Sci-Tech

Chinas First Big Passenger Plane Rolls off Production Line

China made aviation history on November 2， when its first domestically produced large passenger aircraft was unveiled in Shanghai.

The C919 plane was developed by the Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China （COMAC） and， upon being cleared for commercial use， is expected to compete with the updated Airbus 320 and Boeings newgeneration 737. The C919 has 158 seats and a standard range of 4，075 kilometers.

As its maiden flight is scheduled for next year， however， followed by at least another three years of test flights ， it will take some time before the single-aisle jet can ply international commercial air routes.

COMAC said that it had already accepted 517 orders from 21 foreign and domestic customers. The version off the production line on November 2 is the basic model， but COMAC has extended， shortened， cargo and business versions in the pipeline as well. In addition， this new-generation jet will have flexible cabin designs to suit different airlines.

The C1919 is the result of seven years of hard work by a group of 200 aircraft component manufacturers and the research teams of 36 higher-learning institutes from 22 provinces and municipalities in China. More than 30 foreign firms， including GE and Honeywell， have supplied components for the C919 aircraft， and over 200，000 technicians were involved throughout the production cycle.

“The aircraft uses the very best of domestic and foreign resources， and was designed and made in accordance with international standards，” said C919 Chief Designer and COMAC Deputy General Manager Wu Guanghui.

The aircraft features 102 new technological and material applications， including third-generation aluminum-lithium alloy materials that are used for the body， according to COMAC chair Jin Zhuanglong.

China Plans to Launch CO2 Monitoring Satellite in 2016

China is planning to launch a global carbon dioxide observatory satellite into space in 2016. All satellite payloads recently finished development of samples.

The CO2-observatory satellite aims to establish a ground-based data processing and verification system， make monitoring more precise than 4ppm， and to become a feasible monitor of the carbon dioxide in China， other major regions， and the world.

The satellite development program comprises five systems， including a satellite system， carrier rocket system， launching site system， measurement and control system， and the ground-based application system.endprint

“The National Satellite Meteorological Center（NSMC） of China Meteorological Administration will take charge of the groundbased application system development of this program， based on that of the FY-3 meteorological satellite. Within this year， the internal testing of the ground-based system， data receiving and processing of ground-based accepting stations， data verification， and new data application will be carried out，” Deputy Director of NSMC Zhang Peng said.

Chinese Team Wins Breakthrough Prize for Neutrino Research

Chinese scientists have won the 2016 Breakthrough Prize Award in fundamental physics for their research on neutrino oscillation. The Chinese team， the Daya Bay Reactor Neutrino Experiment， was led by Wang Yifang， a researcher with the Institute of High Energy Physics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences （CAS）， and Professor Kam-Biu Luk of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

This is the first time Chinese scientists have won the prize， which was awarded at the Ames Research Center of the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

In 2012， after the neutrino experiment conducted near the Daya Bay Reactor in Guangdong Province， Chinese and foreign physicists announced that they had confirmed and measured a new type of neutrino oscillation.

The Chinese team will share the prize award equally with another four teams from Japan and Canada.

The award is presented to the five teams for the fundamental discovery and exploration of neutrino oscillations， revealing a new frontier beyond， and possibly far beyond， the standard model of particle physics， according to a statement posted on the prize organizations website.

Neutrinos， the wispy particles that flooded the universe in the earliest moments after the Big Bang， are continually produced in the hearts of stars and other nuclear reactions.

Walking Chinese Robot Breaks Guinness World Record

A quadruped robot in the southwestern municipality of Chongqing walked its way on to the pages of the Guinness World Records book on November 1.

Xingzhe No.1 was developed by Li Qingdu， a professor with the college of automation under the Chongqing University of Post and Telecommunications. During a four-day field test， it took 340，000 continuous steps over 54 hours， covering a distance of 134.03 km， and used 0.8 kwh of power.

The previous record was set by Ranger， a quadruped robot developed by the U.S. Cornell University， which walked 65 km in 30 hours， consuming 0.5 kwh.

Li and his team began developing the robot in November 2014. The first prototype was produced in January.

“We can apply the technology and processes involved to a wide range of robotic devices， to make them more efficient， durable， and reliable. In the future we could begin to use these robots for more dangerous or remote tasks，” Li said.endprint