News on China's scientific and technological development.

Spartan95 said:

My born-in-China grandparents always like to buy gold jewelry whenever they had the spare cash to do so (when they were alive that is).

And looking at the number of goldsmith shops in HK, Macau and the booming coastal cities in PRC, I'd say this habit is still very much alive amongst the populace.

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Its starting to pick up now in PRC. People are paying closer attention to gold as a result of high property price/tightening and lackluster stockmarket. I just rescently invested in old chinese gold coins which went up by 300% in 6 months...

China's 1st deep underground lab now operational for dark matter



"China's 1st deep underground lab now operational for dark matter
14:29, December 13, 2010


China's first deep underground lab put into service for dark matter on Dec. 12. (Photo by Chinanews.com)


A detector made from germanium-crystal material with the highest purity in the world. (Photo by Chinanews.com)

China's first deep underground laboratory was formally put into service in Jinpin hydropower station in Sichuan Province on Dec. 12, which means China now possesses an independent cutting-edge underground scientific research and experimental platform in physics.

Cheng Jianping, director of the project, said the lab is currently the deepest underground lab in the world with vertical rock coverage of 2,400 meters.

Experts from the project said the deep underground laboratory is of great importance for research of major leading basic research topics, including dark matter, particle physics, nuclear physics, neutrino physics, astrophysics and cosmology, and is a sound environment for research of rock mechanics, earth structure, ecology, low-level radioactive materials and nuclear radiation detection for environmental protection.

Experts from the China Institute of Atomic Energy, Tsinghua University, Sichuan University and the Ertan Hydropower Development Company formed a cooperation group to conduct dark matter detection experiments using a germanium detector made from germanium crystal material with the highest purity in the world. The lab’s first research on dark matter is expected to be completed in 2011.

By Li Mu, People's Daily Online"

Note: Thank you to "Simpleton" for the newslink.

Bolivia Agrees To Buy $300 Million Communications Satellite From China


China designed, built, and helped finance a communications satellite for Nigeria. It was launched from Sichuan Province in China on May 14, 2007. (Li Gang/Xinhua, via Associated Press)


The successful launch of Nigcomsat-1, a communications satellite for Nigeria, was celebrated at the launch center in Xichang, China. (Li Gang/Xinhua via Newscom)


DFH-4 satellite bus (or platform) designed and built by CGWIC (i.e. China Great Wall Industrial Corporation)


DFH-4 satellite technical specifications



"Bolivia Agrees To Buy $300 Million Communications Satellite From China
Dec 13, 2010
Dow Jones Newswires

BUENOS AIRES -(Dow Jones)- The Bolivian government has signed a contract with China Great Wall Industries Corporation, or Cgwic, to purchase a $300 million communications satellite, Bolivia's state news agency ABI reported Monday.

The satellite, dubbed the Tupac Katari, after the Aymara Indian rebel leader in the late 1700's, is expected to be operational within the next 36 months. The Bolivian government will pay $45 million for the satellite, with the rest financed by a loan from the China Development Bank, according to ABI.

The satellite will have an useful life of 15 years and will bring communications coverage to all of Bolivia, as well as neighboring countries, ABI said.

Cgwic was established in 1980 and is controlled by the government's China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.

-By Shane Romig, Dow Jones Newswires; 54-11-4103-6738; [email protected]"

Scientists Create World's Smallest Microchip



"Scientists Create World's Smallest Microchip
Posted on: Tuesday, 14 December 2010, 09:10 CST

Taiwanese scientists unveiled a new microchip which is reportedly the smallest device of its kind ever manufactured, measuring just nine nanometers across.



While it is far smaller (one nanometer is equal to just one billionth of a meter) than existing microchips, it has a far greater memory capacity than its larger counterparts, researchers at the state-run National Nano Device Laboratories (NDL) told members of the press Tuesday.

"A chip using the new memory technology has about 20 times the storage capacity of memory units now available on the market but it consumes just one 200th of the electricity," Ho Chia-hua, the head of the team behind the new microchip technology, told Radio Taiwan International. "Using this technology on one square centimeter, you can save up to a whole library's worth of writing materials. It does not use a lot of electricity. There is unlimited potential with such a small product."

Laboratory General Director Yang Fu-liang told the AFP that, using this technology, a one square centimeter chip would be able to store one million pictures or 100 hours of 3D movies. However, as Digitimes Analyst Nobunaga Chai told the French news agency, it will take "several years" before the technology would be available for "commercial use."

According to the official NDL website, the company, which was founded in 1988, "has been playing a significant role in support of universities in Taiwan for research and development in advance semiconductor process technologies, and educating and training high-tech people for the microelectronics industries."

"Together with researchers and engineers from all over the country in the nano area, NDL aims at efficiently developing research competence and expertise in nano-science and technology," the company's homepage continues. 'All our staffs are making efforts to provide a better infrastructure for academic research, such that researchers and graduate students from universities and other research institutes may more effectively use the various software and hardware facilities at NDL to perform high-profile research at an internationally competitive level.'"

Interesting there seems to be research into robotics in China that doesn't get attention. Not as sophisticated as Japan but in China I read stories every now and then that come up sort of a surprising pace since this seems to be a newer field.

China Launches Seventh Beidou Satellite


"SpaceRefOnOrbit | December 17, 2010 | 2 likes, 0 dislikes

The Chinese Beidou-2 L2 satellite was launched aboard a Long March 3A rocket from the XiChang Satellite Launch Center near Liangshan in Sichuan province.

The BeiDou-2 or Compass Navigation Satellite System is China's second-generation satellite navigation constellation which will consist of 35 satellites. The constellation is capable of providing continuous, real-time passive 3D geo-spatial positioning and speed measurement and is intended for both civilian and military use. This is the 7th satellite in the constellation to be launched."



"China launches seventh orbiter for indigenous global satellite navigation system
English.news.cn 2010-12-18 05:58:51


China's seventh "Beidou", or Compass, navigation satellite is launched into space on a Long March-3A carrier rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwestern Sichuan Province at 4:20 a.m. Beijing Time on Saturday, December 18, 2010. (Photo: Xinhua)

XICHANG, Sichuan, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- China successfully launched an orbiter into space from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwestern Sichuan Province at 4:20 a.m. Beijing Time Saturday.

It was the seventh orbiter that China has launched for its independent satellite navigation and positioning network, also known as Beidou, or Compass system.

It is the 136th flight for the country's Long March series of rockets.

The new satellite, launched on a Long March-3A carrier rocket, joins six other satellites already in orbit to form a network, which will eventually consist of more than 30 satellites.

China started building its own satellite navigation system to end its dependence upon the U.S. GPS system in 2000, when it sent two orbiters as a double-satellite experimental positioning system.

Beidou, as the system is called, is designed to provide navigation, time and short message services in the Asia and Pacific region before 2012 and will be capable of providing global navigation services by 2020."

Note: Thank you to "houshanghai," "conworldus," and "6642.CN" for the video and news links.

Taiwan develops breakthrough phosphorless LED lights



"Taiwan develops breakthrough LED lights
* Publication Date：12/15/2010
* Source： Taiwan Today
* By Grace Kuo


The phosphorless LED lamp developed by YunTech and Full-Sun. (Courtesy of Full-Sun)

National Yunlin University of Science and Technology (Yuntech) and Full-Sun Optotech Co. Ltd. have jointly developed the world’s first phosphorless light-emitting diode lights, Yuntech President Yang Yeong-bin announced Dec. 14.

As a result of the breakthrough technology, the new LED lights have a high color-rending index and a low luminous decay rate, two features that cannot be found in any other LED lights currently in use, Yang added.

He noted that after the lamps were left on continuously for 9,000 hours, they showed a luminous decay rate of only about 10 percent.

“This proves that even without phosphors, our LED lights can last for at least 100,000 hours,” Yang stressed.

He further noted that power consumption of an 80-watt LED light is only 32 percent of a traditional 250-watt mercury road lamp and has a much better light uniformity. Yuntech has installed 17 such lights on its campus, according to Yang. (HZW)

Write to Grace Kuo at [email protected]"

China's first Xinzhou-600 delivered for operation



"China's first Xinzhou-600 delivered for use
15:44, December 17, 2010


Xinzhou-600 turboprop aircraft


Passenger cabin of the Xinzhou-600 aircraft


Luggage bins for the Xinzhou-600 aircraft

The first Xinzhou-600, developed by Xi'an Aircraft Industry Company (XAC) which is a subsidiary of China Aviation Industry Corporation I (AVIC I), was delivered for use in Xi'an, capital of northwestern China's Shaanxi Province.

It will be used for teaching and training, according to China National Radio on Friday.

The new-generation short-haul passenger aircraft was developed by China, starting in 2005, and completed its successful maiden flight in October 2008. It received a manufacturing license in December 2010 and got the green light for mass production.

The turboprop aircraft is a new version of the Xinzhou-60, which can carry 50 to 60 passengers. The Xinzhou-600 has been updated with a more comfortable cabin, better-designed body structure, and maintenance system.

During the eighth Zhuhai Airshow, Laos ordered 600 Xinzhou-600s.

By Liang Jun, People's Daily Online"

Re: China's first Xinzhou-600 delivered for operation

Martian said:

This has to be a misprint surely?

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Re: China's first Xinzhou-600 delivered for operation

bladerunner said:

This has to be a misprint surely?

Click to expand...

Not necessarily. Laos has 6.32 million people. Each Xinzhou-600 can transport 50 to 60 passengers. 600 turboprops x 50 passengers per plane = 30,000 air transport capacity for an entire country. That is hardly unreasonable.

Also, the article did not specify the delivery dates. The planes could be delivered over an extended period (e.g. 3 to 5 years). In five years time, Laos' population would have grown again to justify the need for more turboprops.

*For ease of calculation, I assumed 50 passengers per plane and that each plane makes one flight per day. This is useful for a reasonable estimate. Feel free to build your own more complex model by assuming a percentage of the planes would be removed for maintenance or training.