Year-end inventory
This year, science and technology create hope
Editor's note
Technological innovation is like a huge engine, pulling the depth and breadth of time and space in 2021.
Looking up at the starry sky, we followed the journey of the stars and the sea, and harvested the fruits in the deep blue deep space: we settled our home in space; we explored our way to Mars; we brought back the moon’s “native specialties” last year Significant research progress has also been ushered in.
Down-to-earth, we understand the development needs of human society and sow hope in the vigorous green earth: use vaccines as a weapon to continue to fight the new crown virus; use "dual carbon" actions to actively respond to global climate change; use the meta-universe as the framework to explore the possibilities of the virtual world sex.
Returning to the basics, we shoulder the mission of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, and sculpt light in the gradual improvement of science and technology policies: strive to achieve "high-level scientific and technological independence and self-reliance"; "action true" to investigate and deal with academic misconduct; to further "relax" scientific researchers" Reduce the burden".
Technology creates hope.
2021 is about to turn over. At the end of the year, we will take stock of the famous science and technology scenes of this year, and embrace it to open the door to the future again.
Technological innovation is like a huge engine, pulling the depth and breadth of time and space in 2021.
Looking up at the starry sky, we followed the journey of the stars and the sea, and harvested the fruits in the deep blue deep space: we settled our home in space; we explored our way to Mars; we brought back the moon’s “native specialties” last year Significant research progress has also been ushered in.
Down-to-earth, we understand the development needs of human society and sow hope in the vigorous green earth: use vaccines as a weapon to continue to fight the new crown virus; use "dual carbon" actions to actively respond to global climate change; use the meta-universe as the framework to explore the possibilities of the virtual world sex.
Returning to the basics, we shoulder the mission of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, and sculpt light in the gradual improvement of science and technology policies: strive to achieve "high-level scientific and technological independence and self-reliance"; "action true" to investigate and deal with academic misconduct; to further "relax" scientific researchers" Reduce the burden".
Technology creates hope.
2021 is about to turn over. At the end of the year, we will take stock of the famous science and technology scenes of this year, and embrace it to open the door to the future again.
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Looking at the stars
The Chinese have a "home" in space
How does an effervescent tablet achieve the fate that attracts worldwide attention?
It can be done in the hands of Chinese astronaut Wang Yaping.
On December 9, Wang Yaping squeezed an unremarkable orange effervescent tablet into the blue water ball floating in the sky and core module at the Chinese space station "Tiangong", which is about 400 kilometers away from the earth, showing the wonders of space. Scientific phenomenon.
"So beautiful!" As the small bubbles of joy in the effervescent film boiled, the blue water ball became more and more like the earth, and the men, women and children watching the live broadcast of "Tiangong Classroom" on the earth also boiled.
Obviously, that is not only because of the fascinating science, but also not only because the live broadcast of the world is not stuck, but also because this is the first time that the Chinese Space Station has conducted space teaching.
In the late 20th century, China requested to join the International Space Station jointly built by many countries, but failed.
As a result, China established its own door.
In 1992, China established a "three-step" strategy for manned spaceflight projects, and the construction of a space station was an important goal among them.
Twenty-nine years later, on April 29, 2021, the successful launch of the China Space Station Sky and Core Module, marking the full launch of the orbital assembly and construction of my country's space station.
The Chinese have a "home" in space.
Compared with the International Space Station, although "Tiangong" started late, it has a high starting point, has Chinese characteristics, is sufficient and easy to use.
This year, six astronauts went to space to "green houses."
On June 17, the Shenzhou 12 flight crew Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming, and Tang Hongbo set off for the space station. The Chinese entered their space home for the first time.
On October 16, the Shenzhou 13 flight crew Zhai Zhigang, Wang Yaping, and Ye Guangfu became the second batch of "residents" in "Tiangong".
Staying at one's own space station is not only about being proud, but also about the future destiny of mankind.
"Tiangong Classroom" presents the real scene of life in the space station. Fresh apples, familiar microwave ovens, and fashionable fitness equipment all give people confidence in the possible future survival in space.
Especially for children, when space exploration is condensed into a class, when space research tools are turned into orange effervescent tablets in their little hands, the future is no longer far away.
The children have reason to believe: let me sail on the stars and the sea.
Mars has footprints in China
Why is the screen of 3 middle-aged men crying while holding their heads?
Because they let a Chinese-developed probe successfully embrace Mars for the first time.
On May 15, my country's first Mars exploration mission, Tianwen-1, successfully landed in the southern part of the Martian Utopia Plain.
After the news was confirmed, Zhang Rongqiao, chief designer of the mission project, Sun Zezhou, chief designer of the Tianwen-1 detector system, and He Rongwei, chief engineer of the detector system, embraced and celebrated with tears in the ground flight control center.
In fact, not only the three of them, but most of the staff present, all cried.
In order to survive, the people on earth are always looking for a new way out.
Some people believe that sooner or later we will immigrate to outer space.
As a planet with many similarities to the Earth, Mars has high hopes.
Is Mars really the future of the earth?
I don't know until I have seen it above.
Before China, the Soviet Union, the United States, Europe, Japan, and India have all tried.
China is also willing and capable of contributing its own wisdom to mankind to understand the universe.
China's first Mars exploration mission started in 2014 and the project was established in 2016. On July 23, 2020, the Tianwen-1 probe was successfully launched. Since then, China has taken the first step in planetary exploration.
But Mars is so far away.
Tianwen-1 travels along the "Horman orbit" towards the vast deep space. It will take more than 7 months to "runaway" before it can be captured by the orbit of Mars.
Moreover, a qualified Mars rover must know how to "grow up alone"-during the process of leaving the orbit to land on Mars, the rover will "disconnect" with the ground for about 7 minutes, and can only "blind landing" on its own.
This is also the key to the success or failure of Mars exploration missions. Most of the Mars probes launched by humans before have been broken by this.
Therefore, Question 1 finally fell into the arms of Mars that day. When the astronauts fulfilled their promise to the motherland, and when the history of human exploration of Mars was successfully rewritten, many people cried.
As Zhang Rongqiao said, these tears are both salty and sweet.
Moon "Extends Life" 800 Million Years Old
Research a handful of soil can make a global sensation?
Yes, if this earth is earth on the moon.
A year ago, Chang'e 5 grabbed a handful of dirt from the moon and returned.
This year there is a sequel to this incident.
Chinese scientists have solved part of the mystery of the "life in old age" on the moon through the lunar samples collected by Chang'e-5.
On October 19, the Institute of Geology and Geophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the National Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences jointly published academic papers on related research in the international academic journal Nature.
Studies have found that the magma activity on the moon has continued until about 2 billion years ago, which means that the moon’s life span is about 800 million years longer than previously speculated.
This conclusion fills the gaps in human understanding of the evolutionary history of the moon's "old age".
The research object of this heavy achievement is a handful of unremarkable black powder.
This pinch of powder is not easy to come by.
The Chang'e lunar exploration project launched by my country in 2004 is divided into three steps: "circumnavigation, fall, and return".
In 2020, Chang'e 5, which landed near Mount Rumke in the northwest of the Lunar Storm Ocean, completed my country's extraterrestrial celestial body recovery mission for the first time and retrieved 1,731 grams of "lunar native products."
Several grams of black lunar soil was placed in a small glass bottle and sent to the Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
It is so light, so light as if there is only the weight of a bottle on your hand, but it is so heavy, because it carries the story of the universe.
Scientists believe that the "soil" of the ocean of storms hides the secret of the "life in old age" on the moon.
They want to add some Chinese breakthroughs to the moon’s history of 3 billion years ago.
Yang Wei, a young researcher who participated in this study, said: “You know, some people born in the 1980s have been developing related technologies since they entered the research institute.
More than 40 people relayed day and night and completed the relevant experimental analysis in 7 days.
In the end, Chinese scientists lived up to expectations and gave mankind a little more understanding of the evolution of the universe.
down to earth
China's fight against the "epidemic" has a temperature
In 2021, mankind will continue to struggle with the new crown pneumonia epidemic.
Eggs, milk, sesame oil, and dried noodles would definitely not be able to think that they could be placed with the new crown vaccine for the rest of their lives.
This year, during China’s humane fight against the "epidemic", scenes such as "vaccinations and egg delivery" did happen.
With the successful development of new crown vaccines in various countries, herd immunity strategies have become possible.
Shao Yiming, a consultant to the World Health Organization's Vaccine Research and Development Committee and a researcher at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, once said that more than 80% of people are vaccinated to build a herd immune barrier.
However, people tend to hesitate in the face of new things.
In order to encourage everyone to get vaccinations, all regions racked their brains, hanging up the red banners of "vaccinate, send eggs" in front of the clinic, and posted the latest notice of "vaccinate, get milk" at the entrance of the corridor.
While giving free health, it also comes with a warmth, which eliminates the sense of distance between ordinary people and high-tech products.
In fact, when we vaccinate and take eggs, on a global scale, the availability and affordability of vaccines are not optimistic.
On January 13, Indonesian President Joko Widodo became the country's first person to be vaccinated against the new crown. The photo of him rolling up his white shirt and injecting the Chinese vaccine was printed on red and blue commemorative stamps.
This is a microcosm of the Chinese people's efforts to narrow the "immunity gap."
On October 1, Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, on behalf of 75 countries called on all countries to strengthen unity and achieve a fair distribution of vaccines.
On December 3, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Zhao Lijian said that China has provided more than 1.85 billion doses of vaccines to more than 120 countries and international organizations, "it is the country that provides the most vaccines to the world."
However, when we and the people of the world are working together to fight the "epidemic", the virus is also frantically fighting back, and mutant strains such as Delta and Omi Keron have spread one after another.
Obviously, on the road to fight against the new crown virus, we must work with science and unite as one to win.
"Carbon reduction" for a better life
In September, the information of "cutting the power cut" in many places was swiped.
Some netizens questioned whether the goal of "dual energy consumption control" was not achieved in the first half of the year, and it was "catch up with work"?
Although some experts believe that this is not the root cause of the power outage, the possible impact of "carbon reduction" on people's lives has still aroused widespread concern.
In the past 100 years, human activities have released huge amounts of greenhouse gases, and the oceans on the earth have absorbed the energy of more than 100 million Hiroshima atomic bombs.
The glacier is heating up.
If all the Antarctic glaciers melted, it would be enough to raise the global sea level by more than 60 meters.
This is just one of the possible consequences of global climate change.
In 2021, China promises to achieve "carbon peak" by 2030, that is, carbon dioxide emissions will reach the highest value in history, and enter the "turning point" from increasing to decreasing; to achieve "carbon neutrality" by 2060, that is, carbon dioxide emissions and absorption are relative Offset to achieve "net zero emissions."
Obviously, "carbon reduction" is to make life better, not to mess up life.
In October, the "Opinions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on the Complete, Accurate and Comprehensive Implementation of the New Development Concept to Do a Good Job in Carbon Peaking and Carbon Neutrality" and the "Carbon Peaking Action Plan by 2030" were successively announced, providing actions for the "dual carbon" goal The guidelines also provide institutional guarantees for preventing sports carbon reduction.
On December 11, Han Wenxiu, the deputy director of the Office of the Central Committee of Finance and Economics in charge of daily work, said that "carbon charge" and sports "carbon reduction" do not meet the requirements of the Party Central Committee.
First hold the technology ticket before you can get on the car of the meta universe
What is the future of the Internet?
The answer given in 2021 is: meta universe.
In the second half of this year, the term "meta universe" became popular all over the world with lightning speed.
People are a little confused, some say "what is meta universe", some say "isn't this what we have been doing", and some say "everything can be meta universe"...
In November, the Shenyang team of the New Media Research Center of the School of Journalism and Communication of Tsinghua University tried to explain the term for the metauniverse in the "Metauniverse Development Research Report 2020-2021" released by it: "Metauniverse" is the integration of multiple new technologies The resulting new Internet applications and social forms that integrate virtual and reality are based on extended reality technology to provide an immersive experience, digital twin technology to generate a mirror image of the real world, and an economic system based on blockchain technology to integrate the virtual world and the real world. Economic systems, social systems, identity systems, etc. are closely integrated and allow users to produce content and edit the world.
However, there is no precise definition of what the meta universe looks like.
Correspondingly, there is no clear sign on the way to the meta-universe.
However, some people believe that the Internet has entered a "transition window period" and regards 2021 as the first year of the meta universe; some people use this concept for capital speculation and even fraud.
What is certain now is that no matter whether the future world is called meta-universe or not, it will be a world based on science and technology.
Technology is the ticket to the future. If you have a ticket, you can decide whether to get on the car of Metaverse. If you don't have a ticket, everything is impossible to talk about.
It is better to focus on the enthusiasm for certain concepts and focus on the research and development of related technologies.
"Squandering flowers are gradually becoming fascinating." Li Zhimin, former director of the Science and Technology Development Center of the Ministry of Education, adhering to a rational and open attitude, commented on the popularity of "Meta Universe": "Any exploration of the future development of mankind should be encouraged. You need to be vigilant about any flicker in name."
Innovation power
High-level technological self-reliance and self-reliance
On May 28, the 20th Academician Conference of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the 15th Academician Conference of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and the 10th National Congress of the Chinese Association for Science and Technology were held in Beijing.
General Secretary Xi Jinping delivered an important speech at the meeting, in which he pointed out that the vast number of scientific and technological workers in our country should shoulder the important tasks entrusted by the times and strive to achieve high-level scientific and technological self-reliance.
Earlier, the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China put forward "Science and technology self-reliance as a strategic support for national development." The May meeting added an attribute to "self-reliance and self-reliance": high level.
At present, technological innovation has become the main battlefield in the international strategic game, and the competition around the commanding heights of science and technology is unprecedentedly fierce.
How to achieve a high level of self-reliance and self-reliance, the conference asked the majority of scientific and technological workers a question.
The conference put forward specific requirements in five aspects: strengthening originality, strengthening national strategic scientific and technological strength, advancing the reform of the scientific and technological system, building an open innovation ecosystem, and stimulating the innovative vitality of various talents.
Among them, "Science and technology research must adhere to the problem-oriented approach, and go to the most urgent and urgent problems." "Strengthen the national strategic scientific and technological capabilities", "liberate scientific research units and researchers from the cumbersome and unnecessary system and mechanism constraints." "Scientific and technical personnel should not be allowed to spend a lot of time on some unnecessary welcoming and sending activities," and other content has caused a strong response in the scientific and technological circle.
At the same time, key core technologies such as petroleum and natural gas, basic raw materials, high-end chips, industrial software, crop seeds, scientific test equipment, chemical preparations, etc. were named and required to "strike hard."
A clear mission statement was sent to people in the scientific and technological circles inside and outside the venue in this way.
It is worth mentioning that strengthening basic research is an inevitable requirement for scientific and technological self-reliance.
If you want to make progress in the above-mentioned areas, the spirit of "a sword in ten years" is indispensable.
The 2020 National Science and Technology Awards announced in November this year showed that the average research time of the winning projects is 11.9 years, and the research time of nearly 40% of the projects is 10-15 years.
In 2021, China's clarion call for marching toward the second centenary goal has been sounded.
If science and technology are established, the nation will be established, and if technology is strong, the country will be strong.
Tianxiangda is a science and technology worker.
Tighten the "tight band" of academic misconduct
Open the websites of the Ministry of Science and Technology and the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and you will find that the list of notifications on academic misconduct in 2021 is significantly longer than in previous years.
This is because the "teeth" of supervision in the scientific and technological field have become increasingly sharp, and academic misconduct has been put under a "tightening curse."
The 2021 National Science and Technology Work Conference held at the beginning of this year released a signal to strengthen the construction of work style, academic style and scientific and technological supervision.
At the meeting, Minister of Science and Technology Wang Zhigang proposed to "build a general supervision pattern and have zero tolerance for scientific research misconduct."
In August, the Ministry of Science and Technology, together with the member units of the Scientific Research Integrity Construction Joint Conference, established a scientific research integrity case notification mechanism to publicly report the investigation and handling results of scientific research integrity cases.
In addition to the intuitive feeling that the frequency of notifications has increased significantly, the intensity of investigations is also impressive.
For example, in the results of the investigation and handling of medical scientific research integrity cases in some education and medical institutions published by the Ministry of Science and Technology on December 17, some people were revoked from their doctoral degrees, some were removed from their positions as teachers, some were revoked from their positions as associate professors and chief physicians, and some were dismissed. Cancel the qualification of master tutor.
The academic circle is hotly discussing, investigating and punishing academic misconduct, "it's true."
In fact, the announcement is intended to serve as a warning and education, guiding the vast number of scientific researchers to consciously abide by the bottom line of integrity, adhere to academic ethics and scientific research ethics, and practice academic norms.
At the same time, we also need to see that there is still a long way to go to rectify academic malpractices.
The clean soul of academics and the original dignity of scholars also require the concerted efforts of academia to maintain.
Scientific research integrity is the cornerstone of technological innovation.
Insufficient integrity makes innovation impossible, and scientific research is also a work of conscience.
"Relaxation" of scientific research funding and a practical move
"Money for buying soy sauce can be used to make vinegar." This is especially necessary for scientific research that has the characteristics of instant inspiration, random methods, and uncertain paths.
It is also especially necessary to stimulate innovation vitality for scientific researchers to obtain greater benefits.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Party Central Committee and the State Council have issued a series of optimizing scientific research funding management, such as the "Opinions on Further Improving the Policies on the Management of Funds for Scientific Research Projects of the Central Government", and the "Notice on Several Measures for Optimizing Scientific Research Management and Improving Scientific Research Performance". Policy documents and reform measures.
However, in terms of scientific research funding management, there are still problems such as inadequate implementation of policies, high rigidity in project funding management, imperfect funding mechanism, low proportion of indirect costs, and difficulty in funding reimbursement.
The "Several Opinions on Reforming and Improving the Management of Central Financial Research Funds" (hereinafter referred to as the "Several Opinions") issued in August this year has provided unprecedented institutional guarantees for solving these problems.
In response to questions such as "Can the money used to buy soy sauce be used for vinegar" and other issues, the "Several Opinions" proposed to simplify the budget preparation. In addition to the equipment cost of more than 500,000 yuan in the direct costs, only basic calculation instructions are provided for other costs, and no details are required. ; Decentralization of budget adjustment rights, equipment cost budget adjustment rights are all delegated to the project undertaker, all other expense adjustment rights except equipment expenses are delegated to the project leader by the project undertaker; expansion of the implementation scope of the funding contract system, talent categories and foundation Research projects no longer prepare project budgets.
In response to problems such as insufficient incentives for scientific researchers, the "Several Opinions" propose to increase the proportion of indirect costs. Project undertaking units can use all indirect costs for performance expenditures and give preference to teams and individuals with outstanding innovation performance.
Some scientific researchers calculated according to the specific proportion proposed in the document, in the future, "the cost of "persons" in scientific research project funds can reach more than 50%."
It is worth noting that in this document, there is a "parenthesis" after each measure. The brackets clearly indicate who is responsible for implementation.
Only after the “unties” are real, scientific researchers can use their dreams as horses, go lightly, and achieve steady steps on the road to building a technologically powerful country.
China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily reporter Zhang Qian Source: China Youth Daily