China Science & Technology Forum

[JSCh]

Scientists Make Breakthrough Toward Mapping All Cells in the Human Body
Ryan F. Mandelbaum
Yesterday 12:08PM

Researchers around the world are working to construct an atlas of all the different cells in the human body. A team in China has just released the results of a huge step toward that goal.

The Human Cell Atlas is an international initiative to map all of the body’s 30-trillion-plus cells, their types, and how they relate to one another. Researchers hope that this atlas will prove to be a useful resource for curing and preventing diseases. In a new study, published today in Nature, a team led by Guoji Guo at the Zhejiang University School of Medicine in Hangzhou, China determined the types of cells that comprise all of the major human organs, creating what could be the most comprehensive cell-type atlas yet.

....

Scientists Make Breakthrough Toward Mapping All Cells in the Human Body | Gizmodo

 

[Stranagor]

Chinese scientists discover natural supercritical carbon dioxide

2020-05-11 08:19 Source：Xinhua

QINGDAO, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Chinese scientists identified bubbles from some hydrothermal vents in the western Pacific Ocean as supercritical carbon dioxide, and this is the first time that natural supercritical carbon dioxide has been discovered on Earth.

A team from the Institute of Oceanology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the Center for Ocean Mega-Science of CAS discovered the natural supercritical carbon dioxide at the depth of 1,400 meters in seawater during an investigation conducted in 2016 through a homegrown deep-sea in situ Raman detection instrument.

"Supercritical carbon dioxide is widely used in our daily life and industries, like dry cleaning and petroleum solvents, but this is the first time that the natural presence of the supercritical carbon dioxide was discovered," said Zhang Xin, a researcher of the institute.

The fluids of supercritical carbon dioxide contain much larger amounts of nitrogen than those in surrounding seawater and vent fluids, indicating that supercritical carbon dioxide enriches nitrogen from the surrounding environment, Zhang said.

Scientists also found unknown organic materials in the fluids. They suggested that supercritical carbon dioxide with high nitrogen could play a significant role in promoting the synthesis, pre-enrichment and preservation of amino acids and other organic matters that are essential to the origin of life.

A paper on the findings has been published on the online version of the journal Science Bulletin.

 

[JSCh]

China to develop high-power klystrons for big science projects
Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-12 20:14:39|Editor: huaxia

BEIJING, May 12 (Xinhua) -- A platform to develop high-power klystrons for big science projects has started construction in Beijing.

High-power klystrons can produce high-energy microwaves, which is key for big science projects such as high-energy collider, controlled thermonuclear fusion facility, synchrotron radiation device, X-ray free electron laser facility, the China Spallation Neutron Source and the "Meridian Project."

Aiming to meet the country's demands for klystrons and promote the development of big science projects, the platform was designed as the largest base for klystron research and development in China.

The platform is constructed by the Aerospace Information Research Institution of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

 

[JSCh]

NEWS RELEASE 14-MAY-2020
Ancient DNA unveils important missing piece of human history
New ancient genomic research reveals information about human history in China

CHINESE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES HEADQUARTERS

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IMAGE: SAMPLING A TOOTH IN THE IVPP CLEANROOM CREDIT: IVPP

Newly released genomes from Neolithic East Asia have unveiled a missing piece of human prehistory, according to a study conducted by Prof. FU Qiaomei's team from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The study, published in Science on May 14, reveals that population movement played a profound role in the early genetic history of East Asians.

The researchers used advanced ancient DNA capture techniques to retrieve ancient DNA from 25 individuals dating back 9,500-4,200 years and one individual dating back 300 years from northern and southern East Asia.

The newly sequenced DNA casts a spotlight on an important period in East Asia's early history: the transition from hunter-gathering to agricultural economies.

One hypothesis for population movement in East Asia is that during the Neolithic, a "second layer" of agriculturalists replaced a "first layer" of hunter-gatherers in East and Southeast Asia.

While the genetics of ancient humans in Southeast Asia, Siberia, and the Japanese archipelago have been well-studied, little has been known until now about the genetics of ancient humans in northern and southern China.

Prof. FU and her team found that these Neolithic humans share the closest genetic relationship to present-day East Asians who belong to this "second layer." This suggests that by 9,500 years ago, the primary ancestries composing the genetic makeup of East Asians today could already be found in mainland East Asia.

While more divergent ancestries can be found in Southeast Asia and the Japanese archipelago, in the Chinese mainland, Neolithic populations already displayed genetic features belonging to present-day East Asians.

Notably, this includes the Early Neolithic southern East Asians dating to ~8,000 years from this study that should have been "first layer" early Asians, according to the earlier hypothesis. In fact, Prof. FU and her team showed that they shared a closer relationship to present-day "second layer" East Asians. Thus, the results of the current study fail to support a "two layer" dispersal model in Neolithic East Asia in this area.

The scientists also found that Early Neolithic East Asians were more genetically differentiated from each other than present-day East Asians are. In early Neolithic East Asia since 9,500 BP, a northern ancestry existed along the Yellow River and up into the eastern steppes of Siberia, distinct from a southern ancestry that existed along the coast of the southern Chinese mainland and islands in the Taiwan Strait since 8,400 BP.

Population movement may have already started impacting East Asians by the Late Neolithic. For example, the Late Neolithic southern East Asians may have shared a connection to coastal northern East Asians and the former's ancestry may have extended north as well.

Today, most East Asian populations are not clearly separated into two distinct groups. Present-day mainland East Asians from both the north and south share a closer genetic relationship to northern Neolithic East Asians along the Yellow River than to southern Neolithic East Asians on the southern coast of China.

Further analyses show that they are almost all a mixture of northern and southern ancestry from Neolithic East Asia, with northern ancestry playing a larger role. Population movement, particularly from the north along the Yellow River southward was a prominent part of East Asian prehistory after the Neolithic.

Interestingly, present-day Han Chinese in all provinces, north and south, show a similar amount of northern and southern influences.

Southern ancestry, while less represented in mainland East Asia today, had extensive influence on other regions. Present-day Austronesian speakers, who share a close genetic relationship to present-day mainland East Asians but live across a wide swath of islands in Southeast Asia and the Southwest Pacific, show a remarkably close genetic relationship to Neolithic populations from the southern coast of China.

Archaeological materials dating back to the Middle Neolithic have long hinted at the connection between Austronesian islanders and populations in mainland East Asia. Now, the genetic relationships uncovered by Prof. FU and her team show unambiguous evidence that Austronesian speakers today originated from a proto-Austronesian population that derived from southern China at least 8,400 year ago.

The history revealed by these 26 ancient humans highlights the profound impact that population movement and mixture had on human history, but they also reveal continuity that extends back 9,500 years. Unlike in Europe, influences from Central Asia had no role in the formation of East Asian ancestry, with mixing largely occurring regionally between northern and southern populations in East Asia.

The whole slate of ancestries present across East Asia during the Neolithic is still unknown, as genome-wide data have not been retrieved from many inland regions of mainland East Asia.

But coastal connections between ancient populations in Siberia, Japan, China, and Southeast Asia suggest that as more ancient DNA is retrieved and studied, a complex history of population contact and admixture in East Asian human prehistory will be revealed.


Ancient DNA unveils important missing piece of human history | EurekAlert! Science News

Also article about the same study,

Ancient human genomes shed new light on East Asia's history | Nature​

 

[JSCh]

Harvesting vegetables with 'sand-to-earth' tech on S. China Sea island beach
By Shan Jie Source:Globaltimes.cn Published: 2020/5/19 23:54:20

Photo: Chongqing Jiaotong University

Chinese navy garrisoned on an island in the Xisha Islands of the South China Sea recently harvested 750 kilogram of vegetables on sandy beaches for the first time, using technology which experts said could support communities on islands.

Seven kinds of vegetables, including Pakchoi cabbage, lettuce and baby Chinese cabbage, were harvested on a "sand to earth" experimental field on Yongxing Island in Sansha city, South China's Hainan Province, on May 12, according to a report from the Chinese navy on Tuesday.

"The technology will be promoted on a large scale, which could solve the problem of military forces and civilians on islands lacking enough green vegetables," a navy officer said, according to the report.

The navy's garrisoned force in Xisha worked with the "sand to earth" research team from the Chongqing Jiaotong University in Southwest China for four months to achieve the "miracle."

According to the navy's report, naval officers and scientists mixed a botanical fiber adhesive powder material into the sand. After watering, the sand became soil. Seeds planted in a 0.5-mu field on April 4 grew into more than 750 kilograms of harvests after one month, which means vegetables could be harvested five or six times a year.

The team from Chongqing Jiaotong University had changed 4,000 mu of desert into farming land in North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in 2017.

The breakthrough also counters international theories, including those in a 2016 arbitration, that islands in the South China Sea could not support communities of their own, Chen Xiangmiao, an assistant research fellow at the National Institute for South China Sea Studies, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

"Now China's capability of being able to support civilians on these islands would allow more people to live on the islands," Chen noted.

The high temperatures, high humidity and high salt content had made farming extremely difficult on the South China Sea islands, Chen said.

"Being able to grow vegetables makes it possible to take the next step, such as raising pigs or chickens. An ecological cycle would make the islands more suitable for humans to live there for a longer time," Chen said. "In the future, each island could form a small independent community."

Since the 1970s, forces stationed in the islands have relied on green-leaf vegetables to be shipped to them. But sometimes boats could not reach the islands due to bad weather, and officers could only eat seaweed, pumpkins or beancurd sticks, causing nutritional issues, according to the navy report.

Navy officers tried bringing soil from the mainland, but they could only grow a small amount of vegetables. In 2007, the Ministry of Science and Technology built a vegetable demonstrative base on Yongxing island. Vegetable greenhouses were also built on some islands.

Sansha city was founded in 2012. With more and more navy officers and civilians moving onto the islands, the need for green-leaf vegetables has been increasing.

 

[Beast]

The soldier shall not need to grow their own food. Huge cargo ship sending in food shall solve the problem. Since the land is reclaim. Shall have enough land to build a giant warehouse.

 

[JSCh]

​

NEWS RELEASE 10-APR-2020
USDA-ARS scientists find new tool to combat major wheat disease
Will help global efforts to produce wheat

US DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE - AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SERVICE

WASHINGTON, D.C., April 10 - Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists and their colleagues have discovered a gene that can be used to develop varieties of wheat that will be more resistant to Fusarium Head Blight (FHB), a disease that is a major threat both overseas and to the nation's $10 billion annual wheat crop.

A paper reporting the discovery and the cloning of the gene, known as Fhb7, was published today in the journal Science. The study was led by scientists at the Shandong Agricultural University in Shandong, China and co-authors include ARS researchers Guihua Bai and Lanfei Zhao in Manhattan, Kansas, and Steven Xu in Fargo, North Dakota.

The discovery is a major advance in addressing a significant threat to the world's wheat supply. FHB, also known as "scab," is caused by a fungal pathogen, Fusarium graminearum, and results in significant losses in the United States, China, Canada, Europe, and many other countries. It also attacks barley and oats.

When the pathogen grows unchecked in infected grains, it releases mycotoxins that can induce vomiting in humans, as well as weight loss in livestock when they refuse to eat the grains.

The prevalence and severity of FHB outbreaks also could potentially be exacerbated by climate change and varying weather conditions, and by an increasing trend toward more corn production and no-till farming, which both may be increasing the prevalence of the pathogen in fields. Growers often must use fungicides to reduce FHB damage.

The researchers found that the gene effectively reduces FHB by detoxifying the mycotoxins secreted by the pathogen. The gene also confers resistance to crown rot, a wheat disease caused by a related pathogen.

The researchers originally identified the gene in Thinopyrum wheatgrass, a wild relative of wheat that has been previously used to develop varieties of wheat with beneficial traits, such as rust resistance and drought tolerance. They cloned the gene and introduced it into seven wheat cultivars with different genetic profiles to study its effects on plants grown under field conditions.

The results showed that the gene not only conferred resistance to scab in the new plants, but it also had no negative effects on yield or other significant traits.

The study sheds new light on the molecular mechanisms that can make wheat, as well as barley and oats, resistant to the pathogen that causes FHB. New varieties of wheat with better FHB resistance using Fhb7 are expected to be available in a few years, the researchers say.



USDA-ARS scientists find new tool to combat major wheat disease | EurekAlert! Science News

 

[Nilgiri]

Thank you for continually updating this thread @JSCh

 

[JSCh]

China making good progress in building world's largest supercollider: scientist
By Deng Xiaoci Source:Global Times Published: 2020/5/25 11:28:24

A sketch of the future Circular Electron Positron Collider. Photo: Courtesy of Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of High Energy Physics

Research and development for the first batch of key equipment for the world's most powerful electron collider, the Circular Electron Positron Collider (CEPC), in China, has made solid progress, according to a leading scientist on the project Sunday.

Wang Yifang, director of the Institute of High Energy Physics (IHEP), under the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, who is also a deputy to the National People's Congress, made the comments to the Global Times on the sidelines of the ongoing national two sessions in Beijing. The overall development of the CEPC project is moving forward smoothly, with some of the first batch of equipment reaching design standards.

Klystron is among the first batch of key equipment for the super-sized collider, which scored a 60 percent efficiency in the prototype test earlier this year, reaching world advanced levels, up from below 50 percent, according to Wang.

Wang's team aims to produce an even better version of the klystron with 80 percent efficiency this year.

The location for the CEPC has yet to be determined, Wang noted.

The CEPC project will reportedly cost 35 billion yuan ($5.05 billion) and will have a circumference of 100 kilometers, with center-mass energy of up to 240 giga electron-volts, both setting a world record.

Chinese scientists are eyeing the completion for CEPC construction by 2030, Global Times previously learned from IHEP.

The conceptual design for the CEPC passed international inspections in September 2019. Scientists from the US, Europe and Japan have participated in designing the project, and will work on the building process and conduct research with the collider.

The Large Hadron Collider, the Swiss project near Geneva, is currently the world's largest and most powerful particle collider and reportedly the largest machine in the world.

In a bid to maximize the project's service life, scientists are mulling upgrading the electron positron collider in around 2040 into a proton collider, Wang noted.

By then, the center-mass energy for the CEPC will have reached about 100 tera electron-volts, seven times as powerful as the Switzerland's project, Wang said.

The outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic has brought risks of suspension and delay in implementing procurement contracts for some equipment for large-scale projects due to adjustments in budgeting plans. Wang suggested that legal entities engaged in major project construction should be allowed to raise funds through multiple channels or borrow other funds to ensure that construction tasks are completed on schedule.

After fund advance plans are reviewed, reported and filed with financial regulators, they should be allowed to handle the funds in accordance with relevant procedures in the next fiscal year, he noted.

According to Wang, some large-scale science and technology projects have seen budget cuts in the fiscal year of 2020, some suffering cuts of nearly 50 percent.

A delay of the project would not only prolong the construction time, but also adds to the total costs and lead to loss of opportunities in international competition, he said.

Wang revealed that another IHEP project, the cosmic ray observation station on an area equivalent to 200 soccer fields in the wilderness of Daocheng, Southwest China's Sichuan Province, 4,400 meters above sea level, has been affected by budget cuts.

 

[JSCh]

China's giant wind tunnel to accelerate development of warplanes
By Liu Xuanzun Source:Global Times Published: 2020/5/27 19:09:03

China's most advanced fighter jet, J-20, performs at the Chinese Air Force's "open day" event in Changchun, Northeast China's Jilin Province on Thursday. This is the second time the stealth warplane opened its side missile bays and showcased its short-range combat missiles. They were first revealed at Airshow China 2018. Photo: IC

Under development for more than eight years, China's latest, world-leading wind tunnel is now ready to help develop new warplanes after reaching a milestone on Tuesday by successfully testing and receiving data for an in-development aircraft. With its help, China will be able to develop new warplanes faster and perform better, experts said on Wednesday.

The wind tunnel, called FL-62, conducted its first operation on Tuesday by running a test for an undisclosed new aircraft. The operation went smoothly as the flow field generated by the wind tunnel was stable and test data for the aircraft was gathered for the first time, the Aerodynamics Research Institute, under the state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), announced in a statement on Tuesday.

This successful test showed the FL-62 wind tunnel was ready to test all types of aircraft and contribute to their development, the statement said.

Approved for construction in 2012 and based in Shenyang, Northeast China's Liaoning Province, the 6,620-ton, 17,000-cubic meter machine is China's first large continuous transonic wind tunnel. It is a fundamental and strategic facility crucial to China's aviation industry, as it will decide the shape of China's future warplanes, according to information AVIC released previously.

Compared to previous Chinese wind tunnels, the FL-62 can provide more stable and consistent airflow, resulting in more realistic data gathered from aircraft models tested in the tunnel, a military expert who asked not to be named told the Global Times.

With the data, aircraft developers could optimize the aircraft's aerodynamic design, giving it better performance in speed, range, maneuverability and stealth, the expert said, noting that a more advanced wind tunnel will also likely reduce the development time because the data it generates will be more accurate.

An optimized aircraft model would eventually be made into a prototype for test flights.

Before its first operation on Tuesday, the FL-62 ran a final test on itself on Sunday, in which data showed it had reached a world-leading standard, the institute's statement on Tuesday said.

China is eyeing to develop a next-generation fighter jet by 2035 or earlier, reports in early 2019 quoted Wang Haifeng, a chief architect at AVIC's Chengdu Aircraft Research and Design Institute who also participated in the development of the J-20 and J-10 fighter jets, as saying.

The generational standards for fighter jets have been defined mainly by Western countries but not future standards, said J-20's chief designer Yang Wei in a China Central Television program, noting that China will design very different aircraft in the future through true innovation.

 

[JSCh]

NEWS RELEASE 3-JUN-2020
Super water-repellent materials are now durable enough for the real world
A new armour-plated superhydrophobic material has been developed for potential uses in medical equipment, solar panels and more

AALTO UNIVERSITY

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A schematic representation of how the surface looks, and how the structure repels water. CREDIT: Aalto University

Superhydrophobic surfaces repel water like nothing else. This makes them extremely useful for antimicrobial coatings - as bacteria, viruses and other pathogens cannot cling to their surfaces. However, superhydrophobic surfaces have one major flaw - they are extremely susceptible to cuts, scratches or dents. If a superhydrophobic surface gets damaged, the damaged area can trap liquids and the benefits of the coating are lost. Now, however, a collaboration between researchers in China and Finland has developed an armour-plated superhydrophobic surface which can take repeated battering from sharp and blunt objects, and still repel liquids with world-record effectiveness.

The research - which is the cover feature of this week's issue of Nature - has designed superhydrophobic surfaces that can be made out of metal, glass, or ceramic. The superhydrophobic properties of the surface come from nano-sized structures spread all over it. The trick is to pattern the surface of the material with a honeycomb-like structure of tiny inverted pyramids. The fragile water-repellent chemical is then coated on the inside the honeycomb. This prevents any liquid from sticking to the surface, and the fragile chemical coating is protected from damage by the pyramid's walls.

"The armour can be made from almost any material, it's the interconnection of the surface frame that makes it strong and rigid," says Professor Robin Ras, a physicist at Aalto University whose research group was part of the project. "We made the armour with honeycombs of different sizes, shapes and materials. The beauty of this result is that it is a generic concept that fits for many different materials, giving us the flexibility to design a wide range of durable waterproof surfaces."

As well as their useful antimicrobial properties for biomedical technology, superhydrophobic surfaces can also be used more generally in any application requiring a liquid-repellent surface. One example is photovoltaics, where the build-up of moisture and dirt over time blocks the amount of light they can absorb, which reduces electricity production. Making a solar panel out of a superhydrophobic glass surface would maintain their efficiencies over long periods of time. Furthermore, as solar cells are often on roof tops and other difficult to reach locations, the repellent coatings would cut down the amount of cleaning that is needed.

"By using the decoupled design, we introduce a new approach for designing a robust superhydrophobic surface. Our future work would be to push this method further, and to transfer robust superhydrophobic surfaces to different materials and its commercialization" said Professor Xu Deng, the leader of the group at the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China in Chengdu who took part in this research.

Other desirable applications for superhydrophobic surfaces include in machines and on vehicles, where conditions can be very tough for brittle materials for long periods of time. To simulate these working environments, the researchers subjected their new surfaces to extreme conditions, including baking them at 100 °C nonstop for weeks, immersing them in highly corrosive liquids for hours, blasting them with high-pressure water jets, and subjecting them to physical exertion in extreme humidity. The surfaces were still able to repel liquid as effectively as before.

Now that the strengths of this new material design have been demonstrated, future research will explore its broad potential in real-world applications.


Super water-repellent materials are now durable enough for the real world | EurekAlert! Science News

https://twitter.com/x/status/1268207601361321984

 

[JSCh]

NEWS RELEASE 12-MAY-2020
HKU super steel project attains major breakthrough
HKU super steel project attains major breakthrough with collaborators at Berkeley Lab in producing high strength steel at unprecedented levels of fracture resistance

THE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG

The Super Steel project led by Professor Huang Mingxin at the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the University of Hong Kong (HKU), with collaborators at the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (LBNL), has made important breakthrough in its new super D&P steel (produced using a new deformed and partitioned method) to greatly enhance its fracture resistance while maintaining super strong in strength for advanced industrial applications.

The findings were published in Science on 8 May 2020 in the paper titled "Making Ultrastrong Steel Tough by Grain-Boundary Delamination".

...

HKU super steel project attains major breakthrough | EurekAlert! Science News

 

[JSCh]

JULY 10, 2020 REPORT
Reducing the operating temperature of ceramic fuel cells with a high proton conductivity electrolyte
by Bob Yirka , Phys.org

Design of the NCO/CeO2 heterostructure functionalities for fast proton migration. Credit: Science (2020). DOI: 10.1126/science.aaz9139

A team of researchers affiliated with several institutions in China has developed a way to reduce the operating temperature of ceramic fuel cells by using a high proton conductivity electrolyte. In their paper published in the journal Science, the group describes their electrolyte and how well it worked when tested in a hydrogen fuel cell. Meng Ni and Zongping Shao, with Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Nanjing Tech University, respectively, have published a Perspective piece in the same journal issue outlining the need for cooler-running ceramic fuel cells and further explaining the work done by the team in China.


....

https://phys.org/news/2020-07-temperature-ceramic-fuel-cells-high.html

 

[JSCh]

Chinese university builds world's longest 3D-printed bridge
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-22 19:12:29|Editor: huaxia

Photo taken on July 22, 2020 shows the 3D-printed bridge in the Hebei University of Technology. (Photo provided to Xinhua)

SHIJIAZHUANG, July 22 (Xinhua) -- A university in north China set a new world record for the longest 3D-printed bridge on Tuesday.

With a length of 28.1 meters, the concrete bridge is modeled on Zhaozhou Bridge, a 1,400-year-old stone arch structure in China's Hebei Province.

The longest 3D-printed bridge was certified by Guinness World Records on Tuesday.

About half the size of the Zhaozhou Bridge, the 3D-printed structure was created by a research team led by Professor Ma Guowei of the Hebei University of Technology.

It has been installed on one of the university's campuses.

Tourists view the Zhaozhou Bridge, the oldest standing stone-arched bridge in China, across the Xiaohe River in Zhaoxian County, north China's Hebei Province, April 5, 2019. (Xinhua/Liang Zidong)

The Zhaozhou Bridge, also known as Anji Bridge, stands over the Xiaohe River in Zhaoxian County, Hebei Province. It was built during the Sui Dynasty (581-618).

 

[antonius123]

[BEWARE] China's 'Robot Worms' Can Penetrate Brain; Are They Capable of Controlling Humans?
22 July 2020, 8:50 am EDT By Giuliano J. de Leon Tech Times
China created tiny robot worms that could crawl inside the human body. South China Morning Post (SCMP) previously reported that scientists in Shenzhen successfully developed a machine that could penetrate the human brain.

(Photo : Screenshot from Youtube)
CHINA'S BLACK MAGIC: Chinese Robot Worms Can Crawl Inside Your Brain; Will This Lead to an Apocalypse?
Also Read: Elon Musk-Backed AI Company Launches New Tool that Writes Naturally Like Humans

Today World's report compared China's technology to an ancient southern Chinese form of black magic called "Gu." This black magic can summon a poisonous worm-like creature that could grow in a pot and control people's minds.


Also Read: LOOK: Robot With Artificial Skin Could Sense Touches 10 Times Faster Than the Blink of An Eye

The tiny robots could enter the human body by moving along blood vessels and attaching itself to the neurons until it arrives in your brain.

"In a way, it is similar to Gu," said a lead scientist for the project at the Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xu Tiantian.

"But our purpose is not developing a biological weapon. It's the opposite," she clarified. Developing this type of technology is not common since many science labs across the globe were able to produce "micro-bots." However, most of them can only do simple tasks.

China's "iRobots" was revealed in a series of videos released by the Chinese researchers together with a study published by Advanced Functional Materials. The tiny robot worms can be seen swimming and hurdling through a tube, as well as squeezing through a gap half their body width.

How do "iRobot" worms work?
The report explained that the robot worms are powered by an external magnetic field generator, instead of batteries or computer chips. This allows scientists to manipulate the robot worm's body by twisting out in many different ways, achieving a wide range of movements such as rolling, crawling, and swimming.

(Photo : Screenshot from Twitter post of @skinnygdance)
CHINA'S BLACK MAGIC: Chinese Robot Worms Can Crawl Inside Your Brain; Will This Lead to an Apocalypse?
@angelwomble18 The Robot Worms! pic.twitter.com/VqXv8k0qCM — Gil Marom (@skinnygdance) June 29, 2013
The tiny robots are integrated with infrared radiation allowing them to contract their bodies by more than a third so that they can squeeze through tight gaps. It can change its color because of its transparent, temperature-responsive hydrogel structure, giving it invisibility in room-temperature water.

Scientists used a neodymium-iron-boron magnet to create its head, while its tail is constructed from a special composite material. Xi Tiantian said that it will be used for medical purposes. She explained that doctors can inject into the human body to deliver drugs or medicines to a targeted location, such as a tumor.

This can provide patients with fast recovery since the drugs it will deliver will only focus on the body part that needs it, reducing the risk of side effects. It was also explained that the robots can exit the body once it successfully delivered the medicines.
https://www.techtimes.com/articles/...etrate-your-brain-can-they-control-humans.htm