News on China's scientific and technological development.

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Chinese scientists develop revolutionary “smart window”

Window both reflects heat and generates electricity. Scientists in China said they had designed a smart window that can both save and generate energy. Existing smart windows are limited to regulating light and heat from the sun but allow a lot of potential energy to escape. The Chinese Academy of Sciences said it has developed a concept smart window device for the simultaneous generation and saving of energy. The Chinese discovered that a material called vanadium oxide or VO2 can be used as a transparent coating to regulate infrared radiation from the sun. VO2 changes its properties based on temperature. VO2 is insulating below a certain temperature and lets in infrared light. At another temperature, however, VO2 becomes reflective. A window using VO2 both regulates the amount of sun energy entering a building and delivers light to solar cells placed around its glass panels. The electricity produced can generate enough energy to light a lamp. The academy said this smart window combines energy saving and generation in one device, and offers potential to intelligently regulate and utilize solar radiation in an efficient manner.

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Equation said:

This would be great news for skyscrapers to save money and energy on electric bills.

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Some people believe one tree does not make a forest. In some circumstances, this may not be true.

One example is a forest consisting of only one banyan tree, located near the Mangling village in Ruili, Yunnan province.

And the case of the one-tree forest also describes the situation in the division of quantum physics and quantum information of the Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale, University of Science and Technology of China.

"There is a way to create a forest from one tree: the tree extends its branches in all directions, like the banyan tree, so each branch can take root on the ground and stand parallel with the trunk," said Pan Jianwei, founder and director of the division.

For the quantum laboratory staff members, Pan is the trunk.

His passion on quantum research dates back to his undergraduate years in the 1980s at the university. At that time the ambitious young man could not find a suitable quantum lab in China — the potential for quantum technology was not widely recognized.

Pan studied for his doctoral degree under world-famous experimental quantum physicist Anton Zeilinger, now at the University of Vienna.

At their first meeting, Zeilinger asked Pan about his dream and Pan said it was to build a world-leading lab like Zeilinger's in China.

"I always knew he would have a wonderful career — but the incredible success that he has had, I do not think anyone could have foreseen. I am very proud of him," Zeilinger was quoted as saying about Pan in Nature magazine in December.

Between 2003 and 2008, Pan carried out experiments on quantum communication and quantum computation in Germany, and received a number of awards for his work, such as the Erich Schmid Prize and the Fresnel Prize.

In the meantime, Pan already started preparations for his dream of a world-leading lab.

Pan established the quantum lab in the University of Science and Technology of China in 2001. Between 2003 and 2008, Pan searched the globe for talented scientists to join his team.

Chen Kai, now a professor at the university, was the first overseas returnee in Pan's team.

"Pan is the person who led me to the frontiers of quantum research," Chen said.

He still remembers in 2001, when he was a postdoctoral researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Physics, he heard Pan at a quantum information conference. He was immediately obsessed with quantum information processing.

After finishing his studies with the institute, Chen went to the University of Toronto and the University of Bonn for research on quantum information, and then he went, after Pan, to the University of Heidelberg in 2006.

"In Heidelberg, Pan's guidance led my research direction to experimental quantum information, the frontier of the science. That is why when Pan decided to go back to China, I was the first follower," Chen said.

Now Chen leads a team that specializes in quantum communication and quantum information in Pan's group.

Zhang Jun, 31, received "directional training" for the lab as an undergraduate. When the lab was first established, Zhang was still a freshman at the University of Science and Technology of China.

"In the beginning, I was just curious about Pan, so I did research assistant work in his lab. Then I found Pan was one of those people who had this charismatic quality that makes you want to work with him," Zhang said.

Thus, Zhang finished doctorate study, and went to Switzerland, as recommended by Pan, to learn photon detection technology, which is a key technology in quantum communication.

When Pan quit his job in Germany and returned to China in 2008, he brought a team with him. The average age of Pan's team, which consists of about 20 scientists, is 35.

"Our people in the lab may not be the world's best on any specific research branch. Yet our advantage is that we have a team that is capable of handling complicated problems that need multidisciplinary expertise," Pan said.

"Just like the one-tree forest, from one trunk, we struck out in all directions. When our branches are strong enough, we can be the forest."

[email protected]

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New communications technology would have 'unconditional security'

Matter transfer, like the astonishing technology in Star Trek, is possible in real life.

Simply speaking, all you need is to convert an object into an energy pattern, transmit the energy, then reconvert it into matter.

Though transferring a person is still far away, we are stepping closer to transferring elementary particles.

"We're in the last step, connecting distant cities with quantum networks via satellite," Pan Jianwei, a professor at the University of Science and Technology of China and a leading quantum expert, said in an exclusive interview.

Within five years, he and his team plan to build a quantum network covering a wide area.

"The biggest advantage of quantum communication, compared with the current means of communication, is its unconditional security," Pan said.

He has built a metropolitan area quantum network in Hefei, Anhui province, linking 46 nodes, including government agencies and financial institutions, allowing real-time voice communication, messages and file transfer.

"The application of quantum communication is wide, it can be used on any confidential information," said Chen Kai, a professor who works with quantum networks.

Unique nature

The reason that information is safer on quantum networks lies in the properties of photons, Pan said.

Computer networks utilize binary code (a series of zeros and ones) to convey information. The messages can be copied if they are captured during transmission.

But photons, the smallest unit of energy, have a unique nature in that they can exist in many possible states at the same time.

"In other words, the state of a quantum photon could be zero or one, or both zero and one at the same time," Pan said.

So on a quantum network the information can neither be captured nor copied because an eavesdropper cannot duplicate the state of a photon. If the photons are disturbed, observable changes will be detected and expose the listener.

"The information, encoded in the photons, is like being locked in a safe box. The thieves do not know the information in the box and can't copy it if they don't open the box. But if they try to open it they have to smash the box, which will leave a trace," Pan said.

As for current network transmissions, Pan said that, "you thought you put the information in a safe box, but it turns out that your box is made of glass, so everybody can see the information inside and copy it, without opening it and leaving traces".

In March, Pan and his team started a project to build a 2,000-km quantum network linking Beijing and Shanghai. The network, expected to be put into service in three years, will mainly be used to transfer confidential banking information.

Yet metropolitan and intercity networks were never the ultimate goal of Pan's group. Their aim was to teleport quantum information across the planet by beaming the signal to a satellite and bouncing it back.

Yet there is no point in developing a satellite quantum communication network if you have no one to talk with. So Pan invited his doctoral tutor and one-time rival Anton Zeilinger.

This year, the team sent photons to an orbiting satellite and detected thousands of the photons back on Earth.

In June, MIT Technology Review's arXiv Blog reported the experiment as a "small victory in this quantum space race" between China and Europe.

"What is abundantly clear is that the quantum space race is rapidly heating up. But the embarrassing truth for American science is that the US isn't yet a player in the quantum space race (at least not publicly). Perhaps that's something that should change," the author wrote.

In 2016, China plans to launch a satellite dedicated to quantum experiments, the Chinese Quantum Science Satellite, that would put it ahead of the US and Europe.

"The satellite will provide scientific answers to the feasibility of intercontinental quantum teleportation — to make it simple, whether I can talk to my friend in Vienna from Beijing on a quantum phone," Pan said.

A report in Nature magazine said that teleporting photons to a satellite would "establish the first links of a ‘quantum Internet' that harnesses the powers of subatomic physics to create a super-secure global communication network. It will confirm China's ascent in the field, from a bit player, little more than a decade ago, to a global powerhouse".

Although the practical application of quantum networks that link every corner on Earth would need more than just one satellite, Pan is happy to see China being "one step ahead of world competitors".

"There is fierce international competition in quantum communication, especially from the US and Germany," Pan said.

"Quantum communication represents a significant direction of technological development, and the best thing we can do is to think big, think ahead and plan in advance."

[email protected]

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SHANGHAI - Successful experiments by Chinese scientists have indicated the possibility of the country's netizens getting online through signals sent by lightbulbs (LiFi), instead of WiFi.

Four computers under a one-watt LED lightbulb may connect to the Internet under the principle that light can be used as a carrier instead of traditional radio frequencies, as in WiFi, said Chi Nan, an information technology professor with Shanghai's Fudan University, on Thursday.

A lightbulb with embedded microchips can produce data rates as fast as 150 megabits per second, which is speedier than the average broadband connection in China, said Chi, who leads a LiFi research team including scientists from the Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

With LiFi cost-effective as well as efficient, netizens should be excited to view 10 sample LiFi kits that will be on display at the China International Industry Fair that will kick off on November 5 in Shanghai.

The current wireless signal transmission equipment is expensive and low in efficiency, said Chi.

"As for cell phones, millions of base stations have been established around the world to strengthen the signal but most of the energy is consumed on their cooling systems," she explained. "The energy utilization rate is only 5 percent."

Compared with base stations, the number of lightbulbs that can be used is practically limitless. Meanwhile, Chinese people are replacing the old-fashioned incandescent bulbs with LED lightbulbs at a fast pace.

"Wherever there is an LED lightbulb, there is an Internet signal," said Chi. "Turn off the light and there is no signal."

However, there is still a long way to go to make LiFi a commercial success.

"If the light is blocked, then the signal will be cut off," said Chi.

More importantly, according to the scientist, the development of a series of key related pieces of technology, including light communication controls as well as microchip design and manufacturing, is still in an experimental period.

The term LiFi was coined by Harald Haas from the University of Edinburgh in the UK and refers to a type of visible light communication technology that delivers a networked, mobile, high-speed communication solution in a similar manner as WiFi.

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China has established a national emergency geospatial data system to provide first-responders with detailed maps within two hours after a disaster, a senior official said.

At the Chengdu Forum on United Nations Global Geospatial Information Management in the capital of Sichuan province on Tuesday, government leaders and prominent geologists and land surveyors discussed how any effective disaster response starts with a map.

"In fighting with disasters such as earthquakes and mudslides, providing timely mapping support for affected regions is crucial," said Xu Deming, director of the National Administration of Surveying, Mapping and Geoinformation.

The national geospatial data system was established after April 20, when a magnitude-7.0 earthquake rocked Ya'an, Sichuan province. Only two hours after the quake, the National Administration of Surveying, Mapping and Geoinformation produced its first detailed map of the region. That set in motion a wave of support for the national agency from the central government.

By comparison, it took nearly nine hours for a map to be produced after the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, which means mapping technology at the national agency has vastly improved.

At the three-day forum, which runs through Thursday, Xu said the first 72 hours after a disaster are crucial for rescuers in the search for lives. With the help of the national emergency geospatial data system, he said, loss of lives and economic losses could be held to a minimum.

Besides satellites, unmanned planes and surveying instruments, the data system uses Map World (the Chinese version of Google Earth), an emergency support platform to provide policymakers with disaster assessments as well as recovery and post-disaster planning suggestions and the National Fundamental Geographic Information System, said Li Pengde, deputy director of the national mapping agency.

"The system will provide timely and reliable mapping services anywhere in the country after disasters," Li said.

Wu Hongbo, under-secretary-general for UN economic and social affairs, said China is making great strides in emergency mapping and "taking a leading position in this sector of the world".

"In the first hours after the Wenchuan earthquake, I remember that some rescuers didn't know where they were or where to go. China has learned its lesson," Wu said.

After the Wenchuan earthquake, China released the National Emergency Mapping Action Plan in March 2009, which defined the responsibilities and requirements for national, provincial and regional surveying and mapping departments. In January 2012, China launched a high-resolution imaging satellite, called the ZY-3, to be used in not only monitoring the nation's land use and ecology, but also to be used in urban planning and disaster management.

But Liu Dake, deputy director of the geoinformation and mapping department under the national mapping agency, said there is still room for improvement. Liu said an emergency airspace coordination system should be established to deploy unmanned planes to take photos of disaster-hit regions.

China's air force controls the national airspace and allots only 20 percent of airspace for civil aviation, making it hard for nonmilitary flights to be approved quickly, disaster management experts said.

China was heavily affected by natural disasters in 2012, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs, with about 290 million people affected and 1,530 deaths.

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China will improve the way it provides financial support to science and technology development, Finance Minister Lou Jiwei said on Tuesday.

When delivering a report to the country's top legislature, Lou said despite increasing financial support to the sector, reforms are needed to improve the system's effectiveness.

Basic research relies heavily on financial support from the central government rather than local governments or enterprises, and the proportion of research and development expenditures spent on basic research is too low, Lou said in the report to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.

In addition, the science and technology funding system lacks coordination between departments, and relations between the government and the market have not been clearly defined, impacting the effectiveness of fiscal support.

Lou said the most fundamental way to address these problems is to further deepen reform of the science and technology system. He said the government will continue to transform its functions and build a science-technology innovation system with enterprises as major players.

The government will also promote other forms of financial support, such as angel investment and government procurement of services.

Lou said the science and technology evaluation system and management of financial funds in the sector should be improved, and in the meantime, the monitoring and supervision of its use should be strengthened.

The country's fiscal expenditures in science and technology development increased from 168.9 billion yuan in 2006 to 560 billion yuan in 2012, an average annual growth rate of 22.73 percent.

Expenditures in research and development in China reached 1 trillion yuan ($164.1 billion) in 2012, about 1.98 percent of its gross domestic product, according to the report.

The report came at a time when the misuse of research funds has become a serious issue in the country.

"The more money invested, the more problems there will be, if the system stays the same," Zhang Weiying, a well-known Chinese economist at the Peking University, said at a forum on Oct 13.

Zhang said that research institutes and colleges in China are scrambling?to spend more research funds, because they would be punished if they fail to spend every penny listed on the budget they submitted to authorities.

"Tsinghua University was fined tens of millions yuan last year," Zhang said.

In 2012, the National Audit Office investigated more than eight major?national science and technology?programs, which the central government invested a combined 34.76 billion yuan on, but found that 98 percent of research tasks under these programs did not even receive an acceptance check.

Li Lianda, a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, criticized the ill management of research funds on his blog.

"An important reason that the research tasks could not receive an acceptance check is that the money was allocated too late. When the task starts, there is not?a?single penny?paid. A small amount is usually allocated one year later, and all the money comes together when you are about to finish," he wrote.

"So when all the money is finally given out, the researchers are so busy spending the money that they have to put off the research progress and the acceptance check."

Wan Gang, minister of Science and Technology, said the administrative department should create conditions to make the use of research funds in a more open and transparent manner.

"Only through greater transparency is it be possible to avoid serious misuse of the funds, and thus increase the efficiency of the use of research funds," Wan said at a press conference on Oct 11.

The ministry is building a science and technology report system in China, which requires State-funded research projects that have passed acceptance tests to submit reports that contain the research goal, method, process, technical content and lessons learned, to provide references for peer researchers.

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