China News Service, Beijing, February 28 (Reporter Sun Zifa) The High-tech Research and Development Center (Basic Research Management Center) of the Ministry of Science and Technology of China released in Beijing on the 28th the top ten scientific progress in China in 2021, including 10 projects such as Mars exploration and the Chinese space station Selected from 310 scientific advances recommended by professional journals.
The ten major advances in Chinese science in 2021 announced by the latest selection are:
——The Tianwen-1 probe of the Mars exploration mission successfully landed on Mars.
In May 2021, the Tianwen-1 probe successfully landed on the pre-selected landing area in the southern part of the Utopia Plain on Mars. China's first Mars exploration mission landed on Mars successfully.
The task adopts the four-stage series deceleration technology route of "aerodynamic deceleration - parachute deceleration - power deceleration - landing buffer", establishes a design iterative improvement process and a multi-disciplinary comprehensive optimization method, and improves the system's ability to cope with fault conditions and entry conditions. Safe landing capability.
The landing of the Tianwen-1 probe on Mars is the first time China has landed on an extraterrestrial planet, taking an important step in China's interstellar exploration journey, realizing the leap from the Earth-Moon system to the interplanetary system, and leaving the Chinese imprint on Mars for the first time. Making China the second country to successfully land on Mars is another milestone in the development of China's aerospace industry.
China's top ten scientific progress in 2021 2: Simulation renderings of China's space station.
Photo courtesy of the High-tech Research and Development Center (Basic Research Management Center) of the Ministry of Science and Technology
——The Tianhe core module of the Chinese space station was successfully launched, and the Shenzhou 12 and 13 manned spacecraft were successfully launched and successfully docked with the Tianhe core module.
On April 29, 2021, the Tianhe core module of the Chinese space station was launched from the Wenchang Space Launch Site in Hainan, and entered the predetermined orbit accurately. The mission was a success.
The successful launch of the Tianhe core module marks that the construction of China's space station has entered the stage of full implementation, laying a solid foundation for the follow-up missions.
On June 17, the Shenzhou 12 manned spacecraft was successfully launched and successfully docked with the Tianhe core module, successfully sending the three astronauts Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo into space. This is the launch of the Tianhe core module into orbit. After the first rendezvous and docking with a manned spacecraft.
China's manned spaceflight has normalized space travel, and China has officially entered the space station era.
On October 16, the Shenzhou 13 manned spacecraft was successfully launched, and successfully docked at the radial port of the Tianhe core module using the independent rapid rendezvous and docking mode, and successfully sent three astronauts Zhai Zhigang, Wang Yaping and Ye Guangfu into space.
China's top ten scientific progress in 2021 3: Synthetic pathway of artificial starch.
Photo courtesy of the High-tech Research and Development Center (Basic Research Management Center) of the Ministry of Science and Technology
- Synthesis from carbon dioxide to starch.
Starch is the most important component of food and an important industrial raw material.
reported an artificial starch synthesis pathway (ASAP) consisting of 11-step core reactions, which coupled chemical catalysis and biocatalysis reactions, and realized in the laboratory from carbon dioxide and hydrogen to Artificial total synthesis of starch molecules.
By designing an unnatural pathway from carbon dioxide to starch synthesis from scratch, using modular reaction adaptation and protein engineering methods, the problems of computer pathway thermodynamic matching, metabolic flow balance and by-product suppression are solved, and artificial pathway assembly and cascade reaction evolution are overcome. etc. problems.
Driven by hydrogen, ASAP converts carbon dioxide into starch molecules at a rate of 22 nmol carbon units per milligram of catalyst per minute, which is 8.5 times higher than that of corn starch synthesis; the theoretical energy conversion efficiency of ASAP starch synthesis is 7%, which is 3.5 times that of corn and other crops. times, and can realize the controllable synthesis of linear and amylopectin.
This achievement does not rely on plant photosynthesis, and realizes the artificial total synthesis of carbon dioxide to starch.
Top 10 Scientific Progresses in China in 2021 4: Microscopic images of Chang'e 5 lunar soil samples (basalt cuttings).
Photo courtesy of the High-tech Research and Development Center (Basic Research Management Center) of the Ministry of Science and Technology
——Chang'e-5 lunar samples reveal the mystery of lunar evolution.
Li Xianhua, Yang Wei, Hu Sen, Lin Yangting, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Li Chunlai, National Astronomical Observatory of Chinese Academy of Sciences, etc. used the ultra-high spatial resolution dating and isotope analysis techniques established over the past decade to analyze Chang'e Five The lunar sample basalt was used for precise chronology, rock geochemistry and magmatic water content studies.
The results show that the Chang'e-5 basalt was formed in 2.030±0.04 billion years, confirming that the volcanic activity of the moon could last until 2 billion years ago, which is about 800 million years longer than the volcanic activity limited by previous lunar samples.
This result provides a key anchor point for impact crater dating, which will greatly improve the accuracy of impact crater dating on the surfaces of inner solar system stars.
The study also revealed that the lunar mantle source region of the Chang'e-5 basalt is not rich in radioactive heat-generating elements and water, excluding radioactive elements to provide heat sources, or rich in water to lower the melting point. propose new directions.
China's top ten scientific progress in 2021 5: The replication correction mechanism of the new coronavirus "trans retrospective".
Photo courtesy of the High-tech Research and Development Center (Basic Research Management Center) of the Ministry of Science and Technology
- Revealing the mechanism of the new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) escaping antiviral drugs.
The emerging new coronavirus mutants pose serious challenges to the current antiviral methods such as vaccines and neutralizing antibodies. There is an urgent need to develop broad-spectrum drugs that can effectively deal with various mutant strains.
During the life cycle, a series of transcriptional replication enzymes of the virus assemble into a "transcriptional replication complex" supramolecular machine, which is responsible for the entire process of viral transcriptional replication and is highly conserved among various mutant strains. It is the key to the development of broad-spectrum antiviral drugs core target.
Lou Zhiyong, Rao Zihe of Tsinghua University and Gao Yan of Shanghai University of Science and Technology discovered and reconstructed the virus "capped intermediate complex", "mRNA capped complex" and "mismatch correction complex", and clarified their working mechanism.
Reveal the complete composition of the new coronavirus transcription and replication machinery; discover that the nucleoside transferase domain of viral polymerase is the key enzyme that catalyzes the "cap" maturation of mRNA, and clarifies the synthesis process of the cap structure. Viral drugs provide new targets; it is found that the virus "removes" mismatched bases and antiviral drugs in a "trans backtracking" way, elucidates the molecular mechanism of the poor effect of drugs such as remdesivir, and optimizes the polymerase. Antiviral drugs provide key scientific evidence.
Top 10 scientific progresses in China in 2021 6: Schematic diagram of fast radio storm samples captured by "China Sky Eye" (FAST).
Photo courtesy of the High-tech Research and Development Center (Basic Research Management Center) of the Ministry of Science and Technology
-- "China Sky Eye" (FAST) captures the world's largest sample of fast radio storms.
Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are the brightest bursts in the radio-band universe.
FRB121102 is the first repeating fast radio burst known to mankind. Li Di and others of the National Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences successfully captured the extreme activity period of FRB121102 using the "China Sky Eye" (FAST), and the most intense period reached 122 bursts per hour, accumulatively obtained 1652 burst signals with high signal-to-noise ratio constitute the largest collection of FRB burst events at present.
The FAST samples rule out periodic or quasi-periodic bursts of FRB121102 between one millisecond and one hour, strictly limiting the possibility that repeated FRBs originate from a single compact object.
This study shows the complete energy spectrum of FRB for the first time, and deeply reveals the basic physical mechanism of FRB.
2021 Top Ten Scientific Progresses in China 7: Schematic diagram of the integrated assembly of fiber-polymer lithium-ion batteries.
Photo courtesy of the High-tech Research and Development Center (Basic Research Management Center) of the Ministry of Science and Technology
——Achieve the large-scale preparation of high-performance fiber lithium-ion batteries.
How to meet the requirements of highly integrated and flexible development of electronic products by designing new structures (such as creating fiber lithium-ion batteries) is a major challenge in the field of lithium-ion batteries.
Peng Huisheng and Chen Peining of Fudan University found a unique hyperbolic cotangent function relationship between the internal resistance and length of fiber lithium-ion batteries, that is, the internal resistance does not increase with the increase of length, but first decreases and then tends to stabilize.
The fiber lithium-ion battery constructed under the guidance of this theory has excellent and stable electrochemical performance, the energy density is nearly 2 orders of magnitude higher than in the past, and the capacity retention rate exceeds 80% after 100,000 bending times; the world's first fiber established The lithium-ion battery production line realizes its large-scale continuous production; the fiber lithium-ion battery system obtained by weaving and integration has the same electrochemical performance as commercial lithium-ion batteries, and has better stability and safety.
Top 10 Scientific Progress in China in 2021 8: Zu Chongzhi.
Photo courtesy of the High-tech Research and Development Center (Basic Research Management Center) of the Ministry of Science and Technology
——The quantum walk of the programmable two-dimensional 62-bit superconducting processor "Zu Chongzhi".
Quantum walk is a quantum mechanical simulation of classical random walk, and it is a tool to realize quantum simulation, quantum search algorithm and even general quantum computing.
The University of Science and Technology of China Zhu Xiaobo, Pan Jianwei and others realized the expansion of the qubit structure from one-dimensional to two-dimensional by developing a three-dimensional lead technology compatible with planar technology, and designed and fabricated an 8×8 two-dimensional superconductor composed of 62 bits. Quantum array, built the "Zu Chongzhi" quantum computing prototype, and demonstrated high-fidelity single-particle and two-particle continuous-time quantum walks through this device.
Using the high programmability of quantum processors, the precise control of the walking paths of qubit-excited particles is realized, and the Mach-Zehnder interferometer is realized in solid-state quantum chips.
This work is the first published achievement in the field of superconducting quantum computing with more than 60 bits in the world. It verifies the high-precision quantum control capability of medium-scale qubit systems containing noise. Superiority" lays the foundation.
China's top ten scientific progress in 2021 9: Soft robot driving experiment in the Mariana Trench 10,000 meters deep sea.
Photo courtesy of the High-tech Research and Development Center (Basic Research Management Center) of the Ministry of Science and Technology
——The self-powered soft robot successfully challenged the Mariana Trench.
Deep-sea robots and equipment require high-strength metal pressure-resistant housings or pressure compensation systems to protect internal electromechanical systems.
Li Tiefeng et al. from Zhejiang University extracted bionic inspiration from the physiological characteristic of deep-sea lionfish "the head bones are scattered and fused in soft tissues", and revealed the internal mechanism of the destruction and drive failure of soft robot functional devices under extreme pressure conditions in the deep sea; proposed the dispersed integration of hard devices. The method of realizing internal stress regulation of soft substrate, and the method of electric-driven artificial muscle fusion to adapt to the deep-sea low temperature and high pressure environment; establish the system construction method and driving theory of the 10,000-meter deep-sea soft robot.
The self-powered soft robot developed successfully challenged the Mariana Trench, achieved 10,900-meter deep diving and driving, and achieved deep-sea navigation 3,224 meters below the sea level in the South China Sea.
This research greatly reduces the weight and economic cost of deep-sea robots, and promotes the application of soft robots in deep-sea engineering.
Top 10 Scientific Advances in China in 2021 10: Origin of Arctic peregrine falcon migration routes and key genes for long-distance migration.
Photo courtesy of the High-tech Research and Development Center (Basic Research Management Center) of the Ministry of Science and Technology
- Reveal the causes of bird migration routes and key genes for long-distance migration.
"How do migratory organisms discover their migratory routes?" has been a topic of widespread concern in society and academia, and is one of the 125 most challenging scientific questions in the journal Science.
Zhan Xiangjiang and others of the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences spent 12 years using satellite tracking data and genomic information to establish a set of Arctic peregrine falcon migration research systems. They found that peregrine falcons mainly use 5 routes to cross the Eurasian continent, and the western peregrine falcons showed short-term performance. long-distance migration, and long-distance migration in the east.
During the transition from the Last Glacial Maximum to the Holocene, the changes in breeding and wintering sites caused by the retreat of glaciers may be the main historical reasons for the formation of migration routes.
The study also found that peregrine falcons with longer migration distances carry the ADCY8 dominant allele, which is associated with long-term memory formation, suggesting that long-term memory may be an important basis for long-distance migration in birds.
The research combined remote sensing satellite tracking, genomics, neurobiology and other research methods, and clarified the causes and genetic basis of bird migration route changes through multidisciplinary integrated analysis methods.
The selection activity of the top ten scientific advances in China is led and sponsored by the High-tech Research and Development Center (Basic Research Management Center) of the Ministry of Science and Technology, and has been successfully held for 17 sessions so far. Dedication, carry out the popularization of basic research science, promote public understanding, care and support for basic research, and create a good scientific atmosphere in the whole society.
The selection process of the top ten scientific advances in China is divided into three parts: recommendation, primary selection and final selection.
In 2021, 5 editorial departments including "China Basic Science", "Science and Technology Herald", "Proceedings of the Chinese Academy of Sciences", "China Science Foundation" and "Science Bulletin" recommended a total of 310 scientific research progresses. Research results officially published or completed between December 1, 2020 and November 30, 2021.
In December 2021, experts at the 2021 Preliminary Selection Meeting of the Top Ten Scientific Advances in China will organize experts to select 30 advances from the 310 recommended scientific advances for the final selection.
In the final selection, more than 3,500 members including academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Engineering, directors of state key laboratories, members of the general expert group and project leaders of key special projects of the national key R&D plan, experts from the original 973 plan advisory group and advisory group, and chief scientists of the project were invited. A well-known expert and scholar conducted an online vote on 30 candidate scientific advances, and the top 10 with the most votes were selected as the "Top Ten Advances in Chinese Science in 2021".
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