News on China's scientific and technological development.

I will try to move the OS discussion here. Since China is looking to replace 50 million computers with domestic systems. They will inevitably use Chinese OS. Right now, it seems like there are a few options.
There is the 统信UOS
the 银河麒麟

Although the two Kylin seems to be combined into one
and also Deepin

Based on this it looks like Kylin have more software developed for it and more compatible hardware for it. Both cases the number is not high.

If you look at Kylinos website, it seems like all the well known domestic CPU producers are using them. It's used in both server and desktop OS, so all the cloud providers also support them.

I personally don't think it's a big deal that they don't have that many compatible software right now. MacOS and Chrome also had a fraction of the applications that windows has. They just need to make sure the computers themselves can serve the professional market first before they move elsewhere.

tphuang said:

I will try to move the OS discussion here. Since China is looking to replace 50 million computers with domestic systems. They will inevitably use Chinese OS. Right now, it seems like there are a few options.
There is the 统信UOS

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the 银河麒麟

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Although the two Kylin seems to be combined into one
and also Deepin

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Based on this it looks like Kylin have more software developed for it and more compatible hardware for it. Both cases the number is not high.

If you look at Kylinos website, it seems like all the well known domestic CPU producers are using them. It's used in both server and desktop OS, so all the cloud providers also support them.

I personally don't think it's a big deal that they don't have that many compatible software right now. MacOS and Chrome also had a fraction of the applications that windows has. They just need to make sure the computers themselves can serve the professional market first before they move elsewhere.

Click to expand...

Linux is fine as a desktop OS and server OS. As I said in the semiconductor thread, the overall industry trend is moving toward cloud-based apps which are accessed through browsers. The underlying OS is irrelevant for most people as long as they buy computers that comes with copies of Linux with the right drivers and auto update of packages.

Speaking of Linux distros in China, there might be an opportunity for Biren (and other GPU makers in general). I hope Biren can open source its GPU drivers for Linux at least on desktop, if it has not.

Within the Linux kernel community, Nvidia is infamous for keeping its drivers closed tightly. Its software is a complete blackbox in the running kernels where everything else are debuggable with source. This has caused countless troubles and headaches for the Linux kernel maintainers. Linus Torvalds openly gave Nvidia a middle finger because of this. AMD is better at open sourcing its Linux drivers but the software quality, speed and efficiency in particular, is said to be inferior to that of Nvidia.

As the Chinese goverment pushing for domestic systems, if Biren work with the domestic PC makers and the Chinese Linux developer community, it might be able get a slice of the market from Nvidia and AMD in China and beyond. That will then create more opportunities for the Chinese application software developers on Linux such as game studios.

And of course now there is also Huawei's HarmonyOS on desktop. If everything works out, this might even result in a smaller market share for Microsoft Windows in China.

But this window of opportunity will not remain open for ever as both Nvidia and AMD are improving their drivers on Linux. IIRC there were even rumors that Nvidia is considering to release an open sourced version of its drivers on Linux.

CAA issued the airworthiness certificate to a domestic bio-aviation fuel producer. Every year, it can produce up to 100 thousand tons of aviation fuel from used cooking oil collected from restaurants and food processors. That's about the total amount of used cooking oil of a 10 million pop. city in China.


今天（9月19日），中国石化镇海炼化正式获得中国民航局颁发的生物航煤适航证书——技术标准规定项目批准书项目单，标志着我国首套生物航煤工业装置产出的规模化生物航煤将向整个民用航空市场销售。

生物航煤是可持续航空燃料的重要组成部分。中国首套生物航煤工业装置采用我国自主研发的生产技术，以餐饮废油为原料，年设计加工能力为10万吨，于今年6月产出首批纯生物航煤600多吨。该装置满负荷运行，一年基本能消化一座千万人口城市回收的“地沟油”。

China started industrial scale production of a coal-based polyglycolic acid (PGA). This demo production facility of 50 thousand ton capacity is also the first in the world.

Disposable plastics made from PGA can completely degrade in earth and seawater within 6 to 12 months.


今天（19日），国家能源集团榆林化工公司年产5万吨聚乙醇酸可降解材料示范项目打通全部生产流程，正式建成投产。

项目产出的可降解材料能大量替代一次性塑料制品，在土壤、海水等自然环境中仅需半年到一年时间便可以完全无害降解。

国家能源集团聚乙醇酸可降解材料项目负责人 闫国春：通过多年创新实践，我们不仅可以用煤生产传统塑料，也可以生产聚乙醇酸这种可降解塑料。与生产传统塑料相比，每吨聚乙醇酸煤耗可以降低1/2，生产过程中二氧化碳排放量降低2/3。随着技术进步和规模放大，成本可以接近传统塑料的生产成本。

该项目产品不仅可以制成一次性餐具、塑料袋等生活用品，还在医疗手术缝合线、农业地膜、地下非常规油气开采等高端领域也具有非常广泛的应用空间。推动我国煤化工综合利用，向着“高端化、多元化、低碳化”方向发展。

中国工程院院士 中科院大连化学物理研究所所长 刘中民：可降解塑料是一个新方向，从全世界的角度来看，产量还不到1%，它的替代空间也有几千万吨的规模，说明市场空间也是巨大的。加上减排效果，加上减碳，再加上它的成本降低，所以可以预料煤化工做可降解塑料一定是一个快速发展的新方向。

tphuang said:

I personally don't think it's a big deal that they don't have that many compatible software right now. MacOS and Chrome also had a fraction of the applications that windows has. They just need to make sure the computers themselves can serve the professional market first before they move elsewhere.

Click to expand...

Getting consumers to migrate to Chinese OSes will be difficult without OS sanctions or massive advantages in the OS. The average person needs to have a compelling reason to move to an unfamiliar system beyond something nebulous like national security. The space is pretty well-understood so that seems unlikely. I agree the next best move is to dominate the professional market. Those are more sensitive to soft factors like better and more responsive customer (enterprise) support. That would help breed the familiarity that makes adoption in the non-professional market easier. It looks like that is indeed what the aspiring OSes are doing.

vincent said:

Linux is fine as a desktop OS and server OS. As I said in the semiconductor thread, the overall industry trend is moving toward cloud-based apps which are accessed through browsers. The underlying OS is irrelevant for most people as long as they buy computers that comes with copies of Linux with the right drivers and auto update of packages.

Click to expand...

Like I've said before I think cloud-based OS has fundamental problems in the consumer space as opposed to it's advantages in the B2B space. There are issues with usage pricing, data sovereignty, and latency. On big mainstream applications, latency can be worked down to mostly the physical limit which is acceptable for casual tasks, but that requires work. In a cloud-only ecosystem, you will also have applications, sometimes even critical applications, that have a decidedly subpar response time due to lack of proper network, path, and load-sharing optimization. Simple actions could take a minute or more to complete. Developer quality is not evenly-distributed. In return, cloud-services eliminate the need for local company datacenters, reduce legal liabilities, and reduce the size and cost of in-house IT support. The casual consumer doesn't care about any of these advantages.

Moving everyone onto cloud-based OSes also means handing over the data of the entire population to these companies providing cloud services. That grants them a lot of monopoly power even if they don't seek to subvert the government. They have access to arbitrarily increase prices, reduce allocated bandwidth and resources (CPU/GPU usage), as well as engage in anti-competitive behavior. That would potentially force the government regulatory body to spend all it's time playing whack-a-mole. Companies are also pretty piss-poor at security, so handing an entire population's data to just several service-providers seems like a massive security breech waiting to happen. China could develop and distribute the cloud-OS via an SOE to alleviate some of these issues, but that then limits it's appeal outside of China.


I think cloud-based OSes have their place in the market, but I don't think China should or even needs to put it all into that basket.

Staedler said:

I think cloud-based OSes have their place in the market, but I don't think China should or even needs to put it all into that basket.

Click to expand...

That horse has already left the barn.

weibo, taobao, douyin, etc are app-based on phones and web-based on desktops. sina mail are web-based.

similar things are happening in North American, gmail/hotmail/Twitter/Facebook/GSuite/Google Drive/Office.com/SharePoint.com/Onedrive/etc are all web-based on desktop.

Chinese scientists created high efficiency large-area perovskite photovoltiaic devices using the less expensive nanosecond laser, ending the scientific debate of whether the more expensive picosecond or even femtosecond lasers are required.

Can Nanosecond Laser Achieve High-Performance Perovskite Solar Modules with Aperture Area Efficiency Over 21%?​

Abstract​

Overcoming cell-to-module (CTM) efficiency losses is indispensable to realize large-area high-efficiency perovskite photovoltaic devices for commercialization. Laser scribing technology is used to fabricate perovskite modules, but it does not seem to solve the problem of high-quality interconnection and high geometric filling factor (GFF), which are the prerequisites for overcoming CTM losses. In reality, what kind of laser technology is needed to fabricate high-efficiency perovskite solar modules is still an open question. Herein, this work demonstrates that a nanosecond pulse laser is able to deliver a reduced heat-affected zone due to the small thermal diffusion coefficient (Dt) of perovskite material, contributing to the accomplishment of a high GFF of up to 95.5%. In addition, the monolithic interconnection quality is improved by finely lifting off the capping layers on indium tin oxide and identifying the residue within the scribed area. As a result, a certified aperture area efficiency of 21.07% under standard 100 mW cm−2 AM1.5G illumination is achieved with a high photovoltaic fill factor exceeding 80%. The present study provides guidance in overcoming key CTM efficiency losses in perovskite photovoltaic technology.


本报讯（记者朱汉斌）近日，暨南大学新能源技术研究院教授麦耀华团队采用低成本纳秒激光器，实现效率超过21%的大面积钙钛矿光伏组件的制备。相关研究发表于《先进能源材料》。

在“双碳”战略的推动下，新型钙钛矿光伏组件正进入产业化时代。克服从小面积电池到大面积组件的效率损失是产业化过程中需要解决的关键技术问题。到目前为止，对于制造高效率钙钛矿光伏组件是否需要使用高造价的皮秒或飞秒激光器，业内一直没有定论。

为此，麦耀华团队使用低造价的纳秒激光器制备了高性能钙钛矿光伏组件。研究表明，由于钙钛矿材料的热扩散系数较小，纳秒激光并不会对其造成较大的热影响区，并且可以实现高达95.5%的几何填充因子。经过参数优化，钙钛矿光伏组件的孔径面积效率可以达到21.07%，且填充因子超过80%。以上结果获得国家光伏产业计量测试中心的认证。

该研究成果为减少大面积钙钛矿光伏组件的效率损失提供了指导，同时降低了设备投资和生产成本，对推动钙钛矿电池的产业化有着重要意义。