China – Page 4 – Impact Lab

China, Inventions, Science & Technology News, Trending

In a first, China knocks U.S. from top spot in global patent race

April 20, 2020

The headquarter of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is pictured in Geneva, Switzerland

GENEVA (Reuters) – China was the biggest source of applications for international patents in the world last year, pushing the United States out of the top spot it has held since the global system was set up more than 40 years ago, the U.N. patent agency said on Tuesday.

The World Intellectual Property Organization, which oversees a system for countries to share recognition of patents, said 58,990 applications were filed from China last year, beating out the United States which filed 57,840.

China’s figure was a 200-fold increase in just 20 years, it said. The United States had filed the most applications in the world every year since the Patent Cooperation Treaty system was set up in 1978.

More than half of patent applications – 52.4 % – now come from Asia, with Japan ranking third, followed by Germany and South Korea.

Ownership of patents is widely seen as an important sign of a country’s economic strength and industrial know-how.

Continue reading… “In a first, China knocks U.S. from top spot in global patent race”

China, Food, Legal Issues, Science & Technology News

Shenzhen becomes first Chinese city to ban consumption of cats and dogs

April 17, 2020

(CNN)Shenzhen, in southeastern China, has become the first city in the country to ban the consumption of cats and dogs, the government announced Thursday.

Under new rules which will come into effect May 1, the government said it will be illegal to eat animals raised as pets.

In February, following the coronavirus outbreak, China passed a law to ban the consumption of wild animals.

China has made eating wild animals illegal after the coronavirus outbreak. But ending the trade won’t be easy

Now Shenzhen will prohibit the consumption of state-protected wild animals and other terrestrial wild animals taken from the wild, as well as captive-bred and farmed terrestrial wild species.

In addition, the consumption of animals raised as pets, such as cats and dogs will also be banned.

Continue reading… “Shenzhen becomes first Chinese city to ban consumption of cats and dogs”

China, Coronavirus, government, Healthcare, Science & Technology News

AI-powered smart glasses are finding people with coronavirus in China

April 7, 2020

Security officers in China are wearing AI-powered smart glasses to find people with a fever, one of the main symptoms of the coronavirus.

The specs use a thermal imaging camera to measure someone’s temperature from up to 1 metre away.

The glasses were developed by AI startup Rokid, which claims each set can check the temperature of several hundred people in just two minutes, the South China Morning Post reports.

When the devices identify someone with a fever, they send an automatic alert to staff and make a digital record.

Continue reading… “AI-powered smart glasses are finding people with coronavirus in China”

Analysis, China, DNA, Healthcare, Medicine, Science & Technology News

You’re likely to get the Coronavirus

March 4, 2020

Most cases are not life-threatening, which is also what makes the virus a historic challenge to contain.

In May 1997, a 3-year-old boy developed what at first seemed like the common cold. When his symptoms—sore throat, fever, and cough—persisted for six days, he was taken to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Hong Kong. There his cough worsened, and he began gasping for air. Despite intensive care, the boy died.

Puzzled by his rapid deterioration, doctors sent a sample of the boy’s sputum to China’s Department of Health. But the standard testing protocol couldn’t fully identify the virus that had caused the disease. The chief virologist decided to ship some of the sample to colleagues in other countries.

At the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, the boy’s sputum sat for a month, waiting for its turn in a slow process of antibody-matching analysis. The results eventually confirmed that this was a variant of influenza, the virus that has killed more people than any in history. But this type had never before been seen in humans. It was H5N1, or “avian flu,” discovered two decades prior, but known only to infect birds.

By then, it was August. Scientists sent distress signals around the world. The Chinese government swiftly killed 1.5 million chickens (over the protests of chicken farmers). Further cases were closely monitored and isolated. By the end of the year there were 18 known cases in humans. Six people died.

This was seen as a successful global response, and the virus was not seen again for years. In part, containment was possible because the disease was so severe: Those who got it became manifestly, extremely ill. H5N1 has a fatality rate of about 60 percent—if you get it, you’re likely to die. Yet since 2003, the virus has killed only 455 people. The much “milder” flu viruses, by contrast, kill fewer than 0.1 percent of people they infect, on average, but are responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths every year.

Continue reading… “You’re likely to get the Coronavirus”

Big Problems, Business, China, Science & Technology News

Millions of Chinese firms face collapse

March 4, 2020

A closed Apple store in China

Brigita, a director at one of China’s largest car dealers, is running out of options. Her firm’s 100 outlets have been closed for about a month because of the coronavirus, cash reserves are dwindling and banks are reluctant to extend deadlines on billions of yuan in debt coming due over the next few months. There are also other creditors to think about.

“If we can’t pay back the bonds, it will be very, very bad,” said Brigita, whose company has 10,000 employees and sells mid- to high-end car brands such as BMWs. She asked that only her first name be used and that her firm not be identified because she isn’t authorised to speak to the press.

With much of China’s economy still idled as authorities try to contain an epidemic that has infected more than 75,000 people, millions of companies across the country are in a race against the clock to stay afloat.

Continue reading… “Millions of Chinese firms face collapse”

App, China, Healthcare, Science & Technology News

Chinese government rolls out coronavirus ‘close contact detector’ app

February 18, 2020

China has rolled out an app that lets people check whether they have been in close contact with someone infected by the coronavirus.

The “close contact detector,” as BBC puts it, notifies users if they have had exchanges with any individuals who have been confirmed or suspected of carrying the virus. All users need to do is scan a QR code with an app like Alipay or WeChat. People at risk are then advised to stay at home or inform local health authorities.

Once their phone number is linked, users are asked to fill in their name and ID number. The app can then be used to check the status of up to three ID numbers. The app, which was developed in cooperation by the government and the China Electronics Technology Group Corporation, relies on data from from the health and transport authorities.

Although the invasiveness of the software certainly raises questions about the obtrusive surveillance practices within the country, experts believe citizens won’t see the new app as controversial, considering the extent of the epidemic.

Continue reading… “Chinese government rolls out coronavirus ‘close contact detector’ app”

China, Military, Science & Technology News, Weapons

‘Wolf pack attack’: China launches new killer robot ship

January 23, 2020

China’s new killer robot ship that can carry out anti-submarine and anti-ship missions has undergone its first sea trial, according to a Chinese defence industry magazine.

Called the JARI, the unmanned surface vessel is said to be the world’s first USV with multiple roles – anti-submarine, air defence and surface combat – and powerful weaponry.

The prototype was launched in August and was recently photographed during a sea trial, according to a report in the latest issue of Ordnance Industry Science Technology.

It did not give details of when or where the trial took place.

Continue reading… “‘Wolf pack attack’: China launches new killer robot ship”

Automobiles, China, Electric Automobile, Science & Technology News, Tesla

Shanghai-built Tesla popular in China after new tax break

January 23, 2020

Tesla stores across Shanghai have been crowded with customers after a new tax break earlier this month, with most orders coming for the most affordable electric vehicle, the Model 3 sedan built at the city’s Gigafactory.

The Model 3 orders spiked amid a cooling electric vehicle market in China after authorities gave dozens of electric vehicle makers a new tax break which lowers the cost of buying a Tesla in China to less than 300,000 yuan (about 43,745 US dollars).

“We have more customers these days looking for test drives and more information,” said a salesperson in a Tesla store in Shanghai.

Continue reading… “Shanghai-built Tesla popular in China after new tax break”

China, government, Science & Technology News, Space, Space Flight

China plans 39 million-mile race to Mars to catch up with NASA

January 23, 2020

“Mars Base 1” is a Mars simulation center in the Gobi desert.

China is taking its rivalry with the U.S. to another planet.

The Chinese space agency is preparing a mid-year mission to Mars, marking the most ambitious project on an exploration checklist intended to achieve equal footing with NASA and transform the nation’s technological know-how.

Landing the unmanned probe on the red planet would cap President Xi Jinping’s push to make China a superpower in space. The nation already has rovers on the moon, and it’s making bold plans to operate an orbiting space station, establish a lunar base and explore asteroids by the 2030s.

Continue reading… “China plans 39 million-mile race to Mars to catch up with NASA”

China, new technology, Science & Technology News, Space, Space Flight

China makes major breakthrough in space propulsion technology

January 20, 2020

The 20-kW Hall thruster in operation at a laboratory of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation

China has made a major breakthrough in the development of the Hall-effect thruster (HET), an important space propulsion technology.

Researchers from the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) have developed the country’s first HET with an input power of 20 kilowatts that can produce a thrust of one newton, marking a leap for China’s HETs from millinewton level to newton level.

The applications of HETs include control of the orientation and position of orbiting satellites and use as a main propulsion engine for medium-size robotic space vehicles.

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Analysis, Artificial Intelligence, Business, China, new technology, Science & Technology News

Whoever leads in artificial intelligence in 2030 will rule the world until 2100

January 20, 2020

A couple of years ago, Vladimir Putin warned Russians that the country that led in technologies using artificial intelligence will dominate the globe. He was right to be worried. Russia is now a minor player, and the race seems now to be mainly between the United States and China. But don’t count out the European Union just yet; the EU is still a fifth of the world economy, and it has underappreciated strengths. Technological leadership will require big digital investments, rapid business process innovation, and efficient tax and transfer systems. China appears to have the edge in the first, the U.S. in the second, and Western Europe in the third. One out of three won’t do, and even two out three will not be enough; whoever does all three best will dominate the rest.

Continue reading… “Whoever leads in artificial intelligence in 2030 will rule the world until 2100”

Aviation, China, Science & Technology News, Weapons

China’s airborne laser weapon would change dogfighting forever

January 14, 2020

Airborne lasers can be used offensively or defensively.

The Chinese military put out notice it wants airborne laser pods.

The pods could be used offensively or defensively, against aircraft or even missiles.

Airborne lasers, moving at light speed, could end dogfighting as we know it.

China’s military is soliciting would-be suppliers for a new airborne laser weapon. Notices on a government website invited defense contractors to provide information on an airborne laser attack pod. Depending on the level of power, the pod could be used to defend a friendly aircraft from incoming missile threats or destroy enemy aircraft and ground targets. Laser weapons are the next revolution in aerial warfare and could make dogfighting obsolete.

Continue reading… “China’s airborne laser weapon would change dogfighting forever”