https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/rss/323129/feed Latest news on research and breakthroughs by Chinese scientists, as the country ramps up investment in science and innovation as part of its ambitions to become a world-leading power by 2035, and other developments worldwide. en https://assets-v2.i-scmp.com/production/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg Chao Kong Chao Kong Chinese physicists have discovered that a tipping point – a threshold where a physical system rapidly shifts states – can possess a smooth mathematical structure resembling a doughnut’s hole, challenging a belief that the two phenomena must be studied separately. For decades, mainstream physicists have mostly treated critical phenomena, which describe how physical systems change at critical points, and topology, which studies the properties of geometry, as separate areas of research. A classic... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3371371/chinese-discovery-doughnut-topology-tipping-points-breaks-physics-convention?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3371371/chinese-discovery-doughnut-topology-tipping-points-breaks-physics-convention?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 19 Oct 2026 08:00:11 +0000 Ling Xin Ling Xin A Johns Hopkins University scientist whose award-winning work suggests that a brief stomach bug could raise the risk of colon cancer has moved to China full time. Wan Fengyi, a professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, has joined Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, according to his new profile on the Chinese university’s website. Wan returned to China this month and now holds a chair professorship at Zhejiang University. He is based at a national laboratory at its Second... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3370955/us-prize-winning-cancer-scientist-wan-fengyi-joins-chinas-zhejiang-university?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3370955/us-prize-winning-cancer-scientist-wan-fengyi-joins-chinas-zhejiang-university?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 19 Oct 2026 04:00:06 +0000 Ling Xin Ling Xin Professor Qian Jiang, a senior eye expert at Johns Hopkins University in the United States, has moved back to China full time to pursue research on eye transplants. For more than two decades, Qian built and ran the genetic data hub at Johns Hopkins’ renowned Wilmer Eye Institute. He was welcomed at a ceremony on October 5 at Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital in Hangzhou, part of Zhejiang University, the hospital said. At the ceremony, Qian said he would also work on “virtual cells” – computer models... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3370936/qian-jiang-former-johns-hopkins-eye-institute-expert-joins-hospital-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3370936/qian-jiang-former-johns-hopkins-eye-institute-expert-joins-hospital-china?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 18 Oct 2026 10:00:07 +0000 Shi Huang Shi Huang For patients with advanced, metastatic cancer that has progressed despite systemic therapy, options remain critically limited. Now, Chinese scientists are pointing to an unconventional therapeutic agent – the element iron. This idea originated in industrial waste water treatment: iron can react with hydrogen peroxide to generate hydroxyl radicals, which degrade various organic and toxic molecules in waste water. Chinese scientists wanted to treat malignant tumours the way they treat waste water... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3370996/landmark-china-trial-gets-84-efficacy-treating-cancer-clue-waste-water-tech?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3370996/landmark-china-trial-gets-84-efficacy-treating-cancer-clue-waste-water-tech?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 17 Oct 2026 08:00:09 +0000 Han Li,Ling Xin,Zhang Tong Han Li,Ling Xin,Zhang Tong A US congressional committee has released details of investigations into dozens of researchers, many of them Chinese-American, revealing the scale of government scrutiny sweeping academia over alleged links to China. The documents – running to hundreds of pages – were released alongside a separate report by the House Select Committee on China. Titled “How to Stop China’s Theft of Taxpayer-Funded Research”, the report pushes back against arguments by universities and academic groups that tighter... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/us/science-technology/article/3371154/new-details-emerge-us-investigations-chinese-american-scientists-over-china-links?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/us/science-technology/article/3371154/new-details-emerge-us-investigations-chinese-american-scientists-over-china-links?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 16 Oct 2026 22:00:16 +0000 Dannie Peng Dannie Peng China’s R&D investment grew by 8.2 per cent last year – fuelled by double-digit growth in fundamental science and university funding – in sharp contrast with deep budget cuts across the US research sector. Total investment in research and experimental development crossed 3.9 trillion yuan (US$583 billion) in 2025, “maintaining a trajectory of steady growth”, the National Bureau of Statistics said when releasing the data on Friday. State news agency Xinhua noted on Friday that in the five years... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3371198/chinas-rd-spending-keeps-steady-rise-no-1-us-seeks-further-funding-cuts?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3371198/chinas-rd-spending-keeps-steady-rise-no-1-us-seeks-further-funding-cuts?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 16 Oct 2026 13:00:12 +0000 Victoria Bela Victoria Bela Chinese scientists have unearthed a fossil of the earliest known flightless bird, offering compelling evidence that not all early birds evolved to take to the skies. The discovery could also challenge long-held assumptions – including ideas dating back to evolutionary theorist Charles Darwin – that flightlessness in birds arose only as a secondary adaptation after earlier species had mastered flight. The 150 million-year-old fossil of the Late Jurassic avialan Yuezhuornis yangyuanensis found in... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3371125/sorry-darwin-chinese-fossil-shows-not-all-early-birds-evolved-fly?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3371125/sorry-darwin-chinese-fossil-shows-not-all-early-birds-evolved-fly?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 16 Oct 2026 12:00:08 +0000 Shi Huang Shi Huang Li Renke, a visionary cardiovascular scientist who applied engineering principles to the human heart and developed conductive biomaterials to repair tissue damaged by heart attacks, died while attending an academic conference in the Chinese city of Xian earlier this month. He was 65. His death on October 10 was announced by The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen (CUHK-Shenzhen), where he was presidential chair professor and associate dean of research and translation at the school of... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3371077/pioneering-heart-stem-cell-expert-li-renke-dies-65-during-chinese-conference?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3371077/pioneering-heart-stem-cell-expert-li-renke-dies-65-during-chinese-conference?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 16 Oct 2026 07:27:28 +0000 Dannie Peng Dannie Peng Leading life scientist Wu Jun, who recently left the United States to return to his homeland, believes many of the world’s top embryo researchers are now working in China. Wu, well known for his stem cell research, particularly related to the stem cell-derived embryo model, is speaking in an office at Westlake University, in Hangzhou in the eastern province of Zhejiang. Some of his belongings remain in bags placed haphazardly on a nearby cabinet, waiting to be unpacked. “This is just a temporary... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3371014/china-beacon-global-embryo-research-says-scientist-return-us-lead-lab?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3371014/china-beacon-global-embryo-research-says-scientist-return-us-lead-lab?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 15 Oct 2026 14:00:13 +0000 Victoria Bela Victoria Bela A China-led international team has reported a new pre-earthquake phenomenon that has shown strong predictive potential for major earthquakes since 2022 with minimal failures. The anomalous seismic, magnetic and ionospheric resonance signals they observed – termed “seismo-ripples” by the researchers – are ringlike disturbance patterns triggered before earthquakes happen. Their findings challenge the long-standing scientific belief that these events are unpredictable, opening up a promising new... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3371035/china-led-team-hits-83-success-rate-anticipating-earthquakes-seismo-ripples-study?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3371035/china-led-team-hits-83-success-rate-anticipating-earthquakes-seismo-ripples-study?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 15 Oct 2026 12:00:09 +0000 Chao Kong Chao Kong Chinese military scientists claim they have developed an algorithm that could help identify electronic warfare units using civil aviation flight data. The researchers said they had located two sources of interference that were spoofing their locations near Israel during the conflict with Iran. The team did not explain why they had focused on the Israeli military. The researchers estimated the locations of the two units as being near Haifa, with reported positioning errors between 10.9km and... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3370910/chinese-scientists-use-open-source-data-spot-suspected-israeli-electronic-warfare-units?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3370910/chinese-scientists-use-open-source-data-spot-suspected-israeli-electronic-warfare-units?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 15 Oct 2026 01:00:19 +0000 Victoria Bela Victoria Bela Chinese researchers have built a self-propelled crawler robot that harvests iron from sand and have tested the device in the dunes of the vast Taklamakan Desert – an area the size of Germany – in northwestern China’s Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. In Frank Herbert’s classic science fiction novel Dune, mobile factories traverse the sands of the fictional planet Arrakis to extract the drug melange, also known as “spice”. The real-world device similarly travels across the desert, extracting... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3370824/chinas-dune-sand-crawler-could-turn-whole-taklamakan-desert-iron-mine?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3370824/chinas-dune-sand-crawler-could-turn-whole-taklamakan-desert-iron-mine?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 14 Oct 2026 06:00:11 +0000 Shi Huang Shi Huang Up to 6,000 metres (19,700 feet) beneath the surface of the Pacific Ocean between Mexico and Hawaii, billions of potato-shaped metallic nodules are scattered across the seabed. The Clarion-Clipperton zone’s reserves of vital metals such as nickel, cobalt and manganese could surpass the total known reserves on land, according to some estimates. While no commercial mining has yet taken place on the underwater plain, the International Seabed Authority has issued 17 exploration contracts for the... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3370762/chinese-team-finds-11700-new-viruses-worlds-biggest-seabed-metal-deposit?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3370762/chinese-team-finds-11700-new-viruses-worlds-biggest-seabed-metal-deposit?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 14 Oct 2026 04:00:09 +0000 Chao Kong Chao Kong A Chinese research team has proposed four types of equipment that could rapidly switch between wartime environments, including operating deep under water for long periods, as multi-domain combat is set to develop in the coming decades. The “heterogeneous” equipment is designed to exceed conventional armoured vehicles by rapidly reconfiguring physical modules and functions within seconds for missions across land, water, air and electromagnetic contest grounds, according to the scientists. The... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3370724/china-working-submarine-tank-can-operate-underwater-2-hours?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3370724/china-working-submarine-tank-can-operate-underwater-2-hours?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 13 Oct 2026 14:00:08 +0000 Reuters Reuters Nasa’s robotic Perseverance rover has now driven farther than any other vehicle on the surface of any world other than Earth, racking up 45.2km (28.1 miles) since arriving on Mars in 2021, the US space agency said on Tuesday. The car-sized, six-wheeled rover reached the milestone 5½ years into its mission to explore if conditions conducive to microbial life ever existed on Earth’s neighbour. In doing so, it is visiting some of the ‌most ancient terrain ever encountered in the solar... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3370701/nasas-perseverance-rover-mars-breaks-record-planet-driving?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3370701/nasas-perseverance-rover-mars-breaks-record-planet-driving?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 13 Oct 2026 07:20:27 +0000 Ling Xin Ling Xin A mysterious glow of high-energy light in our Milky Way galaxy could be the remains of an extremely rare cosmic “gold factory”, according to a new study by Chinese and US researchers. The collision of two orbiting neutron stars – dead stars so dense that a teaspoon of their matter would weigh a billion tonnes – may have shone as brightly as Jupiter in the sky, they wrote in a paper posted last week on the preprint server arXiv, which has yet to be peer-reviewed. The violent smash spewed out... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3370141/china-us-astronomy-team-may-have-found-possible-relic-recent-gold-factory?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3370141/china-us-astronomy-team-may-have-found-possible-relic-recent-gold-factory?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 13 Oct 2026 06:00:08 +0000 Stephen Chen,Victoria Bela Stephen Chen,Victoria Bela China has begun building the world’s first utility-scale power plant combining two emerging technologies: supercritical carbon dioxide (CO2) generation and large-scale molten salt energy storage. The Ruitan project, under construction at a coal-fired power station in Yantai in eastern China’s Shandong province, is intended to demonstrate how combining these technologies can reduce energy wastage and improve the stability of the electrical grid. Electricity produced when demand is low is stored... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/plus/news/china/science/article/3370584/china-bets-molten-salt-and-co2-help-meet-its-power-needs?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/plus/news/china/science/article/3370584/china-bets-molten-salt-and-co2-help-meet-its-power-needs?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 12 Oct 2026 08:41:03 +0000 Dannie Peng Dannie Peng A large desalination plant on Bohai Bay has achieved an energy efficiency breakthrough, slashing electricity consumption by more than half while converting millions of tonnes of toxic waste brine into high-value chemical salt. Situated in the Caofeidian industrial zone of Tangshan, Hebei province, the facility recently entered its trial production stage, the state-run Science and Technology Daily reported last month. This technology provides a viable pathway to solving the global challenge of... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3370356/chinese-desalination-plant-cuts-60-energy-use-turning-waste-brine-industrial-salt?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3370356/chinese-desalination-plant-cuts-60-energy-use-turning-waste-brine-industrial-salt?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 12 Oct 2026 04:15:34 +0000 Chao Kong Chao Kong Leading China’s mathematicians joined forces in Beijing on Sunday to launch an alliance aimed at integrating artificial intelligence into mathematical research. The Yau Laboratory Alliance for Mathematics and Artificial Intelligence is being spearheaded by Fields medallist Shing-Tung Yau, who warned that China was lagging behind the United States in using AI to advance frontier science. It will bring together eight leading institutions and aims to create a network of more than 1,000... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3370492/leading-chinese-mathematicians-unite-behind-use-ai-research?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3370492/leading-chinese-mathematicians-unite-behind-use-ai-research?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 11 Oct 2026 12:00:07 +0000 Holly Chik Holly Chik International scientists warn that rising sea levels driven by melting Antarctic ice will be 15 to 20 per cent higher in cities such as Hong Kong and Shanghai compared with the global average. They said gravitational shifts caused by shrinking Antarctic ice would redistribute water across the globe, causing higher ocean levels along China’s densely populated coastlines. “Even if we limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius [2.7 degrees Fahrenheit], the Paris Agreement’s most ambitious goal,... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3370255/chinas-rich-coastal-cities-see-sea-level-rise-20-higher-global-average?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3370255/chinas-rich-coastal-cities-see-sea-level-rise-20-higher-global-average?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 11 Oct 2026 08:00:10 +0000 Holly Chik Holly Chik Materials scientist and chemist Antonio Facchetti, formerly of the Georgia Institute of Technology in the United States, has joined the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology as a chair professor in its newly established department of materials. Facchetti, who was elected to the US National Academy of Engineering last year for his “contributions to the engineering of commercially viable electronic materials and devices”, researches semiconductors, dielectrics for thin-film and... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3370290/nanotechnology-expert-antonio-facchetti-joins-hkust-georgia-tech-us?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3370290/nanotechnology-expert-antonio-facchetti-joins-hkust-georgia-tech-us?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 11 Oct 2026 04:00:13 +0000 Dannie Peng Dannie Peng China has unveiled a smart robot prototype designed to assist with wheat breeding in the latest step in its ongoing drive to advance agricultural technology and bolster food security. The robot made its public debut at a recent seminar on wheat breeding, state-run China Science Daily reported on Friday. Traditional wheat breeders rely on a wealth of accumulated experience to identify and select strains with superior traits from tens of thousands of hybrid offspring. But this requires manual... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3370437/china-unveils-ai-powered-robot-designed-help-farmers-breed-better-strains-wheat?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3370437/china-unveils-ai-powered-robot-designed-help-farmers-breed-better-strains-wheat?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 10 Oct 2026 09:11:13 +0000 Holly Chik Holly Chik One of the world’s biggest network service providers has opened a new subsea route between Taipei and Hong Kong to strengthen the system against repeated underwater cable disruptions around the island. Britain-headquartered RETN said the new route would take its total to six serving Taiwan: four connecting Taipei and Hong Kong, and two linking Taipei and Tokyo. “Like many island economies, Taiwan’s international connectivity relies heavily on subsea cables, which creates exposure to risks such... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3370149/new-taipei-hong-kong-subsea-route-opened-cut-risk-and-meet-ai-demand?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3370149/new-taipei-hong-kong-subsea-route-opened-cut-risk-and-meet-ai-demand?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 10 Oct 2026 01:00:06 +0000 Victoria Bela Victoria Bela While Russian authorities have denied the death of a woman who worked in a laboratory at an anti-plague institute in Siberia was connected with the pathogen, the incident has sparked global concern – including in China – over a potential spread of the disease and a lack of transparency. US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he planned to speak with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin after it emerged late last week that the 28-year-old female lab technician had been admitted to... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3370319/russia-lifts-plague-lab-related-measures-should-china-and-world-be-relieved?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3370319/russia-lifts-plague-lab-related-measures-should-china-and-world-be-relieved?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 09 Oct 2026 09:00:06 +0000 Victoria Bela Victoria Bela Chinese researchers have developed a catalyst that converts synthesis gas into sustainable jet fuel – an advance that could boost production, help meet net-zero carbon goals and yield a gross profit margin above 50 per cent. The team verified the efficacy of the chemical catalyst in a thousand-tonne pilot test and found that combining woody biomass-derived synthesis gas, or syngas, with the cobalt-manganese catalyst enabled the “highly efficient synthesis of jet fuel”. Based on a techno-economic... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3370144/china-breakthrough-projected-push-sustainable-jet-fuel-gross-profit-margin-past-50?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3370144/china-breakthrough-projected-push-sustainable-jet-fuel-gross-profit-margin-past-50?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 08 Oct 2026 22:00:07 +0000 Seong Hyeon Choi Seong Hyeon Choi The Pentagon announced on Thursday a new multimillion-dollar initiative for “maintaining American leadership” in quantum computing capabilities amid accelerating competition between the US and China over the military application of advanced technology. In a press release, the Office of the Under Secretary of Defence for Research and Engineering, which serves as the US Department of Defence’s chief technology adviser, announced that the new initiative, worth around US$350 million, is aimed at... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/us/science-technology/article/3370243/pentagon-unveils-us350-million-quantum-computing-push-china-rivalry-grows?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/us/science-technology/article/3370243/pentagon-unveils-us350-million-quantum-computing-push-china-rivalry-grows?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 08 Oct 2026 21:33:59 +0000 Victoria Bela Victoria Bela Chinese scientists have created a wearable all-in-one device combining a glucose sensor and insulin micropump that they say paves the way for a fully autonomous mini artificial pancreas, although it has so far only been tested on mice. Unlike existing commercial systems for managing diabetes that typically require patients to wear two separate patches for monitoring and hormone delivery, the new prototype combines both functions in a single coin-sized device. Researchers from the University of... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3370145/chinese-team-says-its-all-one-mini-artificial-pancreas-offers-next-gen-diabetes-care?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3370145/chinese-team-says-its-all-one-mini-artificial-pancreas-offers-next-gen-diabetes-care?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 08 Oct 2026 08:00:09 +0000 Ling Xin Ling Xin Initial results from the world’s first two working nuclear clocks indicate that China’s timepiece is about six times as stable as the one in Vienna, according to papers published this week by the journal Nature. The clocks were developed independently but both the Chinese team, led by Tsinghua University in Beijing, and the researchers at Vienna’s TU Wien used thorium-229 nuclei embedded in crystals to keep time by the steady rhythm of the atom’s core, rather than the electrons whirling around... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3370006/chinas-thorium-229-nuclear-clock-beats-viennas-stability-studies-show?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3370006/chinas-thorium-229-nuclear-clock-beats-viennas-stability-studies-show?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 07 Oct 2026 15:00:07 +0000 Shi Huang Shi Huang “Science has no borders,” Arup Neogi, an India-born scientist who works at a US-sanctioned university, told Chinese state media. Neogi’s speciality is photonics, the study of generating, controlling and detecting light. At the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (UESTC) in the southwestern city of Chengdu, he leads a team exploring the interconnection between light and sound. This university has one of China’s top electronics and communication programmes and has been on the... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3370070/india-born-us-citizen-drives-research-light-sanctioned-chinese-school?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3370070/india-born-us-citizen-drives-research-light-sanctioned-chinese-school?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 07 Oct 2026 13:00:06 +0000 SCMP 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. Chinese researchers say missile lidar model can spot US F-35 at up to 61.5km A computer simulation developed by Chinese researchers suggests that a missile-borne system with the latest light detection and ranging system, or lidar, could detect and track an F-35 stealth fighter at up to 61.5km (38 miles) at... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3369995/chinas-missile-lidar-model-worlds-most-accurate-atomic-clock-7-science-highlights?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3369995/chinas-missile-lidar-model-worlds-most-accurate-atomic-clock-7-science-highlights?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 07 Oct 2026 07:30:06 +0000 Dannie Peng Dannie Peng Climate change and agricultural development have brought a new goose population to China with unique migratory patterns, a study has found. In an article on the Chinese Academy of Sciences website, researchers from the CAS Institute of Zoology said they had discovered a “genetically distinct” population of swan geese that emerged in Beijing over the past century. They said the timing of their arrival coincided with environmental shifts in the region during the early 20th century – namely climate... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3369863/climate-change-and-farming-gave-rise-genetically-distinct-beijing-swan-goose-study?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3369863/climate-change-and-farming-gave-rise-genetically-distinct-beijing-swan-goose-study?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 07 Oct 2026 04:00:05 +0000 Victoria Bela Victoria Bela Chinese researchers have developed a “lifelike” shape-changing hydrogel they say could provide a platform for next-generation developments, such as flexible tissue engineering scaffolds, brain-computer interfaces and humanlike robots. Inspired by living organisms, the team created a light-triggered system called STERS, which uses liquid metal particles to generate slow, self-sustaining chemical reactions that allow a hydrogel to change its structure over time. Capable of growing and changing... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3369897/chinese-team-creates-lifelike-hydrogel-changes-shape-smart-devices?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3369897/chinese-team-creates-lifelike-hydrogel-changes-shape-smart-devices?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 06 Oct 2026 14:00:09 +0000 Reuters Reuters Belgian-American particle physicist Francis Halzen won the 2026 Nobel ⁠Prize in Physics for his work creating an Antarctic observatory of ice to detect high-energy neutrinos, elusive subatomic particles that can reveal otherwise inaccessible information about the cosmos. Halzen, 82, realised that pristine ice at the South Pole could be used to track such neutrinos, sometimes known as “ghost particles” for the way they pass through the Earth without a trace, only interacting with matter extremely... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/europe/article/3369925/francis-halzen-wins-2026-nobel-prize-physics?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/europe/article/3369925/francis-halzen-wins-2026-nobel-prize-physics?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 06 Oct 2026 09:56:51 +0000 Dannie Peng Dannie Peng Chinese doctors have performed an unprecedented surgery to save an unborn child who developed a fast-growing tumour. A medical team from Shenzhen and Hong Kong recently completed a challenging, precise reduction of a foetal chest tumour while the baby was still in the womb, offering new hope to families facing similarly dire prognoses. Jointly performed by doctors from Shenzhen Baoan Women’s and Children’s Hospital and the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the procedure was detailed and published... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3369780/chinese-doctors-remove-lung-tumour-baby-still-mothers-womb-using-needle?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3369780/chinese-doctors-remove-lung-tumour-baby-still-mothers-womb-using-needle?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 05 Oct 2026 07:34:47 +0000 Zhang Tong Zhang Tong Chinese scientists have built a small, stable co-production plant that uses one system to extract hydrogen and fresh water from seawater, while also recovering uranium and bromine and improving electricity use efficiency by about 15 per cent. The team, led by Deng Dehui and Liu Yanting from the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, improved on an existing technology that is both costly and power hungry, according to a paper in the peer-reviewed journal Nature... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3369704/china-develops-plant-extract-hydrogen-fresh-water-and-uranium-sea?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3369704/china-develops-plant-extract-hydrogen-fresh-water-and-uranium-sea?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 05 Oct 2026 04:00:07 +0000 Victoria Bela Victoria Bela Authorities in the Chinese capital are releasing more than a billion parasitic wasps and encouraging caterpillar-catching competitions to try to contain the spread of the invasive North American fall webworm. The caterpillars have blanketed trees in Beijing and surrounding areas this summer, spinning clouds of greyish-white webs as they eat their way through foliage. The insects are the fuzzy larval stage of Hyphantria cunea and metamorphose into adult white moths. While not harmful to humans,... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3369693/beijing-fights-invasive-moths-parasitic-wasps-and-caterpillar-catching-contests?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3369693/beijing-fights-invasive-moths-parasitic-wasps-and-caterpillar-catching-contests?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 04 Oct 2026 11:00:12 +0000 Chao Kong Chao Kong Future settlers on Mars would need houses, but they must either spend huge sums transporting construction materials from Earth or use enormous amounts of energy to melt Martian soil into bricks. Scientists in Hong Kong say they have developed a quick and low-cost “living” building material made from genetically engineered yeast, gelatin and sand that can be 3D printed under conditions simulating the Martian environment. Their study, published online last month in Chem Circularity, an... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3368830/mars-shelter-problem-can-be-solved-engineered-yeast-gelatin-and-sand-paper?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3368830/mars-shelter-problem-can-be-solved-engineered-yeast-gelatin-and-sand-paper?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 04 Oct 2026 04:00:07 +0000 Victoria Bela Victoria Bela The botanical societies of the United States and China have signed a plant science cooperation initiative, vowing to strengthen bilateral ties and foster an open scientific community to tackle global issues. The joint initiative was signed during a Sino-American botany conference last month in Taian, in China’s eastern Shandong province, which brought together hundreds of experts from institutions in both countries. The conference, held from September 19 to 23, aimed to “further deepen botanical... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3369652/us-china-botanists-sign-landmark-proposal-cooperation-global-issues-and-projects?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3369652/us-china-botanists-sign-landmark-proposal-cooperation-global-issues-and-projects?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 03 Oct 2026 10:00:13 +0000 Holly Chik Holly Chik When chemical engineer Ahmad Zuhairi Abdullah joined Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) 22 years ago, Western institutions dominated the field, from global research infrastructure and high-impact publications to the greatest breakthroughs. Two decades later, the centre of gravity has moved eastward, says Zuhairi, now a professor with the USM school of chemical engineering in Penang. “[Not much was known] about China at that time when I joined the university. I knew that they had quite a number of... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3369619/malaysia-building-new-research-corridor-across-asia-meet-chinas-rise-scientists?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3369619/malaysia-building-new-research-corridor-across-asia-meet-chinas-rise-scientists?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 03 Oct 2026 02:00:13 +0000 Chao Kong Chao Kong Large-scale field trials across China show that irrigation water treated with natural minerals radiated by sunlight could dramatically increase the yields of several crops, according to Chinese scientists behind the experiments. The team said the trials, including on rice, wheat, soybeans, peanuts, sweet potatoes, sugar cane and vegetables, improved photosynthetic efficiency. Their study, conducted from Heilongjiang province in northeastern China to Hainan province in the south, recorded yield... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3369564/crop-outputs-grew-100-chinas-big-agricultural-experiment-scientists?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3369564/crop-outputs-grew-100-chinas-big-agricultural-experiment-scientists?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 02 Oct 2026 09:02:43 +0000 Ling Xin Ling Xin A small Singaporean research team has beaten scientists in China and the United States to build the world’s most accurate atomic clock. The clock, built with a single ion of a rare earth metal element known as lutetium, is so precise that it would lose one second every 260 billion years – nearly 20 times the age of our universe. It is about four times as accurate as the previous record holder, a calcium-ion clock developed by a Chinese Academy of Sciences team in Wuhan, and also surpasses an... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3369532/david-vs-goliaths-singapore-builds-most-accurate-clock-ever-leaves-us-and-china-dust?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3369532/david-vs-goliaths-singapore-builds-most-accurate-clock-ever-leaves-us-and-china-dust?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 02 Oct 2026 08:00:11 +0000 Meredith Chen Meredith Chen Online claims that archaeologists have identified the source of mercury in the mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang – China’s first emperor, who unified the country more than 2,000 years ago – have revived interest in ancient cinnabar sites in northwestern China’s Shaanxi province. The claims, which sent related hashtags trending on social media late last month, centred on three sites in Xunyang where archaeologists last year found evidence of cinnabar mining, processing and transport during the pre-Qin... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3369469/online-claims-revive-mercury-mystery-around-tomb-first-chinese-emperor?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3369469/online-claims-revive-mercury-mystery-around-tomb-first-chinese-emperor?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 02 Oct 2026 01:00:07 +0000 Zhang Tong Zhang Tong A new embodied AI model known as Maxwell – developed by the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Artificial Intelligence for Industries – has shot to first place on the Meta-World benchmark for robot physical tasks. Maxwell scored 91.9 – the highest ever recorded on the simulation benchmark. Meta-World was set up by researchers from Stanford University, UC Berkeley and other institutions to evaluate how well robots perform 50 everyday physical tasks. They range from grasping and carrying to... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3369420/maxwell-smart-new-chinese-embodied-model-tops-global-ai-ranking-physical-tasks?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3369420/maxwell-smart-new-chinese-embodied-model-tops-global-ai-ranking-physical-tasks?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 01 Oct 2026 07:00:06 +0000 Chao Kong Chao Kong A computer simulation developed by Chinese researchers suggests that a missile-borne system with the latest light detection and ranging system, or lidar, could detect and track an F-35 stealth fighter at up to 61.5km (38 miles) at night. The theoretical model developed by a leading Chinese air force missile supplier says that under ideal conditions, the claimed range could have implications for the F-35’s ability to survive while facing China’s stealth fighters. But one analyst is sceptical that... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3369347/chinese-researchers-say-missile-lidar-model-can-spot-us-f-35-615km?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3369347/chinese-researchers-say-missile-lidar-model-can-spot-us-f-35-615km?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 30 Sep 2026 10:43:15 +0000 Holly Chik Holly Chik Scientists have unveiled an exceptionally well-preserved 100-million-year-old fossil of a small, feathered dinosaur in northeastern China that could reshape our understanding of how dinosaurs took to the skies. The newly discovered species, named Norellraptor barsboldi, is a four-winged predatory dinosaur measuring 57cm (22 inches) long. Belonging to the microraptorines – small dinosaurs with feathers and wings closely related to birds – the creature offers fresh evidence that flight evolved... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3369309/4-winged-fossil-found-liaoning-challenges-single-origin-dinosaur-flight?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3369309/4-winged-fossil-found-liaoning-challenges-single-origin-dinosaur-flight?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 30 Sep 2026 09:00:06 +0000 Dannie Peng Dannie Peng China is offering the world’s brightest young scientists generous 15-year research grants for free exploration, as the country accelerates its drive to become a global science powerhouse. Dou Xiankang, director of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), the country’s top funder of basic research, told a recent academic forum that the agency was selecting a group of the brightest researchers under 35 for long-term financial backing. Once this group of exceptionally brilliant... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3368750/china-offers-15-year-research-grants-worlds-brightest-young-scientists?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3368750/china-offers-15-year-research-grants-worlds-brightest-young-scientists?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 29 Sep 2026 08:06:50 +0000 Victoria Bela Victoria Bela China’s ocean drilling ship Mengxiang has returned from its first expedition in the South China Sea, where it set a national depth record and obtained basalt core samples that could help to unravel the region’s tectonic history. The 30-day expedition organised by the China Geological Survey tested the operational capabilities of the world’s most powerful deep-ocean drilling ship, according to a report published on Monday by the official ministry newspaper Science and Technology Daily. During the... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3369137/chinese-deep-ocean-drilling-ship-brings-home-precious-south-china-sea-samples?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3369137/chinese-deep-ocean-drilling-ship-brings-home-precious-south-china-sea-samples?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 29 Sep 2026 04:11:17 +0000 Victoria Bela Victoria Bela A Chinese team has set a world record for the most autonomous underwater drones operating at the same time, deploying more than a hundred of the small robots in a swimming pool test. The Guinness World Record for “most autonomous underwater vehicles operating simultaneously” was set by a team from Northwestern Polytechnical University in collaboration with Xian Tianhe Maritime Technologies. The trial involved a swarm of 116 autonomous underwater vehicles – called TH-618s, the university said in... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3369031/chinese-team-sets-world-record-swarm-116-underwater-drones?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3369031/chinese-team-sets-world-record-swarm-116-underwater-drones?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 29 Sep 2026 01:00:17 +0000 Ling Xin Ling Xin A heavily redacted police report has deepened the mystery surrounding the death of a young Chinese semiconductor researcher at the University of Michigan, who took his own life soon after what US federal agents described as a routine and voluntary interview. On the cold morning of March 18, Wang Danhao, 31, spoke with two Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officers for about 10 minutes outside his rented home in Ann Arbor. When one officer offered to end the interview because of the weather,... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3368780/us-police-report-raises-more-questions-about-chinese-researcher-wang-danhaos-death?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3368780/us-police-report-raises-more-questions-about-chinese-researcher-wang-danhaos-death?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 28 Sep 2026 15:00:19 +0000 Eve Qiao Eve Qiao China’s top state research body has put artificial intelligence (AI) and other frontier technologies at the heart of its new five-year plan unveiled on Monday, as global competition in science and technology heats up. The Chinese Academy of Sciences, the country’s highest academic institution, laid out a detailed blueprint for research and technology development aligned with the national 15th five-year plan covering 2026 to 2030. The plan focuses on innovation in areas including AI and... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3369084/china-targets-ai-and-frontier-tech-newly-unveiled-innovation-blueprint?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3369084/china-targets-ai-and-frontier-tech-newly-unveiled-innovation-blueprint?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 28 Sep 2026 14:00:17 +0000