China Scientist Awards Blog

  Chinese researchers advance vegetable freshness preservation BEIJING -- Chinese researchers at the Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences are on the frontline of postharvest technology, dedicated to preserving the freshness and nutritional value of vegetables while reducing waste. Their work extends beyond shelf life alone, focusing also on maintaining the quality of produce. One key focus is rapid precooling, a critical step in preserving freshness. This involves lowering the temperatures of freshly harvested vegetables to optimal levels quickly for long-term storage. "It's like enveloping them in invisible freshness 'armor,'" said Wang Qing, a researcher on the academy's preservation processing team. However, achieving effective precooling is not without its challenges. Different vegetables and varying levels of ripeness require precise temperature controls. To address this issue, the researchers created advanced experimental platforms in the...

  China sets up first medical large model application testing center in Shanghai SHANGHAI -- China has established its first application testing and verification center for medical large models in Shanghai, aimed at advancing the integration of artificial intelligence in the healthcare sector. The center was inaugurated on Friday by the Shanghai Artificial Intelligence (AI) Laboratory, which leads the initiative to bridge the gap between training, evaluation, and application of medical large models. Twelve leading healthcare institutions in Shanghai will serve as the center's first validation units. Medical large models are currently being explored for their potential in disease prediction, diagnostic assistance, personalized treatment, and drug discovery in China, although challenges such as accuracy, interpretability, data privacy, and medical ethics persist. The center supports a comprehensive evaluation process, which includes qualifications verification, model review, safety a...

  BMI technology makes breakthrough in simultaneously decoding language and movement NeuroXess, a leading brain-machine interface company based in Shanghai, was the world's first to simultaneously decode language and movement in real-time, marking the city's latest breakthrough in this technology. Addressing critical clinical needs for restoring motor and language functions impaired by brain damage, the firm said on Thursday that it independently developed a 256-channel high-throughput, flexible brain-machine interface. Clinical trials for high-precision, real-time movement decoding and language decoding were conducted at Huashan Hospital Affiliated with Fudan University in Shanghai recently. The research team said that two weeks after the surgeries, patients were able to control intelligent devices and realize communication with their thoughts. In August, NeuroXess in collaboration with the neurosurgery team at Huashan Hospital successfully conducted the first clinical trial o...

  Brain-computer interface makes breakthrough by deciphering Chinese speech in brain SHANGHAI -- Chinese startup NeuroXess on Thursday reported two significant clinical-trial milestones: its flexible brain-computer interface (BCI) device successfully decoded the precise intended movements of one patient with a brain injury in real time, and decoded Chinese speech in real time for another. The patients have demonstrated the prowess of BCI technology, using their minds to control software, pick up objects, operate a digital avatar through speech, and converse with an AI model. In August 2024, neurosurgeons at Huashan Hospital, which is affiliated with Fudan University, implanted a 256-channel, high-throughput flexible BCI device designed by the Shanghai-based NeuroXess into a 21-year-old female patient with epilepsy who had a space-occupying lesion in the motor area of her brain. The team extracted electrocorticogram (ECoG) features from the high-gamma band of the patient's brain sig...

  China’s tech giants vow to fix algorithm issues amid government crackdown Major Chinese internet platforms have vowed to improve their algorithms, after the mainland’s internet watchdog launched a campaign to address the misuse of the technology underpinning the recommendation functions of apps and websites. ByteDance ’s TikTok alternative for its home market, Douyin, said on Friday it would establish a safety centre this year to make its recommendation system more transparent. It will also provide a more diverse video feed and strengthen its crackdown on misinformation and online violence, according to the company’s WeChat post. Pinduoduo , a budget shopping app run by Temu owner PDD Holdings, said on the same day that it was “actively building a healthier ecosystem” to prevent “Big Data-enabled price discrimination”, according to Chinese news outlet Yicai. PDD did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside business hours on Saturday. Also on Friday,  Xiaohong...

  Moon's bygone magnetic field still present 2 billion years ago BEIJING -- A new analysis of samples collected by China's Chang'e 5 mission has revealed that the moon possessed a weak yet still running dynamo magnetic field approximately 2 billion years ago. Understanding the strength, structure and evolution of the lunar magnetic field is crucial for unraveling its internal structure, thermal history and surface environment. The researchers led by those from the Institute of Geology and Geophysics (IGG) under the Chinese Academy of Sciences have analyzed 9 basalt samples returned by Chang'e 5 from the Oceanus Procellarum at the mid-latitudes of the moon. These rocks offer a unique chance to explore the moon's magnetic history from 3 to 1 billion years ago, a period of time that still has ample room for exploration. This gap raises the interesting question of whether the moon had a long-lasting "dynamo" effect. The result shows that the moon had a weak dy...