(Xinhua)15:59, June 30, 2019
Chinas two major science infrastructure projects, a new radiation light source device and an advanced biomedical imaging facility, have just been launched in Beijing, aimed at strengthening the countrys fundamental research.
The two projects were inaugurated Saturday in the capitals northern Huairou District. They will be put into service in 2025 and 2023 respectively.
The light source device, the High Energy Photon Source (HEPS), is expected to cost 4.76 billion yuan (about 693 million U.S. dollars). It looks like a super microscope and will be one of the worlds few fourth-generation synchrotron light sources with the ability to probe the inner structures of materials.
Dong Yuhui, deputy director of the project, said the facility would become an important platform for basic scientific research, with wide applications in the fields of advanced materials, aerospace, energy and medicine.
The other project is a multi-modal trans-dimensional biomedical imaging facility, which will cost 1.74 billion yuan.
It will help scientists improve their abilities to study life sciences, including accurately describing the basic biological principles, discovering the pathogenesis of diseases, and promoting more research on brain science and cancer, according to Deputy Chief Engineer Sun Yujie.
Another 14 science facilities and research platforms will be launched in Huairou in the second half of this year.