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Month: March 2024

2024/02 China establishes AI education bases in 184 primary and secondary schools

By rscPosted on Posted in News of the month

http://en.people.cn/n3/2024/0223/c90000-20136631.html China’s Ministry of Education (MOE) has announced a list of 184 primary and secondary schools selected as artificial intelligence (AI) education bases, with the aim of better promoting the development of AI education. To facilitate the implementation of AI education, primary and secondary schools should mainly rely on information technology, general technology and other related courses, further enrich educational and teaching resources, and carry out teacher training and guidance, said the MOE. The MOE said it will strengthen guidance for the designated bases, encouraging them to play an exemplary and leading role in developing AI school-based curricula, integrating disciplines, reforming teaching methods, jointly constructing and sharing digital education resources, cultivating teachers’ digital literacy, and fostering the comprehensive development of students, among other responsibilities.

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CAS Institute of Microbiology develops “turboPETase” for PET depolymerisation

By rscPosted on Posted in Uncategorized

https://www.cas.cn/syky/202402/t20240227_5006277.shtml https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-45662-9 The research team of Wu Bian at the CAS Institute of Microbiology has redesigned a cutinase for nearly complete PET depolymerization at industrially relevant high-solids loading. In recent years, enzymatic depolymerization for PET recycling has become the primary option for solving the PET plastic pollution crisis in the plastics circular economy. in 2020, a French team achieved 90% depolymerization and recycling of PET plastics on an industrial scale using a bio-enzymatic method. However, the high-temperature operating conditions resulted in the formation of non-degradable, highly crystalline waste from the residual 10% PET, hindering its application in real-world industrial scenarios and becoming a challenge in the plastics circular economy. The CAS team used an artificial intelligence strategy to redesign PET hydrolases by intelligently shaping BhrPETase, a hydrolase from the bacterium HR29. The redesigned variant, TurboPETase, achieved complete depolymerization of PET waste with high substrate loadings within 8 h. The depolymerization efficiency exceeded that of the efficient PET depolymerization enzymes currently reported internationally, demonstrating the potential of TurboPETase in PET waste recycling. Kinetic and structural analyses suggest that the improved depolymerization performance may be attributed to a more flexible PET binding groove, highlighting the importance of improving polymer interactions at specific attack sites, and providing a new scenario to further promote the industrialization of other polyester-based biodegradation.

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China will establish over 200 CO2 emission standards

By rscPosted on Posted in Environmental solutions, News

https://spc.jst.go.jp/news/240205/topic_3_03.html China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) announced that it will establish a system of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions peak-out carbon neutrality standards for the industrial sector by 2025 and establish more than 200 urgently needed standards for CO2 emissions peak-out. It will provide technical support for the implementation of carbon assessment and carbon emission reduction in the industrial sector. The “Guidelines for the Construction of Peak-out CO2 Emission and Carbon Neutral Standard System in the Industrial Sector” sets out a series of targets for 2025 and 2030, and outlines t priority areas. The main methods are intra-enterprise cooperation, upstream/downstream cooperation, and industry chain cooperation to realize the relevant technologies and equipment for cooperative carbon reduction. According to the Ministry, the standard system will promote the transformation of the industrial sector into a low-carbon and zero-carbon development model.

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China’s deep-Earth borehole drilling exceeds 10,000 meters

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http://en.people.cn/n3/2024/0304/c90000-20140318.html https://german.news.cn/20240305/a616c325949647ab97c796ee54dcb94d/c.html The drilling of a superdeep borehole in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region exceeded 10,000 meters , marking a breakthrough in the country’s deep-Earth exploration. Located in the hinterland of the Taklimakan Desert in the Tarim Basin, the “Shenditake 1” is expected to reach a designed depth of 11,100 meters upon completion. It is China’s first scientific exploration borehole designed to exceed a depth of 10,000 meters.

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China’s negative population growth leads to discussions on supporting assisted reproductive technologies (ART)

By rscPosted on Posted in News

http://en.people.cn/n3/2024/0304/c90000-20140206.html Recent data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) show that China’s population decreased by 2.08 million people in 2023 to 1.40967 billion. In 2023, 9.02 million babies were born, resulting in a birth rate of 6.39 per thousand people. The birth rate marks a historic low in nearly 74 years (since 1950), and the population has experienced two consecutive years of negative growth, with a total fertility rate of around 1.0, significantly lower than the average total fertility rate of other major countries  during the same period, ranging from 1.47 to 1.65. The proportion of infertility in China has increased from 1 to 2 percent in the 1970s to 12.5 to 15 percent three decades later, marking a nearly tenfold increase over 30 years. According to statistics, in 2023, the incidence of infertility in China has risen to 18 percent, with approximately 1 in every 5 to 6 couples experiencing difficulties with conception. This means that over 50 million couples nationwide are affected by infertility issues As a result, some provinces and cities in China have included assisted reproductive technologies (ART) in their medical insurance as part of supportive policies to encourage childbirth, and political advisors suggest including as many ART procedures as possible in the national medical insurance reimbursement scope, including artificial insemination, embryo transplantation, and sperm selection. Furthermore, exploring the feasibility of egg-freezing for single women could also be considered at an appropriate time. Due to changes in attitudes toward marriage and childbirth, some single women are beginning to freeze their eggs as a means of postponing reproduction, preserving fertility, and asserting their reproductive rights. However, issues related to technology, law, ethics, and others remain unresolved,

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Xinjiang coal company reports successful tests on coal underground gasification (UCG)

By rscPosted on Posted in News

http://j.people.com.cn/n3/2024/0229/c95952-20138909. https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/581374639 According to Xinjiang Yaxin Coal Bed Gas Investment and Development (Group), “Highly efficient development technology for difficult-to-mine coal bed gas resources in Xinjiang” has made step-by-step progress. On-site coal underground gasification (UCG) tests were successful, and gasification in a coal seam 1,000 meters underground was realized for the first time in China. UCG is a gas extraction technology that effectively burns coal in situ by underground ignition to produce combustible gases such as methane gas, hydrogen, and carbon monoxide. In accordance with the geological characteristics of coal distribution in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, an approach of simultaneous shallow coal seam gas extraction and deep UCG gas extraction was designed for this test. By adopting an ultra-large wellless underground gasification system and coal seam forced oxidation ignition technology, the gas was ignited 1,000 meters underground and produced gas in a stable manner. Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has projected coal resourcse of 2.19 trillion tons, accounting for 40% of China’s total coal resources, of which more than 50% is difficult to extract, and has high potential for UCG resources.

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Ten major advances in China’s S&T 2023, according to NNSFC

By rscPosted on Posted in News

https://spc.jst.go.jp/news/240301/topic_3_05.html The National Natural Science Foundation of China announced the “10 Major Advances in Chinese Science” for 2023. It mainly covers the fields of life science, medicine, artificial intelligence (AI), quantum, astronomy, and chemical energy. In view of the NNSFC, the 10 major developments in Chinese science ai 2023 were as follows. AI large-scale models bring breakthroughs in realizing accurate weather forecasting. The “dark matter” in the human genome has been shown to affect aging. The “location” of the body clock in the brain is identified, and the mechanism by which it controls circadian rhythms is elucidated. Elucidation and application of the mechanisms of salt tolerance and alkalinity in crops. Realization of a new method that can manipulate single nucleotides to very large DNA fragments with high precision. Elucidation of a new mechanism for the initiation of DNA replication in human cells. Discovery of extremely thin jet streams and 10 trillion eV photons in the brightest gamma-ray burst in history by the high-altitude cosmic ray observatory LHAASO. Error correction of Bose codes which extends the life of qubits. Elucidation of the mechanism by which light regulates the metabolism of sugar in blood. Discover y ofa new mechanism for charge storage and polymerization reactions at the interface of lithium-sulfur batteries.

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