Latest news with #UniversityofHongKong
South China Morning Post
a day ago
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
For China to be an education power, Hong Kong universities must stay free
China has laid out its most ambitious education road map to date. The Education Power Construction Plan Outline aims to transform the country into a global education powerhouse by 2035. As the mainland's universities climb up global rankings and research output surges, Hong Kong's role in advancing this vision deserves greater attention. Advertisement Amid rising geopolitical tensions – exacerbated by moves such as US universities cutting ties with select Chinese institutions – Hong Kong's globally connected, academically credible universities stand out. They can serve as platforms for international cooperation that maintain legitimacy in both Chinese and Western contexts. The University of Hong Kong, Chinese University of Hong Kong and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology feature among the world's top 100 . But what sets them apart is their ability to operate bilingually, attract global faculty and forge research partnerships across ideological and geopolitical divides. These capabilities have taken on new importance as governments elsewhere reassess academic collaboration with China. Unlike most mainland institutions, Hong Kong's universities offer familiar legal protections, relatively autonomous governance and robust international networks. This makes them uniquely positioned as credible mediators in scientific, technological and cultural exchanges. China's education strategy emphasises cultivating high-level talent and innovation capacity, especially in strategic sectors like artificial intelligence semiconductors and biotechnology. Hong Kong's institutions are already contributing. HKUST , for instance, plays a key role in robotics and digital technology while HKU advances biomedical research. Advertisement Their partnerships with Hong Kong Science Park and Cyberport create collaboration channels vital to the Greater Bay Area's ambition of becoming a global innovation hub.
Boston Globe
3 days ago
- Science
- Boston Globe
China to launch mission to capture pieces of an unusual asteroid
If Tianwen-2 pulls this off, China will become the third nation — after Japan and the United States — to retrieve pristine material from an asteroid. 'All Chinese planetary scientists are now finger-crossed for this historic mission,' said Yuqi Qian, a lunar geologist at the University of Hong Kong. Advertisement The spacecraft also has a secondary target, an unusual comet that it could study as part of an extended mission. Visiting these objects will help reveal more about the building blocks of the worlds of the inner solar system. And as asteroids can pose an impact risk to Earth, missions to study the structures and mineral makeups of these objects can aid planning to deflect or vaporize them. 'A sample return mission is a gift that keeps on giving,' said Sara Russell, a planetary scientist at London's Natural History Museum. Advertisement While fragments of asteroids reach Earth's surface periodically, they are contaminated and altered when they plummet through the atmosphere. Scientists prefer untouched matter from the source, brought back to study in ultraclean laboratories. 'Sample return missions allow us to pick apart the physical and chemical properties of a body in a level of detail that's not possible with remote observations by telescopes and spacecraft,' said Ashley King, a meteoriticist also at the London museum. China's space agency has executed two successful sample return missions to the moon — in 2020 and 2024. But Tianwen-2 (Tianwen is often translated as 'Questions to Heaven') is China's first foray into asteroid sample return. Kamoʻoalewa, the asteroid it will visit, is somewhat peculiar. As a quasi-satellite earlier known as 2016 HO3, it loops around Earth, but it is not a true moon because it is gravitationally bound to the sun. Recent telescopic observations suggest it is made of the same volcanic matter found on the moon, implying that it is a piece of the lunar surface shorn off by a meteor impact. 'Kamoʻoalewa, therefore, potentially holds key information about the formation and evolution of the Earth-moon system,' King said. However 'its origins remain an open question,' said Benjamin Sharkey, a planetary astronomer at the University of Maryland who made those recent telescopic observations. He said he was excited that Tianwen-2 was going to bring some of the asteroid home for study, which should close the case of Kamoʻoalewa's origins. Kamoʻoalewa can get within 9 million miles of Earth, making it an easy target to reach. But diving down to sample it is risky. 'The sample collection and return are hardest,' Russell said, 'because humans have only a very limited amount of experience in doing both.' Advertisement The asteroid may be only 130 feet across — a small target. Its rapid rotation, about once every 28 minutes, poses additional challenges. 'You need to find ways to either grab the sample without landing or a way to hang on as it spins,' King said. China's spacecraft may try doing both. 'Tianwen-2 will use two methods to collect samples from Kamoʻoalewa,' Qian said. The first is 'Touch and Go,' a method employed by the US and Japanese asteroid missions: The spacecraft briefly makes contact with the object, kicks up the surface using compressed gas or a fired projectile, and captures jettisoned rocks before the spacecraft flees the scene. The second method, 'Anchor and Attach,' has never been tested. Using a series of drills, Tianwen-2 will try to adhere to the asteroid before retrieving both shallow and deeper samples. If Tianwen-2 navigates those dangers and eventually drops its bits of Kamoʻoalewa to Earth, it will then fly to the Comet 311P/PanSTARRS, arriving in the early 2030s to study it remotely. Tianwen-2 is more than just a scientific sleuth. It is also a technological steppingstone for China's ambitious Tianwen-3 mission. Due to launch in 2028, it aims to retrieve rock samples from Mars and return them to Earth. A comparable effort led by the United States to achieve the same goal is facing major hurdles. This article originally appeared in
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
China launches Tianwen-2 asteroid and comet study mission
May 28 (UPI) -- China Wednesday launched its Tianwen-2 space mission to collect asteroid samples and conduct a main-belt comet study. A LongMarch 3B rocket lifted off from Xichang Satellite Launch Center. The Long March 3B Y110 rocket lifted off toward the near-Earth asteroid 469219 Kamo'oalewa and is expected to take a year to reach the asteroid. Asteroid samples are scheduled to return to Earth by 2027 as the mission heads for a rendezvous with the 311P/Pantstarrs comet around 2035. "All Chinese planetary scientists are now finger-crossed for this historic mission," said University of Hong Kong lunar geologist Yuqi Qian in a statement. The Chinese spacecraft will try to collect rocky matter from the asteroid, sending a capsule full of the space rocks back to Earth. China would be the third nation after the United States and Japan to bring back asteroid samples if this mission succeeds. Scientists will be able to carefully analyze the asteroid samples, identifying chemical and physical properties at detail not possible from remote observations alone. The Kamo'oalewa asteroid is a quasi-satellite of Earth a few dozen meters across with very atypical orbital characteristics. It may be piece of the moon put into orbit by some sort of large impact like a meteor. Studying samples from Kamo'oalewa could yield critical information about the formation and evolution of the Earth-moon system. The deep-space mission's onboard gear includes an ejecta analyzer, a radar instrument, and a magnetometer, which will be used to map the asteroid's and comet's microenvironment. Those instruments can map magnetic fields, detect very small dust particles and also analyze subsurface compositions. Tianwen-2 will orbit the 311P/Panstarrs comet in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter in order to collect data that could help learn where Earth's water came from. This is China's second planetary exploration mission. Tianwen-1 launched a Mars orbiter and rover in 2020.
UPI
3 days ago
- Science
- UPI
China launches Tianwen-2 asteroid and comet study mission
China on Wednesday launched its Tianwen-2 space mission to collect asteroid samples and conduct a main-belt comet study. A LongMarch 3B rocket lifted off from Xichang Satellite Launch Center. Photo courtesy Chinese National Space Administration May 28 (UPI) -- China Wednesday launched its Tianwen-2 space mission to collect asteroid samples and conduct a main-belt comet study. A LongMarch 3B rocket lifted off from Xichang Satellite Launch Center. The Long March 3B Y110 rocket lifted off toward the near-Earth asteroid 469219 Kamo'oalewa and is expected to take a year to reach the asteroid. Asteroid samples are scheduled to return to Earth by 2027 as the mission heads for a rendezvous with the 311P/Pantstarrs comet around 2035. "All Chinese planetary scientists are now finger-crossed for this historic mission," said University of Hong Kong lunar geologist Yuqi Qian in a statement. The Chinese spacecraft will try to collect rocky matter from the asteroid, sending a capsule full of the space rocks back to Earth. China would be the third nation after the United States and Japan to bring back asteroid samples if this mission succeeds. Scientists will be able to carefully analyze the asteroid samples, identifying chemical and physical properties at detail not possible from remote observations alone. The Kamo'oalewa asteroid is a quasi-satellite of Earth a few dozen meters across with very atypical orbital characteristics. It may be piece of the moon put into orbit by some sort of large impact like a meteor. Studying samples from Kamo'oalewa could yield critical information about the formation and evolution of the Earth-moon system. The deep-space mission's onboard gear includes an ejecta analyzer, a radar instrument, and a magnetometer, which will be used to map the asteroid's and comet's microenvironment. Those instruments can map magnetic fields, detect very small dust particles and also analyze subsurface compositions. Tianwen-2 will orbit the 311P/Panstarrs comet in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter in order to collect data that could help learn where Earth's water came from. This is China's second planetary exploration mission. Tianwen-1 launched a Mars orbiter and rover in 2020.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Hong Kong universities invite Harvard students 'affected' by Trump crackdown
Three universities in Hong Kong have invited Harvard's international students to join them instead, as the Ivy League school comes under escalating attacks from US President Donald Trump. A US judge last week blocked the administration's shock move to bar foreign students from enrolling at Harvard, but Trump issued a fresh threat Monday, saying he would redirect $3 billion in Harvard grants to trade schools. The University of Hong Kong said it would welcome 'affected' Harvard students, offering them scholarships and accommodation. The invites come as several countries, including China, are rushing to woo students and researchers amid Trump's crackdown on US academia: 'This is a once-in-a-century brain gain opportunity,' an Australian think tank said.
