ROLE OF SCIENCE HIGHLIGHTED IN PANDEMIC FIGHT

Science and technology have played, and will continue to play, a decisive role in mitigating the pandemic, whether it is by discovering new features about the novel coronavirus, looking for new treatment or vaccines or offering expertise in psychological services, experts said.

But science does not always proceed in an unambiguous straight line toward progress. These undertakings, especially those involve pushing boundaries deeper into the unknown, are time-consuming, complicated and unpredictable. So, it is important for the public to understand the scientific process to fully respect and appreciate these efforts, they said.

As President Xi Jinping has said, the COVID-19 epidemic is the "fastest spreading, most infectious and most challenging public health emergency since the birth of New China". He has also stressed that epidemic control efforts require the support of science and technology and urged scientists who are working on treatment and a vaccine to accelerate their research while upholding rigorous scientific practices and ensuring their products are safe.

With the leadership of Xi and joint efforts by the whole of society, the epidemic is now under control in China, said Huai Jinpeng, executive vice-president of the China Association for Science and Technology.

"But the disease is still spreading across the globe, and there is a strong downward pressure for the world economy and a noticeable spike in instability and uncertainty," he said at a meeting with the nation's science officials on April 30.

During this critical juncture, Chinese scientists need to be even more hardworking and pragmatic, and make a greater contribution to the nation's post-epidemic socioeconomic recovery with science and innovation, Huai said.

At the same time, they also need to expand their network of cooperation at home and abroad. Science officials and workers should maintain high ethical and professional standards, and be a role model for society, he added.

Wan Gang, president of the China Association for Science and Technology, said the nation's science workers were immediately mobilized to tackle the epidemic when the outbreak began, and have provided crucial scientific support in controlling the disease and assisting the socioeconomic recovery.

Communication is also a key aspect of the overall disease prevention and control effort, he said, adding that the various COVID-19 related information platforms under the association have attracted over 7 billion views in the past few months.

3D PRINTING SET TO HELP EASE SPACE TRIPS

China has conducted its first 3D printing experiment in space in a newly launched spacecraft, according to the China Academy of Space Technology.

The academy said on its WeChat account on Thursday that the experiment was done by a 3D printer, developed and built by its Beijing Spacecrafts Manufacturing Factory, inside the prototype of China's new-generation manned spacecraft.

The printer, named the Space-Based Composite Material 3D Printing System, uses carbon fiber-reinforced composites to autonomously print objects. It is installed in the reentry module of the experimental spaceship and will be brought back to Earth once the module returns.

The academy said the printer features advanced technologies in material modeling, precision control and automation. It explained that once the space-based 3D printing technology becomes operationally ready, it can extensively benefit space programs as astronauts can use it to manufacture a lot of things they currently need to obtain from resupply flights by cargo spacecraft.

Video clips broadcast on China Central Television showed that the printer has printed a flat section of a honeycomb-shaped structure as well as an emblem of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp, the parent company of the China Academy of Space Technology.

Also known as additive manufacturing technology, 3D printing is the processes in which three-dimensional objects are made through the layering of material. It is advancing rapidly and is increasingly used in the manufacturing sector.

Wang Yanan, editor-in-chief of the Aerospace Knowledge magazine, said the 3D printer will be very useful in extended space missions, such as those in a space station, because it will allow astronauts to make components quickly and conveniently in space.

The technology will save future space journeys considerable resources and costs, he said.

In fact, the device is not the sole representative of 3D printing onboard the prototype. A CubeSat deployer, designed and made through 3D printing by CoSats Space Technology, a Beijing-based privately owned commercial space startup, is also carried by the spacecraft to verify the adaptability of 3D-printed equipment in space.

A CubeSat deployer is an apparatus used to put miniaturized satellites into orbit.

CoSats Chief Operating Officer Bai Ruixue said the 3D-printed deployer is much lighter and stronger than its counterparts and it will have huge potential in the space industry.

The prototype of China's new-generation manned spacecraft was put into low-Earth orbit by China's Long March 5B heavy-lift carrier rocket during its maiden flight in Hainan province on Tuesday.

ONLINE SALES BOOM IN CHINA

Online sales, boosted by preferential policies and livestreaming, have been booming in different parts of China despite the economic downturn in the country.

Preferential policies have been launched to promote the upgrading of e-commerce companies in Putian, East China's Fujian province, since February this year.

In the first quarter of 2020, the city's online retail sales of e-commerce enterprises above the designated size reached 5.467 billion yuan ($770 million), a year-on-year increase of 18.5 percent.

Many livestream hosts had continued to work, helping companies sell products online during the May Day holiday, which ended Tuesday, in Nanchang, East China's Jiangxi province. The efforts have promoted the development of the holiday economy.

China's consumption has shown a recovering trend during the five-day holiday, with the e-commerce sector posting robust growth. Sales of some large e-commerce companies increased by more than 30 percent year-on-year, the Ministry of Commerce said Thursday.

VICE-PREMIER LIU HE, US OFFICIALS DISCUSS TRADE

Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He held a phone call with US trade officials on Friday morning, with both sides agreeing the two countries should strengthen macroeconomic and public health cooperation.

According to a statement the Ministry of Commerce released on Friday, Vice-Premier Liu He spoke with US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

Both sides said China and the US should cement cooperation in macroeconomy and public health and strive to create a favorable condition for implementing the phase-one trade deal between the two countries. The two sides agreed to maintain communication on relevant issues, the statement added.

Liu is also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chief of the Chinese side of the China-US comprehensive economic dialogue.

WHY IT PAYS TO MEASURE QOMOLANGMA

Ask people to name the world's tallest peak and anybody with sound general knowledge will name Mount Qomolangma. But quiz them on its exact height and many will falter.

In 1975, Chinese surveyors determined that Mount Qomolangma (Mount Everest) was 8848.13 meters high. As technology improved, satellites, photoelectricity, radars and gravity measurement technologies were employed to get more exact figures. Of course, someone still had to carry instruments to what is the world's rooftop.

In 2005, a Chinese team scaled Qomolangma and found that it was not as high as that, as they calculated the height to be 8844.43 meters. A 30-member Chinese survey team is now measuring the peak's height again. The team marked a commencement ceremony on reaching a camp at 5,200 meters on Tuesday and is within reach of the summit.

Scaling Qomolangma is no mean task. The average air temperature there is -29 degrees Celsius, four degrees lower than in Antarctica. The snow there is 4-5 meters thick and hurricane-like winds blow all the time. Team members were training since January to cope with the extreme conditions.

In a nutshell, measuring the Qomolangma's height is a tall order, involving huge amounts of money and human resources. But it is worth the effort. Located at the point where the Eurasian plate meets the Indian plate, Qomolangma is the perfect window for observing crustal movements. And changes to the peak's height could indicate whether the two plates are heading toward or away from each other. Actually, Mount Qomolangma emerged from an ocean 38 million years ago as a result of the two plates colliding.

During the ongoing survey, the team also noted the condition of snow and other natural materials at the top, which could be an indicator of imminent climate change on the Tibet-Qinghai Plateau. That's why measuring the Qomolangma's height is so significant. Put to good use, it can benefit mankind.

RULE TO PUT LIMITS ON SKYSCRAPERS

A recent guideline will strictly control the construction of skyscrapers to help protect the country's historical and traditional buildings and make urban architecture more representative of the country's culture, experts said.

They also said the document is expected to prevent damage to some cities' historical styles due to large real estate developments.

Freewheeling construction of high-rise buildings will not happen in urban areas, and small cities will face even stricter height restrictions, according to the guideline issued by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and the National Development and Reform Commission.

No buildings taller than 500 meters will be allowed unless their plans are approved by the two central government bodies following strict examinations, said the document, which was published in late April.

Per the guideline, provincial housing and urban-rural development departments are authorized to approve construction of buildings over 250 meters in height, though plans for such buildings need to be registered at the ministry.

A series of factors, including city scale and local fire control capabilities, will be considered in local authorities' examinations of buildings taller than 100 meters. Construction cannot be started unless they go through strict anti-seismic examination and approval, it said.

Meanwhile, restrictions will be imposed on buildings that may exert a negative impact on features and styles of key urban areas. No more historical architecture and traditional dwellings will be demolished.

Li Naichao, head of the Beijing Residential Real Estate Chamber of Commerce, welcomes the initiative, saying it will help put the brakes on the barbaric destruction of many cities' historical and traditional features for economic development.

"For any high-rise buildings, they will surely damage cities' original features and styles and break the succession of local history and culture as there used to be no such buildings," he said.

Some cities, however, have overlooked the protection of such features and styles in urban real estate development. To maximize economic benefits, some developers try to increase the floor area they could sell by constructing tall buildings, he noted.

Since the country's reform and opening-up in the late 1970s, the country has sacrificed some of its natural resources, and the features and styles of historical importance in some urban areas have also been damaged.

"We must put a brake on this as we enter a new development stage. It's a brilliant guideline. We cannot damage cities' features and styles for economic purposes in a barbaric manner," he continued.

The guideline also said management will be intensified for construction of big public facilities, including stadiums, museums, exhibition halls and theaters, to prevent imitation in architecture designs.

Li said such public buildings are major representatives of a city's image and they should boast each city's characteristics. Currently in China, however, like residential buildings, these facilities fail to manifest local features, he said.

He said it's now hard for people to judge where they are if they are sent to a city without being told its name because of the sameness of the buildings.

The guideline is expected to help address the chaos caused by some cities seeking to make architecture unnecessarily ostentatious, and to take aim at some urban locales that worship foreign architectural styles, according to a media release from the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development.

It also will consolidate the country's cultural confidence and manifest China's characteristics, it added.

GUANGDONG TO INSPECT BRIDGES, FREEWAYS

Guangdong province will conduct thorough surveys on all its bridges and expressways, especially on major bridges crossing seawater, rivers and canyons, and at major traffic junctions long in use, top provincial officials said.

The move, announced on Wednesday afternoon, follows vibrations this week that have shut down traffic on Humen Bridge, a 4.6-kilometer span that links the eastern and western parts of the economically important Pearl River Delta.

Li Xi, Party secretary of Guangdong, pushed for the surveys to eliminate potential risks and for departments involved to fully respect experts' advice and allow Humen Bridge traffic to resume when safety is ensured. On Wednesday, Li visited the command center to evaluate the bridge, which was completed in June 1997.

The bridge was closed after an unusual vibration was first reported at about 2:30 pm on Tuesday. More vibrations followed that night.

The Guangdong Provincial Transportation Department quickly closed the bridge−which handles more than 170,000 vehicles a day during peak periods−and organized a 12-person team of experts to investigate.

On Thursday, experts said the bridge remains safe in the wake of the vibrations.

The main structure of the bridge was not damaged, and the bridge fundamentally returned to its normal state when the vibrations stopped on Thursday, said Chen Airong, a member of the expert team, who is an engineering professor specializing in bridges at Shanghai-based Tongji University.

When Humen Bridge will again be open to traffic was still being discussed by bridge experts, said Zhang Xinmin, deputy chief engineer of the maintenance department of the bridge.

The water channels under Humen Bridge reopened to ships and boats after 4:30 pm on Thursday, according to the Guangzhou maritime department. Following the appearance of the vibrations, no vessels had been allowed to operate or be moored near the bridge as a precautionary measure.

There is little chance that the unusual vibrations will occur again in the near future, Chen told reporters. "The bridge will have no problems when traffic resumes," he said.

Zhang said it appears the vibrations were mainly caused by barricades that had been placed on the bridge's surface by maintenance workers during repairs.

It is normal for the bridge to shake under special wind conditions and the vibrations have little effect on the structural safety and durability of the span, he said.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try. - John F. Kennedy