Latest news with #electromagnetic
South China Morning Post
4 days ago
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
World's fastest coilgun from China, Covid ‘lab-leak' theory debunked: 7 science highlights
We have put together stories from our coverage on science from the past two weeks to help you stay informed. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing A Chinese electromagnetic coil gun capable of firing at 3,000 rounds per minute – a rate that obliterates traditional firearms and greatly surpasses US commercial models by orders of magnitude – has been captured on video. A state-backed Chinese research team has achieved a breakthrough in developing a hypersonic engine powered by ordinary jet fuel, reigniting global debates over the viability of a technology proposed by US military nearly 70 years ago. Zhou Zhongpeng, a 28-year-old Peking University doctoral dropout turned tech engineer, has deciphered one of mathematics' most cryptic frontiers dubbed the 'alien's language' for its impenetrable 2,000-page framework and extraterrestrial-like notation. Horseshoe bats are the primary host for the ancestor of the viruses behind Covid-19 and the Sars outbreak of 2002-2004. Photo: Handout A landmark international study has offered compelling evidence that the coronavirus that caused the Covid-19 pandemic did not originate in Wuhan, China, challenging US President Donald Trump's laboratory leak theory. After spending 35 years in the United States pioneering research on the neural circuits that govern sleep and executive brain functions of the frontal cortex, neuroscientist Dan Yang has returned to China to join the Shenzhen Medical Academy of Research and Translation (SMART) as a senior principal investigator. Leading Chinese radar expert Li Chunsheng has died at the age of 62. Advertisement An obituary published by his university on Monday said he had 'devoted himself to developing China's aerospace industry'. Chinese researchers have identified the 70-year-old B-52 Stratofortress as posing the most significant threat to China's naval forces and inland targets in the event of a tactical nuclear strike from the US. Photo: AFP A threat assessment by a Chinese research team into the US military's capability of launching a tactical nuclear air strike on China has come up with some unexpected findings.
South China Morning Post
25-05-2025
- Science
- South China Morning Post
PLA scientists reveal tech breakthrough behind world's fastest coilgun
Chinese electromagnetic coil gun capable of firing at 3,000 rounds per minute – a rate that obliterates traditional firearms and greatly surpasses US commercial models by orders of magnitude – has been captured on video. The footage, released by state-owned arms manufacturer China South Industries Group (CSGC) on April 18, has raised eyebrows among military experts as the firing capacity greatly outstrips current weaponry and could redefine future combat. While the CSGC remained tight-lipped about the technology involved, a peer-reviewed paper published on Monday by a team of military scientists offered a hint: the world's first capacitor-free electromagnetic coil gun, powered directly by lithium batteries The breakthrough, detailed in China's Journal of Gun Launch & Control, centres on eliminating the Achilles' heel of electromagnetic weapons – capacitors. Recent footage of the Chinese electromagnetic coil gun, which can fire 3,000 rounds per minute, shows it can shatter car windows and demolish door panels in seconds. Photo: douyin Capacitors are devices that store electrical energy and until now coil guns have relied on that energy for rapid discharge, a process that creates lag times for recharging. This limitation had capped the firing rate of early Chinese prototypes and the US-made GR-1 'Anvil' to 100 rounds per minute.
