Month: September 2020

The group around WU Huaqiang has demonstrated that memory resistor- or memristor-based systems are capable to analyze signals in the analog domain with high efficiency. As a proof-of-concept demonstration, memristor arrays were used to implement the filtering and identification of epilepsy-related neural signals, achieving a high accuracy of 93.46%. Remarkably, the memristor-based system showed a nearly 400fold improvement in power efficiency compared to state-of-the-art complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor systems.  https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-18105-4

The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) will set up a philosophy institute to promote the coordination between science and philosophy. The institute will focus on philosophical issues related to scientific and technological developments and will consist of five research centers: philosophy in  logic and mathematics,  physical science,  life science,  intelligence and  cognitive science Xinhua news release, September 24, 2020

According to JIN Xiaofei, a key researcher behind this development, the “Darwin II chip” used in the machine came out only last year. It can emulate the structural and functional mechanism of the brain’s neural network, with every chip simulating around 150,000 neurons. In comparison with traditional chips, it is more adept at processing large quantities of ambiguous data, such as the ones commonly used in image recognition, visual and audio comprehension and language processing. Energy consumption is relatively low, as when information is transmitted, only neurons that receive and process the signals are activated, while other neurons stay dormant, similar to how a brain works. The three 1.6-meter-tall machine requires only 350 to 500 watts to operate. In a demonstration, Darwin Mouse was capable of running multiple small robots in a flood rescue scenario. The robots worked as a team while simultaneously processing multiple intelligent tasks such as speech recognition, target detection and path planning. It is expected that neuromorphic computers will achieve more powerful applications of artificial intelligence with significantly less energy use in the future. China Daily news release, September 7, 2020

Dr HU Miao, a medical doctor from Tongji University Oriental Hospital, serving since December 2019 at China’s Great Wall station on King George Island in Antarctica, has started to grow vegetables such as cucumbers and Pak Choi in a home-built plant factory there. In an isolated shed, he introduced soilless cultivation, computer control, LED illumination and other technical measures to automatically adjust the length of lighting according to the growth of vegetables, automatic irrigation system every hour to inject nutrient solution into the tank, and when the room humidity is below 70%, a humidification system will spray water mist into the room. https://news.tongji.edu.cn/info/1002/74729.htm

The system was jointly developed by the Chongqing branch of China Unicom and Jinshan Technology. The 5G+VR (virtual reality) capsule gastrocamera medical system allows patients to receive remote medical diagnosis for gastrointestinal diseases such as gastric diseases without pain and without anesthesia, just by drinking one small capsule, with a diameter of 11 millimeters and a length of 27.5 millimeters. After the capsule has entered the stomach, two magnetic fields can control the movement of the capsule. http://k.sina.com.cn/article_1988438334_m7685293e03300nij8.html?from=health

During the China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) in Beijing this weekend, China National Biotec Group (CNBG) and Sinovac Biotech presented their candidate COVID-19 inactivated virus vaccines at the opening ceremony. Sinavac has reportedly kicked off phase III clinical trials in Brazil and Indonesia and obtained approvals from two more countries for the phase III trials. The company is hoping the vaccine will be licensed for use by the year’s end. Sinovac’s designed production capacity for the vaccine is 300 million doses annually. CNBG is a subsidiary of Sinopharm. International clinical trials of the company have reportedly involved over 50,000 volunteers from 115 countries. CNBG is upgrading its production capacity of COVID-19 vaccines from 200 to 300 million doses per year and has plans to to raise its annual capacity to 1 billion doses, Reuters reported. Liu Jingzhen, chairman of Sinopharm, has told media that he hopes their vaccine will  be out by the end of December at a price of less than 1,000 yuan ($144) for two doses necessary for 100% inactivation. Global Times, Sept. 7, 2020