China Science & Technology Forum

[cirr]

Researchers one step more closer to Cold Fussion Power – Vancouver Technology Time

Research on magnetic fusion energy shows that plasma can be contained using magnetic fields. The plasma is heated to a temperature much hotter than the sun’s core, which leads to the fusion of ions and the release of excess energy that can be transformed into electricity , according to new experimental results achieved by the first U.S.-China fusion research team.

The team is led by Dr. Xianzu Gong of ASIPP and Dr. Andrea Garofalo of General Atomics (GA) in San Diego

Using both China’s EAST facility and the DIII-D National Fusion Facility, operated by GA for the U.S. Department of Energy, the team has investigated the “high-bootstrap current” scenario, which enhances self-generated (“bootstrap”) electrical current to find an optimal tokamak configuration for fusion energy production.

Magnetic fusion energy research uses magnetic fields to confine plasma (ionized gas) heated to temperatures hotter than the Sun’s core. This enables the ions to fuse and release excess energy that can be turned into electricity, harnessing the Sun’s power on Earth. The most developed configuration is the tokamak, and the team’s work helps prepare for the 500-megawatt ITER fusion research facility that is currently being built in France by a consortium of 35 nations, including China and the U.S.

This joint U.S.-China experiment directly demonstrates the stabilizing effect of reducing the plasma-wall distance in tokamaks with high plasma pressure and large bootstrap current fraction, according to Dr. Gong, who said, “I think, in simple terms, these experiments may provide better physics and operation foundation for ITER plasmas.”
The focus was on resolving the “kink mode” instability, a wobbling effect that reduces performance, by moving the plasma closer to the vessel’s wall, Dr. Garofalo explained . Operating closer to the wall suppresses the kink mode and enables higher pressure inside the tokamak, the toroidal or doughnut-shaped steel-lined fusion device. This gives rise to “pressure-driven” plasma flows that maintain the confinement quality even with lower external injection of velocity.

“This is unlike any other regime,” said Dr. Garofalo. “It’s very risky to move the plasma that close to the wall. The chief operator said ‘You can’t do that anymore, you’re going to damage the machine,’ so it was a struggle to prove our theory was correct.”

The gambit paid off. Moving the plasma closer to the wall removed the kink mode and enabled higher plasma pressure, which, in turn, makes the plasma less dependent on externally injected flow. This is important because in a tokamak reactor, such as ITER, it is very difficult and expensive to drive a rapid plasma flow with external means.

The team performed the most recent bootstrap exploration in DIII-D, following-up work on the record-setting milestone achieved at China’s EAST tokamak, where GA scientists have also been collaborating. An ASIPP scientist Dr. Qilong Ren will deliver the invited talk on the topic of Magnetic Confinement-Experiments.

While fusion has been in the public domain since the 1950s and its advances have been achieved by teams around the world, this U.S.-China team is setting new milestones in global cooperation. For realization of magnetic fusion energy, global cooperation is needed, said Dr. Gong of ASIPP, who cited the EAST/DIII-D partnership as “an efficient and effective new model” for international science collaborations that benefits both partners and the field of study.

“We have made a very good start of international collaboration in fusion research between China and the U.S., and we are very proud to be a pioneer in this field,” said Dr. Gong.

Tokamak confinement is an advanced configuration for this process. The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) is an international project which aims to design and construct an experimental fusion energy reactor based on the tokamak concept

“ITER is based on the ‘tokamak’ concept of magnetic confinement, in which the plasma is contained in a doughnut-shaped vacuum vessel. Strong magnetic fields are used to keep the plasma away from the walls; these are produced by superconducting coils surrounding the vessel, and by an electrical current driven through the plasma,” says the ITER website.

A team of American and Chinese researchers are currently helping in the development of a facility for the 500-megawatt ITER fusion research in France. The facility is a joint project of 35 nations, including the United States and China.

The plasma found in the confined areas are dubbed as magnetic islands. These ‘islands’ do not have a temperature incline, which leads to turbulence. If the turbulence rises outside the magnetic islands where there is a temperature gradient, the turbulence eventually moves into the islands. The turbulence’s intensity is the determining factor of the magnetic island’s confinement state. Improving the confinement state of these magnetic islands holds the key to the future of fusion plasma.

Scientists in the joint project found a new confinement state that could lead to the improvement of fusion reactor plasma and eventually pave the way to fusion energy research in the future

Led by Andrea Garofalo of General Atomics in San Diego and Xianzu Gong of the Institute of Plasma Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the team investigated a scenario called the “high-bootstrap current” which improves self-generated electrical current. This scenario aims to determine the ideal tokamak setting for the production of fusion energy.

Reducing the distance of plasma from the tokamak wall using large bootstrap current fraction and high plasma pressure showed a stabilizing effect. Moving the plasma closer to the wall made high pressure inside the tokamak possible. This operation resulted in the stable flow of pressure-driven plasma in a confined state even with reduced outside injected flow.

“This is unlike any other regime. It’s very risky to move the plasma that close to the wall. The chief operator said ‘You can’t do that anymore, you’re going to damage the machine,’ so it was a struggle to prove our theory was correct,” said Garofalo.

The results of the experiment will be beneficial in the improvement of a tokamak reactor capable of generating fusion energy.

Meet “Super H mode,” a newly discovered state of tokamak plasma that could sharply boost the performance of future fusion reactors. This new state raises the pressure at the edge of the plasma beyond what previously had been thought possible, creating the potential to increase the power production of the superhot core of the plasma.

Discovery of this mode has led to a new line of research within plasma physics that aims to define a path to higher power. The route could prove particularly promising for ITER, the international experiment under construction in France to demonstrate the feasibility of fusion energy.

Researchers led by Wayne Solomon of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) accessed the new state on the DIII-D National Fusion Facility that General Atomics operates for DOE in San Diego. Motivating their findings were theoretical predictions of a plasma state beyond H-mode, the current regime for high-level plasma performance.

Philip Snyder, director of Theory and Computational Science for General Atomics’ Energy and Advanced Concepts Group, developed the predictions. His surprising discovery was that a model called EPED predicted more than one type of edge region in tokamak plasmas, with the previously unknown Super H-mode among them.

Such regions are called “pedestals” because they serve as ledges in H-mode plasmas from which the pressure drops off sharply. The higher and wider the pedestal the greater the density and pressure, which together act like thermoses to contain the man-made plasma at more than 100 million degrees C. “It’s an important way that we can reach fusion conditions efficiently,” said Snyder, whose model predicted a new pedestal height that corresponds to the super H-mode.

Verification of this prediction is what the researchers found. Their experiments reached the higher Super H-mode regime by steadily increasing density in a quiescent state that naturally avoids pedestal collapses. The results caused the plasma to follow a narrow path to the Super H-mode, the physics equivalent of steering a boat through rocky shores.

http://www.albanydailystar.com/scie...ion-power-vancouver-technology-time-9681.html

 

[JSCh]

High-efficiency color holograms created using a metasurface made of nanoblocks
July 29, 2016 by Lisa Zyga

Color holographic image made by shining laser light on a metasurface. Credit: Wang et al. ©2016 American Chemical Society

(Phys.org)—By carefully arranging many nanoblocks to form pixels on a metasurface, researchers have demonstrated that they can manipulate incoming visible light in just the right way to create a color "meta-hologram." The new method of creating holograms has an order of magnitude higher reconstruction efficiency than similar color meta-holograms, and has applications for various types of 3D color holographic displays and achromatic planar lenses.

The researchers, Bo Wang et al., from Peking University and the National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, both in China, have published a paper on the new type of hologram in a recent issue of Nano Letters.


Full Story -> High-efficiency color holograms created using a metasurface made of nanoblocks

###​

Visible-Frequency Dielectric Metasurfaces for Multiwavelength Achromatic and Highly Dispersive Holograms
Bo Wang†, Fengliang Dong‡, Qi-Tong Li†, Dong Yang†, Chengwei Sun†, Jianjun Chen†§, Zhiwei Song‡, Lihua Xu‡, Weiguo Chu*‡, Yun-Feng Xiao†§, Qihuang Gong†§, and Yan Li*†§

† State Key Laboratory for Mesoscopic Physics, Department of Physics, Peking University and Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter, Beijing 100871, China
‡ CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing 100190, China
§ Collaborative Innovation Center of Extreme Optics, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, Shanxi 030006, China

Nano Lett., Article ASAP
DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.6b02326
Publication Date (Web): July 11, 2016
Copyright © 2016 American Chemical Society
*E-mail: wgchu@nanoctr.cn., *E-mail: li@pku.edu.cn.

Abstract

Dielectric metasurfaces built up with nanostructures of high refractive index represent a powerful platform for highly efficient flat optical devices due to their easy-tuning electromagnetic scattering properties and relatively high transmission efficiencies. Here we show visible-frequency silicon metasurfaces formed by three kinds of nanoblocks multiplexed in a subwavelength unit to constitute a metamolecule, which are capable of wavefront manipulation for red, green, and blue light simultaneously. Full phase control is achieved for each wavelength by independently changing the in-plane orientations of the corresponding nanoblocks to induce the required geometric phases. Achromatic and highly dispersive meta-holograms are fabricated to demonstrate the wavefront manipulation with high resolution. This technique could be viable for various practical holographic applications and flat achromatic devices.​

 

[Three_Kingdoms]

Great report of another outstanding character.
What Doctor Liang has done is marvellous which has straightened up the patient's spine and prevented irregular outgrowing of bones to damage the patient's vital organs. His humble background has made his personality even more respectable.
I've made a terrible mistake having an oversight of mixing the above disease with multiple sclerosis and my earlier comment is edited


Scientists find first gene mutation for multiple sclerosis
Source:Xinhua Published: 2016-6-2 9:06:33

Scientists on Wednesday reported for the first time that a single genetic mutation can cause multiple sclerosis (MS), a major finding that they said should erase doubts that at least some forms of MS are inherited.

The mutation was found in two Canadian families that had several members diagnosed with a rapidly progressive type of MS, in which a person's symptoms steadily worsen and for which there is no effective treatment, they reported in the U.S. journal Neuron.

"This finding is critical for our understanding of MS," said Carles Vilarino-Guell, assistant professor in the Department of Medical Genetics at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and one of the study's senior authors.

"Little is known about the biological processes that lead to the onset of the disease, and this discovery has massive amounts of potential for developing new treatments that tackle the underlying causes, not just the symptoms."

MS is a neurodegenerative disease in which the immune system attacks the myelin that protects nerve fibers, upsetting the flow of information between the brain and the body. It affects about two million people worldwide, and in its more severe, progressive form, no good treatments are available.

Although multiple sclerosis (MS) is known to run in certain families, attempts to find genes linked to the disease have been elusive and researchers have found only weak associations between the risk of developing MS and particular gene variants.

Generally, the prevailing view has been that a combination of many genetic variations cause a slight increase in the disease's susceptibility.

But the new study determined that people who carry the newly discovered mutation have a 70 percent chance of developing the disease.

In the study, the investigators reviewed materials from the Canadian Collaborative Project on Genetic Susceptibility to MS, a large database that contains genetic material from almost 2,000 families across Canada.

They found seven individuals from two unrelated families who showed symptoms of rapidly progressive MS carried a mutation in the gene NR1H3 which regulates inflammation and immunity.

Mice with this gene knocked out are known to have neurological problems, including a decrease in myelin production, said neuroscientist Weihong Song, Canada Research Chair in Alzheimer's Disease at UBC and the study's other senior author.

"The mutation we found, in a gene called NR1H3, is a missense mutation that causes loss of function of its gene product, LXRA protein," Song said.

"There is clear evidence to support that this mutation has consequences in terms of biological function, and the defective LXRA protein leads to familial MS development."

Although only one in 1,000 MS patients appears to have this mutation, its discovery helps reveal the biological pathway that leads to the rapidly progressive form of the disease, accounting for about 15 per cent of people with MS, they said.

The researchers noted that there is already interest in targeting this pathway for drug development in other diseases, including atherosclerosis.

"These are still early days and there is a lot to test, but if we are able to repurpose some of these experimental drugs, it could shorten the time it takes to develop targeted MS treatments," Vilarino-Guell said.

While noting that the new study only identified one contributing factor rather than an MS cause, Professor Michael Demetriou at the University of California, Irvine, said that it may provide an excellent strategy for treating progressive multiple sclerosis.

"As we currently don't have any drug therapies for progressive MS, this would be a very big deal," said Demetriou, director of the university's National Multiple Sclerosis Society Designated Comprehensive Care Clinic, who was not involved in the study.

"There are some treatments in the pipeline but this represents a potentially new therapy for progressive MS," he said. "Drug treatments may be many years away but this study suggests that targeting this pathway may have some benefit."

http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/986511.shtml

 

[TaiShang]

The Future is Now! Chinese Scientists Pioneer Human Gene Editing

17:58 01.08.2016
Later this month a team of Chinese geneticists is going to use the so-called “genome editing” technique to treat people suffering from lung cancer, Nature wrote.


The technique finds and replaces parts of DNA which suppress cellular immunity. This is done using an enzyme named Cas9.

The experiment by a team of researchers at West China hospital in Chengdu, China, will be the first ever attempt to apply the revolutionary gene-editing method known as Crispr on humans.

The CRISPR–Cas9 technique changes a patient’s T-cells by altering both copies of a gene that undermines the T-cells’ ability to recognize and attack cancerous cells thus increasing the human body’s immunity to the deadly disease.

With the editing process complete the modified cells will be multiplied and reintroduced into a patient’s system to better spot and destroy cancerous cells.

Many wonder if people could receive certain genes to make them good in sports or other areas, however scientists believe that this is highly unlikely.

Interestingly, among the tens of thousands of human genes, the ones that can determine one’s eye color, height, predisposition to alcoholism or musical ear are all but nonexistent.

Moreover, the effect of the environment on the development of any of our physical or mental properties is too big to ignore.

A toddler who is genetically predisposed to growing 2 meters tall can wind up growing to something short of a midget all because of malnutrition, adverse living conditions and poor health.

And, finally, we should not discard things like chance and the unpredictability of our life, which make it fun and can encourage or hold back whatever talents Mother Nature may have in store for us.

 

[JSCh]

Posted: Aug 01, 2016
Swapping substrates improves edges of graphene nanoribbons

(Nanowerk News) It is now feasible to make a prized material for spintronic devices and semiconductors -- monolayer graphene nanoribbons with zigzag edges.

Miniscule ribbons of graphene are highly sought-after building blocks for semiconductor devices because of their predicted electronic properties. But making these nanostructures has remained a challenge. Now, a team of researchers from China and Japan have devised a new method to make the structures in the lab. Their findings appear in the current issue of Applied Physics Letters ("Patterning monolayer graphene with zigzag edges on hexagonal boron nitride by anisotropic etching").



Full Story -> http://www.nanowerk.com/nanotechnology-news/newsid=44100.php

 

[cirr]

http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblo...e-accelerator-twice-the-size-and-seven-t.html

@Bussard Ramjet

 

[Bussard Ramjet]

http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblo...e-accelerator-twice-the-size-and-seven-t.html

@Bussard Ramjet

Actually this piece has nothing new.

What I wanted to know was that has the particle accelerator been given the go ahead by authorities in terms of funding?

Can you do me a favor?
I hear there's an extensive list of scientific projects and goals in the 13th five year plan. But I wasn't able to find it anywhere. Can you provide it to me?

 

[Three_Kingdoms]

Actually this piece has nothing new.

What I wanted to know was that has the particle accelerator been given the go ahead by authorities in terms of funding?

Can you do me a favor?
I hear there's an extensive list of scientific projects and goals in the 13th five year plan. But I wasn't able to find it anywhere. Can you provide it to me?

What do you want it for?

 

[Han Patriot]

What do you want it for?

Espionage? LOL.

 

[Bussard Ramjet]

Espionage? LOL.

13th Five Year Plan is a publicly available document.

I am just looking for an English version of parts of it.

 

[JSCh]

Joint Survey Gets Insight of Central Asia’s Ecological Environment and Resources
Aug 01, 2016

As a key and indispensible part of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the neighboring region of China, Central Asia has the similar climate characteristics, physical geographic settings and even the same ecological environmental problems of the arid zone of northwestern China.

Better understanding of ecological environment and resources in this area will help enhance social and economical development in Central Asia countries, especially against a backdrop of global climate change era.

A five-year joint survey project carried out by scientists from more than 60 research organizations in China and Central Asia countries has got a clear picture of resources and environment conditions in this area. It helps to know better of the impact of climate change on biological resources and ecological environment in Central Asian countries.

The project, with 28 branch topics, summons the forces of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and universities in China, as well as 48 academic institutions from Central Asian countries. It opens a door for multilateral science collaboration of the Silk Road Economic Belt countries, including China.

“It is a pioneering, guiding and sustainable project, and will be a scientific engine for the development of Silk Road Economic Belt countries,” said CHEN Xi, director of the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, leading institution of the project.

In Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, joint laboratories on soil, water, plants, animals, minerals, environment and gene studies set up under the project enable resource and environment determination. This will help to smooth the import and export business for Central Asian countries.

The survey project proves to be a successful try for China’s science and technology cooperation with its Central Asian neighbors. A joint international ecological system observation network with 15 filed observation stations fills the gap of similar observation stations in Central Asia, making it possible for in-situ monitoring to cover glaciers, mountain areas, forests, grasslands, crop land in oasis, lakes and wetlands, and deserts in the area.

A series of 30 monographs on resources, ecological condition, environment and social economy under the project were completed after a series of collaborated investigations done by scientists from these countries.

Also, more than 100 masters and doctors graduated under joint supervision in the projects, providing Central Asian countries with more talent and intellectual support for further development.

The projects are expected to offer more potential for Central Asia’s long-term and sustainable development in scientific, social and economic areas, and benefit all countries in the Silk Road Economic Belt areas.



Joint Survey Gets Insight of Central Asia’s Ecological Environment and Resources---Chinese Academy of Sciences

 

[GS Zhou]

What I wanted to know was that has the particle accelerator been given the go ahead by authorities in terms of funding?

A news from the Institute of High Energy Physics, CAS, which said the institution has started the concept design of CEPC (Circular Electron Positron Collider). The news specifically mentioned the concept design is fully funded by government.

Although it doesn't mean the CEPC project has got the final approval from the government, it is still a positive signal!

 

[JSCh]

Scientists Synthesize New Deep-Ultraviolet Transparent Nonlinear Optical Material
Aug 02, 2016

Deep-ultraviolet (UV) nonlinear optical (NLO) materials have been widely used in laser and photonic technologies. The previously discovered NLO materials, such as β-BaB2O4, LiB3O5 and CsLiB6O10, show some drawbacks for practical usage. Therefore, the exploration and development of next generation deep-UV NLO materials are in great demand. However, it is still a challenge to explore satisfied deep-UV NLO materials possessing large second harmonic generation (SHG) response, wide deep-UV transparent window, and phase matching ability.

A research group led by Prof. PAN Shilie at Xinjiang Technical Institute of Physics & Chemistry of Chinese Academy of Sciences developed a promising deep-UV NLO material, LiCs2PO4, which was synthesized by the flux method. It crystallizes in the non-centrosymmetric and polar space group of Cmc21 (No. 36). The crystal structure can be described as two dimensional (LiPO4)2− layers along the a axis with the Cs+ cations residing between the layers. LiCs2PO4 exhibits an unusual edge-sharing LiO4 -PO4 tetrahedra connection, which is first found in alkali metal phosphates.

Researchers found that this material achieves a new record of powder SHG response in deep-UV phosphates (2.6 times that of KH2PO4), and it also exhibits a short UV cutoff edge of 174 nm and is type–I phase-matchable, indicating that it can be used as a deep UV nonlinear optical material.

The large SHG response of LiCs2PO4 was quite unusual as it cannot contain additional anionic groups. It was difficult to explain the origin of its large SHG response by using the anionic group concept alone. Researchers employed first-principles electronic structure analyses confirm the experimental results and the calculated SHG coefficients of LiCs2PO4 were d15 = d31 = −0.65 pm/V, d24 = d32 = 0.22 pm/V, and d33 = 0.61 pm/V.

In addition, the electronic structure was calculated to explore the intrinsic relationship between the structure and optical properties. The band-resolved method and orbital analysis indicate that the SHG enhancement of LiCs2PO4 was intimately associated with its unique structural feature, i.e., the edge-sharing LiO4-PO4 tetrahedra and aligned non-bonding O-2p orbitals.

The discovery and understanding of this material provide a new insight into the structure-property relationship of phosphate-based NLO materials with both large SHG response and deep-UV transparency.

The study was published in J. Am. Chem. Soc. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the West Light Foundation of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xinjiang International Science & Technology Cooperation Program, etc.



Scientists Synthesize New Deep-Ultraviolet Transparent Nonlinear Optical Material---Chinese Academy of Sciences

 

[Three_Kingdoms]

China's new rectangular Tunnel Boring Machine was launched in China a year ago.

The world's first horse-shoe shaped TBM was rolled out of production line on July 17, 2016

http://news.sciencenet.cn/htmlnews/2016/7/351650.shtm

Another "rectangular" one different from the above and it claimed to be the world's largest:

And more, another one - a new design:

 

[Han Patriot]

This is crazy, as recent as 10 years ago, we still had to import these machines from Germany. We are entering the innovation stage now, since there is nothing more to learn.