More than 100 universities from about 20 countries are expected to send humanoid robots to compete in 16 events in five categories, including track and field, balls, combat, dancing as well as domestic service such as cleaning and medical care, said Hong Rongbing, a professor with Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT) and an official with the China National Conference of Artificial Intelligence.

    Unlike other games that allow both wheeled and humanoid robots, this event accepts only android robots designed in human forms, with two legs and two arms, he said.

    Organizers had yet to set the specific dates of the games and they were still gathering sponsorship,...]]> Science Thu, 05 Nov 2009 02:05:35 +0800 /articles/09/1104/196231/MTk2MjMxAQT4Kl45.html Visitors chat as they take a break in a courtyard enclaved with blooming flowers at Yangling Agricultural Hi-tech Fair in northwest China's Shaanxi Province Nov. 3, 2009. (Xinhua/Ding Haitao) ]]> Science Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:50:49 +0800 /articles/09/1103/196027/MTk2MDI3REcKCNFB.html Chinese researchers have more than doubled their output of scientific papers and now are second only to the United States in terms of volume, according to a report from Thomson Reuters released on Monday.

    The service is available for the Nokia S60 phone in China's mainland, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao. A query of an address in Mandarin Chinese could return a result within seconds.

    Google launched multi-language voice search engines to overcome the difficulty of typing complicated search queries on mobile phones, said Lin Bin, deputy head of Google's China research center.

    Google offered its English voice search service, including images and maps, for the Android, Nokia S60, BlackBerry and iPhone phones last year.

Local residents of Xiaoying Alley lay the white chrisanthemum to mourn for the just passed-away China's keystone space scientist Qian Xuesen, in front of his portrait on a stone tablet in his hometown of Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang province, Oct. 31, 2009. Qian Xuesen, widely acclaimed as the country's "father of space technology" and "king of rocketry", died of illness in Beijing Saturday morning at the age of 98. Under the guidance of Qian, also known as Tsien Hsue-shen, China finished the blueprint on developing jet and rocket technology. He also played a significant role in developing the country's first artificial earth satellite. (Xinhua/Xu Zuoheng) ]]> Science Sun, 01 Nov 2009 08:34:32 +0800 /articles/09/1101/195850/MTk1ODUwNPPUuugT.html CAS oldest academician, founder of China's biophysics dies at 107

    BEIJING, Oct. 31 (Xinhua) -- Bei Shizhang, a renowned biologist and educator and founder of China's biophysics, died Thursday morning at the age of 107, according to a statement from the Chinese Academy of Sciences(CAS) Saturday.

     This is an undated file photo of Bei Shizhang. Bei Shizhang, founder of China's biophysics and exobiology sciences, passed away in Beijing on Oct. 29, 2009. Bei, considered as the "Father of Biophysics" in China, was born in Oct. 10, 1903, at Zhenhai county of east China's Zhejiang Province. He is the founder, the first chief director and current honorary director of Biophysics Institute of Chinese Academy of Sciences. (Xinhua)Photo Gallery>>>

    Bei Shizhang, widely considered as the "Father of Biophysics" in China, was born on Oct. 10, 1903, at Zhenhai county...]]> Science Sun, 01 Nov 2009 07:07:03 +0800 /articles/09/1101/195838/MTk1ODM4xgZmylpg.html

File photo shows Bei Shizhang (2nd L) analysing experience reports with other researchers. Bei Shizhang, founder of China's biophysics and exobiology sciences, passed away in Beijing on Oct. 29, 2009. Bei, considered as the "Father of Biophysics" in China, was born in Oct. 10, 1903, at Zhenhai county of east China's Zhejiang Province. He is the founder, the first chief director and current honorary director of Biophysics Institute of Chinese Academy of Sciences. (Xinhua)

    Bei Shizhang, widely considered as the "Father of Biophysics" in China, was born on Oct. 10, 1903, at Zhenhai county of east China's Zhejiang Province.

    He is the founder of China's biophysics, radiobiology, cosmobiology and has made important contributions to China's life science and manned space program, read the statement.

    He is also a pioneer of Chinese life science research and education and served as the first chief director and honorary director of CAS's Biophysics Institute.

China's 26th Antarctic expedition team Saturday morning left New Zealand's coastal city Christchurch for the Antarctic on board the icebreaker "Xuelong", or Snow Dragon.

The vessel arrived at the port on Thursday, where it took 720 tons of fuels, over 200 tons of fresh water and 5 tons of vegetables before setting sail to its final destination.

The crew carried out maintenance work at the port to ensure all the equipments and navigational aids function well in the upcoming journey.

"We will make a full-speed dash southward to cross the stormy westerlies on our way toward the Antarctic," said Wang Jianzhong, captain of the vessel.

He said the vessel would face critical sea condition Tuesday and Wednesday. "If everythi...]]> Science Sat, 31 Oct 2009 02:52:19 +0800 /articles/09/1030/195657/MTk1NjU3PyEJGFtU.html China unveiled its fastest supercomputer yesterday, which at its peak speed can do more than one quadrillion calculations per second, known as a petaflop.

The birth of the supercomputer, named "Tianhe", which means "Milky Way", makes China the second country, after the United States, to build a petaflop computer. This gigantic device can do as many calculations in one day as those done by an ordinary dual-core personal computer in 160 years, said Li Nan, director of the Tianhe Project Office under the National University of Defense Technology, developer of the supercomputer.

Tianhe, at a cost of 600 million yuan ($88 million), ranks first on China's Top 100 supercomputer list released in Changsha, capital of Hunan Province, with a theoretical peak performance of 1.206 petaflops and a Linpack performance of 560 teraflops.

The Linpack benchmark is used to measure the supercomputer's real performance in practical use.

    Thirteen researchers, including a scientist from Taiwan, will board the ship during its two-day stay at Christchurch. It will be the first time for a researcher from Taiwan to join the Chinese mainland's Antarctic expedition.

    An S76 helicopter rented from Australia with three crew members will also join the team in port. It will mainly be used for personnel and small cargo transportation during the expedition in Antarctic.

    The Xuelong left China's eastern coastal city of Shanghai on Oct. 11. It crossed the equator on Oct. 19 and navigated in the Southern Pacific Ocean for 10 days.

 &...]]> Science Thu, 29 Oct 2009 07:08:44 +0800 /articles/09/1029/195539/MTk1NTM5Lbm2Qdsz.html Science Thu, 29 Oct 2009 03:29:43 +0800 /articles/09/1027/195317/MTk1MzE3mbXRfCTz.html Chinese scientists from the country's 26th Antarctic expedition are expected to complete the world's first land cover map of the Antarctica at the end of this year.

It will be the most accurate map of the continent, presenting various land features, they told Xinhua correspondent aboard Xuelong (Snow Dragon) icebreaker in a recent interview.

The research team will conduct wide range of field spectral collection on the Antarctica to provide data for the map.

The map, with the application of high resolution remote sensing technology, will for the first time in the history show the distribution of key features on the continent, including sea ice, snow, blue ice, rocks, soil marshes, lakes and ice crevasse.

Remote sensing technology is one of the most...]]> Science Tue, 27 Oct 2009 03:26:16 +0800 /articles/09/1027/195316/MTk1MzE21BJDg3SL.html The Chinese armed forces have reviewed key information in military archives to locate the crash site of a US bomber 59 years ago, hoping to retrieve remains of some pilots out of the total 15 on board.

    BEIJING, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) -- He has a mixture of roles: an enjoying international reputation, a reformist in China's most prestigious Peking University and a vigilant observer of problematic Chinese science systems.

    Rao Yi finds that he is not content to be a researcher hidden in labs and literatures. "Intellectuals should have a clear mind of social issues and make due contributions by speaking out and taking actions."

    He is most notable for his opinion article "A Fundamental Transition from Rule-by-Man to Rule-by-Merit" published on the London-based science journal Nature in 2005, in which he questioned the loopholes of China's Mid-to-Long Term Plan (MLP) of Science and Technology (2006-2020) and put forward straightforward proposals.

    But Rao, 47, says he himself is simple in mind. ...]]> Science Thu, 22 Oct 2009 07:07:27 +0800 /articles/09/1022/194828/MTk0ODI4P9Os4im3.html     SHANGHAI, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) -- New-type explosives detectors have begun to serve at some major stations of the urban rail transport system in Shanghai to help ensure security for the World Expo scheduled for May 1 next year, developers said on Thursday.

    The detectors, dubbed SIM 07 and SIM 08, have passed tests by the Ministry of Public Security.

    The new products were produced on the basis of the fluorescent polymer sensing technology that was jointly developed by the Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Shanghai Sanco Instrument Co.,Ltd.

    The new detectors are more sensitive than experienced police dogs, and would do no harm to operators and those being investigated and produce no pollutants, according to the developers.

Special Report:  Expo 2010 Shanghai China  

    It will be hard for the country to achieve its goal of sustainable development if measures were not taken to improve energy efficiency and to cut carbon emission, the experts warned, citing the fact that a 75 percent of urbanization by 2050 means much more energy consumption and carbon dioxide emission.

    They sounded the alarm in a report, China's Low Carbon Eco-city Development Strategy, which was launched here Monday based on a research by the Chinese Society for Urban Studies (CSUS).

    The report predicted that even in the best "low-carbon development" scenario, the rise of the emission of carbon dioxide, a major greenhouse gas (GHG), would l...]]> Science Mon, 19 Oct 2009 21:07:34 +0800 /articles/09/1019/194487/MTk0NDg3M4EaF1qK.html Wang said that the ship independently developed by China cost 400 million yuan (US$59 million) to build.

    Wang Xuelong, deputy director of China Geological Survey Bureau, handed over the certificate of seaworthiness for the ship coded Ocean No. 6 to the Guangzhou Marine Geological Survey Bureau, which is carrying out the combustible ice survey in South China Sea.

    Wang said that the ship independently developed by China cost 400 million yuan (59 million U.S. dollars) to build.

    The ship has a gross tonnage of 4,600 tons and an endurance of 15,000 nautical miles. It has been equipped with underwater remote-control survey facilities and other high-tech devices, he said.

    China announced in 2007 to have successfully excavated combustible ice, a kind of...]]> Science Sun, 18 Oct 2009 12:05:12 +0800 /articles/09/1014/193954/MTkzOTU04XBuOs2T.html     LHASA, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- Chinese and German scientists are establishing an astronomical observatory in a Tibetan county 4,300 meters above sea level.

    Construction of the observatory began on Monday in Yangbajain Township, of Damxung County in the suburbs of Tibet's regional capital Lhasa, said project leader Wang Junjie Tuesday.

    The observatory would be operational in early 2011, after a state-of-the-art telescope was moved to the Tibet plateau from its current site in the Swiss Alps, said Wang, a researcher with the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), in Beijing.

    Wang and his colleagues are establishing the observatory in collaboration with scientists from the University of Cologne.

    The project will enable Chinese and German scientists to carry out interdisciplinary research...]]> Science Tue, 13 Oct 2009 21:09:28 +0800 /articles/09/1013/193814/MTkzODE0X2pkWTM4.html     ABOARD XUELONG, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- All cruising observations have begun prior to Monday noon on the icebreaker Snow Dragon, or the Xuelong, which took Chinese scientists off Shanghai Sunday morning for the country's 26th scientific expedition to the Antarctica.

    Scientists conducted biological sampling with China's self-made high-speed sampling equipment every six hours on the rear deck, with the aim to analyze the oceanic environment along the way on the basis of the distribution, categories and composition of the plankton.

    In the chemical laboratory aboard the ship, scientists kept pumping marine water and collecting organic carbon granule and chlorophyl through a filter in order to analyze the transference and transformation of carbon and thereout deduce the global climate change.

    An aerosol collector was installed on the dock which covers the driv...]]> Science Mon, 12 Oct 2009 21:06:06 +0800 /articles/09/1011/193665/MTkzNjY1sq464V6i.html Icebreaker Xuelong, or "Snow Dragon" prepares to leave for China's 26th scientific expedition to the Antarctica, in Shanghai, east China, on Oct. 11, 2009.(Xinhua/Chen Fei)Photo Gallery>>>

    Chen Lianzeng, deputy director of the National Bureau of Oceanography (NBO), declared at 10:10 a.m. the start of China's 26th expedition to the Antarctica.

    A group of 251 scientists, workers and logistics staff from China, Australia and Russia began the half-year-long research expedition in the icebreaker Xuelong, or "Snow Dragon."

    During the trip, two exploration teams would be sent to the inner land of Antarctica.

People w...]]> Science Sun, 11 Oct 2009 12:07:22 +0800 /articles/09/1011/193614/MTkzNjE09X8kmjsm.html [1] [2] [3] [4]

Wei Wenliang, head of the Polar Expedition Office under the administration, said at a press conference held in Shanghai on Wednesday that the trip will last for about 180 days, and scientists will conduct 59 research projects during the trip.

He said the team will conduct regular researches at the two stations of Changcheng and Zhongshan, and build the third station, Kunlun at Dome Argus, the pole's highest icecap, 4,093 meters above the sea level.

In addition, the team will carry out geological and biologic research on the continent.

Wei said the team members will continue to study Grove Mountains, and collect meteorite samples there.

In January, China set up the Kunlun station at Dome Argus.

The Changcheng (Great Wall) Station,...]]> Science Thu, 08 Oct 2009 03:17:33 +0800 /articles/09/1008/193297/MTkzMjk3Hd64PiDH.html     SHANGHAI, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) -- A team of 251 members will leave on board the vessel Snow Dragon for China's 26th Antarctic exploration on Oct. 11, the State Oceanic Administration announced Wednesday.

    Wei Wenliang, head of the Polar Expedition Office under the administration, said at a press conference held in Shanghai on Wednesday that the trip will last for about 180 days, and scientists will conduct 59 research projects during the trip.

    He said the team will conduct regular researches at the two stations of Changcheng and Zhongshan, and build the third station, Kunlun at Dome Argus, the pole's highest icecap, 4,093 meters above the sea level.

    In addition, the team will carry out geological and biologic research on the continent.

    Wei said the team members will continue to study Grove Mountains, and collect meteorite sample...]]> Science Wed, 07 Oct 2009 16:08:45 +0800 /articles/09/1008/193296/MTkzMjk20IFQQAEJ.html     HONG KONG, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) -- Five scientists were awarded the Shaw Prize on Wednesday in Hong Kong at a prize-giving ceremony for their outstanding achievements in astronomy, life science and medicine, and mathematical sciences.

    The astronomy prize went to Professor Frank H Shu, University Professor of the ten-campus University of California System of the United States, in recognition of his life-time contributions in theoretical astronomy.

    Professor Chen-Ning Yang, Chairman of the Shaw Prize's board of adjudicators, said at the ceremony, as a renowned theoretical astronomer, Shu's work on how stars have formed in the billions of past years has revolutionized researchers' understanding of the history of the universe.

    The Life Science and Medicine Award were awarded jointly to Professor Douglas L Coleman, Emeritus Scientist of the Jackson Laboratory, ...]]> Science Wed, 07 Oct 2009 16:08:38 +0800 /articles/09/1007/193265/MTkzMjY1GdFLxm2B.html The local government sources said the trees, with the oldest ones dating back more than 800 years, have not only ornamental value but value in scientific research.

Dove trees have been included in the list of plants under state primary protection in China.

Dove tree (Davidia Involucrata Baill), a sort of deciduous arbor, is regarded as living fossil in flora world with a history of 10 million years. Most species of dove trees have extinguished gradually. Only a few of them survived in part of southern China.

In addition to Guizhou, dove trees have been found in Shennongjia of central Hubei Province and Mount Emei in southwestern Sichuan Province.

    The local government sources said the trees, with the oldest ones dating back more than 800 years, have not only ornamental value but value in scientific research.

    Dove trees have been included in the list of plants under state primary protection in China.

    Dove tree (Davidia Involucrata Baill), a sort of deciduous arbor, is regarded as living fossil in flora world with a history of 10 million years. Most species of dove trees have extinguished gradually. Only a few of them survived in part of southern China.

    In addition to Guizhou, dove trees have been found in Shennongjia of central Hubei Province and Mount Emei in southwestern Sichuan Province.

Based on the traffic figures recorded in the first quarter of 2009, it is estimated that the new routes will enable annual savings of more than 10 million kilometers in journey, or 12,000 hours in flight time for the arrival aircraft.

With an average of about 150 flights using the new routes daily, about 8 million passengers will benefit annually from these express routes.

The new routes will enable air travelers to have shorter flying time while airline operators will benefit from less fuel consumption.

The depart...]]> Science Sat, 03 Oct 2009 02:59:16 +0800 /articles/09/1003/192964/MTkyOTY0EkfDlgp5.html     YICHANG, Hubei Province, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- Chinese scientists announced here on Thursday that the artificial propagation of the rare Chinese sturgeon would no longer count on wild fish as they have made successful artificial insemination and spawning of cultured sturgeons.

    Director Shang Zhenyang of the Chinese Sturgeon Research Institute (CSRI) of the China Three Gorges Corporation said that the reproductive breakthrough achieved on Wednesday night marked "a milestone" in the protection of the vertebrate species dating back 140 million years.

    The two sturgeons under experiment, one female and one male, were both sexually mature and of the first filial generation of the artificially-bred at the institute's breeding farm in the Three Gorges Dam area.

    In 100 to 120 hours, the inseminated eggs would grow into fries, researchers say.

  &nb...]]> Science Fri, 02 Oct 2009 16:06:48 +0800 /articles/09/1001/192810/MTkyODEwr6mSEgpL.html China's first Mars probe mission will be delayed because of Russia's decision to postpone the launch of its mission to the Martian moon Phobos from next month to the year 2011.

Russia's Phobos-Grunt mission had been slated to lift off aboard a Zenith rocket in October on a three-year mission to study Phobos and return soil samples to Earth. Yinghuo-1 orbiter was set to be launched with the mission.

But Anatoly Perminov, head of the Russian Federal Space Agency, said on the agency's official website Tuesday that the mission will be delayed from October to the next launch window in 2011, in order to enhance the reliability of the project, Xinhua News Agency reported.

Russian scientists need more time to study Phobos' surface and design better facilities to collect soil samples from Phobos, so that the high cost of the mission will not be in vain, Xinhua reported.

The delay has dampened China's first Mars probe plan, ...]]> Science Thu, 01 Oct 2009 02:46:53 +0800 /articles/09/0929/192557/MTkyNTU3BkDJJ17a.html     BEIJING, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- Chinese experts Monday announced that the country's space scientists had completed the world's highest-resolution three-dimensional map of the moon.

    The map, covering the whole surface of the moon, was made based on image data obtained by a charge-coupled device (CCD) stereo camera carried by the Chang'e-1, China's first lunar probe. The map's spatial resolution -- measured by the distance of two features within an image that can be clearly defined -- is 500 meters.

    Liu Xianlin, head of the expert team that made the accreditation, said the map could greatly help study the features, laws and creation of the moon's surface and deepen understanding of lunar geology and its evolution.

    "It would also pave the way for setting scientific objectives in future lunar probe projects," said Liu, an academician of the Chinese Academy ...]]> Science Mon, 28 Sep 2009 21:09:38 +0800 /articles/09/0927/192327/MTkyMzI3n3ZL3Zeo.html     BEIJING, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- The Mobile TV of Xinhua News Agency and China Mobile Corporation will jointly offer cell phone users a live and all-around coverage of "National Day" celebrations on Oct. 1.

    China Mobile's handset TV users can log on Xinhua's Mobile TV system to watch the live broadcast, studio interviews and TV specials about the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

    The free program will be running from zero hour to 10:30 p.m. that day.

    The most attractive part will be the live show of military review and parade of the massive celebrations in the center of Beijing.

    Dozens of live broadcast sites, including those in Shanghai, Hong Kong, New York and Paris, will also be established to broaden the view of mobile TV watchers.

    Wu Jincai, Xinhua's depu...]]> Science Sat, 26 Sep 2009 16:06:17 +0800 /articles/09/0926/192302/MTkyMzAyfJgcZjUd.html The academy, under the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, on Friday did not specify when the satellite, dubbed the "Laos-1," would be finished or blasted off, only saying it would be carried by a China-made Long March carrier rocket.

The academy would also build land-based satellite tracking stations and the ground broadcast communication network for Laos, it said.

It is China's first contract for satellite manufacturing and launch service for a country from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

China signed such contracts with Nigeria and Venezuela in 2007 and 2008 respectively.

Since 1987 China has conducted 30 international commercial satellite launches using the Long March series of carrier rockets.

    Medog County is in the rugged mountainous area and is sparsely populated with about 10,000 residents, mostly in rural areas.

A resident of Lhasa, capital of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, talks on her mobile in this file photo taken on March 28, 2007.  (Xinhua Photo)Photo Gallery>>>

    The project was started in June 2009 with an investment of 14 million yuan (2.05 million U.S. dollars), said China Telecom Friday.

    The construction of the project was an arduous task due to poor infrastructure, bad weather and tough natural conditions, the state owned co...]]> Science Sat, 26 Sep 2009 02:06:47 +0800 /articles/09/0923/191880/MTkxODgwrcuOJb1K.html     BEIJING, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- More than 260 members will board the vessel Snow Dragon for China's 26th Antarctic exploration in early October, said the State Oceanic Administration.

    The scientific expedition team will start its trip on Oct. 11 and plans to return on April 10, 2010. The trip will last about 180 days.

    Wei Wenliang, an official for polar expedition affairs with the State Oceanic Administration, said the upcoming exploration would be the longest in the country's polar expedition history with the largest number of researchers on board.

    During the trip, scientists will research the two stations of Changcheng and Zhongshan and continue to build the third station, Kunlun at Dome Argus, the pole's highest icecap, 4,093 meters above the sea level.

    In addition, the team will carry out geological and biologic research...]]> Science Wed, 23 Sep 2009 02:06:17 +0800 /articles/09/0922/191800/MTkxODAwt04tknR1.html Academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering and the former chief designer of China's manned space program Wang Yongzhi has said China will soon be taking steps in developing its manned space station, Chinanews.com reported.

Wang said during a meeting held in Beijing on Monday that the focus is currently on the second phase of the three-step program after successfully launching Shenzhou VI and Shenzhou VII, as well as the spacewalk.

He says the next step will be the space rendezvous and docking experiments.

He explained that implementation plans for the next series of projects for building the manned station are pending approval. Once they are settled, China will begin developing its manned station. He says within 10 years, the Chinese will not only be able to voyage into outer space, but work beyond the planet's atmosphere.

China began its manned space program in 1992 and has successfully launched its manned sp...]]> Science Tue, 22 Sep 2009 07:52:37 +0800     SHANGHAI, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- China's first automobile wind tunnel began operation at Tongji University in Shanghai Saturday, indicating a major breakthrough in automobile development and production.

    Costing 490 million yuan (72 million U.S. dollars), the Shanghai vehicle wind tunnel center will provide testing services for manufacturers of cars, buses, sport utility vehicles, trucks and train models, said Chen Xiaolong, vice president of Tongji University.

    It will also facilitate the research and development of new energy vehicles, high-speed trains and big airplanes, he said.

    The wind tunnel center offers a platform to design more energy-efficient and beautiful cars ourselves, said Yang Zhigang, the center director.

    The center is equipped up-to-date technology for noise control, ground simulation and measuring precision...]]> Science Sat, 19 Sep 2009 16:06:12 +0800 /articles/09/0918/191450/MTkxNDUwJsrMVzM1.html     BEIJING, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- The preliminary selection for candidates of China's second-batch of astronauts has finished, with candidates including 30 men and 15 women who are all air force pilots, authorities said Thursday.

    Among them, five men and two women would be final candidates to join the space program.

    It was the first time women had been up for selection in China's space development cause, authorities said.

    The 45 candidates, with an average age of 30, would undergo another round of tests, including physiological and psychological checks, an air force official said.

    He said the male candidates were fighter plane pilots and the female candidates were aero-transport pilots. All serve in the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force and at least held college degrees.

   &nbs...]]> Science Fri, 18 Sep 2009 07:09:38 +0800 /articles/09/0918/191449/MTkxNDQ5lKqajDrc.html     by Xinhua writer Li Huizi

    BEIJING, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- The preliminary selection for candidates of China's second batch of astronauts has finished, with candidates including 30 men and 15 women who are all airforce pilots, authorities said Thursday.

    Among them, five men and two women would be final candidates to join the space program. And "it is the first time women have been up for selection in China's space development cause," authorities said.

    The 45 candidates, between the ages of 27 and 34, will undergo further tests, including physiological and psychological checks, an air force official said.

    He said the male candidates are all fighter plane pilots and the female candidates are aero-transport pilots. All serve in the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force and at least hol...]]> Science Fri, 18 Sep 2009 07:09:32 +0800 /articles/09/0918/191421/MTkxNDIx4uKRy4Qi.html Forty-five of China's top aviators launched their long journey toward space Thursday when they were short-listed for training at the nation's space academy.

China's first female would-be astronauts are among the group.

The prospective space travellers will compete to be named among the five men and two women who will be trained as China's second batch of astronauts, the People's Liberation Army General Armament Department said Thursday.

"They have all displayed excellent mastery of flight skills and boast great psychological qualities," an officer with the General Armament Department said.

China's first batch of 14 astronauts, all men, were selected in 1995.

Among them, Yang Liwei, who is now 44, made history in 2003 when he was the first Chinese national to voyage aboard the Shenzhou V spacecraft beyond the planet's atmosphere.

So far, six people from that first batch have made it into space.

Wang Zhaoguo, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, attended the opening ceremony.

Located north of the Bird's Nest, the China Science and Technology Museum covers an area of 48,000 square meters. It will receive visitors from September 20.

The museum cost about 2 billion yuan ($293 million) to build.

"The museum will play an important role in popularizing knowledge of science", said Han Qide, chairman of the Association for Science and Technology.

The museum consists of five themed halls. One is a science park while others cover exploration and discovery, technology and life.

The museum's predecessor, the first of its kind in China, was opened in 1988 and attracted more than 20 million visitors before it was closed late June.

The Hainan Space Launch Center, the fourth and most southerly in China, will be finished by 2013.

It will be capable of launching 10 to 12 vehicles a year.

The center will handle new-generation rocket-carriers and space vehicles, including geo-synchronous satellites, polar-orbiting satellites, space stations and deep-space exploration satellites, said Wang Weichang, director of the Hainan space center project headquarters.

Wang was speaking during the cornerstone-laying ceremony at the center.

Future manned flights into space will mainly be launched from Hainan, with some blasting off from Gansu province.

The Xichang launch center, in Sichuan province, will be the back-up for the...]]> Science Tue, 15 Sep 2009 08:04:35 +0800 /articles/09/0915/191059/MTkxMDU5OSuDzmYi.html

China on Monday began construction of its new space launch center in Wenchang City, on the northeast coast of the tropical island province of Hainan, which is scheduled to be completed by 2013.

The Hainan Space Satellite Launch Center, the fourth and the lowest latitude one in China, only 19 degrees north of the equator, would allow China to take part in more international commercial space launches, said Wang Weichang, director of the Hainan Space Center Project Headquarters.

Photo taken on Se...]]> Science Mon, 14 Sep 2009 17:08:29 +0800