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SCMP

We have put together stories from our coverage on science from the past two weeks to help you stay informed. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing.
1. ‘Absolutely impossible’: how China created super steel for nuclear fusion
Chinese scientists have detailed how they created CHSN01 (China high-strength low-temperature steel No 1), deployed it this year in the construction of world’s first fusion nuclear power generation reactor and put China in a leading position in materials science.
2. Chinese scientists create a ‘storm eye’ for PLA forces in electronic warfare

Chinese scientists have developed an advanced electronic warfare technique that can create a zone of electromagnetic calm, similar to the eye of a storm at the heart of an intense signal jamming environment. This groundbreaking innovation could allow Chinese military forces to disable enemy communications and navigation systems while protecting their own troops and allied networks from collateral disruption.
3. How China’s new ‘Darwin Monkey’ could shake up future of AI in world first
Chinese engineers have unveiled the world’s first brain-like computer made up of more than 2 billion artificial neurons. The neuron count of the “Darwin Monkey” approaches that of a macaque and could be used to advance human brain-inspired artificial intelligence (AI), according to its developers at Zhejiang University.
4. Top-tier mathematician Li Hanfeng leaves US for China’s Chongqing University

Chinese engineers have unveiled the world’s first brain-like computer made up of more than 2 billion artificial neurons. The neuron count of the “Darwin Monkey” approaches that of a macaque and could be used to advance human brain-inspired artificial intelligence (AI), according to its developers at Zhejiang University.
5. China rocket shortage means it may have to pick a favoured Starlink challenger
As China scrambles to build massive internet networks in space to rival Starlink, a growing divide is quietly emerging on the ground between national priorities and local ambition. The country appears to be fast-tracking the roll-out of Guo Wang, a state-run 13,000-satellite constellation slated for completion within a decade, tightening control over launch resources and leaving other projects in limbo.
6. Chinese scientists create meteorite diamond in laboratory breakthrough

Researchers in China say they have recreated the elusive “meteorite diamond” in a laboratory – settling six decades of debate about the material’s existence. The first hexagonal-structured diamond was discovered in 1967 within the Canyon Diablo meteorite that hit Arizona 49,000 years ago. It was widely believed to have formed from graphite under the intense heat and pressure generated by its impact with Earth.
7. China’s chromosome editing tool could unlock new wave of genetic advances
A group of Chinese scientists has overcome a challenge that stumped biologists for decades by developing a new gene-editing tool that can precisely manipulate millions of base pairs – the building blocks of DNA.


Shanghai’s changing expats, Hong Kong trail sign fallout: SCMP’s 7 highlights

Exhibition on gardens of China, Europe; art director’s top spots: 7 Lifestyle highlights

China builds world’s first ‘coal battery’, war on Alzheimer’s: 7 science highlights

UAE’s Opec exit, why Japan shared Mogami warship design with India: 7 Asia highlights

SCMP Highlights

China’s super steel for nuclear fusion, new ‘Darwin Monkey’ computer: 7 science highlights

The “Darwin Monkey” is made up of 960 Darwin 3 brain-inspired computing chips creating over 100 billion synapses. Photo: Handout


Chinese scientists say they can create a zone of electromagnetic calm, similar to the eye of a storm at the heart of an intense signal jamming environment. Photo: Shutterstock 

Li Hanfeng. Photo: Handout

Unlike the more common cubic diamonds, the hexagonal structure of a meteorite diamond is believed to have been formed in the intense heat and pressure generated by the impact with Earth. Illustration: Shutterstock

China’s stealth design software breakthrough, mega dam project boost: 7 science highlights

Team based in China also finds that the use of specific drugs in combination with chemotherapy could be used to inhibit this process in mice, with a clinical trial already under way in breast cancer patients. Photo: AP

The US X-47B programme was cancelled 10 years ago. Photo: AP

The mega dam across the Yarlung Tsangpo River could produce triple the electricity generated by the Three Gorges dam further south. Photo: AFP

US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites with GBU-57 bunker busters in June met with reportedly little resistance. Photo: AP

China’s CR450AF EMU (left) and CR400AF-S EMU trains are displayed at the 12th UIC High-Speed Railway Congress at the National Railway Test Centre in Beijing on July 9. Photo: EPA

China reveals superfast maglev, Viagra’s cancer-fighting potential: 7 science highlights

China’s railway authorities gave the public its first glimpse of a superfast maglev train this week in Beijing. The vehicle, which is currently undergoing testing, could cut travel times in half, according to experts. Photo: Handout

China’s Chishui He, also known as the Red River, is regarded by ecologists as the last refuge for rare and endemic fish species in the upper reaches of the Yangtze. Photo: Shutterstock


Tourists take photos of camels in the Badain Jaran Desert in China’s Inner Mongolia autonomous region. Photo: Xinhua

In her career, oncologist and Jilin Cancer Hospital director Cheng Ying received the Chinese Physician Award and named Outstanding Hospital President. Photo: Handout

Analysis of samples from patients with pancreatic, breast and colorectal cancers showed cells that act as the “intelligence agents” of the immune system can become severely depleted as the tumour progresses. Sildenafil is able to reverse the process, the research team says. Photo: Shutterstock

China’s mosquito-sized drone, how exercise slows ageing: 7 science highlights

Chinese researchers have found that betaine, a compound naturally occurring in the kidneys during long-term exercise, helps people to live longer. Photo: Reuters

A CCTV screenshot shows a Chinese mosquito-sized UAV developed at the National University of Defence Technology and suited to covert military operations. Photo: CCTV

Chinese researchers say they have developed the world’s first highly parallel optical computing integrated chip, named “Meteor-1”. Photo: Handout

The new drone will be fired in a similar way to this live-fire drill carried out by the Chinese army in Tibet as its tensions with India elevated following a deadly clash on the disputed Himalayan border in 2020. Photo: Weibo

Northwestern Polytechnical University announced on Monday it successfully conducted a flight test of its Feitian 2 hypersonic vehicle at a site in northwestern China. Photo: Handout

China’s heat shield breakthrough, scientist behind J-20 radar leap: 7 science highlights

Researchers in China said they have taken a first step in developing an integrated ground-air-space quantum secure direct communication (QSDC) network. Image: Shutterstock

The breakthrough overcomes fundamental barriers in traditional computing by merging binary and probability-based logic while sidestepping US chip restrictions. Photo: Shutterstock

Mainland Chinese researchers have used an electromagnetic battlespace emulator to simulate an electronic attack on Taiwan and its environs. Photo: AFP

World’s fastest coilgun from China, Covid ‘lab-leak’ theory debunked: 7 science highlights

China has unveiled a powerful new electromagnetic gun believed to be powered by lithium batteries. This version (pictured) is a non-lethal weapon that fires coin-shaped bullets with electromagnetic force and would be used for riot control.  Photo: CCTV

Horseshoe bats are the primary host for the ancestor of the viruses behind Covid-19 and the Sars outbreak of 2002-2004. Photo: Handout

Chinese researchers have identified the 70-year-old B-52 Stratofortress as posing the most significant threat to China’s naval forces and inland targets in the event of a tactical nuclear strike from the US. Photo: AFP

News

China

Science

From Chinese scientists creating a ‘storm eye’ to a new gene-editing tool, here are some highlights from SCMP’s recent science reporting


From Chinese scientists creating a ‘storm eye’ to a new gene-editing tool, here are some highlights from SCMP’s recent science reporting.


Zhejiang University

Li Hanfeng

Starlink

China’s super steel for nuclear fusion, new ‘Darwin Monkey’ computer: 7 science highlights

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}From Chinese scientists creating a ‘storm eye’ to a new gene-editing tool, here are some highlights from SCMP’s recent science reporting

1. ‘Absolutely impossible’: how China created super steel for nuclear fusion

From Chinese scientists creating a ‘storm eye’ to a new gene-editing tool, here are some highlights from SCMP’s recent science reporting