China Science & Technology Forum

[ahojunk]

Researchers develop new anti-smog technology
2016-12-28 09:13 | Global Times | Editor: Li Yan

Researchers from Xi'an Jiaotong University in Northwest China's Shaanxi Province have developed a way to eliminate air pollutants during the coal-burning process, which they hope would significantly address the country's smog problems.

Guo Liejin, head of the research team, said the technology called "supercritical steaming coal" will generate water instead of sulfur dioxide, nitric oxide or PM2.5 particles in the oxidizing reaction process, as it normally does, news portal nbd.com.cn reported Tuesday.

The technology is among the many that aim to curb air pollution in China. Another research team led by He Kebin from Tsinghua University has come up with a list of more than 700 kinds of pollutant sources to help evaluate the effectiveness of measures for controlling the smog, news site thepaper.cn reported.

Many cities even deploy vehicles equipped with a "mist canon," which can spray water mist up to 100 meters, in a bid to devour the smog.

 

[cirr]

记西安电子科技大学电子信息学科群的“通信战士”

3-1-2017

西安电子科技大学科研团队正在进行试验。

微波器件、赛博安全、国防领域、临近空间、深空通信……@Taishang

76年前，毛泽东同志为中央军委无线电通信学校（西安电子科技大学前身）的院刊题词“你们是科学的千里眼顺风耳”；今天，在这所以信息与通信工程、电子科学与技术、控制科学与工程等学科为主的电子信息高等学府里，同样活跃着一群上天入地的“通信战士”。

微波器件效率的世界纪录

400亿元，这大约是移动、联通、电信等无线通信商一年的电费支出，全球无线通信网络耗电更是占到了全球总发电量的10%，而这主要花在了无线通信高塔基站的耗能大户微波功率器件上。一般情况下，这些器件只能把不超过40%的电能转变成有用的微波信号，其余的大部分都变成了热量耗散掉。

要是转化率能高一些该多好。经过近20年的努力，西安电子科技大学副校长、中国科学院院士郝跃带领的团队，将微波功率器件的效率提高到了当前国际最高纪录73%，这也几乎达到了半导体微波功率器件电能转换的极限。

早在1998年，郝跃就带领着团队开始针对新型氮化镓半导体材料与器件进行攻关，相继提出了一系列创新的高质量材料生长方法、新型的半导体材料与器件结构，其成果被评价为过去10多年该领域的三项里程碑成果之一，先后获得国家技术发明奖二等奖和国家科技进步奖二等奖各一项。

如今，这些高效率的微波功率器件已经实现了产品化，正通过华为、中兴等通信设备制造商，在世界各地的4G通信基站中大规模使用。

“比传统基站的电能消耗将降低一半以上，基站寿命将会大大延长，通信速率也会大大提高，我们每个人都会因此受益，得到性价比越来越高的无线通信服务。”郝跃说。

据介绍，这些高效率微波功率器件，不仅成功用到了民用领域，而且已经应用到我国的卫星通信、雷达、预警机等一大批国家重大工程中。

赛博安全的智力对决

GGH密码方案有多厉害？它是三个密码天才提出的全新方案，原本有望成为国际密码学研究的新技术。围绕GGH的密码设计与分析，是赛博安全领域近年来一场顶级的世界级智力较量。然而，这道曙光却在瞬间熄灭。

密码学专家、西安电子科技大学教授胡予濮在一年的时间里，完全沉浸在破解GGH方案的推导验算中，在尝试了50多种攻击方式都被喊“NG”之后，终于给出一记釜底抽薪的痛击，坐实了GGH方案漏洞的存在。

这项重要发现意义深远——人们可以不再继续花费时间精力基于GGH方案构建加密标准，拓展密钥交换使用场景，甚至将其应用于商业、金融、军事等系列领域。

“痴于学术谜题，羞于浅尝辄止，安于书呆子式。”——这是胡予濮以轻松口吻为自己画的自画像，也是一大批在现代通信领域潜心学术的西电学者的集体白描。

国防领域的铸盾行动

2016年国际军事领域有一个爆炸性新闻，中国研制的世界首个反隐身米波雷达，让美国最先进的F-22隐形战机无处遁形。

“这个米波雷达，其信号处理机使用的关键技术，就是西电的雷达研究团队提出的。”雷达信号处理国家重点实验室教授、国家自然科学基金创新研究群体学术带头人廖桂生说，“可以对F-22进行高可靠、高精度测量。”

西安电子科技大学是新中国最早创办雷达工程专业的院校。今天，在被称为雷达“裁判长”的中国科学院院士保铮的带领下，这里聚集着超过30位拥有长江、杰青、青拔、优青等国字号人才称号和教授职称的高层次团队，他们清一色从事雷达研究。

早在两年前，这个以雷达技术为主要研究方向、致力于打造中国版“林肯实验室”的创新体，就曾联合中国电子科技集团公司等单位，以行业产业类第一的成绩，正式通过了国家“2011计划”评审认定。

如今，面向国防领域的重大需求，这个雷达研究团队正源源不断地输出成果：提出了空时自适应动目标检测理论与方法，发明了高分辨雷达成像新技术，创新出雷达目标识别和图像解译方法……

临近空间的大胆探索

“黑障”—— 一个困扰全世界航天界几十年的难题，连美国这样的“航天大佬”也难以提出有效的解决方案。谢楷——教授、博导、系主任，西电空间科学与技术学院李小平教授团队的“80后”“科学怪人”。

“要啃就啃硬骨头！”这位不久前提出了一种缓解通信“黑障”新方法的小伙子，在2009年读博时就将研究方向瞄准了“黑障”这个世界级难题。

研究初期，那个国内外无人尝试过的在实验室环境下复现“黑障”的大胆方案，让李小平团队在申请经费和专利的道路上屡遭碰壁，理由便是——无法判断是否具有可行性。

“当时天空一定飘来了那五个字（那都不是事）！”谢楷笑言，当时幸亏没动摇，团队近乎全手工打造出了首台简陋的原理样机，设想基本成功，但它只工作了十几分钟，电极在高能离子轰击下融化了……

凭着一种“匠人精神”和创新，甚至创业的精神，团队接连参与了民口“973”计划课题、国家重大科技专项课题等。下一步，在中国科学院包为民院士指导下，团队将在地面和空间全面验证克服“黑障”的方法。

如今，这个团队又牵头申请成功了2016年信息学部唯一的国家重大仪器专项“临近空间高速目标等离子体电磁科学实验研究装置”，这也是基金委批准的4个项目之一。

深空通信的瓶颈突破

今年43岁，却已经在航天领域干了17年的长江学者、西安电子科技大学教授李云松，最近又因其团队研制的“星载图像压缩系统”再一次成功运用于“天宫二号”伴随卫星而无比欣喜。李云松解决的问题，是我国现阶段卫星图像数据传输和存储的瓶颈问题之一，也因此获得国家科技进步奖二等奖一项。

中国月球探测工程“绕、落、回”三大步中，都伴随着李云松在星载图像、视频压缩编码研究的每一小步前行。从第一次看到“嫦娥一号”回传图像时的欢呼雀跃，到如今经历多次重大任务后的平静与淡然，习以为常的超高航天要求已与这位年轻的“老江湖”难解难分。

“在‘嫦娥三号’的联试中，出现了一些图像方面的问题。一天24小时，一周七天，几个人轮换着盯着检测，最终圆满解决了问题。”这种强度的工作，只是李云松团队紧密围绕国家重大工程做研究、十余年不懈奋斗的缩影。

郝跃、胡予濮、廖桂生、谢楷和李云松，他们只是战斗在新时代电子信息相关学科领域“通信战士”的典型代表，而像这样的专家、教授，在西安电子科技大学还有很多。面对学科前沿的“珠峰”，迎难而上的西电勇士榜，没有句点。

http://news.sciencenet.cn/sbhtmlnews/2017/1/319341.shtm

@Bussard Ramjet You guys really really really need to get a move on!

 

[JSCh]

Chinese scientist awarded 2017 Vega Medal
(People's Daily Online) 16:26, January 03, 2017

On Dec. 26, the Sweden Society of Anthropology and Geography (SSAG) announced the winner of the 2017 Vega Medal, Chinese scientist Yao Tandong for his contributions to research on glaciers and the environment of the Tibetan Plateau, Thepaper.cn reported.

Yao, director of the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and director of the CAS Center for Excellence in Tibetan Plateau Earth Sciences, is the first Asian scientist to receive the award. According to SSAG, Yao is "internationally acknowledged to be one of the most accomplished scientists in the field of cryospheris study."

(Yao Tandong/Tibet.cn)​

Over the past two decades, Yao's team has studied environmental changes and their influence on the Tibetan Plateau. Yao has collaborated with scientists from dozens of countries including the U.S., France, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Iceland, Russia, Pakistan, India, Nepal and Japan.

The Third Pole Environment (TPE), initiated by Yao, has engaged talents from all over the world and made important scientific findings. Yao's team concluded that we are presently living in the warmest time period in the past 2,000 years. Global warming and interaction between Indian monsoons and western-blowing wind are major reasons for the retreat of glaciers and regional differences within the Tibetan Plateau.

 

[dingyibvs]

Study identifies gastric cancer biomarker and possible treatment
December 20, 2016

Killer T cells surround a cancer cell. Credit: NIH​

Scientists at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Miami, and Shantou University Medical College in China, have shown that the hormone receptor GHRH-R could be a potential biomarker for gastric cancer, enabling earlier diagnoses and better staging. In addition, the team found that the GHRH-R antagonist MIA-602 inhibited gastric cancer in both cell lines and human xenografts. The research was recently published in the journal PNAS.



--> http://medicalxpress.com/news/2016-12-gastric-cancer-biomarker-treatment.html
Jinfeng Gan et al. Growth hormone-releasing hormone receptor antagonists inhibit human gastric cancer through downregulation of PAK1–STAT3/NF-κB signaling, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2016). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1618582114

Exciting news! I used to be a student at Miami, and I've assisted in surgeries right in Sylvester, so it's especially exciting for me

 

[JSCh]

Chinese scientists develop fireproof, waterproof paper
By CHENG YINGQI | China Daily | Updated: 2017-01-06 07:34

​

In January 2015, a fire in one of Russia's largest university libraries damaged more than 1 million historical documents, an incident which some media described as a "cultural Chernobyl".

Important documents of our age can probably avoid the same fate in the future thanks to a new fire-resistant paper developed by a team of scientists at the Shanghai Institute of Ceramics affiliated to the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Zhu Yingjie, a researcher from the institute, and his team developed a set of methods to produce paper with a new material, hydroxyapatite, the inorganic constituent of tooth enamel and bone.

The invention was reported on ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, a peer-reviewed scientific journal of the American Chemical Society.

The inorganic material is both fire resistant and water resistant.

"Traditionally, paper is made of plant fibers, which are easily destroyed by liquid. Previous research attempts to produce waterproof paper found it was difficult to achieve fire retardancy and water repellency at the same time," Zhu said.

In 2013, a doctorate student of Zhu was preparing hydroxyapatite nanowires. While he wanted to filter out the water and continue the experiment, he found that instead of getting hydroxyapatite powder on the filter paper, a film formed on the paper.

The discovery inspired Zhu. He conducted more experiments to improve the material's physical properties.

"Traditional papermaking damages natural woods and damages the environment. Hydroxyapatite nanowires are an ideal building material for paper," Zhu said.

The newly published paper shows that the inorganic material behaves like paper, but with excellent thermal stability and with astonishing mechanical wear resistance, according to an anonymous referee of a peer reviewer of ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, which was provided to China Daily.

 

[JSCh]

Two scientists win China's top science award
Source: Xinhua 2017-01-09 12:57:47

BEIJING, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- Two Chinese scientists, physicist Zhao Zhongxian and pharmacologist Tu Youyou, won China's top science award Monday for their outstanding contributions to scientific and technological innovation.

Zhao is a leading scientist in superconductivity, while Tu won the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for her discovery of artemisinin to treat malaria.

The pair were presented the award at an annual ceremony held to honor distinguished scientists and research achievements.

Winners are each entitled to an award of 5 million yuan (around 722,000 U.S. dollars).

The winners were chosen by the State Council.

#####
​

52 local projects and people win China’s science and technology awards
Source: Shanghai Daily
By Cai Wenjun | January 9, 2017, Monday

A total of 52 projects and people from Shanghai won China’s science and technology awards, covering 18 percent of all the State Scientific and Technological Award handed out in Beijing today.

French scientist Jean-Raymond Abrial, who has been cooperated with local scientists on system and software engineering, won international science and technology cooperation award.

Shanghai received many innovative projects and technologies awards, such as remote sensing technology of key aerospace engineering developed by Tong Xiaohua team from Tongji University and unmanned measuring technology in complicated reef waters developed by Xie Shaorong team from Shanghai University. All these are extremely important for the national security, defense and key projects.

A total of 287 projects and people nationwide won this year’s award. Two scientists Zhao Zhongxian and Tu Youyou won the top science award for their outstanding contributions to scientific and technological development.

The pair each received 5 million yuan (US$735,294).

Tu, who won the 2015 Nobel Prize for her work using artemisinin to treat malaria, was the first female scientist won the top award, which was given since 2000. So far, 27 top scientists have received the honor.

 

[ahojunk]

Two scientists win China's top science award
Source: Xinhua 2017-01-09 12:57:47

BEIJING, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- Two Chinese scientists, physicist Zhao Zhongxian and pharmacologist Tu Youyou, won China's top science award Monday for their outstanding contributions to scientific and technological innovation.

Zhao is a leading scientist in superconductivity, while Tu won the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for her discovery of artemisinin to treat malaria.

The pair were presented the award at an annual ceremony held to honor distinguished scientists and research achievements.

Winners are each entitled to an award of 5 million yuan (around 722,000 U.S. dollars).

The winners were chosen by the State Council.

.

Picture of the two scientists.

 

[JSCh]

Chinese AI company plans to mine health data faster than rivals
iCarbonX believes its cutting-edge partners and generous funding give it the upper hand.

• David Cyranoski
• 10 January 2017
• Shenzhen

One of China’s most intriguing biotechnology companies has fleshed out an earlier quixotic promise to use artificial intelligence (AI) to revolutionize health care.

The Shenzhen firm iCarbonX has formed an ambitious alliance with seven technology companies from around the world that specialize in gathering different types of health-care data, said the company’s founder, Jun Wang, on 5 January at the Digital Life Summit, which was hosted by iCarbonX.

The alliance will use algorithms to analyse reams of genomic, physiological and behavioural data and provide customized health and medical advice directly to consumers through an app.



--> Chinese AI company plans to mine health data faster than rivals : Nature News & Comment

 

[cirr]

Pen power: China closer to ballpoint success

By Simon AtkinsonAsia Business Reporter

10 January 2017

It has sent rockets into space, produced millions of the world's smartphones and built high-speed trains. But until now, one bit of manufacturing had perhaps unexpectedly eluded China: the ballpoint pen.

A year ago Premier Li Keqiang went on national television and bemoaned the failure of his country to produce a good quality version of this seemingly-simple implement.

Locally-made versions felt "rough" compared to those from Germany, Switzerland and Japan, Mr Li complained.

High precision

The problem was not the body of the pen, but the tip - the tiny ball that dispenses ink as you write.

It might be something we take for granted, but making them requires high-precision machinery and very hard, ultra-thin steel plates.

Put simply, China's steel has not been good enough. And it has struggled to shape its pen tips accurately.

Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES
Image captionLi Keqiang has held a few pens in his time as Chinese Premier
Without that ability, China's 3,000 penmakers have had to import this crucial component from abroad, costing the industry a reported 120m yuan ($17.3m; £14.3m) a year.

But according to People's Daily, the state-owned Taiyuan Iron and Steel Co thinks it has cracked the problem, after five years of research.

The first batch of 2.3-millimetre ballpoint pen tips has recently rolled off its production lines, the paper says.

And once lab tests are completed, it's expected China could phase out pen tip imports completely within two years.

Symbolic
On one level, whether China can make a great pen is not hugely important in the scheme of things.

High-tech and innovative manufacturing lie at the heart of the central government's Made in China 2025 programme - designed to help domestic growth.

Relatively low-value items, like ballpoint pens, have not been a priority.

But the pen-conundrum is a symbolic one.

Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES
Image captionEuropean firms have dominated the ballpoint pen industry at both the top and lower ends of the market
Despite producing more than half of the world's crude iron and steel, China has still heavily relied on imports for high-grade steel.

It was a failing that Mr Li said highlighted the need to upgrade China's manufacturing capabilities.

Different culture
"Historically, China has never been able to do precision engineering very well and the ballpoint pen is an example of that," says Professor George Huang, head of the University of Hong Kong's department of industrial and mechanical engineering.

"Its parts are so small and very precise, and it's not easy to solve this problem"

Precision engineering is thriving only in certain sectors such as aerospace and defence where the government has placed a high priority, says Prof Huang.

Even when it comes to smartphones and computers, the high end computer chips are usually imported from Japan and Taiwan.

Prof Huang says that China lacks a culture of excellence in precision engineering.

He uses the Mandarin term "fuzao" which describes something that is not 100% solid or reliable.

"The culture is different from the Japanese and Germans," he says, who are known for innovation in engineering.

"We Chinese are supposed to be craftsmen, but somehow the spirit is not as good."

Additional reporting by the BBC's Tessa Wong.

 

[JSCh]

New primate species identified in China, named after Star Wars character
(CRI Online) 16:06, January 12, 2017

The "Star War gibbon" in China lives to the east of the Irrawaddy river. [Photo: Yun Shan]​

A new species of primate has been identified and named the "Skywalker hoolock gibbon" at the Gaoligongshan National Nature Reserve in southwest China.

While the animal has been studied for some time, it wasn't until recently that those gibbons inhabiting the forests of Yunnan province were found to actually be a completely different species.

Hoolock gibbons are found in Bangladesh, India, China and Myanmar, living in forest treetops.

However one research team from Sun Yat-sen University started to suspect that these animals they were observing were different from other hoolock gibbons, based on different markings and vocalizations, reported the BBC.

So the team decided to do a genetic comparison of these special gibbons with other hoolock gibbons, confirming these primates were in fact a different species.

The primates were then given the scientific name, "hoolock tianxing" meaning "heaven's movement" when translated from Chinese.

And because the scientists who made the discovery happened to be fans of the Star Wars movies, these "jungle Jedi" that live in the treetops were given the common name "Skywalker hoolock gibbon".

In response to the news, actor Mark Hamill - Luke Skywalker in the original Star Wars movies - said on Twitter that he was so proud to have them named after his character.

 

[JSCh]

China eyes ocean renewable energy development
Source: Xinhua 2017-01-12 18:05:29

BEIJING, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- China's maritime authority has issued a five-year plan on developing ocean renewable energy, stipulating measures to develop relevant technology and utilize island renewable energy.

The plan, issued by the State Oceanic Administration and made public on Thursday, said efforts will be made to promote the application of marine renewable energy and make better use of island renewable energy by carrying out evaluations and developing technology and equipment.

The plan also said basic research and innovations in key technology related to marine renewable energy will be encouraged.

The foundation for ocean energy development will be reinforced, and resource assessment and building of public service platforms in the South China Sea and island regions will be the focus, according to the plan.

The plan also mentioned opening-up and international cooperation measures in relevant fields.

According to the plan, ocean renewable energy includes energy generated from sea tides, waves, temperature differences and biomass.

 

[JSCh]

Dalian Coherent Light Source Produces Laser Output for the First Time
Oct 10, 2016

The installation process of the main body of the comprehensive experimental device based on tunable Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) coherent light source - Dalian Coherent Light Source (DCLS) has completed on September 24, 2016.

After strictly system installation project acceptance of relevant experts, the project experts began the free electron laser (FEL) amplifier light debugging at 21:30, the whole debugging process went very smoothly.

At 22:50, high-quality pulsed electron beams with more than 300 Mev energy passed through all the elements of the free electron laser amplifier, the first beam of ultraviolet light was emitted through the 18-meter wave oscillator array.

DCLS is the only user FEL facility operating exclusively in the EUV wavelength region in the world, and it is also the first free electronic laser large scientific user device of our country. After debugging, this device will produce the world's brightest EUV beam.

Each laser pulse of the light source can emit more than 10 trillion photons with wavelengths continuously adjustable from 50nm to 150nm, with complete coherence. This light source can be widely applied in chemical, physical, biological, energy, materials, environmental and other important scientific fields.

Figure 1. Dalian coherent light linear accelerator (Image by ZHANG Weiqing)

DCLS is supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) and jointly developed by Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics and Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. This project was launched in early 2012, and started building in October 22, 2014.

The main infrastructure projects and the main light source device development is completed in less than two years since the start, which creates a new record of the construction of similar large-scale scientific facilities.

This project also created a precedent for the successful cooperation between scientific research experts and experts in the development of large scientific devices.

Figure 2. Dalian coherent light source undulator (Image by ZHANG Weiqing)

DCLS team will cooperate closer on the basis of existing work, and manages to finish the parameter optimization and beam line station debugging in the near future, to achieve the design targets for scientific research to provide high-quality extreme ultraviolet light source as soon as possible.

Figure 3. The first beam of ultraviolet light of DCLS (Image from DCLS)



Dalian Coherent Light Source Produces Laser Output for the First Time---Chinese Academy of Sciences

Public Release: 12-Jan-2017
China develops world's brightest VUV free electron laser research facility
Chinese Academy of Sciences Headquarters

A team of Chinese scientists announced on Jan. 13 that they have developed a new bright VUV FEL light source, the Dalian Coherent Light Source (DCLS), which can deliver world's brightest FEL light in an energy range from 8 to 24 eV, making it unique of the same kind that only operates in the VUV region.

Vacuum Ultra Violet (VUV) light sources are especially useful for sensitive detection of atoms, molecules and clusters. It can also be used to probe valence electronic structures of all kinds of materials.

The development of high gain free electron lasers (FEL) has captured great attentions in the scientific community in the last decade. It can provide by far the brightest light sources from VUV to X-ray region, where conventional laser technology cannot reach.

Recently, a series of high gain FEL light source facilities in the X-ray and soft X-Ray region have been successfully developed in the world (LCLS, USA; SACLA, Japan; FLASH, Germany; and FERMI, Italy), with a few others currently under development. The LINAC based Coherent Light Source (LCLS) at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center have given scientists large hopes to make new scientific discoveries in many frontier research areas with these facilities.

However, no dedicated high gain VUV FEL light source facility for basic research has been developed in the world thus far. Led by Prof. YANG Xueming (Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, DICP) and Profs. ZHAO Zhentang and WANG Dong (Shanghai Institute of Applied Source, SINAP), the team of scientists and engineers succeeded in developing the DCLS.

During the last two months, this team has successfully commissioned the new FEL facility operating in both HGHG and SASE. By applying the undulator tapering technology in the HGHG mode, a photon flux of 1.4x1014 photons per pulse was achieved. The project was started in early 2012 and was a close collaboration between research scientists and engineers from DICP and SINAP (Home Institute of the Shanghai Light Source), two CAS institutes.

"VUV FEL light sources have wide applications in the study of basic energy science, chemistry, physics and atmospheric sciences. We expect that the new facility will become a new machine for important scientific discoveries and international scientific collaborations," said YANG Xueming, a member of the CAS.

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Many institutions in China such as University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), Tsinghua University and Institute of High Energy Physic were involved in the development of this FEL facility. This project was funded by National Natural Science Foundation of China and Chinese Academy of Sciences.


China develops world's brightest VUV free electron laser research facility | EurekAlert! Science News

 

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The remotely operated vehicle Deep Discoverer exploring the Mariana Trench at a depth of 6000 meters in 2016. A new effort aims to understand the trench's unusual geodynamics.

NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research​

Expedition probes ocean trench’s deepest secrets
By Jane Qiu
Jan. 11, 2017 , 9:00 AM

BEIJING—The Mariana Trench “is a little crazy,” Jian Lin says. The scythe-shaped cleft in the western Pacific sea floor, 2550 kilometers long, plunges nearly 11 kilometers, deeper than any other place in the oceans. But what wows Lin, a marine geophysicist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts, is the zany topography. The trench marks a subduction zone, where one slab of crust slides beneath another. But whereas many other subducting plates slope gradually downward, in the Mariana the Pacific Plate dives nearly vertically.

Scientists have long wondered what accounts for that precipitous dive, and why the massive earthquakes that generate long-ranging tsunamis at other subduction zones have not been recorded in the trench. Now, a Chinese-U.S. team has planted an array of seismometers on the Mariana’s slopes. By listening for seismic waves, says Lin, a project co-leader, the 5-year, $12 million Mariana Trench initiative aims to image in fine detail the warped rock layers in and around the trench, looking for clues as to what shapes them.


--> Expedition probes ocean trench’s deepest secrets | Science | AAAS

 

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Researchers develop environmentally friendly, soy air filter
January 12, 2017

By Tina Hilding, Voiland College of Engineering & Architecture

PULLMAN, Wash. – Washington State University researchers have developed a soy-based air filter that can capture toxic chemicals, such as carbon monoxide and formaldehyde, that current air filters can’t.

The research could lead to better air purifiers, particularly in regions of the world that suffer from very poor air quality. The engineers have designed and tested the materials for the bio-based filter and report on their work in the journal Composites Science and Technology (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0266353816305796).

Working with researchers from the University of Science and Technology Beijing, the WSU team, including Weihong (Katie) Zhong, professor in the School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, and graduate student Hamid Souzandeh, used a pure soy protein along with bacterial cellulose for an all-natural, biodegradable, inexpensive air filter.

Hazardous gases escape most filters
Poor air quality causes health problems worldwide and is a factor in diseases such as asthma, heart disease and lung cancer. Commercial air purifiers aim for removing the small particles that are present in soot, smoke or car exhaust because these damaging particles are inhaled directly into the lungs.

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With many sources of pollution in some parts of the world, however, air pollution also can contain a mix of hazardous gaseous molecules, such as carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, sulfur dioxide and other volatile organic compounds.

Typical air filters, which are usually made of micron-sized fibers of synthetic plastics, physically filter the small particles but aren’t able to chemically capture gaseous molecules. Furthermore, they’re most often made of glass and petroleum products, which leads to secondary pollution, Zhong said.

Soy captures nearly all pollutants
The WSU and Chinese team developed a new kind of air filtering material that uses natural, purified soy protein and bacterial cellulose – an organic compound produced by bacteria. The soy protein and cellulose are cost effective and already used in numerous applications, such as adhesives, plastic products, tissue regeneration materials and wound dressings.

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Soy contains a large number of functional chemical groups – it includes 18 types of amino groups. Each of the chemical groups has the potential to capture passing pollution at the molecular level. The researchers used an acrylic acid treatment to disentangle the very rigid soy protein, so that the chemical groups can be more exposed to the pollutants.

The resulting filter was able to remove nearly all of the small particles as well as chemical pollutants, said Zhong.

Filters are economical, biodegradable
Especially in very polluted environments, people might be breathing an unknown mix of pollutants that could prove challenging to purify. But, with its large number of functional groups, the soy protein is able to attract a wide variety of polluting molecules.

“We can take advantage from those chemical groups to grab the toxics in the air,” Zhong said.

The materials are also cost-effective and biodegradable. Soybeans are among the most abundant plants in the world, she added.

Zhong occasionally visits her native China and has personally experienced the heavy pollution in Beijing as sunny skies turn to gray smog within a few days.

“Air pollution is a very serious health issue,” she said. “If we can improve indoor air quality, it would help a lot of people.”

Patents filed on filters, paper towels
In addition to the soy-based filters, the researchers have also developed gelatin- and cellulose-based air filters. They are also applying the filter material on top of low-cost and disposable paper towel to reinforce it and to improve its performance. They have filed patents on the technology and are interested in commercialization opportunities.

The work is in keeping with WSU’s Grand Challenges, a suite of research initiatives aimed at large societal issues. It is particularly relevant to the challenge of sustaining health and its theme of healthy communities and interventions to sustain public health.


Researchers develop environmentally friendly, soy air filter | WSU News | Washington State University

 

[JSCh]

China opens unique free electron laser facility
By Dennis Normile
Jan. 15, 2017 , 6:00 PM

China is joining the elite club of countries that have equipped researchers with the potent sources of high-energy photons called free electron lasers (FELs). The Dalian Coherent Light Source, whose completion was announced today in Beijing, has a twist that makes it unique: It is the only large laser light source in the world dedicated to the particular range of short-wavelength light called vacuum ultraviolet, which makes it “a new tool for the detection and analysis of molecules undergoing chemical reactions,” says Alec Wodtke, a physical chemist at the University of Göttingen in Germany.

Scientists around the world have rushed to build FELs over the past decade because they produce vastly brighter light, in shorter pulses, than synchrotrons, the particle accelerators that have been the workhorses of protein crystallography and cell biology and materials science. In synchrotrons, electrons go whizzing around a storage ring a kilometer or more in circumference. As their paths bend, the electrons throw off photons that are formed into beams.

In contrast, FELs fire electrons from a linear accelerator into an undulator, in which magnets of alternating polarity push and pull the electrons along a sinuous path. As the electrons round each bend, they produce photons. Interactions between the electrons and the accumulating photons as they travel through the undulator generate coherent laser light (Science, 10 May 2002, p. 1008).



--> China opens unique free electron laser facility | Science | AAAS