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☀️ World’s most advanced hypergravity facility, China’s 3 GW solar plant, world’s only open fossil database
Plus: Mini car-driving rats find joy, highlighting cognitive and emotional skills
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China has activated the world’s most advanced hypergravity machine, aiming to deepen scientific understanding.
The system, featuring the largest hypergravity centrifuge, will be able to produce forces thousands of times stronger than Earth’s gravity.
The Centrifugal Hypergravity and Interdisciplinary Experiment Facility (CHIEF) is located in Hangzhou, the capital of eastern China’s Zhejiang province. Dive deeper into this Must-Read.
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Once fully operational, it will serve as a multidisciplinary platform to address complex engineering challenges. According to a Chinese online media outlet, Hangzhou’s government hailed its preliminary completion as a milestone in advancing hypergravity research.
Approved in 2018 by China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), CHIEF began construction in 2020 under Zhejiang University’s guidance.
The facility will house three primary hypergravity centrifuges and 18 onboard units. These centrifuges, machines designed to spin containers rapidly, force heavier materials to the edges or bottom by creating hypergravity conditions, as reported by the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
New Zealand has a rich and diverse fossil record, spanning hundreds of millions of years. From ancient arthropods to massive marine reptiles and even plants, New Zealand’s fossil treasures offer a glimpse into the prehistoric world.
Interestingly, New Zealand is the only nation with a fully cataloged, open-source database of its identified fossil specimens. FRED, the Fossil Record Electronic Database, is a comprehensive digital archive of New Zealand’s fossil discoveries.
It is the brainchild of pioneering geologist Harold Wellman, who recognized the importance of documenting and sharing this invaluable resource. FRED provides a comprehensive overview of the fossils discovered in New Zealand, making it a valuable resource for paleontological research.
Once a coal mining site, the Otog Front Banner, Ordos in Inner Mongolia is now home to the Mengxi Blue Ocean Photovoltaic Power Station, China’s largest single-capacity solar power plant.
The facility is designed to generate 5.7 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity every year, sufficient to power two million households. It was brought online earlier this month, a press release said.
The increasing demand for clean energy and China’s aim to reach net zero emissions by 2060 have increased renewable energy installations in the Asian country.
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HOT TOPICS OF THE DAY
SCIENCE
> A group of researchers has found that rats are not just capable of operating tiny cars but seem to thoroughly enjoy the experience. The research provides fascinating insights into how animals engage with their environment, develop new skills, and even find joy in unexpected activities. (More)
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> Evo is a large language model that is not trained on words but on the genomes of millions of microbes. It can accurately predict the effects of mutations. (More)
ENERGY
> Eco Wave Power Global, a leading provider of onshore wave energy technology, has announced receiving the final Nationwide Permit (NWP) from the US Army Corps of Engineers for its groundbreaking wave energy project at AltaSea’s premises at the Port of Los Angeles. (More)
> Researchers from the Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST) and the University of Tokyo have engineered a new type of hydrogel. This hydrogel mimics the natural process of photosynthesis. It uses sunlight to split water, producing hydrogen and oxygen. (More)
> The first fully electric tugboat to be deployed in the Middle East, the new RSD-E Tug 2513 Bu Tinah set a record for electric power. (More)
INNOVATION
> A quadrupedal walking robot developed by the Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology (KAIST) has finished a marathon with flying colors. (More)
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VIDEO
> Imagine a wheelchair equipped with wheels flexible enough to navigate all manner of obstacles, from curbs to humps and even staircases. This is what researchers from the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (KIMM) envision for their 'morphing' wheel, which can roll over obstacles up to 1.3 times the height of its radius. (More)
> Using DNA, 3D printing, and modeling clay, a team of scientists has reconstructed the face of a 400-year-old Polish ‘vampire’, revealing the human story buried by supernatural beliefs. (More)
FROM THE WEB
> China's Mars rover Zhurong finds possible shoreline of ancient Red Planet ocean
> Scientists engineer stable protein complexes for targeted cancer therapies
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