https://www.scmp.com/rss/520856/feed Shi is a science reporter based in Beijing, primarily covering life sciences, medicine, and frontier research. Previously, he worked for Sanlian Lifeweek and DXY. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Shi Huang Shi Huang China looks set to claim another coup in its mission to build AI talent, with one of the world’s top scholars in artificial intelligence for robots listed among PhD supervisors at a Shanghai university. Su Hao, who holds two doctorates – one in mathematics and one in computer science – has appeared on Fudan University’s faculty list as a professor in electronic information specialising in AI. The list, published on March 31, names 322 PhD supervisors appointed this year. Previously, Su was a... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3349408/one-americas-top-ai-robot-scholars-about-join-chinas-tech-talent-pool?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3349408/one-americas-top-ai-robot-scholars-about-join-chinas-tech-talent-pool?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 09 Apr 2026 04:00:08 +0000 Shi Huang Shi Huang A therapy using pig semen-derived exosomes, engineered into eye drops capable of penetrating deep into retinal tissue, may hold the key to breaching the brain’s defences against diseases like Alzheimer’s. This advance, led by Professor Zhang Yu at China’s Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, originally targeted a rare childhood eye cancer retinoblastoma that often resists conventional treatments due to its delicate location near the brain. Published in peer-reviewed journal Science Advances on... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3348726/chinas-brain-penetrating-pig-semen-eyedrop-may-treat-alzheimers-scientist-australia?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3348726/chinas-brain-penetrating-pig-semen-eyedrop-may-treat-alzheimers-scientist-australia?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 02 Apr 2026 06:47:06 +0000 Shi Huang Shi Huang For Zhang Kai, a pioneering scientist who is building an ultra-large-scale cellular structure group data bank with unprecedented precision, returning home to China was the natural choice to fulfil his ambition. “In the United States, it is almost impossible for a Chinese scholar to take the lead on this project,” Zhang said during a March 26 interview with China Science Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), the country’s most prestigious research institution. On... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3348675/impossible-chinese-yale-scientist-zhang-kai-leaves-us-break-racial-ceiling?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3348675/impossible-chinese-yale-scientist-zhang-kai-leaves-us-break-racial-ceiling?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 02 Apr 2026 04:00:10 +0000 Shi Huang Shi Huang Science and Nature are among the world’s most prestigious journals, which most scientists strive to publish in but never will. By the age of 30, quantum physicist Zhu Zijie had already published in both with significant discoveries on the behaviour of cold atoms. After graduating from Peking University, he went to the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich) – Albert Einstein’s alma mater – for graduate studies and stayed there as a postdoctoral researcher for over a year. In... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3348415/do-something-nobodys-done-quantum-physicist-zhu-zijie-leaves-europe-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3348415/do-something-nobodys-done-quantum-physicist-zhu-zijie-leaves-europe-china?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 30 Mar 2026 10:18:12 +0000 Shi Huang Shi Huang Francois Penz, former head of the department of architecture at the University of Cambridge and a pioneer in the interdisciplinary field of architecture and film, has joined Nanjing University on a full-time basis. The school of architecture and urban planning of Nanjing University announced the appointment on its social media account on March 17. Penz is an emeritus professor at the university, a former director of The Martin Centre for Architectural and Urban Studies, a fellow of Darwin... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3347941/cambridge-top-architect-francois-penz-relocates-china-uk?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3347941/cambridge-top-architect-francois-penz-relocates-china-uk?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 28 Mar 2026 10:00:13 +0000 Shi Huang Shi Huang Seeram Ramakrishna, a leading researcher at the National University of Singapore and the most cited scientist from the city state, has joined one of China’s leading universities full time. He joined the department of mechanical engineering at Tsinghua University in September, but the university only announced the appointment this week. The Singaporean, who was described by MIT Technology Review China as the “father of electrospinning”, has been appointed as a Xinghua distinguished chair... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3348141/top-singaporean-materials-scientist-seeram-ramakrishna-joins-chinas-tsinghua-university?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3348141/top-singaporean-materials-scientist-seeram-ramakrishna-joins-chinas-tsinghua-university?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 27 Mar 2026 11:00:08 +0000 Shi Huang Shi Huang Chinese researchers have developed a surgical robot that can perform complex brain imaging nearly 30 per cent faster than traditional manual methods, according to a study published earlier this year. The feat marks a milestone for the world’s first approved cerebrovascular intervention system. In a head-to-head at the prestigious Peking Union Medical College Hospital (PUMCH), a young surgeon using the robotic system shaved nine minutes off the time required for a standard manual... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3347491/chinese-surgery-robot-outperforms-humans-cuts-brain-imaging-time-29?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3347491/chinese-surgery-robot-outperforms-humans-cuts-brain-imaging-time-29?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 23 Mar 2026 04:00:08 +0000 Shi Huang Shi Huang Eminent life scientist Shu Xiaokun has received numerous awards and significant funding from the US government over the past two decades. Earlier this year, he was appointed the prestigious Herfindahl Endowed Chair professor at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), capping a career that included pioneering fluorescent protein tools in Nobel laureate Roger Yonchien Tsien’s laboratory. The motto of Shu’s lab is a quote from the Nobel laureate physicist Richard Feynman: “If you’re not... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3347142/nih-awarded-life-scientist-shu-xiaokun-abruptly-shifts-research-us-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3347142/nih-awarded-life-scientist-shu-xiaokun-abruptly-shifts-research-us-china?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 20 Mar 2026 07:11:36 +0000 Shi Huang Shi Huang A team of scientists in China has developed a way to freeze and revive organs for transplant, extending their viability from as little as six hours to several days, according to a peer-reviewed study published in the Journal of Medical Devices. While the technology is still at the experimental stage and has not yet progressed to human trials, it could one day transform the entire field of organ transplantation, especially for hearts, the researchers say. “If just half of the currently discarded... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3346722/could-chinese-breakthrough-pave-way-global-organ-transplant-system?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3346722/could-chinese-breakthrough-pave-way-global-organ-transplant-system?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 16 Mar 2026 09:00:10 +0000 Shi Huang Shi Huang In the high-stakes race for radar supremacy, China could leap two generations ahead of the United States following an advancement in semiconductor technology published last month that is poised to redefine the future of military electronics. While the US Air Force struggles to modernise its fighter fleet with gallium nitride-based radar systems, Chinese engineers are already pioneering the next frontier: gallium oxide semiconductors with built-in data storage capabilities. Today’s Chinese... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3346507/could-chinas-gallium-oxide-leap-leave-us-f-22-radar-2-generations-behind?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3346507/could-chinas-gallium-oxide-leap-leave-us-f-22-radar-2-generations-behind?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 13 Mar 2026 12:00:08 +0000 Shi Huang Shi Huang An expert on semiconductor packaging and memory chips has left the University of California, Irvine after more than two decades to join a leading conductive materials company in eastern China. Shi Guojun has taken on the role of chief strategic scientist and director of the Future Industry Research Institute at DK Electronic Materials, the company said in a statement posted online on March 6. According to DKEM, Shi will lead the company’s strategic planning and development in emerging... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3346184/award-winning-memory-chip-expert-shi-guojun-leaves-us-job-top-chinese-semiconductor-firm?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3346184/award-winning-memory-chip-expert-shi-guojun-leaves-us-job-top-chinese-semiconductor-firm?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 11 Mar 2026 10:00:09 +0000 Shi Huang Shi Huang For mathematical genius Wan Daqing, life is no longer a competition between China and the United States. Instead, he has encountered the rivalry of universities within China seeking to appoint him. Wan, winner of China’s highest mathematics prize, retired from the University of California at Irvine (UCI) in July and returned to China to take up his new role in December, he confirmed in an email to the South China Morning Post. The International Congress of Chinese Mathematicians (ICCM) Medal is... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3345925/chinas-award-winning-mathematician-wan-daqing-leaves-california-chongqing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3345925/chinas-award-winning-mathematician-wan-daqing-leaves-california-chongqing?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 09 Mar 2026 04:29:09 +0000 Shi Huang Shi Huang Most academics take eight to 10 years after earning a PhD to become doctoral supervisors. But semiconductor scientist Jiang Jianfeng has done it in just 18 months. The 30-year-old only earned his PhD in June 2024. After briefly serving as a postdoctoral researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), he has now returned to Peking University to serve as a principal investigator, associate professor and PhD supervisor. Jiang’s research focuses on two-dimensional indium selenide... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3345553/rising-star-chip-scientist-jiang-jianfeng-leaves-mit-chinas-peking-university?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3345553/rising-star-chip-scientist-jiang-jianfeng-leaves-mit-chinas-peking-university?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 07 Mar 2026 10:00:10 +0000 Shi Huang Shi Huang In a research greenhouse in eastern China’s Zhejiang province, the tomatoes looked ordinary, but they carried a surprisingly sweet scent – the aroma of buttered popcorn. It was not the result of accidental crossbreeding but a precise surgical edit in the tomato genome, performed by the CRISPR/Cas9 tool. Two genes responsible for suppressing aromatic compounds were simultaneously silenced. Then the tomatoes began to emit the signature scent of premium fragrant rice, akin to fresh buttered... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3344314/chinese-scientists-engineer-gene-edited-tomato-popcorn-aroma?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3344314/chinese-scientists-engineer-gene-edited-tomato-popcorn-aroma?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 23 Feb 2026 07:06:38 +0000 Shi Huang Shi Huang On the top floor of a trendy anime-themed mall near Beijing’s Chaoyang Park, a three-minute trailer gave a taste of what is expected to be China’s next blockbuster role-playing video game. On the large screen, characters called Eastern Heretic, Western Venom, Southern Emperor and Northern Beggar appeared in exquisitely rendered martial arts duels. Rising above it all with a sinister smile was Dongfang Bubai, a martial artist who castrated himself to learn the secrets of the skills in the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3343967/chen-mo-man-behind-heroes-jin-yong-ai-and-making-blockbuster-game?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3343967/chen-mo-man-behind-heroes-jin-yong-ai-and-making-blockbuster-game?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 22 Feb 2026 04:00:09 +0000 Shi Huang Shi Huang Arthur Konnerth, a recipient of the prestigious Brain Prize, has joined the Shenzhen Bay Laboratory (SZBL) on a full-time basis, the institute announced on January 29. Konnerth is a leading figure in neuroscience whose work has helped transform the understanding of how the brain processes information. His research focuses on the fundamental mechanisms of learning and memory, employing a combination of electrophysiological, imaging and cellular techniques. Konnerth pioneered the in vitro brain... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3343659/top-neuroscientist-arthur-konnerth-leaves-germany-full-time-role-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3343659/top-neuroscientist-arthur-konnerth-leaves-germany-full-time-role-china?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 16 Feb 2026 04:00:08 +0000 Shi Huang Shi Huang In the highest-ranking sacrificial pit at Sanxingdui, 11 crimson beads remained undisturbed for 3,000 years among bronze vessels, ivory tusks and fragments of gold. They are carnelian – a red gemstone prized across the ancient world, from the Indus Valley to the Middle East and the Mediterranean. In China, however, carnelian was not commonly found in elite burials until the late Western Zhou dynasty (c1046-771BC), with red tones traditionally represented by other minerals, such as ochre and... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3343451/how-did-prized-red-gemstone-reach-ancient-mysterious-shu-kingdom?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3343451/how-did-prized-red-gemstone-reach-ancient-mysterious-shu-kingdom?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 13 Feb 2026 08:00:20 +0000 Shi Huang Shi Huang Chinese scientists have helped create a new safety system for automated driving systems that can sometimes react to hazards more quickly than the human brain. The slower reaction time of machines compared with the human brain has been a long-standing safety concern. For example, an automated vehicle travelling at 80km/h (50mph) will take half a second to respond to a hazard in front of it, compared with the 0.15 seconds the human brain needs to react – meaning the vehicle will have travelled... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3343074/chinese-scientists-help-create-machine-eye-may-be-faster-human-vision?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3343074/chinese-scientists-help-create-machine-eye-may-be-faster-human-vision?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 10 Feb 2026 16:00:08 +0000 Victoria Bela,Shi Huang Victoria Bela,Shi Huang Elon Musk has pivoted from his long-standing focus on Mars, announcing an ambitious plan to set up a “self-growing city” on the moon in less than a decade. The plan could see Musk’s aerospace company, SpaceX, competing for prime space with China’s planned International Lunar Research Station, which Beijing aims to establish by 2035. While it is possible both the United States and China could have bases on the moon within a decade, a space expert said it would require massive infrastructure that... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3343083/will-musks-moon-pivot-put-spacex-collision-course-chinas-lunar-ambitions?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3343083/will-musks-moon-pivot-put-spacex-collision-course-chinas-lunar-ambitions?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 10 Feb 2026 12:09:50 +0000 Shi Huang Shi Huang Mathematician Ngo Bao Chau, who made history in 2010 as the first Vietnamese recipient of the prestigious Fields Medal, will join the science faculty at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) as a chair professor in June. Ngo, 53, currently distinguished service professor and chair of the University of Chicago’s mathematics department, is a pre-eminent figure in Vietnamese mathematics. HKU announced his new appointment last Thursday. Born in Hanoi in 1972, Ngo showed early brilliance, winning gold... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3342872/vietnams-legendary-maths-genius-ngo-bao-chau-join-university-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3342872/vietnams-legendary-maths-genius-ngo-bao-chau-join-university-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 09 Feb 2026 08:00:08 +0000 Shi Huang Shi Huang The US defence secretary during President Donald Trump’s first term, James Mattis, repeatedly warned that China would revert to a Ming dynasty-style model, projecting its strong military, technological and economic influence globally. At the time, his views were widely questioned by mainstream academics as too aggressive. A decade ago, China still lagged far behind the United States. But Mattis underestimated China’s ambitions. On January 29, China announced the official launch of a national... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3342211/ming-dynasty-guide-galaxy-china-names-2100-space-plan-after-1637-book?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3342211/ming-dynasty-guide-galaxy-china-names-2100-space-plan-after-1637-book?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 03 Feb 2026 07:26:08 +0000 Shi Huang Shi Huang Twenty years ago, technologies developed by Liang Jie at Microsoft were incorporated into products like the Windows Media Video Player and Blu-ray discs used by millions worldwide. A decade on, while a professor in Canada, Liang ventured into entrepreneurship, developing an intelligent sensor system for elderly care to address global population ageing. Today, he brings his top-tier expertise in image and video compression back to China. According to the Eastern Institute of Technology, Ningbo... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3341662/north-americas-top-computer-vision-scientist-liang-jie-returns-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3341662/north-americas-top-computer-vision-scientist-liang-jie-returns-china?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 02 Feb 2026 02:00:11 +0000 Shi Huang Shi Huang Chinese scientists are planting high-value alternative “rubber trees” in the Gobi Desert. China is the world’s largest consumer and importer of natural rubber, mainly to support its massive car sector. Consumption last year is expected to have exceeded 7 million tonnes, over 85 per cent of it imported. However, the unique Chinese medicinal plant Duzhong (scientific name Eucommia ulmoides) may help to resolve this dependency. While its bark is a valued material in traditional Chinese medicine... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3341641/it-flourishing-chinas-man-made-forest-gobi-produces-good-rubber-military-use?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3341641/it-flourishing-chinas-man-made-forest-gobi-produces-good-rubber-military-use?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 30 Jan 2026 11:00:11 +0000 Shi Huang Shi Huang While some Western scholars have maintained that the development of large-scale water projects fostered what they called “Oriental despotism”, new archaeological evidence from China has presented a different story. According to the Key Laboratory of Archaeological Science and Cultural Heritage Protection at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the study has pushed the history of large-scale water conservancy in China back by nearly 3,000 years. Researcher Liu Jianguo said in Beijing on... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3341627/how-chinas-5100-year-old-dams-challenge-western-narratives-despotism?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3341627/how-chinas-5100-year-old-dams-challenge-western-narratives-despotism?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 29 Jan 2026 07:00:14 +0000 Shi Huang Shi Huang Neurologist Sun Bomin’s mother led him to believe that Alzheimer’s disease might not be incurable after all. On January 21, Sun released a short video on China’s Yitiao.tv platform and an article detailing what he said was the world’s first effective treatment of Alzheimer’s disease using the high-intensity FUS procedure. His mother, who appeared in the video but was not named, is aged in her nineties and had been suffering from the progressive brain disorder for around eight years. According to... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3340862/mothers-mind-appears-restored-might-ultrasound-be-cure-alzheimers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3340862/mothers-mind-appears-restored-might-ultrasound-be-cure-alzheimers?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 23 Jan 2026 01:00:12 +0000 Shi Huang Shi Huang A self-taught former factory worker who studied for his engineering degree by night has been elected as the head of one of the world’s leading electronic engineering societies. This year, Gao Huijun will become the first president of the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society from mainland China. The society, founded in 1951, is a branch of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), an organisation with over 400,000 members in more than 160 countries. Gao, a professor at the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3340683/ex-chinese-factory-worker-gao-huijun-head-leading-international-electronics-society?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3340683/ex-chinese-factory-worker-gao-huijun-head-leading-international-electronics-society?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 22 Jan 2026 04:00:10 +0000 Shi Huang Shi Huang “We will not leave the desert till we beat the foe, although in war our golden armour be outworn 100 times.” In this celebrated poem from China’s Tang dynasty, Wang Changling captured the unyielding spirit of soldiers in golden armour battling on the desert frontiers. But for centuries, the splendour of the Tang gold-plated armour lived only in poetry and imagination, as none had ever been unearthed. But that changed last week, when the Key Laboratory of Archaeological Sciences and Cultural... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3340394/chinese-team-restores-legendary-tang-dynasty-golden-armour-found-tibetan-tomb?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3340394/chinese-team-restores-legendary-tang-dynasty-golden-armour-found-tibetan-tomb?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 19 Jan 2026 06:52:53 +0000 Shi Huang Shi Huang How to beat the United States in gene editing? A research team from Peking University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences had struggled with this question for three years, with no results. Then they decided to draw inspiration from an ancient woodwork tradition and cut DNA like wood. It led to a gene-editing tool with unprecedented efficiency. In the Chinese mortise-and-tenon joint technique known as sunmao, no nails or glue are used. Instead, a protruding “tenon” on one piece fits securely into... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3339967/chinas-7000-year-old-sunmao-woodwork-leads-worlds-most-efficient-dna-editing-tool?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3339967/chinas-7000-year-old-sunmao-woodwork-leads-worlds-most-efficient-dna-editing-tool?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 16 Jan 2026 08:48:22 +0000 Shi Huang Shi Huang Structural biologist Alexey Amunts – an expert in mitochondrial biochemistry – has joined the Shenzhen Medical Academy of Research and Translation (SMART). Amunts, who holds research position in Germany, confirmed he joined SMART in January this year as a full-time senior investigator and would “contribute to its international relations agenda”. He is internationally recognised for high-resolution structural studies of the molecular machines that underpin cellular energy conversion and protein... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3339717/resolution-revolution-pioneer-alexey-amunts-leaves-max-planck-join-chinas-smart?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3339717/resolution-revolution-pioneer-alexey-amunts-leaves-max-planck-join-chinas-smart?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 13 Jan 2026 08:00:27 +0000 Shi Huang Shi Huang European immunologist Andrew Macpherson has officially taken up a full-time position at the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) in Hefei in the central province of Anhui. The move, confirmed by USTC’s school of biomedical sciences on January 2, is a boost to China’s growing reputation as a global hub for cutting-edge biomedical research. Macpherson, widely regarded as one of the foremost authorities in gastrointestinal mucosal immunity, joins USTC from Switzerland, where he was... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3339310/china-offers-full-time-job-top-european-immunologist-andrew-macpherson?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3339310/china-offers-full-time-job-top-european-immunologist-andrew-macpherson?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 11 Jan 2026 06:00:18 +0000 Shi Huang Shi Huang China has pulled off a daring underground feat, using a multimillion-dollar tunnel boring machine (TBM) to recover its stranded twin beneath the country’s largest river. The rendezvous between the TBMs was achieved with just 2mm (0.078 inch) of vertical error and no horizontal deviation under the Yangtze’s riverbed, setting a benchmark for precision in deep underground engineering, according to state media on Wednesday. The feat saved a megaproject that might otherwise have been scrapped. In... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3339450/how-china-turned-mega-project-failure-defining-moment-modern-engineering?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3339450/how-china-turned-mega-project-failure-defining-moment-modern-engineering?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 11 Jan 2026 02:00:11 +0000 Shi Huang Shi Huang Chinese researchers have developed a form of hybrid rice that can replicate itself through seeds that are clones, preserving high-yield traits generation after generation, according to the development team. The scientists say their breakthrough could transform global agriculture by dismantling the biggest barrier to hybrid rice production: the need for farmers to buy expensive new hybrid seeds every season. As hundreds of millions of people around the world face acute food insecurity, hybrid... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3339007/china-creates-worlds-first-clone-hybrid-rice-could-double-global-output?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3339007/china-creates-worlds-first-clone-hybrid-rice-could-double-global-output?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 07 Jan 2026 06:43:02 +0000 Shi Huang Shi Huang An experimental Chinese treatment for Alzheimer’s disease focused on glucose levels has shown promise in a trial on mice, with researchers reporting significant improvement in late-stage symptoms. A team from the Kunming Institute of Zoology, under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said the mice showed a substantial reversal in memory loss and reduced brain plaque within weeks of being treated with the drug. The researchers reported the results of their study in peer-reviewed journal Advanced... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3338757/could-there-be-link-between-glucose-levels-brain-and-alzheimers-disease?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3338757/could-there-be-link-between-glucose-levels-brain-and-alzheimers-disease?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 05 Jan 2026 09:00:11 +0000 Shi Huang Shi Huang After working in Europe for 35 years, Mikael Oliveberg, a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (RSAS) and a judge of the Nobel Prize for chemistry, has taken a full-time position at the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University in China. Oliveberg has left Stockholm University after nearly two decades as a tenured professor with its Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics. He was welcomed to his new post by Li Lang, Guangxi Medical University’s vice-president, at a... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3338629/nobel-prize-jurist-thomas-mikael-oliveberg-joins-top-medical-school-southern-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3338629/nobel-prize-jurist-thomas-mikael-oliveberg-joins-top-medical-school-southern-china?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 04 Jan 2026 08:00:18 +0000 Shi Huang Shi Huang The computer, at its core, is an input-output device: it receives instructions, executes programmes, performs calculations automatically and produces results. By this fundamental definition, China’s ancient ti hua ji, or figured loom – dating back more than two millennia to the Western Han dynasty – may well be recognised as the world’s earliest computer, according to the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST). Unearthed in 2012 from a tomb dated to around 150BC in Chengdu,... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3338360/2000-year-old-machine-found-western-china-tomb-could-be-binary-computer-authorities?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3338360/2000-year-old-machine-found-western-china-tomb-could-be-binary-computer-authorities?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 02 Jan 2026 06:00:16 +0000 Shi Huang Shi Huang In the Gobi Desert outside Golmud in the northwestern province of Qinghai, a row of white tanks stands tall in the open wilderness. Inside, air is compressed and cooled to -194 degrees Celsius (-317 Fahrenheit), and then it becomes liquid. When released, it expands by more than 750 times, drives turbines and generates electricity. This is the world’s largest liquid-air energy storage plant. Also known as the Super Air Power Bank, it is built by China Green Development Investment Group and... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3337802/china-power-worlds-largest-super-cold-air-battery-gobi-desert?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3337802/china-power-worlds-largest-super-cold-air-battery-gobi-desert?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 29 Dec 2025 06:07:45 +0000 Shi Huang Shi Huang Biomedical scientist Professor Chen Xiaoyuan denies allegations of sexual harassment and says he will appeal against the termination of his tenure by the National University of Singapore (NUS) over an alleged breach of staff conduct policies. The termination, confirmed to the South China Morning Post by NUS on Wednesday, followed an internal investigation into claims by a female PhD candidate who accused Chen of repeated verbal and physical misconduct since early this year. Chen broke his... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3337808/top-biotech-scientist-chen-xiaoyuan-denies-sexual-harassment-claim-says-he-will-appeal?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3337808/top-biotech-scientist-chen-xiaoyuan-denies-sexual-harassment-claim-says-he-will-appeal?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 26 Dec 2025 08:26:41 +0000 Shi Huang Shi Huang Chinese archaeologists have uncovered a stretch of the celebrated Qin Straight Road, one of the most ambitious infrastructure projects in human history. The discovery of the 13km (8-mile) stretch offers fresh evidence of the 2,200-year-old “highway” that once spanned nearly 900km across northern China. It was unveiled on December 9, following a survey launched last year by the Cultural Heritage Protection and Research Institute of Yulin, in northwest China’s Shaanxi province. According to... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3337302/chinese-archaeologists-discover-well-preserved-section-2200-year-old-4-lane-highway?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3337302/chinese-archaeologists-discover-well-preserved-section-2200-year-old-4-lane-highway?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 22 Dec 2025 08:30:12 +0000 Shi Huang Shi Huang China is no longer using American software to run its power grid. The Southern Regional Electricity Market (SREM) – the world’s largest unified power market – has switched fully to Tianquan, a solver developed by Chinese engineers with speeds 14 per cent faster than American products, according to a report by the official Science and Technology Daily. It follows recent reports that the State Grid, Huawei and many other leading Chinese companies have abandoned US solvers. If China no longer needs... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3336893/how-china-cracked-us-super-code-controls-most-power-grids-world?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3336893/how-china-cracked-us-super-code-controls-most-power-grids-world?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 19 Dec 2025 07:02:35 +0000 Shi Huang Shi Huang In a landmark achievement for brain-computer interface (BCI) technology, scientists with the Chinese Academy of Sciences have enabled a paralysed man to control smart wheelchairs, robotic dogs and even perform paid work – all through the power of thought. Announced by the Centre for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology (CEBSIT) this week, the development is the first time an individual with a high-level spinal cord injury has achieved stable, real-world control of multiple... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3336842/chinas-mind-control-robot-tech-breakthrough-brings-elon-musks-telepathy-dream-life?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3336842/chinas-mind-control-robot-tech-breakthrough-brings-elon-musks-telepathy-dream-life?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 18 Dec 2025 12:00:10 +0000 Shi Huang Shi Huang For over a century, the dream of efficiently concentrating low-grade heat into high-temperature industrial energy has been constrained by a stubborn ceiling: 200 degrees Celsius (392 degrees Fahrenheit). Now, a team from China has shattered that temperature limit. Using a revolutionary heat pump with no moving parts, they achieved an output of 270 degrees with a 145-degree heat source to drive the cycle. Developed by a team led by Luo Ercang at the Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry of... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3336593/chinas-ultra-hot-heat-pump-breakthrough-paves-way-melting-ore-sunlight?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3336593/chinas-ultra-hot-heat-pump-breakthrough-paves-way-melting-ore-sunlight?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 16 Dec 2025 08:00:13 +0000 Shi Huang Shi Huang For three decades, Xu Chongyu was Europe’s secret weapon against the rising tides. Working from the University of Oslo, Xu developed hydrological models that helped to guard cities from Copenhagen to Brussels, predicting floods before the first clouds formed. But the climate clock was ticking fast and his homeland needed him, so the Chinese-born scientist decided to leave. A homecoming ceremony was held for Xu on December 3 at North China University of Water Resources and Electric Power (NCWU)... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3336213/flood-expert-xu-chongyu-leaves-europe-china-climate-change-speeds?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3336213/flood-expert-xu-chongyu-leaves-europe-china-climate-change-speeds?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 12 Dec 2025 09:00:09 +0000 Shi Huang Shi Huang Scientists from Northwest A&F University in China have developed an innovative technology to extract and collect boron from seawater. Boron is a lightweight element used as solid fuel in scramjet engines on some advanced Chinese hypersonic weapons. Neodymium-iron-boron rare earth magnets – used extensively in industrial and military applications – have drawn particular attention amid ongoing trade tensions over critical minerals. These high-performance rare-earth magnets not only rely on... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3335618/chinese-scientists-report-way-extract-hypersonic-weapon-fuel-boron-seawater?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3335618/chinese-scientists-report-way-extract-hypersonic-weapon-fuel-boron-seawater?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 08 Dec 2025 14:00:12 +0000 Shi Huang Shi Huang Nigel Slater, former pro-vice-chancellor of the University of Cambridge and a distinguished figure in chemical engineering and biopharmaceuticals, has officially embarked on a new chapter in China’s rapidly rising biomedical frontier. The veteran academic, who spent over three decades shaping science and innovation at Cambridge, has joined Zhejiang University in Hangzhou as part of a strategic move fuelled by both personal ambition and global scientific realignment. For Slater, the journey from... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3335143/cambridge-university-ex-vice-chancellor-nigel-slater-joins-chinas-biotech-revolution?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3335143/cambridge-university-ex-vice-chancellor-nigel-slater-joins-chinas-biotech-revolution?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 06 Dec 2025 12:00:08 +0000 Shi Huang Shi Huang A new Chinese AI system called Wen Dao – billed as the world’s first such model to be designed explicitly for ethical risk detection – has landed in the middle of its first major moral dilemma. Its immediate challenge is to navigate one of 2025’s most explosive social debates: whether the country should automatically seal the records of convicted drug users under the newly revised Public Security Administration Punishments Law. Effective January 1, an amendment to the law known as Article 136... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3335076/worlds-first-ethical-ai-wades-thorny-debate-over-chinas-new-drug-abuse-law?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3335076/worlds-first-ethical-ai-wades-thorny-debate-over-chinas-new-drug-abuse-law?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 04 Dec 2025 09:00:09 +0000 Shi Huang Shi Huang The year was 2015, and New York University professor Debra Laefer sat at her desk in Brooklyn reviewing yet another stack of research papers on remote sensing. As she scanned the authors’ affiliations, she paused – the same journals that once overflowed with names from American universities and Nasa labs had begun to publish discoveries from Beijing, Wuhan and Shanghai. Over the next few years, the drips became a wave – and then a tsunami. Back in the 1990s, the United States dominated remote... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3333093/88-9-stark-data-shows-us-decline-chinas-rise-remote-sensing-research?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3333093/88-9-stark-data-shows-us-decline-chinas-rise-remote-sensing-research?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 17 Nov 2025 22:00:10 +0000 Shi Huang Shi Huang Few women in Chinese history have been as scorned – or as misunderstood – as Bao Si. For nearly three millennia, the queen has been remembered not as a person, but as a symbol: the beautiful femme fatale whose cold heart and unparalleled beauty brought down a dynasty. According to legend, Bao Si was a queen so aloof she never smiled. Desperate to amuse her, King You of the Western Zhou Dynasty (about 1046-771 BC) is said to have played a deadly prank: he lit the kingdom’s sacred beacon fires –... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3332716/chinas-queen-bao-si-was-blamed-thousands-years-science-has-cleared-her-name?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3332716/chinas-queen-bao-si-was-blamed-thousands-years-science-has-cleared-her-name?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 17 Nov 2025 02:00:17 +0000 Shi Huang Shi Huang In the 1960s, mathematician Hillel Furstenberg proposed a conjecture: that a number cannot appear “simple and highly regular” under two “independent” rulers simultaneously. Put simply, if a number is written in a binary system – using only two digits or elements to represent a quantity – its sequence is relatively regular and simple. In contrast, when rewriting that number in ternary – using three elements as its base – its sequence will almost certainly become relatively more complex and... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3332443/rising-star-mathematician-wu-meng-returns-china-finland?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3332443/rising-star-mathematician-wu-meng-returns-china-finland?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 12 Nov 2025 06:15:28 +0000 Shi Huang Shi Huang Lin Wenbin, one of the founders and leading lights in the cutting edge field of metal-organic frameworks (MOF) – an area of chemistry recognised this year with a Nobel Prize – has left the United States for China. The internationally renowned molecular materials chemist and chemical biologist confirmed on Friday that he had retired early from the University of Chicago and joined Westlake University in Hangzhou, eastern China. Westlake University said earlier that Lin was now a full-time chair... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3332162/world-leading-cancer-drug-scientist-lin-wenbin-joins-chinas-westlake-university?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3332162/world-leading-cancer-drug-scientist-lin-wenbin-joins-chinas-westlake-university?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 10 Nov 2025 10:00:18 +0000 Shi Huang Shi Huang Fang Lei, a long-time professor with Texas A&M University’s chemistry department, has returned to China to join the cutting-edge Yongjiang Laboratory, a state-backed research centre that has drawn a cumulative investment of more than 26 billion yuan (US$3.65 billion) in less than four years. Fang built a distinguished career in the United States over nearly two decades, rising to be deputy head of the chemistry department at Texas A&M. He resigned from the university earlier this year to assume... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3331924/texas-am-deputy-chemistry-chair-fang-lei-joins-us3-billion-chinese-lab?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3331924/texas-am-deputy-chemistry-chair-fang-lei-joins-us3-billion-chinese-lab?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 07 Nov 2025 13:00:09 +0000