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Nine ways Chinese scientists pushed the envelope in 2017
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Military breakthroughs, supercomputers, dark matter and more. Chinese scientists marked several firsts in 2017, such as testing spy drones in near space and detecting the world’s first trace of dark matter. They also embarked on some groundbreaking research projects, including building the world’s most powerful facial recognition system that can identify its 1.3 billion citizens within three seconds. Here are some of the most popular China science stories we covered this year.
China builds world’s fastest wind tunnel to test weapons that could strike US within 14 minutes
As the race to develop hypersonic technology intensified, China revealed it was building the world’s fastest wind tunnel to simulate hypersonic flight at speeds of up to 12 kilometres per second. The world’s most powerful wind tunnel at present is America’s LENX-X facility, which operates at speeds of up to 10 kilometres per second – 30 times the speed of sound. A hypersonic vehicle flying at 12 kilometres per second from China could reach the west coast of the United States in less than 14 minutes. Researchers aim to have the facility up and running by around 2020.
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China tests new spy drones in near space ‘death zone’
Near space, which begins at about 20km above sea level, had been regarded as a “death zone” for drones. However, a new type of Chinese-developed drone that is undergoing testing appears to have overcome its challenges. The test involved two experimental unmanned aerial vehicles being sent up on a high-pressure balloon before being deployed at different altitudes. Significantly, throughout their flights, the drones barely left traces on radar due to their small size – the drones are small enough to fit in a shoebox and weigh about the same as a soccer ball.
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