China's Recent Scientific Innovations

[Martian]

On another forum, someone asked me about China's recent scientific innovations. Here are a few notable Chinese innovations that come to mind. I have posted my reply here for those that are interested in China's scientific advancements.

China's recent scientific innovations include:

Artemisinin - Winner of the 2015 Nobel Prize in Medicine. China's artemisinin has saved millions of lives from malaria (especially in Africa and Southeast Asia or other tropical locale).

China (Sunway TaihuLight) owns the current world record for the fastest supercomputer, which is three times faster than America's fastest supercomputer (Titan). The Chinese interconnect software and CPU are indigenous. The Chinese supercomputer is distinguished by low power consumption per petaflop calculation.

China conducted an experiment and proved that superconductivity can occur in an one-atom thick material. Prior to China's experiment, western scientists had believed that two or more atoms of thickness were necessary for superconductivity. (See citation below from Nature Physics).

China cloned the world's first rabbit.

China owns about 1,000 patents for the world's fastest high-speed trains that travel 350 kilometers per hour.

China displayed the world's first picture of a hydrogen-bond, which is fundamental to chemistry. (See citation below)

China has the world's only published mathematical proof that the universe appeared from nothing due to quantum mechanics.

China discovered the Structural Basis of Pre-mRNA Splicing. (See citation below)
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Let's review the list of Chinese innovations:

Artemisinin - medicine
Supercomputer - computing
Superconductivity - physics
Cloned rabbit - cloning genetics
High-speed rail (350km/hr) - engineering
World's first hydrogen-bond picture - chemistry
Mathematical proof of existence of our universe from quantum mechanics - theoretical physics
Discovering structural basis of pre-mRNA splicing - biology

In my view, China has plenty of notable recent scientific innovations.
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Superconductivity in one-atomic-layer metal films grown on Si(111) | Nature Physics

"Although superconductivity has been observed in ultrathin metal films down to a few layers, it is still not known whether a single layer of ordered metal atoms, which represents the ultimate 2D limit of a crystalline film, could be superconducting. Here we report scanning tunnelling microscopy measurements on single atomic layers of Pb and In grown epitaxially on Si(111) substrate, and demonstrate unambiguously that superconductivity does exist at such a 2D extreme."

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The Very First Image of a Hydrogen Bond

The Very First Image of a Hydrogen Bond | Gizmodo

"Using a technique called high-resolution atomic force microscopy (AFM), researchers in China have visualized the molecular structure of a hydrogen bond.
...
Hydrogen bonds are incredibly useful and they're all over nature. Most famously, they're responsible for holding the two strands of the double helix of DNA together. They also give water its unique properties. Chemists describe a hydrogen bond as the attractive force between the hydrogen attached to an electronegative atom of one molecule and an electronegative atom of a different molecule."

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Chinese Scientists Discover Structural Basis of Pre-mRNA Splicing

Chinese Scientists Discover Structural Basis of Pre-mRNA Splicing | Slashdot

"On August 21st, the research team led by Prof. Yigong Shi from School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University in China published two side-by-side research articles in Science, reporting the long-sought-after structure of a yeast spliceosome at 3.6 angstrom resolution determined by single particle cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), and the molecular mechanism of pre-messenger RNA splicing. Until now, decades of genetic and biochemical experiments have identified almost all proteins in spliceosome and uncovered some functions. Yet, the structure remained a mystery for a long time. The works, primarily performed by Dr. Chuangye Yan, and Ph.D students Jing Hang and Ruixue Wan under Prof. Yigong Shi's supervision, settled this Holy Grail question and established the structural basis for the related area. This work was supported by funds from the Ministry of Science and Technology and the National Natural Science Foundation of China."

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Structural basis of pre-mRNA splicing | Science

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Prof. Yigong Shi’s group reported the structure of yeast spliceosome and the splicing mechanism in two Science articles | Tsinghua University News

 

[Bornubus]

Chinese GaN (gallium nitride) development from an ongoing national science exhibition in Beijing....Institute 14 and 55 of the CETC group produce military chipsets for the Chinese army, some of them in GaN technology.
First time it is shown that GaN is in service with PLA branches

 

[Martian]

Here is my complete list of China's Top 10 Recent Scientific Innovations.

1. Artemisinin saved millions of lives from malaria - medicine
2. World's fastest Sunway TaihuLight supercomputer (93 Petaflops, indigenous interconnect software and CPUs) - computing
3. World's first One Atom Superconductivity - physics
4. World's first cloned rabbit - cloning genetics
5. World's fastest High-Speed Rail (350km/hr) - engineering
6. World's first hydrogen-bond picture - chemistry
7. World's first and only Mathematical proof of existence of our universe from quantum mechanics - theoretical physics
8. Discovering structural basis of pre-mRNA splicing - biology
9. Novel innovation of using HXMT satellite X-ray detectors as Gamma Ray detectors - astronomy (See citation below)
10. Chinese Professor Xiaoyun Wang has cracked the SHA-0, SHA-1, MD5, and other important encryption technologies and hash functions that are used in banking - cryptography (See citation below)
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China's HXMT (also known as "Insight") X-ray space telescope consists of three different X-ray detectors.

"Insight can be regarded as a small observatory in space, as it carries a trio of detectors -- the high energy X-ray telescope (HE), the medium energy X-ray telescope (ME) and the low energy X-ray telescope (LE) -- that cover a broad energy band from 1 keV to 250 keV, said Lu Fangjun, chief designer of the payload." (quote from Xinhua citation below)

More surprisingly, China's HXMT satellite is also a Gamma Ray detector.

"According to Zhang Shuangnan, HXMT lead scientist, the satellite's developers found that a set of HXMT high-energy detectors, originally designed to shield background noises caused by unwanted X-ray photons, especially those from behind the telescope, could be adjusted to observe gamma-ray bursts.

The creative new function pushes the satellite's observation band up to 3 MeV and will get a very good energy spectrum, Zhang said." (quote from Xinhua citation below)

China launches space telescope to search for black holes, pulsars | Xinhua

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Xiaoyun Wang | InfoSec

"Xiaoyun Wang made contributions to cryptology and cryptologic mathematics. She gave the collision attack on the world widely used hash function standards MD5 and SHA-1, subkey recovery attack on Message Authentication Codes ALPHA-MAC, MD5-MAC and PELICAN, also gave the distinguishing attack on HMAC-MD5. There are 4 papers awarded the Best Paper, including CRYPTO 2005 and EUROCRYPT 2005 best papers. Her joint paper with Hongbo Yu 'How to Break MD5 and other Hash Functions' was given Thomson Reuters Research Fronts Award 2008."

 

[Martian]

I want to clarify the description of China's achievement in superconductivity. It was conducted in a one-atom-thickness material.

Here is my complete list of China's Top 10 Recent Scientific Innovations.

1. Artemisinin saved millions of lives from malaria - medicine
2. World's fastest Sunway TaihuLight supercomputer (93 Petaflops, indigenous interconnect software and CPUs) - computing
3. World's first One Atom Material Thickness Superconductivity - physics
4. World's first cloned rabbit - cloning genetics
5. World's fastest High-Speed Rail (350km/hr) - engineering
6. World's first hydrogen-bond picture - chemistry
7. World's first and only Mathematical proof of existence of our universe from quantum mechanics - theoretical physics
8. Discovering structural basis of pre-mRNA splicing - biology
9. Novel innovation of using HXMT satellite X-ray detectors as Gamma Ray detectors - astronomy
10. Chinese Professor Xiaoyun Wang has cracked the SHA-0, SHA-1, MD5, and other important encryption technologies and hash functions that are used in banking - cryptography

 

[Armand2REP]

China has certainly been increasing it's R&D funding but the results it is achieving are not of good quality. Case and point, China spends 75% in biomedical R&D as the US but only holds 1.4% of the value, opposed to 36% for the US. Patents without products are worthless. When you publish as many papers as top 10 nations but do it in your own journals is not meaningful. Same goes for citations. The quality of Chinese research is low and 20 times less cost efficient as legitimate research.

 

[Martian]

China has certainly been increasing it's R&D funding but the results it is achieving are not of good quality. Case and point, China spends 75% in biomedical R&D as the US but only holds 1.4% of the value, opposed to 36% for the US. Patents without products are worthless. When you publish as many papers as top 10 nations but do it in your own journals is not meaningful. Same goes for citations. The quality of Chinese research is low and 20 times less cost efficient as legitimate research.

Your claim is NOT TRUE.

The Nature Index is the best yardstick to measure quality scientific research in different countries. The Nature Index represents the research published in 68 highly-reputable science journals (see citation below in underlined red text).

According to the NATURE INDEX, which is the gold standard for publication of scientific research, China ranks second in the world.

FAQ | Nature Index

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Below is the Nature Index from September 2014 to August 2015.

Country outputs | Nature Index

 

[Martian]

China moves onward into thorium nuclear reactors, 18-ton yield-per-hectare hybrid rice, and nanotechnology.

As we look toward the future of Chinese scientific innovations, a few promising fields stand out.

Firstly, there is the Chinese thorium-based nuclear reactor. China is scheduled to build a 2 MegaWatt thorium research reactor this year. In the future, China expects to have an operational 10 MegaWatt demonstrator thorium reactor by 2025. A 100 MegaWatt pilot thorium reactor should be ready by 2035.

Secondly, in agriculture, China's 50-year hybrid rice program is still setting new records. The latest generation of Chinese hybrid rice yields 18 tons per hectare. This is quite an astonishing achievement. In 1960, China's rice yields were about 2,000 kilograms per hectare (which is about 2 tons per hectare). From 1960 to now, China's latest hybrid rice technology represents a NINE-fold jump in yield per hectare.

Thirdly, China is a leader in the emerging field of nanotechnology (see Xinhua citation below).
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China focus: China aims high in nanotechnology | Xinhua

"Energy nanotechnology and catalytic nanomaterials are the top two fields in which China has made remarkable achievements.
...
This has made energy nanotechnology a promising area, leading Chinese researchers to research batteries and energy storage and conversion, Liu said.

Catalytic nanomaterials research is considered China's most promising area of nanoscience. Nanostructure-based catalysts can speed up chemical reactions and could be useful in chemical industries and oil refining, experts said."

 

[Armand2REP]

Your claim is NOT TRUE.

Of course it is true, China ranks #14 in the impact and productivity of its research despite being the 2nd most published nation. Its citations per document are 1/3rd that of the nations ahead of it with a huge amount of self-citation.

http://www.scimagojr.com/countryrank.php?order=h&ord=desc

 

[Martian]

Of course it is true, China ranks #14 in the impact and productivity of its research despite being the 2nd most published nation. Its citations per document are 1/3rd that of the nations ahead of it with a huge amount of self-citation.

http://www.scimagojr.com/countryrank.php?order=h&ord=desc

Your citation is wrong for two reasons.

Firstly, the time period is from 1996 til 2016. That's ridiculous. Averaging data from twenty years ago distorts China's current position in science research. A more accurate picture is a time period for the last three years. At most, it should only be the last five years.

Taking the average over a 20 year period for science publication impact is absurd. Today's China has no resemblance to the China from 20 years ago. China's nominal GDP is about 10 times larger today than it was 20 years ago. This means China's science budge and output is also about 10 times larger than 20 years ago.

Secondly, the measure of "impact" is subjective. There is no consensus on "impact." Thus, your citation is subjective and inaccurate.

However, my citation of the NATURE INDEX for the past year is the most accurate measure of scientific output. NATURE publishes 68 of the most prominent journals in science. NATURE publications are subject to stringent peer-review and widely accepted as the top 1% of all science research. China occupies worldwide rank #2 in NATURE peer-reviewed publications. Hence, China is clearly the world's second most important science researcher.

You need to stop using data from 20 years ago. I want to discuss China's position in science today, not from 20 years ago.

 

[Armand2REP]

It is the same for 2016... http://www.scimagojr.com/countryrank.php?order=h&ord=desc&year=2016

 

[Martian]

It is the same for 2016... http://www.scimagojr.com/countryrank.php?order=h&ord=desc&year=2016

There are four serious problems with your little known citation.

1. Your citation does not count quality. It is a mindless quantity count. The NATURE INDEX solves this problem, because any submitted research paper must pass through the peer-review system by experts. If a submitted paper is not ground-breaking, it is rejected and not accepted for review.

The experts conducting the review are the foremost experts in their field. They know what is significant and what is not. Thus, the NATURE INDEX has gate-keepers that conduct an exhaustive review to ensure QUALITY. Also, many submitted papers to NATURE are examined by multiple leading experts in their field. This team effort ensures quality in published NATURE science papers.

For example, China submitted a science paper to NATURE on the "structural basis of Pre-mRNA splicing." Scientists have been researching this problem for 40 years. China reached the holy grail in biology first and solved the problem of Pre-mRNA splicing. NATURE accepted the submitted Chinese paper and after extensive peer-review, it was published as ground-breaking research.

2. The NATURE INDEX uses a "weighted fractional count" (WFC). This eliminates the number of redundant astronomical observations. Observing 100 stars does not significantly increase the base of scientific knowledge of a country. Thus, NATURE's WFC adjusts for the enormous amount of astronomical observations by US and European telescopes and satellites.

Your little know citation does not fix the imbalance caused by astronomical-observation science papers. The NATURE INDEX has solved this problem.

3. The NATURE INDEX is a peer-review process and they are not going to publish a science paper on a fifth high-blood-pressure drug. There is nothing ground-breaking about a me-too heart or cholesterol drug.

Your little known citation is conducting a multiple count of me-too medical drugs and studies. This creates a false impression of real innovative science being conducted by countries.

4. Your little-known citation does not fix the problem of junk science. Many years ago, a Ph.D. student at the University of Pennsylvania wrote a thesis on New England Clam Bakes. Her paper received many citations and was widely discussed. However, it was junk science.

The NATURE INDEX solves the problem of junk science, because none of its peer-review scientists would ever permit a Clam Bake study to be published in a NATURE journal.

Your little-known citation would rank the Clam Bake study very highly. It was widely cited in the press and in other articles.

In conclusion, little-known citations are ignored for a reason. They are mindless quantitative counts that give incorrect results. As far as I know, the NATURE INDEX is the "gold standard" in measuring quality scientific output in different countries.

 

[Armand2REP]

The quality of research is based on how much other researchers use it. In 2016 China had 440k citations, 283k of them were used by other Chinese publications of dubious repute.

That means only 1/3rd of Chinese citations were used outside of the country. For comparison, 73% of French citations were used outside of the country. That means French research is of high quality, Chinese not so much.

 

[Martian]

The quality of research is based on how much other researchers use it. In 2016 China had 440k citations, 283k of them were used by other Chinese publications of dubious repute.

That means only 1/3rd of Chinese citations were used outside of the country. For comparison, 73% of French citations were used outside of the country. That means French research is of high quality, Chinese not so much.

Citation frequency is merely a function of the language barrier. Chinese is harder to learn and thus the citation level is naturally lower.

French is a common European language. The citation of French papers by other Europeans does not mean it is higher quality than Chinese research. It only means there are few French scientists and it is easier for other Europeans to cite a French paper than a Chinese paper.