Nankai University team develops synthetic spider silk
A team around LU Zunfeng at Nankai University in Tianjin has prepared an artificial spider silk made from polyacrylic acid and silica nanoparticles. It consists of hierarchical core-sheath structured hydrogel fibers, which are reinforced by ion doping and twist insertion. The fiber exhibits a tensile strength of 895 MPa and a stretchability of 44.3%, achieving mechanical properties comparable to spider silk. The material also presents a high toughness of 370 MJ m−3 and a damping capacity of 95%.
Nat Commun 10, 5293 (2019) doi:10.1038/s41467-019-13257-4
Nankai University team develops synthetic spider silk
A team around LU Zunfeng at Nankai University in Tianjin has prepared an artificial spider silk made from polyacrylic acid and silica nanoparticles. It consists of hierarchical core-sheath structured hydrogel fibers, which are reinforced by ion doping and twist...
China expands meteorological satellite network along the “belt and road”
According to the China Meteorological Administration (CMA), data receiving equipment for meteorological data from Fengyun-2H satellites has been delivered to to Kyrgyzstan and Mozambique. China has launched a total of 17 Fengyun meteorological satellites, with seven...
China’s top 10 advances in agriculture 2018
At the Forum 2019 on Science and Technology for Agricultural and Rural Development in in Nanjing, a poll by experts on the 10 most significant advances in agricultural science were announced. These were: 1. Metabolomics in search of the "lost tomato...
CAS announces “Earth Big Data Prototype”
At the China Digital Earth Convention in Beijing, an “Earth Big Data Prototype” system was announced which integrates “balls” of big data scattered around the earth into a “necklace” of big data through standardized display. This project is part of the 2030 Agenda of...
Chinese team announces world’s first forest distribution map at 30m resolution
HE Guojin of the CAS Aerospace Information Innovation Research Institute has released a Global Forest Cover Map (GFCM) of 2018 at a 30-meter resolution. The map is based on Landsat satellite data and China-made high-resolution satellite data, using machine...
Nanjing team prepares porc muscle meat from porc stem cells
A team led by ZHOU Guanghong at Nanjing Agricultural University cultivated pig muscle stem cells for 20 days and harvested 5 g of muscle meat. This is the first meat developed from muscle stem cells in China. According to Zhou, the cultured meat had similar texture...
Tsinghua team finds 32% reduction in PM2.5 air pollution for period 2013 – 2017
Based on ground observation data and satellite remote sensing, the Tsinghua team found that, compared to 2013, the average PM2.5 concentration in Hebei fell by 39.6%, in the Yangtze River Delta by 34.3%, and in the Pearl River Delta by 27.7%, Through implementation of...
China’s next tokamak fusion reactor to start operation in 2020
At the 1st China Fusion Energy Conference held in Leshan, Sichuan, it was announced that “Chinese Circulator No. 2M”, a next-generation tokamak device located in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, will start operation in 2020. “China Circulator No. 2M” adopts advanced...
China trains 600 scholars from ASEAN countries in geosciences
LING Yueming, vice minister of natural resources, said at the ongoing 10th China-ASEAN Mining Cooperation Forum and Exhibition that 100 students from ASEAN countries will come to China to pursue a master's or doctoral degree in geosciences, mining or related...
Chinese NMPA approves Alzheimer drug based on gut microbiota improvement
Oligomannate (GV-971: sodium oligomannurarate) developed by Shanghai Green Valley Pharmaceuticals was approved by the NMPA as a drug to improve cognitive improvement of patients with moderate Alzheimer disease (AD). The multi-center randomized Phase III study which...
CAS Institute of Industrial Biotechnology develops cheap process for production of D-psicose sweetener
The group of ZHU Yuming has developed a one-pot two-enzyme system. It is based on a new type of exo-inulinase derived from Bacillus velezensis, which achieves efficient hydrolysis of inulin with a hydrolysis efficiency of 98 %, followed by epimerization with...
China launches 6G research, practical start seen in 10 years
China has established two offices to develop 6G technology, one at the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), the other as an group of 37 experts from colleges, research academies and enterprises. Most of the 6G performance indexes will outnumber those of 5G by 10...