CAS and CAE Choose 174 New Members

The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has elected 58 new Members, and the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) has chosen 116.

New members are elected every two years by the two academies, and this election lasted 11 months from the beginning of this year. Of the 418 candidates for CAS membership, 137 went into the second round of appraisal.

"The 58 new Members of the CAS come from 14 provinces and municipalities, 18 higher-learning institutions and one military institution, and they will work in five divisions: mathematics and physics, chemistry, biology, earth sciences, and technology sciences," CAS President Lu Yongxiang said at a press conference in Beijing. CAS now has 610 Members, their average age is 69.9.

Also at the conference, CAE President Zhu Guangya said that the average age of the 116 new Members of CAE is 64.5. They are chosen from eight provinces and municipalities, including Hong Kong SAR. The CAE now has 439 Members.

112 Field Stations in Operation

The CAS has established 112 field experimental and observation stations throughout the country. CAS President Lu Yongxiang said at the Academy's Second Fieldwork Conference held in the mid-December. CAS fieldwork involves some 10,000 scientists and 50 institutes.

"We still need fieldwork research to build a foundation for scientific development," Lu said.

Since the first fieldwork conference in 1983, CAS researchers have received more than 40 national science and development prizes. They have carried out fieldwork in the West Pacific, the South China Sea, the South Pole and the North Pole in the past 14 years, blazing the trail for Chinese fieldwork researchers, and staying current with the latest development.

To promote international fieldwork co-operation, CAS applied for $20 million form the World Bank, and earmarked the equivalent of 50 million yuan ($6 million) to establish 29 fieldwork stations during the Eighth Five-Year Plan period (1991-96). These stations are now the main components of the China Ecology Research Network (CERN) and Biodiversity Research and Information Management (BRIM).

Eight teams and 58 individual scientists were honored during the Conference for distinguished achievements.

A Symmetrodont Skeleton Discovered in Liaoning

On November 13, 1997, Prof. Ye Jie, Deputy Director of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP), announced that the most primitive skeleton of known therian mammals in the world had been discovered at Beipiao's Jianshangou of Chaoyang City, Liaoning Province, in northeast China.

The new fossil material is the first known symmetrodont skeleton in the world. It provides a clear picture of this kind of animal. Symmetrodonts, living in the Late Mesozoic about 150 million years to 75 million years ago, comprise an extinct primitive group of therian mammals and represent an important stage in mammalian evolution. Before this discovery, only fragments of jaws and teeth of such animals had been found. On the basis of these fragmentary materials, we knew that these animals existed but had no idea what they looked like or what ecological role they played in a world dominated by dinosaurs. This new find has begun to fill in that gap in the study of mammalian evolution.

The evolution of mammals, including human beings, is a topic of great interest to scientists. IVPP researchers Hu Yaoming, Wang Yuanqing and Li Chuankui, and Dr. Zhexi Luo, visiting researcher of IVPP and Assistant Curator of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, USA, studied the symmetrodont skeleton and published an article in the November 13 issue of Nature, in which they proposed new theories about the morphological anatomy and locomotion of archaic therian mammals, and their relationships to other mammalian groups. The specimen represents a new taxon, which has been named Zhangheotherium quinquecuspidens. The genus was named after Mr. Zhang He who donated the specimen to IVPP.

First Soft X-ray Hologram

Led by Prof. Xu Zhizhan, CAS Member, the research group of nanometer information recording, storage and 3-D computer reconfiguration in the Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, cooperating with the State Key Laboratory of Synchrotron Radiation in Hefei, took the first co-axial soft X-ray hologram and obtained a clear image through computer digital reconfiguration.

Soft X-ray holography is different from normal X-ray photography. The soft X-ray in the "water-window" wave range has a natural contrast enhancing mechanism for biological samples. Combining it with holography, one is able to see clearly the 3-D structure and chemical reactions of molecules on the cyto-level.

The high brightness and short pulse of the X-ray laser will allow scientists to complete the recording of an X-ray hologram before heat damages the biological samples. Thus we can observe the inner structure of the active cells, and we can also see the changing process of their molecular composition. These special characteristics will make X-ray holography one of the most important tool for future biological research. In addition, X-ray holography can provide information about the depth of the material being studies.

Observation of Two Dwarf Novas in Explosion

On August 28, a dwarf nova in explosion was observed in the constellation Cygnus by astronomers of the Beijing Observatory. At the time of the observation its R stellar magnitude was 13.3 and the proto stellar magnitude of the R stellar magnitude in the star catalogue was 19.9. The range of light-variation of the dwarf nova is in the magnitude of 6.6. Recently, the astronomers conducted spectral measurements using the largest 2.16m astro-optical telescope in China. Balmer and HeI absorbing rays were displayed in the spectrum, which is a typical spectrum of dwarf novas in explosion. On September 20, astronomers of the Observatory found another dwarf nova in the constellation Pegasus. Both of the observations have been announced by the International Astronomical Society.

The range of light-variation of dwarf novas is very small, generally below the magnitude of 6, but that of the dwarf nova found on August 28 reaches 6.6, which is rarely seen. Spectral analysis is being conducted on the dwarf nova observed on September 20 at the Beijing Observatory.

Optical Machining Technology Developed into High-Accuracy Numerical Control Stage

The Technological Center of High-Accuracy Optical Non-spherical Numerical Control Machining passed the appraisal of CAS in Changchun. This key project of CAS was undertaken by the State Key Laboratory of Applied Optics.

Researchers successfully developed the high-accuracy optical non-spherical numerical control machining facility FSGJ-1, which can perform milling and forming, fine grinding, polishing and on-line detecting. This state-of-the-art facility simplifies machining techniques, and increases accuracy and efficiency. The facility employs the "CCOS polishing model", a major advance from traditional techniques, which creatively applies fuzzy mathematics to high-accuracy optical non-spherical numerical control machining. They also applied the evaluating method of the working power spectrum intensity of the surface error in CCOS machining, and put forward technological standards to eliminate the residual error on the surface, furnishing solutions to errors due to ripples in CCOS machining.

Now the average root-mean-square value of the big-aperture non-spherical surface processed by this facility is 0.013μm, and the surface roughness is 1nm. Following the USA, France and Russia, China has become a country with the numerical control machining technology of non-spherical optical components with a big aperture and high accuracy.

New Discovery by Yangbajain Array

Since February, 1997, an active galactic nucleus--Mrk501, which is near out Galactic System, has suddenly become the brightest γ-ray emitter observed by the international astronomical field.

The Yangbajain Extensive Air Shower Array(YEASA) in Tibet of China is lucky to be one of the observers and has collected a continuous record of the emitting intensity change with time.

The YEASA was established by the CAS Institute of High Energy Physics in coorperation with the Tokyo Institue of Cosmic Rays, in an effort to study high-energy γ-ray celestial bodies (above 10¹³eV). After careful study of the data from February to July, the Yangbajain research group found that the cosmic rays (above 10¹³eV) from the Mrk501 direction have an obvious net increase after deduction of background signals. This is the first time that people have found a super high-energy γ-ray emitter using extensive air shower array observation methods.

The successful observation shows that the super high-energy γ-way observation equipment of the array has high sensitivity. This is enhanced by the high elevation of Yangbajain, which facilitates watching of high-energy celestial explosions.

Changchun Thermal Shrinkage Listed on the Shanghai Exchange

Changchun Thermal Shrinkage stock has been successfully listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

The Changchun Thermal Shrinkage Co. Ltd., formerly the Thermal Shrinkage Factory of the Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry (founded in 1987), mainly concentrates on research, development, production and sales of thermal-shrinkage materials, polymer materials, electric wire and cable, electrotechnical equipment and non-standard equipment. It also provides related service: installation, construction and technology of radiation machining, and machine spare parts.

The company's leading product is electrical equipment, which occupies 30% of the Chinese market and its fine thermal shrinkage pipes occupy 50% of the Chinese market.

Newly Issued International Universal Top Domain Names at CNNIC

The ChinaNet Information Center (CNNIC) recently obtained the right of accepting the application for seven newly added international universal top domain names.

The seven newly issued top domain names are: firm, store, web, arts, rec, info, and nom. New registration organizations will be authorized to accept the application for these 7 newly issued domain names. CNNIC is a non-profit organization in charge of the management of domain names in China, and provides services for domain name registration for Chinese customers. CNNIC officially acclaimed this right on October 7. Chinese customers can apply for the seven newly issued domain names at CNNIC. Disputes over domain names can thus be solved inside China.

National Engineering Center For Geometrics

The establishment of the National Engineering Center for Geometrics of Remote-Sensing Application Technology was officially announced on October 17. To promote the application and industrialization of remote-sensing technology, the Center will concentrate on the study and production of Global Positioning Systems (GPS) intelligent pilot system, remote-sensing image processing system, software for Global Information System (GIS), medical imaging systems, high-precision GPS pilot system for light aircraft, and electronic maps. The Center is located in the CAS Institute of Remote-Sensing Application, and is open to both Chinese and foreigners.

Briefs

HeLiangHeli Fund-The prize-awarding ceremony for the HeLiangHeLi Fund for the year of 1996 was held in the headquarters of Hang Seng Bank in Hong Kong.

Sixty five scientists from the mainland were awarded prizes. Qian Weichang (mechanist) and Wang Zhongcheng won the Prize of Science and Technology Accomplishment, and 63 other scientists were honored with the Prize of Science and Technology Progress. Up to now, 13 and 173 Chinese scientists from the mainland have won these two prizes respectively.

Hua Luogeng Prize- The prize-awarding ceremony for Hua Luogeng Prize for Mathematics was recently held in Beijing. Prof. Yang Le from the Institute of Mathematics, and Prof. Zhou Yulin from the Institute of Applied Physics and Computing Mathematics, both CAS Members, were award winners.

To commemorate Hua Luogeng, a celebrated Chinese mathematician, and to encourage those who have made outstanding contributions to mathematics in China, the Hua Luogeng Prize was set up by Hunan Education Press, which has long been enthusiastic in the development of mathematics.

Hanwang Dictation Input System-Supported by IBM, the Beijing Zhongzi Hanwang Sci-Tech Company has successfully developed the Hanwang Dictation Input System. The system is the integration of the Hanwang writing pad input system and IBM Via Voice. It has combined the functions of hearing and writing and can make the input of Chinese characters completely independent of the keyboard.

Its input rate can reach more than 150 Chinese characters per minute, recognizing upward of 90% of Putonghua in general. With the distinctly pronounced standard Putonghua input, its recognition rate can reach upward o f98%. This is the first time that a computer has been able to hear and transcribe the Chinese language.

Co-sponsorship of Computer College- An agreement has been reached between the University of Science and Technology of China and the Legend Group for the establishment of a Computer College. This is the university's first second-level college established in cooperation with the corporate community. The agreement stipulates that a start up and operation fund of RMB 2 million yuan will be supplied by the Legend Group, and floor-space and teaching staff will be provided by the University.

China's First Pocket-Sized Hand-Writing Electronic Transducer- This is the only pocket-sized electronic product combining the functions of computer language-information processing of machine translation, hand input and phonetic composition. It can recognize, translate in real-time and clearly read out the information of source documents.

China's First Scientific Citation Data Base- Following 10 years' hard work, the CAS documentation and Information Center has established China's first scientific citation data base. The data base covers 582 important scientific journals published in China involving mathematics, physics, chemistry, geography, biology, agriculture, forestry, medicine and engineering.

It has collected over 1,000,000 Chinese citations involving some 28,000 scientific and technical papers published since 1989.

Electricity Burden Eased by Cooling Storage Air-Conditioning System- Cooperation with other units, the Cryogenic Laboratory of CAS has developed a highly efficient cooling storage air-conditioning system.

The importance of the system lies in its ability to balance electrical loads and to save electricity. It can operating reliability, reduce environmental pollution and save costs for endusers.

Open Lab Series and Talent Training

Affiliated with CAS are 117 open labs (among them 50 are State key labs), 11 open field experimental and observation stations, and 2 open research institutes. In addition, there are 3 national labs: the Beijing Electron and Positron Collider, the Synchrotron Radiation Accelerator in Hefei and the Heavy Ion Research Facility of Lanzhou. These open labs and State key labs constitute a major force of research of the country, where both basic research and applied basic research are conducted. The labs are well-equipped with advanced instruments and staffed with high caliber research and technological staff, most of whom are young people. The labs have gained achievements in important areas and engage in regular exchange and cooperation with research institutions and universities the world over.

Talent training is coupled with research, and is high on the agenda of the labs. The State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry affiliated with the Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, for example, has excelled in personnel training by enhancing cooperation with first-class labs of organic geochemistry in foreign countries, such as the University of Bristol (UK), the University of Strasbourg (France), Delft Institute of Technology (the Netherlands) and the University of Alberta (Canada). The joint research comprehends such projects as Mechanisms of Natural Gas Expulsion and Migration, and Structure and Hydrocarbon Generation of Hi-sulfur Kerogen and Origin of Immature Petroleum. Young scientists have been assigned to more than 40 academic visits, short-term training courses or joint research missions. Some Ph.D. candidates have obtained their diplomas in the course of these co-operative endeavors. Attending international conferences is another effective way for young scientists to broaden their horizons and get acquainted with their foreign counterparts. A post-graduate student launched his research on volatile organic matter in the environment after he attended an European Association of Organic Geochemistry meeting and made an oral presentation.

Legendary Achievements of a CAS Enterprise

The Legend Group was established in 1984 in the CAS Institute of Computing Technology. The initial investment in the firm was 200,000 yuan; by 1996, the fixed assets of the group reached some 1.4 billion yuan. The sales volume of 1996 was 7.7 billion yuan, and in 1997 the expected sales volume will be 12 billion yuan. In 1996 the Group sold 210,000 personal computers and it is expected to sell more than 400,000 units in 1997. It is currently China's largest enterprise group in the computer industry. The Group produces 3 million motherboard units annually and occupies 9% of the global market, ranking among the five major international motherboard suppliers. With three R&D centers of its own (one in the Silicon Valley in California, the second in Hong Kong and the third in Beijing), Legend has achieved success in placing priority on systems integration as its second backbone business. In 1996 the sales volume of systems integration hardware and software was some 650 million yuan. The next goal of the firm for the years to come is to develop into an enterprise group of the information industry with international influence and competitiveness.

Legend enjoys long-term strategic co-operative relations with such international computer giants as Intel and Microsoft. Recently the personal computer department of Legend has signed an agreement with Hitachi to co-develop the next generation of new concept desk-top computers. At the turn of the century, Legend is being geared with the international market.

Review of 1998 Exchange Applications

The Bureau of International Co-operation (BIC) has convened meetings of specialists to review the 500 applicaitonas submitted by CAS institutes for 1998 exchange and cooperation projects/activities with their counterparts abroad. The specialists some from five areas: mathematics/physics/astronomy, chemistry, biology, technology science and geoscience. In the review, priorities are given to applications related to State key projects, the Academy's major projects, national mega-science projects and the training of cross-century young personnel. Special consideration is also given to emerging disciplines that have been chosen by the Academy or the institutes as key areas in the structural readjustment. Careful grading by the specialists has resulted in the recommendation of a preliminary list of 401 projects/activities. The list is to be finalized by the BIC in accordance with the exchange volumes and priority considerations of various exchange programs that CAS has forged with its foreign counterparts, and is subject to approval by the Academy.

A two-tier management system has been practiced since the mid-80s in international cooperation projects at the Academy level and at the institute level. The institutes decide on and fund the projects of their own choice. BIC, on behalf of the Academy, takes care of the Academy-level projects that have significant bearings on the national economy or the orientation of the whole Academy.

Working Conference Scheduled

As part of its ongoing reform process, CAS will convene its annual working conference at the beginning of 1998. The Academy will reiterate its orientation, clarify its development goals, and discuss and approve documents concerning research, development and other fields of work. Some of the reports, outlines and suggestions form the conference will be submitted to the central government for consideration.

Wavelet Analysis Reveals True Colors of Comet

At the international workshop on "Observations of Our Planetary System" held in Nanjing, a young scientist reported that astronomers of the Shanghai Observatory have succeeded in image processing of the near-nuclear region of Comet Hale-Bopp, with jets from the comet nucleus being clearly separated from the coma background by means of the wavelet analysis approach. This is the first time that astronomers have obtained clear jet images of the comet from data acquired by a ground-based telescope using such an approach.

Comet Hale-Bopp (C/1995OI) has been very active since it was discovered at a large distance from the sun in 1995. The activities include the outgassing and dust ejecting. Jets show a complex structure, which is variable from day to day. One can get more information from studying the jets and their variability, such as the rotation period and the speed of ejecting. Many observational data near the nucleus of the comet were obtained with the 1.56m telescope and CCD camera at the Shanghai Observatory from March 1996 to May 1997. The difficulty lies in how to separate jets from the coma background since the jets appear obscure and mixed with the coma in the original observational images of the near-nuclear region of the comet. Applying a new multiscale technique of wavelet transform, one can effectively suppress the coma background and clearly show the features of jets or shells. Adopting this method astronomers of the Shanghai Observatory have successfully gained many interesting and useful near-nuclear structure images of Comet Hale-Bopp, and have made a preliminary estimation of the outward speed of ejected dust.

LAMOST Will See More and Wider in Universe

Construction of the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST), one of the national big science projects in the Ninth Five-Year Plan period, has passed the review of its feasibility study and has been approved by the State Planning Commission. Participating in the project are mainly scientists of the Beijing Observatory, the Nanjing Astronomical Instrument R&D Centre and the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC). LAMOST., which will be constructed in seven years and is scheduled to begin operation at the end of 2004, is a meridian reflecting Schmidt telescope with a clear aperture of 4 meters, a focal length of 20 meters and a field of view of 5 degrees. The available large linear size focal plane of 1.75 meters in diameter corresponding to its wide angular field of view of 5 degrees could accommodate up to 4,000 fibers, by which the collected light of celestial objects is fed into the spectrographs, promising a very high spectrum acquiring rate to the order of ten thousand spectra per night.

The large telescopes of more than 8 meters in apertures, currently under construction, are used to study celestial bodies in detail, but their fields of view are too small. On the other hand, the conventional Schmidt telescopes have large fields of view of up to several degrees, but they cannot be made larger than 1.3m in diameter. Considering the more than forty thousand square degrees of the whole sky to be explored and the exponentially increasing number of fainter objets, a new kind of telescope combining a large field of view with a large clear aperture is desperately needed. LAMOST will be the right instrument to do large-scale sample research in astronomy as, in addition to its high spectrum acquiring rate, its maximum magnitude for galaxies survey will be up to 20.^m5

Astronomical research institutions and scientists from Britain, the United States, France and other countries are interested in the project and plan to cooperate with the LAMOST team, believing that LAMOST will be the most powerful and most important instrument for large field of view spectral observation at the beginning of the next century. The construction of LAMOST will help find ways to develop a new type of Schmidt telescope with a large field of view and should promote the technologies of optics, automatic controlling, precision mechanics, microelectronics, automatic data processing, image recognition and data bases. LAMOST, when completed, is expected to push forward research on stars, galaxies, active galactic nuclei, and observational cosmology.

Briefs-International exchange and cooperation

CAS Scientists at Posts in International Organizations-According to the latest statistics, 253 CAS scientists hold 359 posts at various international scientific and technological organizations. A meeting was recently held to discuss this at the head office of the Academy, attended by some 20 CAS and CAE Members, and directors or deputy directors of the institutes located in the Beijing area. The speakers voiced opinions and suggestions, stressing the special importance of supporting more CAS scientists, particularly young scientists, holding posts at the international organizations. Professor Xu Zhihong, Vice President of CAS, was present and spoke at the meeting.

ICIMOD Meeting-To prepare for the next Regional Collaborative Programme (RCP II) which will cover the period 1999-2002, a meeting was convened at the head office of CAS. Professor Sun Honglie, Member of CAS and of ICIMOD Board of Directors chaired the meeting and Dr. Egbert Pelinck, Director General of ICIMOD was present. Some 30 participants aired their views on agricultural development, environmental protection, resources utilization and energy development in mountainous areas.

Lu Meets with German Guest-Professor Lu Yongxiang, Member and President of CAS met with Professor Markl, Chairman of the Max-Planck Society, Long hours of cordial and friendly talks between them resulted in an agreement to further promote cooperation in fundamental research and talent training.

Lu Meets with American Correspondent- Professor Lu Yongxiang met with Mr. Michael Dorgan, Pacific Rim Correspondent of San Jose Mercury News, on October 10^th, 1997. The President briefed the guest on development of high-tech enterprises in various CAS institutes and answered his questions. After the interview Mr. Dorgan visited the Legend Group.

Catalysis Conference- The Fourth International Spillover Conference, sponsored by the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, was held in Dalian with an participation of some 100 scientists, 30 of whom came from 15 foreign counties. This was the first high-level international gathering of catalysis science.

Vietnamese Scientists Visit Nanjing- A group of four Vietnamese scientists headed by Professor Dang Vu Minh from the Vietnam National Centre for Science and Technology visited CAS institutes located in Nanjing. Scientists from both sides promised to promote scientific exchanged and cooperation.

Micro-gravity Delegation Visits Russia- Professor Hu Wenrei, Member of CAS, and his group participated in the 10^th European and the 6^th Russian Symposium on Physical Science in Micro-gravity held in St. Petersburg and had academic exchanges with their counterparts of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Russian Space Agency.

Major Progress in Study of Central Nervous System- Dr. Li Ying of the Shanghai Institute of Physiology, now visiting in Britain, has made major progress in the study of regeneration of the central nervous system. Science had recently published the paper written by Dr. Li and his colleagues Dr. G. Raisman and Dr. T. Field. The New York Times has also covered their outstanding achievement, which has changed the so-far established notion that the mammalian central nervous system cannot be regenerated and ahs raised new hope for curing human brain and spinal cord diseases.

SCI in China- Mr. James Testa, Senior Manger and Mr. Rodney Chonka, Editor of ISI )Institute of Science Information) visited China at eh invitation of CAS and NNSF of China. This is the first visit to China by Science Citation Index (SCI), the world's leading retrieval system for scientific publications. It is expected that more Chinese science and technology publications will enter SCI.

Sun Honglie Holds Post at UN Convention- Professor Sun Honglie, Member of CAS, was elected Vice Chairman of the Committee on Science and Technology under the United Nations' "Convention to Combat Desertification in Those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, particularly in Africa" at the first conference of the convention's signatories.

Kurota Awarded Prize- Professor Kurota, honorary professor of Shinshu University, was awarded the Friendship Prize by the Chinese government for his outstanding contributions to the advancement of science and technology in China. Professor Kurota has helped greatly in the establishment of the exploration center of mineral resources in CAS.

Xu in Hong Kong- Professor Xu Zhihong, Vice President of CAS, attended the academic committee meeting and symposium of the joint lab of life science at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

Control Systems Conference- The 1997 International Conference of Accelerator and Large Experimental Physics Control Systems, organized by the Institute of High Energy Physics, was held in Beijing in November with a participation of some 300 scientists from more than 20 counties. The conference included discussions of particle accelerator control devices and related engineering aspects.

Geomechanics Conference- The Ninth Conference of the International Association for Computer Methods and Advances in Geomechanics was held in Wuhan, Central China, in November, with the Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics as the organizer. The themes included theoretical development, laboratory and field testing and practical applications in a wide range of problem in geomechanics.

Bai Visits Hong Kong- In his recent visit to the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Professor Bai Chunli, Member and Vice President of CAS, was awarded an honorary title of Distinguished Chinese Visiting Scholar by the University, and signed an agreement with the University to establish a joint laboratory of nano structure materials and technology.

T.D. Lee Visits China- Professor T.D. Lee of US Columbia University, and the three Senior Advisors to IHEP, CAS--Professor Panofsky, Tigner and Gilman, visited China in November and discussed matters professors Lu Jiaxi, Lu Yongxiang and Zhou Guangzhao met with the guests. Mr. Wen Jiabao, a high ranking government official of China, met with the guests at the Great Hall of the People.

Young Scientist Groups Successful- Two MPG young scientist groups in the CAS Institute of Cell Biology in Shanghai successfully passed the review of a group of specialists from Germany, the United States and China.

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