sci-tech

China to Set up Gravitational Wave Telescopes in Tibet

China plans to construct in Tibet Autonomous Region the world’s highest altitude gravitational wave telescopes that are capable of detecting the faintest echoes resonating from the universe， and so reveal more about the Big Bang.

Construction of the first telescope， codenamed Ngari No.1， has begun 30 km south of Shiquanhe Town in Ngari Prefecture， chief researcher at the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Yao Yongqiang said.

The telescope， located 5，250 meters above sea level， will detect and gather precise data on primordial gravitational waves in the Northern Hemisphere. It is expected to be operational before 2021.

The second phase involves a series of telescopes， code-named Ngari No. 2， located about 6，000 meters above sea level， Yao said.

The budget for the two-phase Ngari gravitational wave observatory is an estimated RMB 130 million. The project was initiated by the Institute of High Energy Physics， National Astronomical Observatories， and Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology， among others.

Ngari， with its high altitude， clear sky， and minimal human activity， is believed to be the world’s best site from which to detect tiny twists in cosmic light.

The Ngari observatory will be among the world’s top primordial gravitational wave observation bases， alongside the South Pole Telescope and the facility in Chile’s Atacama Desert， Yao said.

Gravitational waves were first predicted by Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity 100 years ago， but it wasn’t until 2016 that Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory scientists announced they had detected the waves’ existence， so spurring fresh research among scientists throughout the world.

Two Scientists Win China’s Top Science Award

Two Chinese scientists， physicist Zhao Zhongxian and pharmacologist Tu Youyou， received on January 9 China’s top science award for their outstanding contributions to scientific and technological innovation.

President Xi Jinping presented their award certificates and offered them his congratulations at the annual ceremony honoring distinguished scientists and research achievements.

Zhao is a leading scientist in superconductivity， and Tu won the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for her discovery of artemisinin to treat malaria.

Selected by the State Council， the winners also each receive awards of RMB 5 million.

Chinese Unmanned Submersibles Descend 10，000 Meters

Three unmanned deepsea devices reached depths of more than 10，000 meters upon completing tests in the Pacific， Chinese scientists said.

Cui Weicheng， director of Hadal Life Science Research Center at Shanghai Ocean University， led a team carrying out research at the deepest point of Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench， itself the deepest part of the world’s oceans.

The team boarded research vessel and mother ship of the Rainbow Fish series the Zhang Jian on December 3. Their accompanying equipment included three deepsea landing devices， one unmanned search submersible， and a manned submersible， all capable of diving 10，000 meters.

Three deepsea landing devices descended to the trench from December 25 to 27.

The first Rainbow Fish landing device took photographs， the second extracted sediment samples and the third biological samples， Cui said. All three submersibles reached depths exceeding 10，000 meters， and the third device brought back 103 amphipods， Cui said.

The Rainbow Fish project is a mobile lab cofunded by the state and with private capital. “The successful test in the Pacific marks another step forward in China’s deepsea research，” Cui said.

New Geological Map of the Moon Charted in China

Chinese scientists are charting a 1：2.5 million scale geological map of the Moon.

Five universities and research institutes have set standards for the digital mapping and drawing of the Moon’s geological structure， chief scientist of China’s lunar exploration program Ouyang Ziyuan said.

The map will provide information about geology， structure and rock types， and so reflect the timeline of the Moon’s evolution.

Geologist Chen Shengbo at Jilin University in northeast China’s Jilin Province and his team are in charge of drawing the lunar structure outline C just one part of the work. The map will feature lunar topography such as geographic fractures and the size， appearance， and structure of craters， Chen said.

Mapping relies on data and images sent by circumlunar satellites from home and abroad， Chen said. Charting a lunar map differs from mapping the Earth， where if scientists are not sure about their information they can go any area in person to check. But China’s satellites have captured global images of the Moon， which contribute considerably to the precision of the country’s lunar maps.

A sketch version of the map will be complete in 2018， and released before 2020.