Category: Science

(Xinhua)14:32, June 30, 2019

Huawei opened its largest store in the Omani capital Muscat on Thursday, said a statement by Huawei Consumer Group on Saturday.

According to the statement, Huawei presented a range of three-day presentations and gifts, including a 10 percent discount on all tablets and 30 percent on all accessories, wearable devices and other offers.

Ian Lee, president of Huawei Middle East Consumer Group, said that we are pleased with this opening which reinforces the spread of our stores in the country in line with our development objectives in the Omani market.

As the industry leaders, we are committed to providing our customers with the best user experience ever and the latest technologies that exceed their expectations, he added.

The new store will offer integrated services which include products, smart phones, accessories, tablets and computers, as well as Internet products, Lee said.

(Xinhua)15:25, June 30, 2019

The hazards of second-hand smoke are well-known. Now, scientists found even third-hand smoke could do harm to ones respiratory health by changing gene expressions.

The study published in the latest edition of JAMA Network Open this week showed that the third-hand smoke can damage epithelial cells in the respiratory system, coercing those cells into a fight for survival.

The third-hand smoke, or THS, results when the exhaled smoke and smoke emanating from the burning cigarettes settle on surfaces like clothing, hair and furniture.

The researchers from University of California, Riverside (UCR) obtained nasal scrapes from four healthy nonsmoking women aged 27 to 49 years, who were randomized to receive the clean air exposure first and then THS exposure for three hours. The researchers extracted RNA from them to examine their gene expression changes.

A total of 382 genes among approximately 10,000 genes in the data set were significantly over-expressed and seven other genes were under-expressed, according to the study.

THS inhalation for only three hours significantly altered gene expression in the nasal epithelium of healthy nonsmokers, said the papers first author Giovanna Pozuelos, a graduate student at UCR.

Also, the researchers found that the inhalation altered pathways associated with oxidative stress that may cause cancer in the long term.

The nasal membrane tissue is similar to those in the bronchus, so the researchers suggested that the damage could go deeper in the respiratory system.

Many smoking adults think, I smoke outside, so my family inside the house will not get exposed. But smokers carry chemicals like nicotine indoors with their clothes, said Prue Talbot, a professor at UCR, who led the research.

Its important that people understand that THS is real and potentially harmful, said Talbot.

(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.

(Xinhua)16:18, June 30, 2019

5G will contribute almost 900 billion U.S. dollars to Asias economy over the next 15 years, said the Global System for Mobile Communications Alliance (GSMA) during the Mobile World Congress (MWC) held from June 26 to 28 in Shanghai.

The report, Asia Pacific edition of the GSMAs Mobile Economy series published at MWC, said Asias mobile operators are set to invest 370 billion U.S. dollars, which is two-thirds of their overall investment in new networks, in building new 5G networks between 2018 and 2025.

Although 4G still has plenty of headroom for growth across Asia, operators in the region are now investing billions of dollars in building advanced 5G networks that are providing an array of new services to consumers, improving industry and manufacturing, and driving economic growth, said Mats Granryd, director general of the GSMA.

As a result, by 2025, around 18 percent of mobile connections will be running on 5G networks. Meanwhile, 4G mobile technology will account for more than two-thirds of connections in Asia by 2025, increasing from 52 percent of that in 2018.

Regarded as a leader in rolling out 5G applications, China is forecast to invest 184 billion U.S. dollars in 5G by 2025, said the report.

China is currently testing 5G across all major cities and provincial regions, including Shanghai, ahead of commercial launches next year. It is forecast that 28 percent of Chinas mobile connections will be running on 5G networks by 2025, accounting for about a third of all 5G connections globally.

The development of mobile technologies will drive the regions economy. GSMA predicted that mobile technologies and services in the Asia-Pacific region will generate 1.9 trillion U.S. dollars by 2023, increasing from 1.6 trillion U.S. dollars, which was 5.3 percent of the regions GDP, in 2018.

Last year, the mobile ecosystem in the Asia-Pacific region, directly and indirectly, employed more than 18 million people, and contributed 165 billion U.S. dollars to public sectors via general taxation, according to the report.

The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide, uniting more than 750 operators with nearly 400 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset and device makers, software companies, equipment providers and internet companies, as well as organizations in adjacent industry sectors.

(CRI Online)10:26, July 01, 2019

China Central Television reporting on the future deployment of the satellite constellation. [Screenshot: China Plus]

China is planning to launch a constellation of 192 remote sensing satellites by 2021, reports China Central Television.

Artificial intelligence technology will process the images captured by the satellites, which will have sensors with multiple resolutions. This will allow poor quality images to be filtered out so that only useful data is beamed back to earth.

Scientists working on the project are also attempting to enable the constellation to be self-piloting.

When complete, the project is expected to provide better data for environmental monitoring, disaster prevention and mitigation, and traffic management.

(Xinhua)16:44, July 01, 2019

BEIJING, July 1 (Xinhua) — Chinese authorities have announced that the tax exemptions on new energy vehicles (NEVs) purchases will continue through 2020 to boost the countrys green development and retain a strong domestic market.

From Jan. 1, 2018 to Dec. 31, 2020, the new energy vehicles will enjoy free purchase tax, the Ministry of Finance and the State Taxation Administration said in a joint statement.

China has intensified efforts for years to promote the use of NEVs to ease pressure on the environment, offering tax exemptions and discounts on car purchases. The government also encouraged carmakers to build more NEV factories and improve the technology.

China saw robust sales growth of NEVs in the first four months this year with 360,000 NEVs sold, surging by 59.8 percent from the same period a year earlier.

The government earlier this month announced measures to boost car sales, such as prohibiting local governments from imposing any limit on the consumption and use of NEVs.

(Xinhua)07:34, June 28, 2019

BEIJING, June 27 (Xinhua) — China on Thursday responded to U.S. recent threat to impose additional tariffs on Chinese products, urging the U.S. side to heed the voices of resistance to unilateralism, protectionism and bullying from the international community.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang made the response at a daily news briefing in Beijing.

According to media reports, in an interview on Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump said the U.S. and China had exchanged views over economic and trade issues over the past few days. The two sides may come to an agreement at the upcoming Group of 20 summit to be held in Osaka in Japan, otherwise the U.S. will impose additional tariffs on China.

Geng said China always believes that trade frictions between the two countries should be settled via dialogue and consultation, and at the same time China will firmly defend its legitimate rights and interests.

The Chinese people will not be scared by U.S. threat of additional tariffs and also will not succumb to suppression, Geng said.

Id like to tell the U.S. side once again that waging trade wars and ramping up tariffs do harm to others while jeopardizing itself, and such moves will in no way solve the problems, Geng said, urging the U.S. to listen to voices of opposition to trade wars and additional tariffs from its within, including various groups and the general public, and the voices of resistance to unilateralism, protectionism and bullying from the international community.

He said China hoped the U.S. side can meet the Chinese side halfway, and accomodate each others concerns and seek win-win results on the basis of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit.

This goes in line with the interests of the two countries and peoples, and is a widespread expectation of the international community, Geng said.

(Xinhua)08:53, July 02, 2019

HEFEI, July 1 (Xinhua) — Chinese scientists in east Chinas Anhui Province have developed a kind of nanosponge that can effectively absorb diesel and remove it from contaminated water and soil.

A research team from the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences developed the new type of hydrophobic nanosponge with amino silicon oil and silane coupling agent, which can effectively absorb diesel in water and soil under various conditions.

The sponge provided a promising and low-cost approach for diesel control and removal, showing great potential in environmental and agricultural fields.

Diesel leak poses a great threat to the environment due to its contamination to water and soil. It decreases oxygen concentration in water, affecting the growth of aquatic organisms, which also lowers soil permeability and causes harmful effects on the growth of plants.

(Peoples Daily Online)14:22, July 02, 2019

The first domestically developed domain name server (DNS) powered by a CPU chip named Loongson was released recently in Beijing, marking an innovation in basic Chinese internet technology, cctv.com reported.

Both the software and hardware of the equipment are self-developed, according to its developer, a high-tech startup incubated by the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Multiple indicators of the server have reached an advanced world level.

Mao Wei, director of the Internet Domain Name System Beijing Engineering Research Center (ZDNS), said the server had been improved significantly in terms of the efficiency of the network analysis, as well as its intelligent transmission line.

The equipment has reinforced the capability of root name servers with the potential of making it possible to bypass the limitation of the current 13 root name servers around the world.

(Xinhua)09:17, July 03, 2019

BOAO, Hainan, July 2 (Xinhua) — The 2019 World New Energy Vehicle Congress kicked off in the city of Boao, southern Chinas island province of Hainan, Tuesday.

To be concluded on Wednesday, the congress focuses on discussions about new energy vehicles (NEVs) market among leading worldwide vehicle manufacturers.

China is a global leader in manufacturing NEVs with over 200 types of new energy cars launched in the first half of 2019, and the Chinese government has a clear road map to beef up the industry, said Horbert DIESS, chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen AG, at the congress.

Reform and opening up is a driving force for Chinas auto industry since it enables the industry to go global and attract world attention, said Fu Yuwu with the China Society of Automotive Engineers.

The ongoing technological revolutions have also propelled the auto industry into vigorous and prompt actions, said Wan Gang, president of the China Association for Science and Technology.

Wan added that auto retailers around the world should seek cooperation and innovation and make due contribution to the industrial upgrading of the auto market.

By the end of 2018, over 5.64 million NEVs have been sold around the world, and China accounted for 52.8 percent of them.