भारतीय रोज़ नई ख़बरें

A rendering of a Tiandu test satellite. /Deep Space Exploration Laboratory (DSEL)

A rendering of a Tiandu test satellite. /Deep Space Exploration Laboratory (DSEL)

China’s communication and navigation technology test satellites, Tiandu-1 and Tiandu-2, have successfully carried out experiments with highly reliable Earth-Moon transmission and routing, according to Science and Technology Daily on Monday.

Telemetric data showed that the test project could effectively improve the accuracy of spacecraft in determining the lunar orbit.

The two satellites were sent into space together with the Queqiao-2 relay satellite on March 20. They entered their target circumlunar orbits on March 29 and separated on April 3.

On April 8, Tiandu-1 started flying in formation with Tiandu-2, remaining at a distance of about 200 kilometers. The two satellites operate in normal communication, stable attitude and energy balance.

They laid an important foundation for carrying out a series of communication technology test missions, according to the report, noting that Tiandu-2 has captured and sent back Earth-Moon group images.

Queqiao-2, Tiandu-1, and Tiandu-2 all use a highly elliptical lunar frozen orbit as their target orbits. This kind of orbit is stable, ensuring the spacecraft travels with a minimum of trajectory deviation.

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency

The AI clone of Liu Qiangdong, CEO of JD.com, as appeared in a video published on the company’s official WeChat account, April 15, 2024. /WeChat

The AI clone of Liu Qiangdong, CEO of JD.com, as appeared in a video published on the company’s official WeChat account, April 15, 2024. /WeChat

JD, one of China’s top e-commerce platforms, is set to launch a livestream shopping session with an AI clone of its CEO Liu Qiangdong as the host, the company said on its official WeChat account.

Liu’s AI clone, powered by the company’s language model ChatRhino (or Yanxi in Chinese), will be featured on Tuesday night’s livestream.

In a video published along with the announcement, the AI Liu said that he will share his insights on “food, reading and lifestyle.”

Liu’s AI clone vividly performed detailed movements, like pinching his thumb and index finger together.

Content as an ecology for China’s e-commerce platform

Content has become a key battleground for internet giants seeking to capture market growth, with Bytedance’s Douyin (China’s TikTok) previously leading this race. However, more tech behemoths are gearing up to compete.

Southern China based Tencent sees its WeChat Channels, a video feed on its messaging and social media app, as a significant growth opportunity.

China’s Groupon, Meituan, has also recently rolled out a recruiting plan for high-quality content creators. Individual accounts can earn up to 30,000 RMB ($4,143) monthly, with special bonuses of 8,000 to 18,000 RMB per month available.

According to the annual report on China’s internet audiovisual services, China has over 1 billion online audiovisual users, with users on short video applications seeing the highest retention rate. Over 70 percent of users are engaged with short videos and livestream shopping.

Soil carbon usually refers only to the organic matter component of soils, known as soil organic carbon (SOC). However, soil carbon also has an inorganic component, known as soil inorganic carbon (SIC).

Solid SIC, often calcium carbonate, tends to accumulate more in arid regions with infertile soils, which led many to believe it is not important.

In a study recently published in the journal Science, a team of researchers led by Huang Yuanyuan from the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and Zhang Ganlin from the Institute of Soil Science of the CAS, quantified the global store of SIC, challenging the long-held view.

/CFP

/CFP

The researchers found a whopping 2,305 billion tonnes of carbon stored as SIC in the top two meters of soil worldwide, which is more than five times the carbon found in all of the world’s vegetation. This hidden pool of soil carbon could be key to understanding how carbon moves around the globe.

This huge carbon pool is vulnerable to changes in the environment, especially soil acidification. Acids dissolve calcium carbonate and remove it either as carbon dioxide gas or directly into the water, Huang said.

“Many regions and countries like China and India are experiencing soil acidification due to industrial activities and intense farming. Without remedial actions and better soil practices, the world is likely to face a disturbance of SIC in the next 30 years,” she added.

/CFP

/CFP

Disturbances to SIC accumulated over Earth’s history have a profound impact on soil health. This disruption compromises the soil’s ability to neutralize acidity, regulate nutrient levels, foster plant growth, and stabilize organic carbon.

Essentially, SIC plays a critical dual role in storing carbon and supporting ecosystem functions that depend on it.

The researchers revealed that approximately 1.13 billion tonnes of inorganic carbon are lost from soils to inland waters each year. This loss has profound but often overlooked implications for carbon transport across land, the atmosphere, freshwater, and the ocean.

While society has recognized the importance of soils as a fundamental part of nature-based solutions to combat climate change, much of the focus has been on SOC. The study indicates that SIC deserves equal attention.

/CFP

/CFP

The study underscores the urgency of incorporating inorganic carbon into climate change mitigation strategies as an additional lever for maintaining and enhancing carbon sequestration.

International programs such as the “4 per 1000” Initiative, which aims to increase SOC by 0.4 percent annually, should also consider the critical role of inorganic carbon in achieving sustainable soil management and climate mitigation goals.

By broadening the understanding of soil carbon dynamics to include both organic and inorganic carbon, the researchers hope to develop more effective strategies for maintaining soil health, enhancing ecosystem services, and mitigating climate change.

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency

The reusable rocket engine during its first test run, November 26, 2022. /CFP

The reusable rocket engine during its first test run, November 26, 2022. /CFP

China has made new progress in the development of reusable rocket with the main engine setting a new record in the number of repeated test runs, China Media Group reported on Sunday, citing the developer the Academy of Aerospace Propulsion Technology.

The 130-tonne reusable liquid oxygen-kerosene engine recently completed two ground ignition tests, totaling 15 repeated test runs and 30 ignitions with a cumulative test duration exceeding 3,900 seconds.

The developer said the number of the engine’s repeated tests has broken the record of the country’s liquid rocket engines, laying a foundation for the subsequent initial flight of the reusable launch vehicle.

The type of engine, known for its high comprehensive performance, strong expansion capacity and high reliability, will serve as the main power of China’s reusable carrier rockets.

Compared to traditional one-time rockets, reusable rockets will feature four key technologies, namely precise landing, stable recovery, high durability and fast repair. 

To apply the reusable function, the rocket should be able to return to Earth after completing the delivery task, igniting again when it’s close to the ground, and perform another launch task after simple repairs.

Efforts in research and development design, production, and test runs have been made to push forward the progress of the domestic reusable rocket engine development.

Federal Chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz arrived in China on Sunday for a three-day official visit at the invitation of Chinese Premier Li Qiang. The visit is expected to inject new momentum into the positive trajectory of bilateral relations.

China and Germany have benefited from each other’s development and win-win cooperation. China has been Germany’s most important trading partner for eight years in a row, and over 5,000 German companies are operating in China.

Direct investment from Germany to China reached a record high of 11.9 billion euros ($12.7 billion) in 2023, increasing 4.3 percent year on year, according to the German Economic Institute.

China has temporarily carried out visa-free policy for ordinary passport holders from Germany for the purposes of business, tourism and visiting relatives and friends in a bid to give a boost to post-pandemic tourism.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the China-Germany comprehensive strategic partnership. China and Germany, as the world’s second-largest economy and the EU’s largest economy respectively, will jointly inject momentum into global economic recovery.

The “135” logo and the Canton Fair mascot outside the Canton Fair Complex in Guangzhou, south China’s Guangdong Province, April 13, 2024. /CFP

The “135” logo and the Canton Fair mascot outside the Canton Fair Complex in Guangzhou, south China’s Guangdong Province, April 13, 2024. /CFP

The 135th China Import and Export Fair, also known as the Canton Fair, is set to kick off in Guangzhou, south China’s Guangdong Province tomorrow.

For decades, the fair has connected Chinese producers with international buyers twice a year without fail, regardless of economic ups and downs. The upcoming 135th session of the fair, which attracted over 10,898 exhibiting companies and buyers from over 215 countries and regions, speaks volumes about the event’s significance.

According to Chinese Vice Commerce Minister Wang Shouwen, the scale of the event will top past spring editions in the number of enterprises registered for the import and export fairs, new participants, early registered buyers from overseas, exhibition area, and others.

There has been significant growth in fair registrations this year: a 21.4-percent increase from the United States, a 13-percent increase from Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries, a 24.7-percent increase from Middle Eastern countries, a substantial 45.9-percent increase from countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative and a 15.5-percent increase from Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) countries.

More than 100 overseas organizations, including the United Nations Industrial Development Organization and the United States of America-China Chamber of Commerce, will join the session in groups.

As of Saturday, more than 144,000 purchasers from 215 countries and regions have completed pre-registration, and more than 288 large multinationals and business institutions have confirmed that they will organize delegations to attend the event, marking a notable 21.5-percent increase compared to the same period last year.

Over 3,600 innovative companies are expected to demonstrate their capabilities on digital fronts, ranging from automated guided vehicles to AI-powered translating machines.

Import exhibition booths under construction at the 135th China Import and Export Fair in Guangzhou, south China’s Guangdong Province, April 13, 2024. /CFP

Import exhibition booths under construction at the 135th China Import and Export Fair in Guangzhou, south China’s Guangdong Province, April 13, 2024. /CFP

Enhancing attendee experience

To enhance the conference experience for attendees from around the world, this year’s Canton Fair has streamlined services across various areas, including credentialing, dining and business travel, thereby providing greater convenience.

For those attending this year’s Canton Fair, there will be a “green channel” for visa applications that will reduce the processing and issuance time for visas to just four working days in 90 percent of Chinese embassies and consulates abroad. By streamlining the processing of exhibition certificates, the waiting time during peak periods will also be reduced from 1.5 hours to 30 minutes.

The fair will also provide foreign currency exchange machines and mobile point-of-sale devices to meet the needs of both exhibitors and buyers, including currency exchange, digital payments, card payments, mobile payments and cash payments.

To ensure smooth travel, Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport has increased its flight options for popular domestic and international destinations, with an average weekly flight volume rising to 10,597 and a 71.6-percent increase in international flights, according to Tan Ping, vice mayor of the Guangzhou Municipal People’s Government.

China’s first domestically made icebreaker Xuelong 2 leaves Hong Kong to Shanghai, April 12, 2024. /CFP

China’s first domestically made icebreaker Xuelong 2 leaves Hong Kong to Shanghai, April 12, 2024. /CFP

China’s first domestically made icebreaker Xuelong 2 has completed a five-day visit to the country’s Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) and began its return journey to Shanghai on Friday afternoon.

Xuelong 2 or Snow Dragon 2 arrived on Monday for its first-ever visit to Hong Kong as part of its homebound voyage back from China’s 40th Antarctic scientific expedition.

During its stay in Hong Kong, the icebreaker had been open for public visits, and researchers of the Antarctic expedition team were present at a two-day international conference on climate change at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. The scientists of Xuelong 2 also met with over 250 school students at the Hong Kong Science Museum where the Polar Research and Climate Change exhibition was held.

Chairman of the organizing committee of Xuelong 2’s visit Ma Fung-kwok said that the public actively participated in the activities during the icebreaker’s stay in Hong Kong, and “Xuelong 2” and “polar research” have become familiar words to Hong Kong people.

Wei Fuhai, deputy leader of the expedition team, said that Xuelong 2’s visit to Hong Kong is an important part of commemorating the 40th anniversary of China’s polar expedition.

Wei expressed hope that Xuelong 2’s visit to Hong Kong will further enhance Hong Kong people’s understanding of the country’s polar expedition work, and raise young people’s interest and enthusiasm in exploring the mysteries of nature and in environmental protection.

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency