations per second, by 2020.

It will be 200 times faster than China's Tianhe-1 supercomputer, and even faster than the most powerful supercomputers in the world, he said.

China's Sunway TaihuLight is the world's fastest system, capable of 93 quadrillion calculations per second, according to an announcement at the 2016 International Supercomputing Conference, Germany.

This new project will expend on existing theories and applications of the exascale system's hardware and software. The sample machine will hopefully be ready by early 2018, Meng said.

The new era computing system will mark a huge advancement in terms of intensity of calculation, capacity of single chips and the rate of data transmission, he said.

In 2010, the country's first petaflop supercomputer, Tianhe-1, which is capable of at least a million billion calculations per second, was unveiled to the world.

At present, Tianhe-1 supports various tasks including oil exploration, high-end equipment manufacturing, biological medicine and animation design, and serves nearly 1,000 customers.