Archive

https://spc.jst.go.jp/news/240703/topic_3_05.html A high mountain cliff straddle monorail and railway system developed by Zhuzhou CRRC Special Equipment Technology Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of CRRC, was delivered to the Dajueshan Scenic Area in Jiangxi Province. The entire project runs along the mountainside, with more than one-third of the section located on the cliffs, and trains carrying tourists pass between dangerous cliffs and peaks at an altitude of 850-1,150 meters. According to Jin Junhui, chief engineer of Zhuzhou CRRC Special Equipment Technology, CRRC has developed its own articulated bogie and rack technology to cope with the rugged terrain of Dajueshan. It can handle the driving environment with a high gradient and small curvature, improving the train’s curve-passing performance while ensuring its climbing ability. In addition, all trains are equipped with an infrared collision prevention system as standard, ensuring the safety and reliability of operation. Dajeshan Scenic Area is located in Zixi County, Fuzhou City, Jiangxi Province. The county has a forest coverage rate of 87.7%, making it an ecological model area in China, and its rich natural environment has led to a thriving local tourism industry.

http://j.people.com.cn/n3/2024/0716/c95952-20194142.html The delivery of university acceptance letters began in Guangdong Province on the 15th. A drone carrying four acceptance letters took off from South China University of Technology at 11:00 a.m. and arrived at a housing complex in Huangpu District, Guangzhou City 30 minutes later. The letters were safely delivered to the examinees, marking China’s first successful delivery of university acceptance letters by drone. Science and Technology Daily reported. Tu Sulan, who received the letter delivered by drone this time, expressed his joy at being accepted into the university, saying, “Joy has fallen from the sky. It’s novel and exciting.” For this drone delivery, Guangzhou Post has planned and deployed a comprehensive and systematic logistics network. Based on the existing air, railway and road transport networks, Guangzhou Post has planned and set up a low-altitude drone transport network to form a three-dimensional transport network, and is working to build an ecosystem for the integrated development of the “low-altitude economy” (an economic form based on low-altitude flight activities)

https://www.cas.cn/syky/202407/t20240709_5024719.shtml A deep-sea gene sequencer was jointly developed by researchers from the CAS Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics and the CAS Institute of Deep-sea Science and Engineering. It underwent testing during the expedition mission of China’s scientific research ship Tansuo-2 in the South China Sea from June 3 to June 9, at a maximum depth of 1,380 meters. During the two trial, the sequencer accomplished continuous sequencing for eight hours and for 30 hours with high-quality identification of DNA samples. The quality score Q30 of the two sequencing data was 92% and 95% respectively, and 97 DNA samples provided by the Chinese Academy of Metrology were identified. Over the past five years, the team has overcome difficulties in key components such as sequencing methods, gene big data processing, library chips, multi-color optical focusing imaging, precise flow quantification, multiple dynamic temperature control, underwater packaging, and self-correcting software, and has initially achieved unattended automation of the entire process from library construction to sequencing. The research work is supported by the Strategic Priority Research Program (Class A) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences “Deep Sea/Abyss Intelligent Technology and Seabed In-situ Scientific Experiment Station”

https://english.cas.cn/newsroom/research_news/life/202407/t20240712_672883.shtml https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(24)00694-9 A research team led by LI Wei and ZHOU Qi from the CAS Institute of Zoology has developed an innovative gene-writing technology based on retrotransposons. This achievement enables all-RNA-mediated targeted gene integration in human cells. Efficient and precise integration of gene-sized DNA remains a major challenge in genome engineering. Current technologies rely primarily on DNA templates as donors for gene integration. However, DNA donors face numerous challenges in practical biomedical applications, such as high immunogenicity, difficulty in in vivo delivery, and the risk of random integration into the genome. RNA donors have lower immunogenicity compared to exogenous DNA donors, which can be effectively delivered using non-viral vectors, and are rapidly degraded in cells without the risk of random integration—thus addressing many of the challenges associated with DNA donors. However, there are currently very few technologies that can use RNA donors to achieve targeted gene-sized DNA integration in human cells. R2 retrotransposons are mobile elements that use RNA intermediates to specifically integrate into the host 28S rDNA genomic site. There are 219 copies of this site present in the human genome, located away from protein-coding genes—making it a “safe harbor” suitable for gene integration. Despite its discovery in the 1980s, its potential use for integrating large-fragment genes into human cells has not been fully explored. In the above study, the researchers identified and engineered the avian genome-derived R2Tg system as active in human cells. It exhibited high gene integration specificity at the 28S rDNA safe harbor site. This helps to minimize the risk of mutagenesis caused by random gene integration generated by technologies such as retroviruses. According to the researchers, this technology opens a door for the development of novel gene therapeutics, as it offers a more general approach in which a normal gene can be integrated directly into the genome to restore function, regardless of the type of mutation, e. g., to create CAR-T cells directly in the body in order to treat cancer.

https://english.news.cn/20240705/82e0d0bbc3f741858b8b61ea9591d540/c.html https://www.the-innovation.org/article/id/6687bc912303000072005a3d A recent study from the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography (XIEG), the National Space Science Center, and the CAS Institute of Botany suggests that Syntrichia caninervis, a globally distributed moss species that flourishes in harsh environments is a promising pioneer plant for colonizing extraterrestrial environments such as Mars. Using samples from the Gurbantunggut Desert in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, one of the most concentrated distributions of Syntrichia caninervis, the moss’s extraordinary resilience under extreme desiccation, ultra-low temperatures and intense radiation was shown, as well as in a simulated Martian environment were these stress factors were combined. The team found that the moss has remarkable desiccation tolerance. Even after losing over 98 percent of its cellular water content, it could recover photosynthetic and physiological activities within seconds after rehydration. According to Li Xiaoshuang, a researcher at XIEG, te plants appeared green when saturated with water, turned dark green and then black as the water was gradually lost, and turned green again only two seconds after rehydration. When exposed to minus 80 degrees Celsius in an ultra-low-temperature freezer for five years and to minus 196 degrees Celsius in a liquid nitrogen storage tank for 30 days, the plants survived and regenerated new branches. Moreover, the moss could survive super-intense gamma radiation exposure that would kill most plants and maintained vitality in simulated Mars conditions (air composed of 95 percent of carbon dioxide, temperatures that fluctuated from minus 60 degrees Celsius to 20 degrees Celsius, high levels of UV radiation, and low atmospheric pressure). Mars is considered to be the planet most likely to be colonized by humans in the future. However, no life forms have been detected on Mars to date. Therefore, introducing organisms from Earth might be required to produce Earth-like conditions suitable for human life on Mars, a process scientists call terraforming. In the future, the team plans to conduct space flight experiments involving exposure to space conditions.

http://j.people.com.cn/n3/2024/0704/c95952-20189623.html At the factory of automobile manufacturer Ceres in Chongqing, one new energy vehicle is lined off in as fast as 30 seconds. The automatic robot arm moves smoothly, and cars come out of the gate one by one in order. In the factory, more than 1,000 smart equipment and more than 3,000 robots work together through a highly automated and smart process system. The welding workshop has been fully automated, and even in the assembly workshop with the most people, the automation rate reaches 50%. How do they ensure the efficiency and quality control of automated production? The super factory is equipped with Chinese-made AI (artificial intelligence) smart visual inspection equipment that monitors each key process of car manufacturing in real time, allowing any problems to be reported at any time. Safety officers are constantly checking the factory, and all processes are in order. The factory is also a microcosm of Chongqing’s accelerating development of new quality productivity. As a major automobile production base in China, the city produced 997,000 cars in the first five months of this year, of which 306,000 were new energy vehicles, up 144.1% from the same period last year.