863 Program Upgrades China’s Industries
863 Program, in its 15-year implementation, has achieved key technology breakthroughs, and become a powerful propeller to upgrade and transform China’s traditional industries, said Mr. MA Songde, Vice Minister of Science and Technology at an experts’ hearing meeting recently held for the program. The program, according to reports, has also trained and absorbed a great number of high caliber technical talents, constructed scientific research bases and contingents, and stimulated the formation and development of high tech industries.
As a high tech R&D endeavor at the national level, the 863 Program has witnessed key technology breakthroughs in 6 major fields, including information technology, biology and modern farming, automation and modern manufacturing, resources and environment, new materials, and energy technologies. These breakthroughs have resulted in major technology projects involving IC manufacturing, high speed telecommunication network, coal liquidation, new medicines and modernization of Chinese traditional medicines, core software, information process of manufacturing industry, new generation nuclear energy and electric automobiles. The industrialization of these projects plays an important role in upgrading China’s traditional industries. Thanks to remarkable results achieved from the Program, the central government has enhanced its input in research and development. Statistics show that China’s R&D input in GDP has risen from 0.6% in 1995 to about 1.3% in 2003. The number of high tech industrial parks also went up from 87 in 1991 to about 20,000 in 2003. In addition to traditional industries, including iron and steel making, ship building, car making, chemicals, machine tools, power generation, light industry, transportation, energy, materials, and pharmacy, emerged numerous high tech industries, including electronics, information, telecommunication, instruments, biotechnology, aeronautics and space, new materials, and new energy. Both traditional and high tech industries have become a solid support for the national economy.
Mr. MA told the audience that the government would encourage high tech R&D efforts dominated by industries. National programs such as the 863 program and key technology program will be proportioned with industrial participations. Research findings or results derived from national S&T programs will belong to the implementing institutions, whether they are industries, or research institutions, or university, regardless of their ownership. He believes that these policy shifts will gradually change the high tech R&D input pattern currently dominated by the government, and accelerate the S&T finding integration process involving manufacturers, universities and research institutions.
China’s 6 Major S&T Platforms
The Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology kicked off the study of national S&T infrastructure platforms in 2002. From 2003 till today, the Chinese Ministry of Finance has made a dedicated fund of RMB 600 million available to support the efforts of platform construction and resources sharing. The construction, embracing a materials and information supporting system, a resources sharing system and a professional contingent, will lead to the establishment of the following six major platforms: research and experimental bases and large scientific instruments and facilities sharing platform, natural S&T resources sharing platform, scientific data sharing platform, S&T literature sharing platform, results conversion service platform, and network based S&T environment platform.
Not long ago, the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology established a joint meeting for platform construction, with the participation of 16 other governmental agencies, including the State Development and Reform Commission and the State Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense. The joint meeting’s near term objectives set to establish a legal system and demonstrations for resources sharing.
Probe II Satellite Launched
Probe II satellite, the last of the dual satellites to be deployed under an earth-space probe program beginning in 1997, was successfully blasted off at 15:05 Beijing local time, July 25, 2004 from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center The event marks not only the full launch of both satellites under the program, but will also be synchronized with the European Space Agency’s Cluster-2 group of four similar satellites, in an effort to make six-point earth-space observations, the first of its kind in the human history.
The earth-space probe program is made up of two small satellites operating around a large oval earth orbit. Probe I, a satellite flying over the equator, had been launched on December 30, 2003 from the Xi’chang Satellite Launch Center. The data sent from the Xi’an Satellite Control Center show that the Probe II satellite, the new launch, has been positioned at a perigee altitude of 681 km and apogee of 38,278 km, and is working smoothly under a 90 degree of obliquity.
The Probe II, since its launch, has constituted with the orbiting Probe I an independent observing system like a constellation. The two satellites are currently deployed over important space activity areas that have not yet been covered by other earth-space observing satellites. They are mainly designed to observe solar activities, changes in the magnetic field and the electrified particles in different areas of the magnetosphere, and physical processes of severe weathers. At the same time, China’s dual satellites, according to a cooperation agreement between China and the European Space Agency, will join with other 4 satellites launched by the latter to form a closely coordinated observational network. This will eventually lead to the first six-point earth-space observation in the human history. The data derived from the observations will be shared by China and the European Space Agency.
With a weight about 343 kg and a designed work life for 12 months, the Probe II has a structure similar to that of Probe I, though carrying some different payloads, including a three-component fluxgate magnetometer, a neutral atom imager, an electronic current meter, a high energy electronic sounding instrument, a high energy proton detector, a heavy ion sounder, a low frequency electric-magnetic wave sounding device, and a low energy ion detector.
Advanced Satellite Control
The Xi’an Satellite Control Center has successfully calculated the orbiting attitude of a satellite that was blasted off on July 25, 2004, using for the first time the parameters derived from the carrier rocket flight. The Center also directly commanded the satellite, named Probe II, to stretch out its probe arms. The newly launched satellite has been so far running smoothly, with all its onboard instruments working properly.
Experts explain that, stretching out the probe arms that are located at the satellite’s both sides constitutes a prerequisite for the following full fledged observation. The Probe I, the predecessor of the newly launched satellite, stretches out its probe arms under the commands of the onboard automatic control system. On the contrary, the Probe II is asked to stretch out its arms under the direct command from the ground control center. As the Probe II is orbiting over a polar region, it would be extremely difficult for the ground controllers to work out accurate stretching commanding lines to the satellite, without an accurate knowledge of the satellite’s orbiting, attitude, rotating velocity, and doing it within an extremely limited period of time. The Center calculated out the accurate command sending timing and work procedures, using un upgraded computer software system and enhanced intelligent capability in handling measuring data. The ground controllers successfully manipulated, through nearly 2-hour data transmissions back and forth, the satellite, 40,000 km above earth, to stretch out its probe arms.
According to the ground controllers, following the successful completion of attitude control and probe arms stretching will be accurate calculation of other real time workflows, including attitude, orbiting, rotating speed among many others. The Center has also produced a controllable arc section prediction for satellite’s each trip circling earth. Satellite’s measurement resources distribution and planning have been managed on a regular basis.
Penguin’s Wastes Tell Antarctic Evolutions
A polar research team at the China University of Science and Technology has unveiled the relationship between variations of Antarctic penguin’s ecologic status and seals number and ice cover melting and environment changes, said Prof. SUN Liguang at a forum on polar evolutions and environmental sciences recently sponsored by the University in Hefei, the capital of Anhui Province.
According to Prof. SUN, his Antarctic seal hair study has produced most fruitful results. For example, researchers have collected 360,000 seal hairs from seal dung sediments. The analysis of these hairs shows erastic fluctuations in seal hair number at deeper sections, from which the variations of seal number can be derived. The study also shows that, numerous proxy environmental indictors, including element concentration, total organic carbon and nitrogen contents in the sediment, have presented a fine correlation. These proxy environmental indictors will become new means to study polar regions’ ecological and geological environment.
The research team, at the same time, found historical records telling the variations of Antarctic penguin’s number in the past 3000 years, using penguin dung sediments collected from Antarctic lakes. Researchers also obtained ecological information on penguin’s habitats over different historical periods, and established an ecological model for these changes. In addition, the research team has studied multi-disciplinary topics to reveal the relationship between seal and penguin’s eating habits and climate and environmental changes and the impacts of human activities.
Earlier Diagnosis of Liver Fibrosis
Beginning from 1999, a research team, headed by Prof. ZENG Minde of Shanghai Institute of Digestive Diseases, has worked on earlier diagnosis and treatment of liver fibrosis from both basic research and clinic treatment aspects,. Researchers have studied links between liver biopsy tissues and non-injury liver fibrosis testing indicators, based on which a correlation indicator system is created for liver biopsy pathology, inflammation grading, fibrosis stage division and non-injury liver fibrosis testing. They have obtained the first mathematic discriminant able to optimize non-injury diagnosing indicators.
An analysis is also made of the diagnosing values of liver fibrosis, hepatocirrhosis, and earlier or advanced cases of liver hepatofibrosis.
During the study, researchers tested, in line with clinic medicine research procedures, the treatment effects and safety of some medicines treating chronic hepatitis and associated liver fibrosis, including oxidated matrine and liver softening electuary. The testing results show that these medicines are safe for treating the liver fibrosis caused by chronic hepatitis.
Beef Cow Giving Birth to Milk Cow
Recently a beef cow gave birth to two milk cow-calves. The two calves’ mother is a recipient of high milk yield cow embryo, conceived by fine species’ sperms imported by the Institute of Animal Husbandry, a part of the Jiangsu Provincial Academy of Agriculture. Experts told reporters that the new technique would produce attractive economic returns for cattle farmers.
Under the joint financing of both the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Department of Science and Technology, a part of the Jiangsu Provincial Government, the “beef cow producing milk cow” project has turned out two milk cows that are able to produce an annual milk output as high as 9,000 kg, or 6,000 kg more than that produced by an ordinary milk cow. Experts explain that, technically, it is feasible for beef cow farmers to produce milk cows via external insemination, though the technique has remained at a small scale experimental stage. The technique will be eventually used in agricultural restructuring and upgrading dairy farming, as well as in alleviating the short supply of high yield milk cows.
Global Chinese Biologists’ Gathering Closed
The Global Chinese Biologists Conference-2004 dropped its curtain on July 23, 2004 in Beijing. Participants, including 5 Nobel Prize winners, and some 350 Chinese biologists, either working overseas or at home discussed cutting edge life and biological issues at the 5-day long meetings.
David Baltimore, a 1975 Nobel Prize winner in physiology and Mr. Sidney Altman, a 1989 chemistry Nobel Prize winner delivered their lectures at the Conference. Chinese experts, including Mr. HE Dayi and ZHONG Nanshan, gave their respective talks on the development of AIDS and SARS vaccines. During the Conference, 4 lecture meetings, some 50 small discussion forums, and 5 young scientists’ roundtable meetings were held. More than 2,000 Chinese scholars, graduate students, corporate representatives and science lovers, both from home and abroad, listened to these lectures.
Under a theme of “science – for a better life”, the conference was co-sponsored by numerous enthusiastic organizations, including the American Association for Chinese Biologists, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Chinese National Natural Science Foundation, the Chinese Academy of Engineering, Peking University, and the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. The participants discussed at the meeting many cutting edge topics, including genome, genetic treatment, plant’s signal transmission, immunity identification, functional plants based biotechnology, nerve signals’ transmission, and new drugs’ design and development.
China’s 21st Antarctic Expedition
Mr. ZHANG Zhanhai, Director of China Polar Research Center disclosed on July 15, 2004 that China will run its 21st Antarctic expedition from October 25 2004 to March 25, 2005. Some 130 scientists will join the 150-odd-day expedition. The expedition will make an inland ice cover investigation from the Zhongshan Station to Ice Arch A, a pre-phase preparation for China’s inland scientific expedition station’s site selection in the polar region.
It will take about 70 days to complete the Ice Arch A project, from an investigation of 1,300 km long inland ice cover to setting up ground markers along the trails. Scientists will, using the section, to complete the construction of an integrated glacier and climate monitoring system, providing evidences or experience for construction of the inland station’s logistic support system and operational modes. Scientists will also establish an interim observation station at the top of the Arch.
Chinese Scientist Won Catalysis Award
LI Can, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), and research fellow at the CAS Dalian Institute of Chemistry and Physics, was honored with the International Catalysis Award, at the 13th International Conference on Catalysis recently held in Paris. The event marks the highest prize that Chinese scientists have so far obtained in the international catalysis community, as well as the first such honor received by a developing nation.
As an only award created by the International Association for Catalysis Societies (IACS), the International Catalysis Award is conferred to a winner once every 4 years, in honor of the scientists under 45 years of age who have made outstanding contributions in the field of catalysis. Engaged in research activities involving catalysis materials, reactions and spectrum expressions, Prof. LI has achieved major progresses in all three fields, which are thought highly of by his peers both at home and abroad. He has published more than 200 papers in domestic and international academic journals (over 140 in the latter). Prof. LI is also a winner of the Excellent Young Scholar Awards issued by Hong Kong Qiushi S&T Foundatio, China Young Scientists Award and Returned Overseas Personnel Awards.
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