A nation without innovative capacities will find it difficult to stand firm and erect among the world's advanced nations.

--Jiang Zemin

State Approves Knowledge Innovation Project

The State Leading Group of Science, Technology and Education has discussed and approved in principle the outline submitted by CAS concerning the pilot program of the Knowledge Innovation Project. The Group is established according to a decision by top authorities and is headed by Premier Zhu Rongi. President Jiang Zemin pays great attention to the national strategy of rejuvenating China through science, technology and education and the knowledge innovation project. Having read the report entitled Herald in the Era of Knowledge-based Economy and Establish the National Innovation System, President Jiang made the following Instructions :

A knowledge-based economy and a sense of innovation are of vital importance to our development in the 21^st century. The financial turmoil in Southeast Asia has slowed down the development of traditional industries, however it provides an opportunity for industrial structural readjustment. The Academy has conceived some ideas and they have a contingent of scientists. I think we can support them in taking the first step and carrying out a pilot program. We should establish our own innovation system in the true sense.

Echoing Jiang's words at a meeting convened recently by the Leading Group, Premier Zhu pointed out that the promotion of knowledge innovation should proceed in connection with the needs of the development of the national economy and in accordance with an overall plan based on prevailing conditions. Strengths should be concentrated to make breakthroughs in key areas. The State will provide financial support for the pilot program of knowledge innovation, and will increase the financial input for science, technology and education.

Knowledge innovation Project Launched

With the approval of the State Leading Group of Science, Technology and Education, CAS has convened an important meeting to formally launch the pilot program of the knowledge InnovationProject. The Academy aims to build itself into the nation's world ranking knowledge innovation center for natural science and high technology by the year 2010. The program will be carried out in two components of the Academy -- the State research institutes, and the Academic Divisions which are the nation's highest advisory body for science and technology and are composed of CAS Members. The basic tasks are to create and maintain strong national knowledge innovation capabilities, to quicken dissemination of new S&T knowledge, to promote knowledge and technology transfer, to provide S&T consultancy for the State in macro decision-making, to bring up and maintain a team of world class scientists and technologists, and to strengthen the construction of new national bases of knowledge innovation. The core of the pilot program is to deepen reform, effect institutional restructuring, transform operational mechanisms and build research bases. First to be considered are the following eight ''knowledge innovation bases": the Shanghai research base of life sciences, the Beijing research base of physical science, the Beijing research base of geoscience, the northwest research base of natural resources, environment and sustainable development (Lanzhou), the southwest research base of bio-resources and bio-diversity protection (Kunming), the Shanghai high technology R&D base, the Beijing R&D base of information science and technology, and the northeast R&D base for high performance materials and manufacturing technology (Shenyang).

CAS General Assembly Opens in Beijing

The 9^th General Assembly of Members of CAS and the 4^th General Assembly of Members of CAE opened on June 1 in Beijing. President Jiang Zemin met some of the Members.

On behalf of the Central Government, President Jiang gave his warm congratulations to the opening of the conference. Jiang said there are both old and young generations of scientists present. The old generation is the pioneers and founders of science and technology in new China and have made great contributions to the development of science and technology. The Government and the people will be thankful to them forever.

He said mankind has now stepped into the information age. Science and technology are developing rapidly with each passing day, and a knowledge-based economy is emerging. Features of such an economy include constant renewal of knowledge and rapid industrialization of new and high technologies. The key to knowledge acquisition and the faster development of high-tech industry lies in qualified scientists, and in fostering more outstanding young people. He expected Members of the two Academies and all scientists and engineers to promote . the spirit of innovation, to set up the modern innovation system and to enhance the ability of innovation.

Jiang pointed out that in the history of S&T development, many scientists made achievements in their youth, when they were in their prime. He listedexamples to illustrate that at all times and in allcountries, in both natural sciences and social sciences, most great inventions and discoveries, important theories and the Nobel Prize achievements were made or won by young scientists in their 20s or 30s.

''I am mentioning these to illustrate a plain truth, that is, scientific and technological development and social progress rely on unceasing innovation. This in turn depends on professionals, and especially on a steady stream of outstanding and talented young people,'' Jiang said. ''Young people should study hard to catch up with and surpass the old generation, while the seniors should give help, encouragement and sincere guidance to the young. People should do this not only in scientific communities, but in the whole society. I believe that the great era of socialist construction with Chinese characteristics will also be a time of endless innovations in knowledge, appearance of new things and new achievements, and the emergence of large numbers of talented people.'` Finally, President Jiang wished the Members of the two Academies further achievements in science and technology and a thriving future of science and technology in China.

President Gives Report to the General Assembly

Prof. Lu Yongxiang, President and executive chairman of the CAS Presidium, delivered his working report at the opening session of the CAS 9^th General Assembly.

Prof. Lu recalled the achievementa made by the Academic Divisions in the past two years. The Academic Divisions worked out the guideline of the 9^th Five-Year Plan of CAS Academic Divisions, defined the general objectives and key points of the Plan, conducted the election of new Members in 1997, strengthened the guidance of consultation, organized dozens of key consulting projects and explored the possibility of contributing more to the society.

Prof. Lu elaborated such issues as upgrading innovation ability and setting up a national innovation system, realizing the mechanism reform and institutional readjustment. The shortage of S&T inputs still block S&T development in China. The cultivation and recruiting of high-level talents will become more important to team building. In the face of the 21^th century, CAS will carry out the national innovation project, set up and complete a diversified funding mechanism, speed up the cultivation and recruitment of trans-century leading scientists, strengthen basic research and knowledge innovation, establish S&T industries of strategic importance, shift social welfare research to serve sustainable development, and encourage high-tech innovation to promote the development of high-tech industry.

On the establishment of a national think tank. Prof. Lu commented that CAS should do several things: set up a national S&T consulting system on macro decision-making with the highest influence in China; improve research assessments and make the Academic Divisions the most distinguished assessment group of the natural sciences in China; do a good job in the election of new Members and ensure the academic quality of the Members; carry forward noble virtues and fine traditions in research; and build a well- regarded scientific organization.

The Nation Begins Senior Membership System

This March, the State Council decided to give the title of Senior Member to older Members who have made significant contributions, inaugurating a Senior Membership System in CAS and CAE.

Members of CAS and CAE who are over 80 will be given titles of ''Senior Member of CAS`' or ''Senior Member of CAE''. Senior Members keep such rights and duties as to give consultations and evaluations and to promote academic exchanges and the spread of scientific knowledge. They can attend Member conferences at their own accord, but they are no longer in the leading positions in either academies or Academic Divisions, nor can they nominate or elect new Members.

New Foreign Members Added to CAS

Eight new Foreign Members have been added to CAS. They are: B.C. Burchfiel (US), Steven Chu (US), Ernest S. Kuh (US), N. N. Li (US), J. L. Lions (France), R. A. Marcus (US), Helmut Moritz (Austria), and O. C. Zienkiewicz (GB). This increases the total number of Foreign Members to 23. These new Foreign Members were elected at the recent CAS General Assembly.

Determination of Extinction Rate of Organisms

at the End of the Paleozoic Era

In Cooperation with Dr. Boran from MIT and Dr. Avron of the Smithsonian Institution, Prof. Jin Yugan of the CAS Nanjing Institute of Geoplaeontology has determined the extinction rate of organisms at the end of Paleozoic era, some 2.5X10⁸ years ago. This achievement, recently reported in Science magazine, provides a ''key'' for disclosing the secret of large-scale extinction of organisms on the Earth.

Their work demonstrates that the extinction of organisms took place 2.51X10⁸ to 2.50X10⁸ years ago wiih their prospering period shorter than 2X10⁸ years. This was determined by measuring the zircon crystal (smaller than 1mm) which remained in the Lepingtong Bed of China, and the measurement was carried out atthe MIT Laboratory of Isotopic Age.

In these 2 X10⁵ years, which is called a ''geological instant", most species on earth were destroyed. The climate was very damp, lakes and inner seas were dried-up, forests were destroyed, the sea level dropped to the lowest point, and marine organisms had no dwelling places. This bleak condition lasted for several hundred thousand years. The extinction scale and deep effect on the evolution of organisms exceeded those of the Mesozoic era 6500 X10⁴ years ago, when dinosaurs became extinct.

Specialists said that the extinction study exposes defects in Darwin's theory of evolution. Darwin thought that survival of the fittest is the leading rule in the evolution of organisms, but attributed the extinction phenomenon to the lack of records. With the deepening of the study of geological strata, the sudden dying-out of many species has proved to be a fact. When the global disaster took place, the fit and the unfit all died; only the survivors who fit the new era continued to multiply. This conclusion was expected to influence on-going debates in science and philosophy.

Timing of Pulsars

- Timing Standard in the Future

A seminar on the study and application of pulsar timing opened in Lintong, Shaanxi Province. Great achievements have been made in the study of pulsar timing, which has a wide prospect for application in astronomy and physics. CAS Members and experts who attended this seminar put forward valuable advice and suggestions, saying that timing of

pulsars is important for astronomy, astrometry and physics, and that pulsar time will become a timing standard in the future. Attention should be paid to studying theoretical methods and the processing of data information, improving the overall properties of the receivers, and adopting advanced methods and technologies to catch up with the state-of-the-art.

The pulsars, first discovered in 1976, are neutron stars rotating at an extremely high and steady rate. The analysis of the observational data of pulsars involve an understanding of plasma physics, modern physics, general relativity theory, and effects of gravitational waves.

Seminar on Key Astronomical Issues Held

Hosted by CAS and NNSFC, a seminar on key astronomical issues and ways to make breakthroughs in the beginning of the 21^st century was held in the newly constructed premises of the Beijing Astronomical Observatory. CAS Member Wang Shouguan was the chairman of the Scientific Committee of this seminar. Discussions were mainly focused on the ground large optical and infrared project, the solar physics project, and the large-scale radio telescope project; high energy physics and space physics projects; studies of cosmic large-scale structure, cosmology and astronomy; and new astronomical equipment.

In recent years, using a set of specialized facilities, young scientists have made outstanding achievements, which show promise for further astronomical development in China in the 21^st century.

South Sea Monsoon Experiment

Project in Operation

South Sea Monsoon Experiment Project, which gets the strongest support from the ''Pandeng Program'' of the Ninth Five-Year Plan, has now entered an experimental phase. The project is one of five experiments in meteorology science. The experimental observation will last 123 days starting from May l, 1998 in the sea, land and air at the South Sea and nearby areas.

Eighteen countries and regions, including China, US, the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan, are participating in the project. It is jointly sponsored by CAS, the China Meteorology Bureau, the State Oceanology Bureau and the Ministry of Education. This joint research project in atmospheric, oceanic and regional sciences shows that China is on its way to a position of leadership in the research areas concerned.

China's climate is of the monsoon type, and is influenced most greatly by monsoons. But monsoon forecasting is weak in China and worldwide, and the data in this field is rather deficient, making it impossible to make accurate forecasts in medium and long terms. This situation deeply affects the national economy and people's lives.

The project has several goals: to improve monsoon forecasting by establishing a monsoon database with high density in temporal and spatial scales; to propose an onset mechanism model for the South Sea monsoon; and to establish a numerical forecasting system with the ability to simulate major monsoon events from middle- term to monthly scale.

Large-scale Equipment Sharing in Dalian

Hosted by the CAS Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics and the Dalian Testing Association of Physics and Chemistry, a seminar on large-scale equipment was held, attended by more than 70 specialists. The event aimed to develop a new way to share large-scale equipment with the society. There are more than 100 sets of large and advanced facilities in the Institute, 20 of them having been purchased in the past two years.

In order to make full use of these advanced facilities, the Institute has held many meetings to introduce the properties and applications of the facilities to other institutes, universities and companies, setting a model for the sharing of large-scale equipment to promote technological development in the Dalian Region.

High-tech industrialization

The Shanghai Pudong New District Management Committee and CAS have recently signed an agreement on high-tech industrialization which is intended to promote the industrialization of high technology and to contribute to ''rejuvenating China through science, technology and education''.

According to the agreement, CAS will move a number of its potential high-tech enterprises with an output of 20-30 million guan each year to the Pudong New District. In return, the Pudong New District will provide favorable supports in policies, funding, facilities and market exploration. A joint high-tech industrialization coordinating committee composed of representatives from CAS and the Pudong New District Management Committee has been set up to facilitate cooperation.

CAS has also signed an agreement with the Pudong New District on the establishment of the National New Medicine Screening Center.

New Supernovas Discovered

The Beijing Astronomical Observatory discovered 15 supernovas in 1997, helping China keep its leading position in the field. UP to now, four new supernovas have been found since the beginning of this year, with two of them identified on the night of March 2, 1998, causing a sensation among scientists both at home and abroad. The two supernovas were designated as SN1998S and SN1998T respectively by the international astronomical telegraph. The effects caused by the explosion of supernovas on the earth as well as the solutions to energy problems are subjects for further research.

Study against Financial Risks

After hearing the progress report on the work of the Countermeasure Research Group against Financial Risk headed by Prof. Ma Zhiming, to be used CAS Member and deputy director of the CAS Institute of Applied Mathematics, President Lu Yongxiang expressed his appreciation for Ma's initiative and courage of devoting his talents to the application of mathematics to solving major social and economic problems. ''In the course of applying mathematics to solving financial problems, mathematics itself will achieve new development,'' Lu pointed out.

with the Economy

Twenty-two CAS institutes participated in the "98 Seminar of the Integration of S&T with the Economy" in Shenyang. The institutes introduced nearly 500 technological achievements which were warmly welcomed by enterprises in Shenyang. The face to face contact between research institutes and large and medium-sized enterprises in Shenyang were made possible by the efforts of Shenyang government to combine science and technology with the economy.

Mr. Mu Suixin, mayor of Shenyang city, and Prof. Bai Chunli, vice president of CAS, addressed the opening of the seminar.

The Institute of Metals Research and the Shenyang Institute of Automation signed contracts with the First Automobile-Gold Cup Co. and Hua Run Sanyo respectively to transfer the technology of ''Cold Drowning Fine Inner/Outer Surface Copper Tubes with Large Diameter and Thin Wall'' and "'B'Line Press" for 8 million yuan and 9 million yuan. One hundred twenty one contracts totalling 712.5 million yuan were signed in the first two days of the seminar.

New Methods to Get Dianchi Lake

Ecological Balance Under Control

The CAS Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology is adopting new methods in a "Physics-Ecology Project" to re-establish an ecological balance in Yunnan's Dianchi Lake, which has been heavily polluted. The project is not only heoretically based, but also includes practical applications.

Human intervention is necessary in this case. Using synthetic protection film to harness solar energy, experts are seeking to build a stable synthetic ecological system in the regional areas of the Lake, which is both self-protecting and self-repairing. In this system, groups of different species of living creatures support each other and polluted water is turned into clean water. The water quality is sufficiently improved to be used as potable water.

National and international experts generally regard the project as a feasible plan since it demands little technical input, few labor forces, and will work in a short time with high efficiency.

Merger of Two Xinjiang institutes

The Xinjiang Institute of Biology, Pedology and Desert Research and the Xinjiang Institute of Geography, both CAS affiliates, will merge into a new research body specializing in arid climate ecosystems. Since the founding of the two institutes, they have taken full advantage of their geological locations and academic strengths in life and earth sciences to contribute actively to the economic construction of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Among the 428 research results achieved thus far by the two institutes, 183 are prize-winners, receiving two prizes granted by such international organizations as the UN, 16 national prizes, and 14 first prizes conferred by CAS, ministerial or regional authorities.

In the wake of on-going institutional reshuffling, plans call for establishment of three new interdisciplinary fields in the new institute based on regrouping the research strengths of the former institutes. This follows the guideline of ''concentrating our strengths to make achievements in selected areas'' in the existing context of the unique characteristics and the current socio-economic development of the Region. A new small but highly competent research contingent is to be formed, staffed by a new generation of S&T workers with pioneering spirit. Staffing decisions will allow for talent mobility and healthy competition. The new institute is expected to grow into a key State research body of international renown and attain disciplinary superiority by exploring the frontiers of research into desert reclamation.

Ph.D.s Playing Key Role in CAS

CAS has been attaching great importance to the training of scientific talents for the 21^st Century. A series of key training centers of Ph.D. candidates have been established in recent years. Doctoral students have become an active group in scientific research and the main source of leading researchers in CAS. In CAS there are 222 doctoral stations and 99 units which have the right to confer doctoral degrees. In the last 5 years, more than 3,000 students have gotten their doctoral degrees in CAS 30% of which remain in the CAS after graduation. The others have gone on to do competent work in various fields in other institutions at home and abroad.

In order to further strengthen these training bases and raise the quality of training, in the Ninth Five-Year Plan period, CAS will allocate more money to the high-quality training centers to improve their teaching and research conditions. CAS first approved the establishment of 10 key doctoral training bases in 1996 in 1997, 10 more bases were added to the list.

The doctoral students in the CAS Shanghai Branch have made some brilliant successes. In the last 5 years, 60% of the scientific papers from the Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics published in journals at home and abroad were written by doctoral students. All the deputy directors of the research groups and the young leaders of key projects are Ph.D.s who obtained their doctoral degrees over the past 5 years. In the Eighth Five-Year Plan period, doctoral students took part in 87 of the 93 projects carried out by the Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry, accounting for 90% of the total. By the end of this century, there will be 12,000 graduate students studying in CAS, half of them working for Ph.D. degrees.

Briefs - Domestic

World's largest kiwi fruit gene bank established -The world's largest gene bank for kiwi fruit, which is capable of storing the largest amount of kiwi fruit plasm and genetic resources, has been established in the Wuhan Institute of Botany. Kiwi fruit enjoys a reputation as the ''King of Fruit''. Most of the existing 64 species of kiwi fruit in the world are indigenous to China. The gene bank in Wuhan has collected and preserved 51 species (varieties) over 80 cultivated breeds (strains), and more than 9,000 cross-species hybrids. It has also discovered 2 new species and collected 8 endangered species.

Training course for exchange officers - Forty-four staffers from 43 CAS institutes and branches attended the 1998 training course for international exchange officers sponsored by the Bureau of International Cooperation. During the training course, lectures were given on the history, situation and policies of international scientific exchange and cooperation of the Academy. The trainees also heard talks on protection of intellectual property rights and on ceremonial norms for international exchange activities.

Lecture for Prof. Feng Depei

The first course of commemorative lectures for Prof. Feng Depei was held in Shanghai. The late CAS Member was a researcher and honorary director of the Shanghai Institute of Physiology. To commemorate Prof. Feng who had dedicated his whole life to science, the international Council of Physiology Societies decided to name a set of commemorative lectures after him. This is the first course of lectures named after a Chinese scientist in the field of physiology. The chairman of the Council has praised Feng as an outstanding and world-known physiologist, who had made great. contributions to physiology. The leading lecturer, Prof. Miledi from the Owen Institute, University of California, gave a lecture entitled ''Brain study by oocytes of frogs''.

to Chinese Scientist

Prof. Zhu Lixing, head of the Department of Statistics and Probability of the CAS Institute of Applied Mathematics, recently won the Humboldt Research Award granted by Alexander-von-Huniboldt Foundation of Germany.

Prof. Zhu is engaged in the research of statistics. His research results, especially those on high-dimensional data analysis, have attracted great attention from statisticians all over the world. Prof. Dr. G. Neuhaus of Hamburg University in Germany noted that Prof. Zhu is an outstanding, original and extremely hard-working mathematician in empirical processes and their applications in multivariate statistics. Cooperation with him was very successful and increased scientificinterest in computational multivariate statistics anddimension-reduction techniques. After detailedassessment of his research results, Prof. Neuhaus continued to say that Prof. Zhu's research work is of the highest technical standard and shows an impressive breadth of mathematical knowledge.

Prof. Zhu has published more than seventy papers in international and national academic journals and won the national outstanding young scientist grant in 1997.

Electric Vehicle Cooperation with GM

The institute of Electrical Engineering and General Motors have entered into a cooperative project of research on electric (including hybrid electric) buses for urban use, which aims to help improve the environment. GM has donated an electrical pick-up truck prototype (of S-10 model) and a charger, and will arrange for service training for a CAS engineer. The CAS Institute will study ways to reduce the cost of the electric drive system and adapt it for use on hybrid electric buses, and supply GM with information about buses used in major Chinese cities. At an appropriate time the two sides will decide on terms regarding ownership of any intellectual property that may result from the collaboration. Funded by the State under the Ninth Five-Year Plan, the Institute has been engaged in R&D projects of electric vehicles and fuel cells. The projects will give impetus to the structural readjustment of the Institute.

Green Chemistry Strikes Root in China

The first international workshop on green chemistry was recently held in the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC). Prof. Jeffrey Steinfield of MIT, Dr. Paul Anastas from the Environmental Protection Agency and Prof. Joseph Francisco of Purdue University were among the 80 participants from domestic and foreign research institutions. Latest research achievements and developments on green chemistry were introduced. The workshop was sponsored by the Green Chemistry Research Center, USTC, which was inaugurated in early May. Back in September 1997, selective courses were initiated in the School of Chemistry and Materials Engineering, USTC, on organic, inorganic, analytical, physical, biological, environmental and materials chemistry for undergraduates and graduates.

Green chemistry and related industries are gaining popularity around the world in recent years. Research and development in related areas will be instrumental in finding solutions for environmental pollution, in protecting the ecological environment and in promoting sustainable development.

Genetics to Be Convened

Comissioned by the International Genetics Federation, the 18^th International Congress of Genetics will be convened August 10-15 in Beijing under the joint sponsorship of CAS and the Genetics Society of China. All preparatory work has been completed. Vice Premier of the State Council Li Lanqing will serve as the honorary chairman of the Congress.

The Congress is held every five years. This year's theme is "Genetics-Better Life for All". The keynote speeches are to be delivered by Prof. Tan Jiazhen, the Congress chairman and CAS Member, Prof. James Crow and Prof. Sydney Brenner, both Members of the American National Academy of Sciences, under the title of "Genetics-Better Life for All", "Genetics in the 20^th Century" and "Genetics in the 21^th Century", respectively.

Apart from the keynote and plenary session lectures, the Congress will include some 50 monographic symposia given by approximately 140 celebrated geneticists from various countries for the exchange of the latest research achievements in the field. During the Congress, an industrial exhibition and a series of workshops will also be held. The Congress will have more than 2,000 participants including 1,000 Chinese scientists, who are to demonstrate both theoretical and practical research results.

Spectra Physics Subsidizes Students in USTC

The US Spectra physics Co. has signed an agreement to subsidize excellent students in the USTC who are from poor families. The company will donate 10 million RMB. Each year, 200,000 RMB will be given to 80 students of good character and excellent performance who come from poor families. The company will continue to donate money each year to keep the total amount of the 10 million-yuan unchanged. In addition, the company will, at one time, supply 20,000 US dollars to the University to award 50 excellent undergraduate students per year. Symposium of the International Society of Astronomy

The 168^th Symposium of the International Society of Astronomy, which is the highest-level organization of its kind in the world, was held onMay 18, 1998 in Nanjing. Fifty-nine scientists from 16countries attended the meeting. The topic of the symposium is ''Cometary nucleus in space and tmie". It is said that the comets are the remains of the building constituents in the formation of the solar system. There are many kinds of organic molecules in the cometary nucleus, so the research of comets can provide important clues for exploration of the origin of the solar system and life. The return of Halley's comet in 1986, the collision of a comet and the Jupiter in 1994 and the recent appearance of the Hale-Bopp comet have made the study of comets one of the hot topics in modern astronomy. The symposium discussed mechanics, physical chemistry and evolution of the cometary nucleus, and the relationship between the formation of cometary nuclei and solar nebula.

China is considered a leading country in comets study. At this gathering, Chinese scientists contributed 23 papers, accounting for 30% of the total.

Briefs - International exchange and cooperation

CAS delegation visits American Institutions and firms - At the invitation of the American NAS, NSF and NIH, a CAS Delegation headed by Prof. Lu Yongxiang visited the U.S. in May. Besides the hosting institutions, the delegation visited and had exchanges with SLAC, BNL Motorola, AT&T and Bell Laboratories. Prof. Lu and his entourage also participated in activities of Sino-US joint energy studies. The visit further enhanced bilateral scientific cooperation.

NSF delegation visits CAS - Headed by Dr. A. P. DeAngelis, a delegation of fourteen members from NSF visited CAS in May. Prof. Xu Zhiliong, vice president of CAS, met with the delegation. Both sides discussed ways to strengthen scientific collaboration.

Sino-Japanese agreement extended - The first five- year cooperation project between Chinese and Japanese universities, Which was signed by CAS and the Japan Science Promotion Society (JSPS) in 1994, came to a successful conclusion. Participating in the project are the USTC and three other Chinese key universities, and the University of Tokyo and three other Japanese key universities. hi the past five years, 427 scientists from both sides have engaged in exchange and cooperation in the fields of materials physics, communication and energy, electronics and information, and advanced manufacturing engineering. CAS and JSPS have agreed to extend the cooperation for another five years.

Y. T. Lee visits Dalian institute- Prof. Y. T. Lee, the Nobel Prize laureate of chemistry, visited the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics in May. He was accompanied by Prof. Zhang Cunhao, CAS Member and NNFSC president. Prof. Lee visited and had academic exchanges and discussions with scientists in the State Key Laboratories of Catalysis and of Molecular Reaction Dynamics, and the Open Lab of Chemical Lasers. Prof. Lee delivered a talk entitled Solvation and Hydrogen Bonding, which was full of innovative ideas and was warmly received. Prof. Lee has been honorary director of the State Lab of Molecular Reaction Dynamics since1991 . This is his seventh visit to the Institute.

CAS-made instrument aboard Discovery - A 3.5-ton particle detector - the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) - was aboard the US space shuttle Discovery when it lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center. A critical part of the detector is a permanent magnet made by CAS scientists. The instrument is used to carry out experiments in an international cooperation led by Dr. Samuel C. C. Ting, the American-Chinese scientist and 1976 Nobel Prize winner. The endeavor aims to And anti-matter and missing matter.

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