Standing more than 20 meters higher than One World Trade Center
in New York, the world’s highest bridge has officially opened to traffic
in southwest China.
The Beipanjiang Bridge,
which connects the mountainous provinces of Guizhou and Yunnan, has
claimed the title of world’s highest bridge from another Chinese feat of
engineering, the Sidu River Bridge in Hubei provinceThe bridge, with a height equivalent to a 200-storey building, cuts
travel time from Liupanshui in Guizhou to Xuanwei in Yunnan from around
five hours to under two.
Construction of the 1,341-meter-long suspension bridge began in 2013 and
ran to a final cost of approximately 1 billion Yuan ($144 million).
State-run Chinese media organization CCTV reports that strong winds in
the valley posed a problem for engineers in designing and building the
massive structure.
"Where to place the bridge piers was a problem,” deputy chief engineer Liu Bo said. “The
gorge here is over 500 meters deep, so how are we going to design the
structure of the bridge to deal with the strong wind field problem?”
The engineers overcame the issue by assembling all parts of the
bridge on site, giving them a higher degree of precision throughout the
final phase of construction.
Several of the world’s highest
bridges are in China, however the world’s tallest bridge is France’s
Millau viaduct which stands at 270 meters tall.
The giant robot has been one of the coolest concepts in sci-fi since forever. I mean, who hasn’t
fantasized about wielding the strength and size of an enormous
mechanized avatar? As of this week, that fantasy looks close to being
realized.
Behold the 13-foot tall 1.5-ton “Method-2,” brainchild of South
Korean robotics company Hankook Mirae Technology, which is taking its
first “baby steps” under the watchful eyes of about 30 engineers and
members of the media this week.
As The Telegraph quotes
company chairman Yang Jin-Ho: “Our robot is the world’s first manned
bipedal robot and is built to work in extreme hazardous areas where
humans cannot go [unprotected.]”
Yang has reportedly invested $200
million in the project since 2014. “The robot is one year old so it is
taking baby steps,” Yang told The Telegraph. “Just like humans, it will be able to move more freely in the next couple of years.”
The
paper also says Method-2 will be “ready for sale by the end of 2017 at a
price of around 10 billion won ($8.3 million).” So perhaps the
company’s planning to sell an elemental version or something about the
timeline got lost in translation there.
Meanwhile, let’s focus on what’s important: it’s a freaking giant robot you can drive.
At first I was sure this machine was just a Hollywood prop, especially given the involvement of designer Vitaly Bulgarov, whose work you might recognize in Transformers, RoboCop, Terminator and other sci-fi projects.
But while Bulgarov did draw up some dramatized battlebot
renders for Hankook Mirae, it looks like Method-2 is an honest-to-god
Earth-stomping manned mech, with 286-pound arms mimicking the movements
of the robot’s pilot, just like the suit from the last battle scene of Avatar.
Yang has spent millions of dollars and years of energy to “bring to life
what only seemed possible in movies and cartoons,” and yeah, looks like
his company pretty much nailed it.
“One of the most common questions we get is about the power source. The
company’s short term goals include developing robotic platforms for
industrial areas where having a tethered robot is not an issue. Another
short-term real world application includes mounting only the top part of
the robot on a larger wheeled platform solving the problem of
locomotion through an uneven terrain as well as providing enough room
for sufficient power source. A modified version of that is already in
development and is planned to help in restoration of Fukushima disaster
area. Stay tuned for more updates!”
Method-2 looks like it could do everything from construction to
military patrols, but of course the true extent of the robot’s practical
applications will be determined by what its real-world functionality
ends up looking like.
That said, if a consumer version really is made available for $8
million, I bet the Koreans would have no trouble selling a few of these
to eccentric rich people as toys.
Whether
you plan to toast the New Year with champagne or liquor, every
alcoholic drink will have one thing in common – the mind-altering
molecule ethanol.
This
chemical is responsible for simultaneously slowing down the brain and
releasing a number of stimulants, giving rise to the feeling of being
drunk.
A new Reactions
video reveals the many ways alcohol affects the brain, leading to
impaired thoughts, sound and light sensitivity, and even ‘blackouts.’
Whether you plan to
toast the New Year with champagne or liquor, every alcoholic drink will
have one thing in common – the mind-altering molecule ethanol. A new
Reactions video reveals the many ways alcohol affects the brain
‘Booze all contains the same molecule that messes with your mind,’ the video from the American Chemical Society explains.
And this molecule – ethanol – is both ‘where the party gets started’ and where it ‘slows down.’
According to the video, ethanol binds to the GABA and NMDA receptors.
When it binds to the GABA receptor, it causes neural message firing to slow, making you feel calm.
And, by blocking the NMDA receptors, it can cause you to feel tired, and even interfere with memory, the researchers explain.
‘The more ethanol you have, the less you’ll remember, and this is what can cause blackouts,’ the video explains.
While this is all happening, the ethanol also causes the brain to release stimulants: norepinephrine, adrenaline and cortisol.
According to the researchers, these work to ‘hype you up.’
As
a result, your airways will open up and more oxygen reaches the brain,
in turn enhancing your senses, including your perception of sound and
light.
The ‘feel good’ chemical dopamine also gets released, helping you to feel as though you’re having a good time.
Ethanol binds to the GABA and NMDA
receptors. When it binds to the GABA receptor, it causes neural message
firing to slow, making you feel calm. And, by blocking the NMDA
receptors, it can cause you to feel tired, and even interfere with
memory, the researchers explain
But, the ethanol also impairs certain pathways in the brain, preventing it from getting enough energy to operate at full speed.
This is what impairs thought processes and can have a hand in making bad decisions, the video explains.
The ethanol also acts like a ‘bouncer’ for some hormones, including an antidiuretic hormone.
This, in part, makes you feel as though you need to urinate more frequently.
Some of the effects, however, can be far more dangerous.
Alcohol also alters a number of the
functions that keep you alive, including the pumping of blood through
the body, breathing, and body temperature, according to the video
According to the video, ethanol slows down parts of the brain in charge of muscle movement, which can lead to clumsy behaviour.
And,
alcohol also alters a number of the functions that keep you alive,
including the pumping of blood through the body, breathing, and body
temperature.
The ethanol can impair the temperature regulator, and cause you to feel warm even if it’s freezing outside.
When
these stimulant effects eventually wear off, the GABA and NMDA effects
that had been building during that time leave you feeling tired and
forgetful.
But, to prevent some of the negative effects, the video says having a full stomach can help.
This will slow the absorption of ethanol through the stomach walls. dailymail.co.uk
The Shijian-17 satellite, loaded with the HEP-100MF thruster, is
launched by a Long March 5 rocket in the Wenchang Satellite Launch
Center in Hainan province on Nov. 3
A unique thruster mounted on a recently
launched satellite has given China's space program an edge over
international rivals and opened a door to deep-space exploration.
The HEP-100MF thruster, jointly developed by research teams from the
Harbin Institute of Technology (H.I.T.) and the China Academy of Space
Technology's (CAST) Institute 502, successfully debuted Nov. 22 aboard
an orbiting Shijian-17 satellite. The satellite was launched Nov. 3 by a
Long March 5 rocket.
"The thruster ignited successfully in geosynchronous orbit," the H.I.T.
announced. The ignition "marks the first application of magnetic-focus
(HEP-100MF) in space.
The HEP-100MF propulsion system relies on a magnetic field to convert and control the propellant — a plume of charged ion particles — that generates the thrust needed at times to stabilize the orbiting Shijian-17.
A system that relies on magnetic-focus, ion plume propulsion is less
likely to damage a thruster's mechanism than other propulsion systems,
scientists say. It's also considered more efficient than traditional
chemical-propulsion thrusters.
Chemical fuel propelled the powerful Saturn V rockets that helped the
U.S. space program put men on the moon from 1969-72. But the Saturn V's
first-stage engines burned out in less than three minutes, scientists
say, and most of the rocket's fuel was used to propel its own weight.
After the engines on a Saturn V rocket burned out, the rocket's payload
went into "space glide" mode, using inertia and gravity's pull to hurdle
toward a destination. But additional thrust is needed to propel a
gliding spacecraft beyond the solar system and into deep space.
Chemical propulsion systems have been commonly deployed for years to
stabilize communications satellites, which require constant adjusting
while in orbit. Sooner or later, though, these thrusters run out of
fuel.
The HEP-100MF might be used for deep-space missions because it's
designed for longevity. The thruster "can be applied to space station,
deep space exploration (and) high- and low-orbit Earth satellite orbit
control," the H.I.T. said.
China has not announced plans for a deep-space mission, but the nation's
space program has been expanding rapidly. Recent developments include
new rockets and the launching of a manned space station.
Hunting for Thrust
The HEP-100MF is based on so-called "Hall-effect thruster" technology,
which has been tested on the ground by researchers at American, Russian,
European Union and Japanese space agencies.
But China's thruster aboard the Shijian-17, which the official Xinhua
News Agency said was built to "verify new technology," was the first to
be successfully tested in space. It's also dramatically unlike
propulsion systems of the past.
Scientists have been working for years to develop long-lasting,
deep-space-capable alternatives to chemical propulsion. Research into
electric propulsion, for example, was under way in the United States and
the Soviet Union even while the first Apollo missions were putting men
on the moon more than 40 years ago.
Chemical propulsion is the best option for a short burst of power, but
mass can be moved via electric propulsion over a much longer period.
Using a chemical propulsion system, 1 kg of mass can be moved for 300
seconds using 1 kg of fuel. But an electric propulsion system can
perform the same task over a period of 9,000 seconds, or two and a half
hours.
U.S. researchers led by scientist Harold Kaufman of the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) worked on electron
bombardment thrusters, which are now called Kaufman thrusters. Soviet
researchers, guided by A. I. Morozov of the Kurchatov Institute, focused
on the Hall-effect thruster technology.
Kaufman thrusters are more fuel-efficient and have a higher specific
impulse than Hall-effect thrusters. But the Hall-effect thruster
mechanism is less complicated and smaller than its rival.
The first Kaufmann thruster for a deep-space mission kicked into action
aboard NASA's Deep Space 1 spacecraft in 1998. It delivered a relatively
small amount of thrust — roughly equivalent to the amount of
gravity-induced pressure that keeps a single sheet of paper lying flat
on a table. But in space, that was enough thrust to accelerate the
spacecraft by up to 32 km per day.
Moreover, the Kaufmann thruster managed to operate for more than 14,000
hours — a longer lifespan than all of the world's chemical propulsion
engines ever built put together.
Hall-effect thrusters have been used to propel more than 238
communications satellites since 1971. But researchers have been unable
to overcome the system's shortcomings, such as its relatively short
lifespan and the fact that its ion plume can damage the thruster mechanism.
Chinese Breakthough
Chinese space scientists considered but then abandoned the idea of using
electric thrusters for satellites in the 1980s. But then researchers,
led by H.I.T. scientist Yu Daren, a child prodigy who joined the
institute at age 15, built on the success of the Hall-effect thruster to
develop the HEP-100MF.
The H.I.T.'s work began in the 1990s, Yu told Caixin in a recent
interview, after the Russians could hail the success of their
Hall-effect thruster technology and after commercial satellites in the
United States started using a so-called ion thruster in 1997.
A wave of Chinese researchers that included Yu initially tried to
replicate Mozorov's findings in their own labs. Eventually, they decided
to go beyond the Russians by using magnetism to confine the thruster's
damaging plume.
Mozorov's team had developed a rudimentary magnetic-focus system. But
when Yu's team visited Mozorov in Moscow, they found the Russian
technology as unreliable as their own.
"The father of the Hall-effect thruster had the same problem:
inconsistent performance," Yu told Caixin. "But my team realized that,
if it's possible to control the ion jet for even one instant, there's a
possibility that we can extend this control, and focus the jet
consistently."
Unlocking the secret would require many years of trial and error, Yu
believed. Thus, the Chinese space program started giving more attention
to electric propulsion.
Interest has grown gradually. Only 20 people attended China's first
National Electric Propulsion Conference at HIT in 2005. But 150
scientific papers were submitted to the annual conference in 2016.
In October 2012, China space-tested one Shijian-series satellite with a
Kaufman thruster and another with a Hall-effect thruster. Each
thruster's experiment lasted seven minutes.
"Forty years of work went into those seven minutes," said Zhang Weiwen,
director of the CAST Institute 510, whose scientists developed the
thrusters.
In 2015, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. Institute 801
researchers announced a breakthrough in Hall-effect technology. They
said they had developed a thruster with a lifespan of 75,000 hours that
could ignite 15,000 times and burn 18,000 hours without a break.
The following year, Yu's team and CAST Institute 502 researchers said
they had developed a Hall-effect thruster that would improve on its
predecessor by up to 30 percent, the thruster's chief designer Mao Wei
told the South China Morning Post. They called it the HEP-100MF.
The November experiment, which was the first flight test for the
HEP-100MF, has fueled confidence in China's propulsion technology and
the space program's ability to rocket into deep space.
"The technology for deep-space exploration already exists," Yu said. "All we need now is a go-ahead from the government."
EmDrive
EmDrive and the propellentless Cannae drive
CAST has held a press conference in Beijing explaining the
importance of the EmDrive research and to move the technology forward.
EM Drive already on board its version of the International Space Station, the space laboratory Tiangong-2.
Chinese researchers have at least constructed an EM Drive and have been studying it for more than five years now.
Chief designer of the CAST (China Academy of Space Technology) communication satellite division, Li Feng,
told the media that so far their EM Drive only produces millinewtons of
thrust (similar to NASA's version) and to make it functional, they need
to get those levels up to between 100 millinewtons and 1 newton.
The team is allegedly now working on the cavity design of the EM Drive
and the position of the thruster, before testing their new versions on
their satellites in orbit.
Logically if an EMDrive was placed on Tiangong-2 and no thrust was
produced in orbit, then the CAST team would probably not hold a
press conference.
If tiny thrust was produced
in orbit and in a vacuum then further research would be pursued.
Further research could still occur if thrust seemed to be produced on
the ground but did not appear in orbital microgravity.
"This technology is currently in the latter stages of the
proof-of-principle phase, with the goal of making the technology
available in satellite engineering as quickly as possible," Li Feng
explained at the press conference.
"Although it is difficult to do this, we have the confidence that we will succeed."
dafeng cao
J-20 carried with four drop tanks is unveiled for the first time.
Taiwan’s official Central News Agency says in its report on December
24 that China will build 500 J-20B, more than the future total number of
other fifth-generation fighter jets in Asian Pacific.
In its report, the agency quotes Hong Kong military commentator Leung
Kwok-leung’s December-24 article on Mingpao that speeding up the
deployment of J-20s is China’s set strategic goal.
J-20B is an improved version of J-20 installed with China’s new
homegrown powerful WS-15 Emei turbofans. China has already developed
WS-15 all-direction vector turbofan with thrust-weight ratio of 10. The
turbofan is now undergoing intensive tests and will be ready to be
installed in J-20B by 2019, an improved version of J-20.
Leung’s article quotes Xu Yongling, China’s chief test pilot, as
saying in the past, “China’s future principal fighter jet J-20 will be
formally commissioned in 2017. The number deployed will be close to
100.”
There has recently been information from external sources that China
will deploy 4 air regiments of J-20 fighter jets within a short period
of time. There are 96 fighter jets in 4 regiments, close to the 100
disclosed by Xu. According to China’s production capacity, it takes less
than 3 years for China to build so many J-20s.
The article says that China now has two J-20 production lines, one
producing J-20 with Russian AL-31 engines and the other producing J-20A
installed with China’s WS-10B Taihang engines.
Russia has developed 99M1 to 99M4 improved versions of AL-31F, but
China has also developed improved versions of WS-10, named WS-10A and WS-10B
better than Russian ones with thrust-weight ratio of 9 than Russia’s 8. "In
the extreme environment of domestic third-generation single-crystal blade uses in WS-10B, the temperature reached 2000 degrees, and it is the best blade
in the world for high temperature resistance. This index can not be
achieved even in the United States," said Lin Zuo-ming, chairman of
CATIC Group. The engine life thus increased from 800 hours to 1,500 hours, overhaul interval to the Western level.
It is said that a third production line has recently gone into
operation to produce J-20A. As each line makes one J-20 a month, their
combined production capacity will be 36 a year.
The article discloses that by the end of 2019, there will be a fourth
J-20 production line for trial production of J-20B using China’s
homegrown WS-15 Emei turbofans.
Due to the use of WS-15, J-20B’s cruise speed will be Mach 1.8 and
maximum speed exceeds Mach 2.2, equal to those of US F-22. China will
produce 500 J-20B, more than the future total number of other
fifth-generation fighter jets in Asia-Pacific.
The article points out that recently the appearance of 4 J-20s with
serial numbers from 78271 to 78274 have been disclosed on the Internet.
Such serial numbers are PLA air force’s numbers. All those J-20s have
low visibility coating.
In addition TerraServer took a satellite photo on November 17 of two
J-20s at Dingxin Air Force Base in Jiuquan City, Gansu Province. The
J-20s were obviously taking part in the annual large-scale “Red Sword”
combined drill in November. The drill is the largest-scale real war air
force combined drill so far in the world. The photo proves that J-20
will soon be deployed for real war.
According to professional photographer
and creator of some of the original Instagram filters, Cole Rise,
however, 'everyone is now a photographer in their own right' (stock
image)
Christmas
is a time to remember - the family are together, the festivity is high,
and having an embarrassing image of your sibling asleep in a party hat
is always going to come in handy.
With smartphones having replaced traditional cameras though, we're all becoming a bunch of lazy photographers.
Instead
of waiting until the middle of February to develop Christmas photos
only to find out your thumb covered the lens in half of them, we can now
snap, see, share, repeat in a matter of seconds.
HOW TO TAKE BETTER PHOTOS ACCORDING TO A PRO
Professional
photographer and brains behind some of the original Instagram filters,
Cole Rise, has shared his advice on taking pictures with MailOnline.
These are the tips you should follow to ensure you capture super shots this Christmas.
1. Learn what all the setting and features on your phone's camera do.
2. Try and frame your photo, using the background to enhance the main point of focus.
3. Download photography apps to enhance your camera's core features.
4. Think outside the box and use feature in ways they weren't designed for.
5. Don't just point and shoot, work unusual angles to get a unique perspective.
6. Just because you have dozens of filters at your disposal doesn't mean you have to use them all at once.
7. When sharing your photos, don't overdo it. This will make them all feel less special.
According to professional photographer and creator of some of the original Instagram filters, Cole Rise, however, 'everyone is now a photographer in their own right.'
If that's the case, it's time to up your photo game and start getting the best shots possible. How? We asked Cole to find out.
1. GET TO KNOW YOUR KIT
Whether your handset's an iPhone or an Android, first you need to get to know your phone's camera.
Hit that camera 'Settings' button and start taking a look at the options hidden within.
Each phone will differ, but they'll be a few ever-present additions.
One of these, HDR, will help enhance your shots in a variety of settings.
Taking a number of stills simultaneously, each with a different exposure level, HDR mode instantly merges these together.
The result is a photo with more pop and colour.
Bright areas will be brighter, darks darker, and previously unseen nuances will appear in the middle.
2. THINK BEYOND THE PHOTO
It's easy to look through the screen of your phone, press the shutter button and think 'yeah, that'll do'.
Try building out the image beyond just the point of focus though.
Framing is key, and bringing elements of the background or surrounding area can help build a narrative beyond the static shot.
According to Mr Rise, that's key to a good shot.
'Think of the story behind the photo,' he told MailOnline.
'Every photo is a story in itself, it's not just an image. It has to say something.'
Try building out the image beyond just
the point of focus though. Framing is key, and bringing elements of the
background or surrounding area can help build a narrative beyond the
static shot. Pictured is one of Mr Rise's photos for Etihad Airways
3. USE THE RIGHT APPS
The
stock camera app on your phone will get the job done, but it's not
going to give you all the bells and whistles you can unearth with
separate apps found in the app store.
There
are literally thousands to choose from but, chances are, there's
already a couple, like Instagram, on your phone to enhance your snaps.
If you want to take things to the next level though, apps like VSCO and Snapseed are great additions.
Both
pack stylish designs with easy editing tools that can help you enhance
new shots while transforming your existing snaps into mini works of art.
4. PUSH BACK AGAINST THE RULES
Just because these apps offer guidance on how to best use these enhanced features, doesn't mean you're confined to those uses.
Sometimes going against the grain and trying something completely new can yield great photographic results.
'I love the misuse of tools,' said Mr Rise. 'I think that's the best gauge success if people are misusing something.'
He added: 'Just get as creative as possible because there can't be a wrong way to use these tools.'
5. LOOK FOR UNUSUAL ANGLES
Anyone can point a camera at something and take a picture.
To ensure you're taking better photos than your mates though, you need to start looking for new and unique angles.
Using
a recent shoot with Etihad Airways as an example, Mr Rise explained how
getting up-close with a plane allowed him to capture a little-seen
angle on these giant machines.
Using a recent shoot with Etihad
Airways as an example, Rise explained how getting up-close with a plane
allowed him to capture a little-seen angle on these giant machines
'Getting underneath a plane was absolutely incredible.
'Your photos should take people along for a ride,' he explained.
The important point is to start looking at things differently.
6. TAKE IT EASY ON THE FILTERS
The
rise of Instagram marked the death of the untouched image, and now it's
hard to find a smartphone snap that's not been filtered beyond all
recognition.
When
the man who created some of the original Instagram filters is telling
you to take it easy on the overlays though, you know it's time to take
note.
'In terms of filtering, I don't want photography to be covered, I want it to be more elevated,' said Mr Rise.
'It's like information loss when you put too much over the top of it.
'If you use the Instagram filters now, you can slide them all the way down to zero if you want so they are barely visible.
'Subtlety is really important.'
So what filtering advice does Mr Rise offer?
'I
have a rule when I edit a photo,' he explained. 'I slide everything
down to 50 per cent and see how it looks. Try and get it to as original
as possible and build up from there.'
Mr Rise says that nowadays the quality
of a photo is probably based on the number of 'Likes', 'Retweets' or
'Shares' it receives (stock image)
7. SHARE RESPONSIBLY
How do you decide on the quality of a photo?
Nowadays, that's probably based on the number of 'Likes', 'Retweets' or 'Shares' it receives.
This is all the more reason to share responsibly and don't let your best shots get lost in a sea of spam.
'For me, posting one or two photos a day is enough' Mr Rise explained.
'You don't want to bombard a feed and fall into those social faux pas.
'It's down to self-editing.
'There's a whole library of photos that aren't worth sharing.' DailyMail on Facebook
Ever wonder how Santa manages to deliver all those Christmas gifts in only one night?
The newest version of the J-31 -- now renamed the FC-31 Gyrfalcon -- took to the air for the first time Friday.
The new FC-31 has "better stealth capabilities, improved electronic
equipment and a larger payload capacity" than the previous version which
debuted in October 2012.
"Changes were made to the airframe, wings and vertical tails which make
it leaner, lighter and more manoeuvrable,"
The fighter is expected to sell for around $70 million, aiming to take market share away from more expensive
fourth-generation fighters like the Eurofighter Typhoon.
AVIC, the manufactured has said that the FC-31 will "put an end to some nations' monopolies on the fifth-generation fighter jet".
Improved J-31, second type of stealth fighter, successfully completes maiden flight
Mil.huanqiu.com reports that new version of J-31 (also known as
FC-31) stealth fighter jet conducted its maiden flight in December. 23.
We see in the comparison in the change of the shape of horizontal tail, but
mil.huanqiu.com says that there has also been changes to optimize its
maneuverability, stealth and loading capacity.
It says that according to information provided by the producer, the warplane is
17.3 meters long and 4.8 meters high with a wingspan of 11.5 meters. Its
ceiling is 16,000 meters, has a
maximum takeoff weight of 28 metric tonnes, a flight radius of 1,250 kms and a
top speed of Mach 1.8.
It can carry eight tonnes of weapons. The plane can hold six missiles in its
internal weapons bay and another six under its wings.
The new FC-31 has state-of-the-art instruments such as helmet-mounted display and sight
system, active phased array radar,
infrared search and track system,
integrated electro-optical targeting system and a single display-panel cockpit.
If the warplane satisfies the standards published by the producer, it will be
an excellent high cost-effective medium-sized stealth fighter jet with large
range, heavy load of ammunition and multi-function.
“The aircraft will have bright prospects in the market. Based
on my experience and knowledge, I presume its price will be around USD
70 million, about half that of the US’ Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning
II,” Fu Qianshao, an aircraft expert said.
“Moreover, the fourth-generation, Euro-fighter Typhoon and Dassault
Rafale fighter jets are priced at about USD 100 million. All of these
mean you can spend a lot less money to get an advanced, fifth-generation
stealth combat plane,” Fu said.
The only fifth-generation fighter jet currently available in the market
is the US’ F-35 Lightning II, but the US sells it only to allies.
J-31 is the only fighter jet in world market that has no generation gap with
F-35. As it is much cheaper, it will grab a large market share from F-35.
The FC-31 was unveiled in October, 2012, when the first prototype made
its maiden flight, becoming the country’s second fifth-generation
fighter jet following the J-20, which conducted its first flight in
January, 2011.
Scientists
in China claim they’ve created a working prototype of the ‘impossible’
reactionless engine – and they say they’re already testing it in orbit
aboard the Tiangong-2 space laboratory.
The
radical, fuel-free EmDrive recently stirred up controversy after a
paper published by a team of NASA researchers appeared to show they’d
successfully built the technology.
If the physics-defying concept is brought to reality, it’s said the engine could get humans to Mars in just 10 weeks.
But
now, scientists with the China Academy of Space Technology claim NASA’s
results ‘re-confirm’ what they’d already achieved, and have plans to
implement it in satellites ‘as quickly as possible.’
A fuel-free engine, described as
'impossible' to create, may now be a step closer to reality, according
to leaked Nasa documents. Pictured is a prototype of the EMDrive
With
no fuel to eject, the EmDrive would violate Newton’s third law, which
states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.
At
a press conference in Beijing, however, researchers with Cast confirmed
the government has been funding research into the technology since
2010, and claimed they’ve developed a device that’s already being tested
in low-Earth orbit, IBTimes UK reports.
It comes just a month after anonymous sources told IBTimes UK that tests on the EmDrive were underway aboard Tiangong-2.
‘National
research institutions in recent years have carried out a series of
long-term, repeated tests on the EmDrive,’ Dr Chen Yue, head of the
communication satellite division at Cast said at the press conference,
IBTimes UK reports.
‘NASA’s
published test results can be said to re-confirm the technology. We
have successfully developed several specifications of multiple prototype
principles.
‘The
establishment of an experimental verification platform to complete the
milli-level micro thrust measurement test, as well as several years of
repeated experiments and investigations into corresponding interference
factors, confirm that in this type of thruster, thrust exists.’
Cast
is a subsidiary of the Chinese Aerospace Science and Technology
Corporation (CASC) and the manufacturer of Dong Fang Hong satellites.
According
to Li Feng, chief designer of Cast’s communication satellite division,
the team has built a prototype that so far generates just a few
millinewtons of thrust, IBTimes UK reports.
For it to work on a satellite, they will need to bring the levels up to something between .1-1 Newtons.
This
means they will have to improve the cavity design to reduce electrical
losses, and develop a solution for the placement of the microwave
thruster on the satellite itself.
‘This
technology is currently in the latter stages of the proof-of-principle
phase, with the goal of making the technology available in satellite
engineering as quickly as possible,’ Li Feng said at the conference,
IBTimes reports.
‘Although it is difficult to do this, we have the confidence that we will succeed.’
Following the official publication of the NASA research last month, many have dismissed the results as an experimental error.
This
includes advanced propulsions systems expert Brice Cassenti, who says
there is likely a ‘mundane explanation’ behind the findings.
But,
while the expert argues that there’s a ‘slim’ probability that the
results will hold up in further investigation, he also notes that ‘it’s
not zero.’
The
violations seen in the EmDrive concept would ‘invalidate much of the
basis for all of physics as we know it,’ Cassenti, an engineering
professor at the University of Connecticut, told UConn Today.
The paper, now published in the AIAA’s Journal of Propulsion and Power, describes a series of successful tests carried out by scientists at NASA’s Eagleworks Laboratories.
Its
publication means it has been reviewed by scientists independent to the
study, adding to its credibility – but, this does not necessarily mean
that the results are valid.
As
there is no ‘plausible proven physical explanation’ for the findings as
of yet, either experimentally or theoretically, the expert says the
results may boil down to an experimental error.
‘I personally believe that there is a mundane explanation for the results,’ Cassenti said.
‘For
example, electric currents are heating components within the Drive that
expand during the experiments, causing motion that would appear as a
force.
The
technology has been dubbed the 'warp drive' for its similarity to the
fictional propulsion system seen in the Star Trek series
‘It
is very difficult to remove such effects, although the authors of the
journal article tried to remove not only these thermal effects but also
many other possible sources for experimental errors.’
According
to Cassenti, it’s extremely difficult to be certain that all sources of
error have been eliminated, and this can only be proven through
independent tests of the hypothesis.
If the EmDrive results do turn out to be valid, the achievement ‘points to new physics.’
And
while there have been circumstances where Newton’s laws have been found
not to apply at high speeds, as in large gravitational fields and with
tiny molecules, the researcher note that ‘Newton is still mostly right.’
If the physics-defying concept is brought to reality, it’s said the engine could get humans to Mars in just 10 weeks
‘Over
my professional life, I have seen several of these exciting
experimental or theoretical results reported in peer-reviewed
literature,’ Cassenti said.
‘So far only the reality of black holes has come through.
'So,
based on my experience, the probability of this holding up under
further analysis and testing appears slim. But it’s not zero.’
Essentially,
the EmDrive generates thrust by harnessing particles of light and
bouncing microwaves around inside a closed chamber, shaped like a cone.
The movement generates thrust at the slim end of the cone, which drives the engine forward.
In the new study, which tested if the device could operate in a vacuum, the researchers found that 'thrust
data from forward, reverse, and null suggested that the system was
consistently performing at 1.2±0.1 mN/kW1.2±0.1 mN/kW, which was very
close to the average impulsive performance measured in air.'
The
supporting physics model for these conditions, according to the
researchers, could be a 'nonlocal hidden-variable theory, or pilot-wave
theory for short' - an interpretation of quantum mechanics.
Many
have taken interest in the findings, including one physicist who has
claimed that there ‘may really be something’ in the findings – but, the
cause might be something entirely different than what’s been proposed.
Rather
than the quantum vacuum theory which was initially cited in the leaked
version to explain the findings, a phenomenon known as the ‘Mach effect’
could be to blame, according to Motherboard.
By
this effect, which Woodward first theorized in the 1990s, some of the
force applied to an accelerating body of mass is stored as potential
energy in its body rather than generating kinetic energy, according to
Motherboard.
This
causes fluctuations in the object’s resting mass, and this effect could
be harnessed to create the type of thrust seen in the experiments. Popular Science
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