China – Page 5 – Impact Lab

China, Climate Change, Energy, Science & Technology News, Solar Energy

The future of energy is being shaped in Asia

January 5, 2020

China now accounts for almost three-quarters of global solar panel production.

A Frenchman is credited with being the first to discover the photovoltaic effect that produces electricity from sunlight. The first solar panel was built in the US. But when Abu Dhabi decided to build the world’s largest individual solar power project, they looked east for help.

The country partnered with Chinese and Japanese companies to construct a facility, which opened this year, with a peak capacity of 1.18 gigawatts generated by 3.2 million solar panels. That’s because Asia, more than any other region on the planet, and China, more than any other nation, currently represent the future of solar energy, and are at the heart of the ensuing industrywide transformation from fossil fuels to renewable and nuclear energy.

Continue reading… “The future of energy is being shaped in Asia”

China, communication, cutting edge, Science & Technology News, security

Chinese scientists develop portable quantum satellite communication device

January 3, 2020

Weighing in at just 80kg, the machine can connect to China’s quantum satellite and receive encryption keys in the form of entangled light particles

Breakthrough was made by team at University of Science and Technology of China

Chinese scientists have developed a quantum satellite ground station that is not only capable of sending ultra-secure messages anywhere in the world but also fits inside a family car.

The mobile device, developed by the University of Science and Technology of China, weighs about 80kg (176lbs). With the addition of a 28cm (11 inch) telescope, it can connect to the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ quantum satellite known as Mozi, and receive encryption keys in the form of entangled light particles.

Unlike traditional encryption methods based on mathematics, quantum encryption is protected by the fundamental law of physics. In theory, all information scrambled by encryption algorithms can be cracked by a computer if it is fast enough, but quantum key communication will remain intact because any attempt to eavesdrop will cause a physical change in the message and trigger a security alert to the sender or receiver.

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China, drones, Record Breaker, Science & Technology News

Chinese scientists create ‘game-changer’ methanol battery that keeps drone in the air for 12 hours

December 26, 2019

Developers of FY-36 say they overcame ‘tons of problems’ to create alcohol-fuelled battery that allows 15kg (33lb)6 drone to fly for up to 12 hours

With 15 test flights under their belt, Chinese team achieve methanol-powered flight before German company

Scientists working on a drone development programme created a “game-changing” methanol-powered fuel system that kept their UAV in the air for 12 hours.

It took them more than two years to get the FY-36 unmanned aerial vehicle to the flying prototype stage, said Zhang Wenyu, general manager of Feye UAV Technology, a Tianjin-based drone manufacturer that collaborated with the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in northeastern Liaoning province.

At 15 kilograms (33 pounds), the low-noise FY-36 can be lifted by an adult or transported in a pickup truck, and designers said its hybrid aerodynamic shape – with four vertical propellers – can allow it to cruise at speeds as high as 90km/h, or 56mph.

Continue reading… “Chinese scientists create ‘game-changer’ methanol battery that keeps drone in the air for 12 hours”

China, cutting edge, Science & Technology News

China plans ‘paradise for physicists’ with particle colliders that will test the strongest forces in the universe

December 22, 2019

Guangdong becomes focus as China races the US to build bigger particle accelerators

Scientist says the competition between the two countries will ultimately be for the good of the human race.

Scientists in southern China are planning to create machines that will be used to unravel the mysteries of the building blocks of the universe.

They said two ring-shaped electron-ion colliders – one 2km (1.2 miles) long – will be built in Huizhou, a city in Guangdong province, beginning in 2025 and they will be designed to accelerate electrons to close to the speed of light.

The project – known as the Electron-Ion Collider of China, or EICC – will see electrons being fired at the nuclei of heavy elements such as iron or uranium at high speeds.

Continue reading… “China plans ‘paradise for physicists’ with particle colliders that will test the strongest forces in the universe”

Artificial Intelligence, China, Legal Issues, Science & Technology News

AI judges and verdicts via chat app: the brave new world of China’s digital courts

December 13, 2019

Inside the Hangzhou Internet Court, litigants appear by video chat as an AI judge – complete with on-screen avatar – prompts them to present their cases

A ‘mobile court’ offered on popular Chinese social media platform WeChat has handled more than three million legal cases or other judicial procedures since its launch in March

Artificial-intelligence judges, cyber-courts, and verdicts delivered on chat apps — welcome to China’s brave new world of justice spotlighted by authorities this week.

China is encouraging digitisation to streamline case-handling within its sprawling court system using cyberspace and technologies like blockchain and cloud computing, China’s Supreme People’s Court said in a policy paper.

The efforts include a “mobile court” offered on popular social media platform WeChat that has already handled more than three million legal cases or other judicial procedures since its launch in March, according to the Supreme People’s Court.

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China, communication, Computer Security, government, Science & Technology News

China introduces mandatory face scans for people buying mobile phones

December 6, 2019

The rule came into effect on December 1st, to “protect” Chinese citizens’ rights and security in cyberspace.

Now people buying new mobile phones and phone contracts in China will have to provide a scan of their faces.

The rule came into effect on Sunday, 1 December and is meant to “protect the legitimate rights and interest of citizens in cyberspace,” according to China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

The faces of customers buying new SIM cards must now match their I.D. documents.

It might seem like a step in the right direction along with technological advancement, however, a few privacy concerns have arisen.

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Aviation, China, drones, Science & Technology News

Amazing ‘Ghost plane’ created by 800 drones at air show

November 27, 2019

Eight hundred drones came together to create a ‘ghost plane’ in the sky, in a display reminiscent of Gandalf’s fireworks in the Shire.

Visitors to the 2019 Nanchang Flight Convention were treated to a majestic skyscape of glowing drones, creating what appears to be a propeller plane, an airliner, and a fighter jet.

The spectacular choreography was just one part of the convention, an industry event designed to show off China’s latest developments in aviation, space travel and drone technology.

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Automation, China, drones, Science & Technology News, Weapons

China is selling autonomous killer drones to the Middle East

November 16, 2019

Chinese military contractors have already started to sell dangerous, autonomous killer robots to customers in the Middle East.

For instance, a Chinese company called Ziyan is actively marketing its Blowfish A3 — an autonomous helicopter-like drone armed with a machine gun — to international buyers, according to Defense One. While several countries have been working towards this tech for years, this news means we’re finally, and unfortunately, living in the era of killer robots.

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Automation, China, Driverless vehicles, Science & Technology News, Transportation

Baidu wins China’s first commercial license for self-driving buses

October 23, 2019

A self-driving bus with Baidu’s Apollo autonomous driving open platform is displayed at the 2018 Baidu World conference. © Reuters

City of Wuhan also picks two other operators for network using Huawei 5G

CHONGQING — Chinese search engine giant Baidu is among three companies to win a license from the city of Wuhan to operate a commercial transportation service using self-driving vehicles, in a first for China.

Authorities hail the move as the start of the world’s first 5G-based driverless commercial service.

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Automation, Automobiles, China, Science & Technology News, Transportation

Self-driving taxis roll out in Shanghai

October 22, 2019

A man holds a door to a Didi self-driving car during last month’s World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai. Picture: REUTERS

Ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing plans to start using self-driving vehicles to pick up passengers in Shanghai and hopes to expand the scheme outside China by 2021.

Local authorities in Shanghai last week issued licences — the first in China — for operational tests of smart and connected cars with passengers in them, that would pave the way for commercial robotaxis in the future.

The licences were given to car-hailing ride service Didi Chuxing as well as to car manufacturer SAIC Motor and BMW that allow them to conduct autonomous driving projects in real urban scenarios.

Each of the three companies are permitted to run 50 vehicles for pilot programs including robotaxis, unmanned deliveries and other autonomous driving services. The licence holders can increase the number of test vehicles after six months if there are no traffic violations.

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China, government, Internet, Science & Technology News

Chinese citizens will soon need to scan their face before they can access internet services or get a new phone number

October 17, 2019

: A display shows a facial recognition system during the 1st Digital China Summit at Strait International Conference and Exhibition Center on April 22, 2018 in Fuzhou, China. The summit is held from April 22 to 24, with the theme of ‘Let Informatization Drive Modernization, Speed Up the Construction of Digital China’. Visual China Group via Getty Images/Visual China Group via Getty Images

China’s 854 million internet users will soon need to use facial identification in order to apply for new internet or mobile services.

The Chinese government announced last month that telecommunications companies will need to scan users’ faces in order to verify their identities before they can access new services.

The new rule will apply from December 1.

Continue reading… “Chinese citizens will soon need to scan their face before they can access internet services or get a new phone number”

China, government, Science & Technology News, Travel

How selling citizenship is now big business

October 16, 2019

Buying and selling citizenship is now a global industry worth an estimated $25bn a year

You can be born into it, you can earn it, and you can lose it. Increasingly, you can also invest your way into it.

The “it” is citizenship of a particular country, and it is a more fluid concept than ever before. Go back 50 years, and it was uncommon for countries to allow dual citizenship, but it is now almost universal.

More than half of the world’s nations now have citizenship-through-investment programmes. According to one expert, Swiss lawyer Christian Kalin, it is now a global industry worth $25bn (£20bn) a year.

Mr Kalin, who has been dubbed “Mr Passport”, is the chairman of Henley & Partners, one of the world’s biggest players in this rapidly growing market. His global business helps wealthy individuals and their families acquire residency or citizenship in other countries.

He says that our traditional notions of citizenship are “outdated”. “This is one of the few things left in the world that is tied to blood lines, or where you are born,” he says. He argues that a rethink is very much due.

Continue reading… “How selling citizenship is now big business”