Latest news with #ChineseAcademyofSciences'
Metro
4 hours ago
- Science
- Metro
Meet the strange creatures thriving in the darkest depths of the Pacific
Next time you're taking a dip in the ocean, just know some very, very strange things are underneath you. And no, we're not talking about sharks. It's the depths of the ocean, an impenetrably dark and crushing place where, somehow, life thrives. A team of scientists boarded a submersible to the bottom of two trenches in a patch of the northwest Pacific Ocean, between Japan and Alaska. The sub reached a depth of 31,000 feet, three times deeper than where the shipwreck of the Titanic is. They weren't looking for shipwrecks of long-lost treasure; rather, the groovy critters that live so far down that sunbeams can't penetrate. When we think of life at these depths, we end up picturing fearsome, glowing monsters with fishing rod-like appendages that eat almost everything. But what the submersible vessel, Fendouzhe, photographed was a little different. They found fields of frenulate siboglinids, tube worms stretching 30cm tall and just 1mm thick. These crimson worms were seen reaching out with their 'red haemoglobin-filled' tentacles, with white snails perched on top of them, according to a paper published in the journal Nature Wednesday. Crawling over them were white, spiky creatures called macellicephaloides grandicirra, about as big as a light bulb. Clusters of yapping, nine-inch clams and wispy anemones were also photographed in the Kuril-Kamchatka and Aleutian habal trenches. What might look like slivers of half-melted snow were actually microbial mats, dusting dozens of feet of the ocean floor. The hadal trenches can be thought of like an upside-down mountain, where the 'peak' is the edge of one tectonic plate sliding into another. Anything at these depths is constantly being crushed by up to 98 megapascals (MPa), a unit of pressure, or about 140 times the pressure of an elephant standing on you. Rather than lap up the Sun like plants or us with SAD lamps, these floppy worms rely on chemical reactions, called chemosynthesis, to survive. Covering these bottom dwellers are microbes that view the deep sea as an all-you-can-eat buffet, where tasty methane and hydrogen sulphide are burped out of cracks in the Earth's crust. It converts these fumes into organic compounds, including sugars, for the tube worms, clams and the other 'thriving communities' that call the deep sea home to eat, the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Deep Sea Science and Engineering team said. Given how many scientists believe that all terrestrial life sprang out of the depths of the Earth's oceans, the researchers were excited by what they saw, to say the least. They said: 'This groundbreaking discovery not only challenges conventional wisdom about the ability of life to survive at extreme depths but also provides a new perspective on the complex mechanisms of the deep-sea carbon cycle.' Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: I've studied tsunamis for 25 years – here are the deadly warning signs one is on its way MORE: Tsunami warnings still in place after 8.8 magnitude Russian earthquake MORE: Whales eerily become beached hours before earthquake – do they predict them?
Borneo Post
2 days ago
- Science
- Borneo Post
Smart traffic lights safeguard Tibetan antelope migration
A herd of Tibetan antelopes cross a road while vehicles stop to give way upon staff members' instruction at Hol Xil Nature Reserve, northwest China's Qinghai Province, May 27, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhang Long) XINING (July 29): In the early summer, drivers on a stretch of National Highway 109 in the Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of northwest China's Qinghai Province often encounter a unique spectacle: herds of Tibetan antelopes crossing the busy road. In a display of harmony between nature and human activity, vehicles on the highway pull over and wait patiently, creating a temporary pause in traffic flow to allow the animals to pass safely. More recently, a high-tech 'mobile sentry' has joined this harmonious scene. Stationed by the roadside, it is remotely controlled by dedicated staff who adjust its height and angle, zoom in and out, and meticulously record the entire process of the antelopes crossing the road. Every year from May to July, female antelopes from areas such as Sanjiangyuan in Qinghai, Qiangtang in southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region and the Altun Mountains in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region travel hundreds of kilometers to give birth in the heart of the Hoh Xil National Nature Reserve, and many need to cross the iconic National Highway 109. The mobile devices on duty for antelope migration are part of an intelligent management platform for human-wildlife conflict mitigation, which is the result of a key national research and development project. The platform utilizes traffic signals that drivers can understand at a glance, effectively indicating when to proceed or stop, which can minimize the impact of antelope migration on highway traffic and efficiently avoid the risk of collision, said Lian Xinming, head of the project and a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology. 'So far, our project has collected data on 28 groups of antelopes crossing the road during their migration from wintering grounds to breeding grounds,' Lian said. Using video recordings from the mobile devices, researchers analyze the scale and speed of each antelope herd to determine the correlation between the two, providing data support for rapid traffic light response. When the platform detects antelopes approaching the road, it sends an early warning to staff at a nearby protection station, alerting them to direct traffic. Meanwhile, electronic billboards on both sides of the passage display messages such as 'Tibetan antelopes are crossing ahead, please slow down.' Once the last antelope has passed, the platform prompts vehicles to proceed. Lian noted that in situations where some antelopes do not cross the road, only cross halfway or turn back after crossing, the platform also relies on data analysis and AI recognition to rapidly judge the animals' crossing intentions, and to prevent accidents between vehicles and herds. The idea to develop traffic lights for antelope migration in the Hoh Xil National Nature Reserve had been brewing in the minds of scientists for two decades. This file photo taken on July 28, 2023 shows a herd of Tibetan antelopes crossing a road en route to their habitat in Sanjiangyuan area, northwest China's Qinghai Province. (Xinhua/Zhang Hongxiang) Back in June 2004, thanks to the call of the Green River non-governmental environmental organization and support from all sectors of society, China's first traffic lights for wildlife were installed on the Qinghai-Xizang Highway. Yang Xin, who initiated the project, remembers that whenever personnel at the observation point heard a command on their walkie-talkie, they would turn on the traffic lights on both sides of the highway where the antelopes were about to cross. The traffic police would then signal cars to pull over using standard road traffic gestures. Today, with China's advancements in intelligent machinery and other technological fields, those manual traffic lights have been upgraded to a more intelligent system. The management platform is expected to be put into use in 2027. By then, with the help of the smart traffic lights, this lifeline for antelopes migrating to breed and deliver their young will operate more safely and smoothly, Lian said. Under first-class state protection in China, the once-endangered Tibetan antelope is mostly found in Xizang, Qinghai and Xinjiang. The species' population has increased over the past three decades thanks to a ban on illegal hunting and measures implemented to improve habitats. – Xinhua antelopes China fauna traffic lights
The Star
02-07-2025
- Health
- The Star
How does long-term exercise slow ageing? Chinese scientists have an answer
A team of Chinese scientists has found that betaine – a compound naturally occurring in the kidneys during long-term exercise – can slow down the ageing process. By looking at the key molecular pathways that help to reshape the physiology of the human body and delay ageing through exercise, they revealed that betaine acts as a core messenger in this process. It prevents inflammation and the ageing of multiple organs by targeting and inhibiting an enzyme called TBK1. The findings not only shed light on the mechanism behind the anti-ageing effects of exercise, but also suggest possible anti-ageing strategies by simulating exercise, according to the joint team from the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Zoology and Beijing Institute of Genomics. Led by Liu Guanghui and Qu Jing from the zoology institute and Zhang Weiqi from the genomics institute, the researchers reported their findings in the peer-reviewed journal Cell on June 25. Nutrition, exercise, sleep and stress management are widely considered the four pillars of health, including by institutions such as the World Health Organization. Much research has shown that exercise can powerfully influence the ageing process. However, the Chinese researchers noted the fundamental molecular mechanisms between exercise and longevity remained poorly understood, as did other questions such as how various exercise patterns differed in their beneficial effects on health. To solve this puzzle, they launched a study in 2019 to investigate the effects of exercise on health in both mice and humans. By 2023, they had made progress, having systematically analysed the cellular and molecular responses of 14 organ tissues to long-term aerobic exercise in young and aged mice. Building on these findings, the researchers continued their study with human participants. In this phase, 13 healthy male volunteers were recruited. The participants were required to run 5km (3.1 miles) in 40 minutes and then take up long-term regular exercise for 25 days. After that, the researchers collected blood and faecal samples from the participants at various intervals, as well as health examination data. They later used a range of analytical methods, including plasma proteomics analysis, to study the samples and establish a research framework. The six-year research project identified the kidney as 'the key responsive organ' for exercise and found that betaine, its product of metabolism, serves as the core molecular messenger for slowing ageing. Even more significant for real-life applications, the team discovered that supplementing this compound 'can precisely mimic the benefits of long-term exercise', according to the authors. In experiments on aged mice, the team found that oral administration of betaine could extend their healthy lifespan, significantly improving functional indicators such as metabolic capacity, kidney function and motor coordination, while also reducing depressive-like behaviour and improving cognitive function. The team pointed out that betaine's efficacy at low doses and its good safety profile 'offer a potential anti-ageing strategy for the elderly', who are unable to undertake long-term intense exercise. Furthermore, they said the study pioneered a new research paradigm capable of 'translating complex physiological effects into quantifiable, actionable chemical language', opening up a new avenue for future ageing intervention studies. - SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
China builds world-first ocean ‘microscope' with half-mile resolution despite US curbs
Chinese scientists claim to have developed the world's most advanced ocean simulation system, achieving a resolution of 0.6 miles (1 kilometer). This breakthrough sets a new benchmark in global ocean modeling and defies ongoing semiconductor export restrictions imposed by the United States. The new simulation system, named LICOMK++, was created by research teams from the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Atmospheric Physics and the Computer Network Information Centre. It offers unmatched precision in modeling how oceans behave and interact with climate systems. According to China's state news agency Xinhua, the simulator acts like an ocean 'microscope.' It can track detailed processes like ocean eddies and heat transport that were previously impossible to model at this scale. This improvement will drastically improve typhoons, floods, and marine heatwaves forecasting. This innovation reflects China's growing determination to achieve technological independence in critical areas, especially in the face of tight Western tech embargoes. Despite semiconductor import limitations, the team overcame performance barriers in supercomputing using custom algorithms and optimized programming strategies. 'The key to improving the accuracy of climate predictions lies in an ocean simulator,' the researchers explained. But achieving high-resolution simulations requires enormous computational power. Until now, this has been a major challenge in climate science. The LICOMK++ system is the first in the world to simulate global oceans at such a fine scale. With this capability, Chinese scientists can help global agencies refine climate predictions and create more accurate models for coastal planning and disaster response. The ocean plays a vital role in regulating the Earth's climate. It absorbs over 90 percent of the heat generated by global warming and more than 30 percent of carbon dioxide emissions from human activity. Simulating how these processes work is essential for understanding and adapting to climate change. LICOMK++ has already received widespread recognition. It was awarded the top supercomputing application prize at HPC China 2024, a major event hosted by the China Computer Federation. Last year, it was also one of three global finalists for the prestigious Gordon Bell Prize, the leading international award in high-performance computing for scientific advancements. A report from the Chinese research team highlighted that weather agencies using this advanced model would gain access to higher-quality data, which could help improve global and regional predictions of changes in the marine environment. In an article shared on its official social media page last Thursday, the China Meteorological Administration noted that LICOMK++ would also support various public services. These include better planning for coastal disaster mitigation, more effective marine resource management, and improved climate adaptation strategies. This innovation may serve as a turning point for global climate research. By enabling more precise ocean simulations, LICOMK++ promises to boost scientific understanding of the Earth's climate system and offer new tools to combat climate-related economic losses.
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Researchers make breakthrough on experimental device that will get hotter than the sun: 'It provides energy and cooling media'
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Generate Key Takeaways The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor in France is inching closer to completion with the delivery of essential magnetic components from China for its fusion reactor. The Correction Coil In-Cryostat Feeder is the last and most important of many massive components in the reactor's magnetic feeder system, according to Interesting Engineering. The device was developed by the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Plasma Physics, and, according to the institution, it consists of nine sets of half-ring structures measuring approximately 52 feet wide and 10 feet high. Per the news report, ITER is jointly funded by the European Union, China, the United States, Japan, the Republic of Korea, India, and Russia, all working together to unlock nearly unlimited amounts of clean and sustainable energy. Fusion is the process of harvesting energy released when two nuclei in a superheated plasma combine to form a new atomic nucleus. The energy and pressure required to heat the plasma are immense, even exceeding temperatures in our sun, where fusion naturally occurs. Although the success of human-made fusion reactors is still mostly theoretical, scientists are hopeful that this energy source is nearing viability. According to ITER, "Fusion research has increased key fusion plasma performance parameters by a factor of 10,000 over 60 years; research is now less than a factor of 10 away from producing the performance needed for a fusion power plant." The process does not emit harmful pollutants or long-lived radioactive waste and uses Earth-abundant deuterium and tritium as fuel. If successful, fusion reactors could complement solar and wind energy, pushing society further toward its sustainability goals. The ITER magnetic feeder system is known as the "lifeline" of the reactor's magnetic assembly, and Lu Kun, deputy director of ASIPP, explained how crucial it is to the project in a press release from the school. "It provides energy and cooling media to the fusion reactor magnets, sends back critical control signals, and also acts as a discharge channel to safely release stored magnet energy," Kun said. Other fusion reactor projects are making progress with incremental improvements to their design. China's Huanliu-3 reactor employs real-time data tracking to help fine-tune internal processes, while scientists at the UK Atomic Energy Authority successfully produced fusion-grade steel that can withstand the temperatures needed in these reactors. Join our free newsletter for weekly updates on the latest innovations improving our lives and shaping our future, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
