China Scientist Awards Blog

  Meet DeepSeek: the Chinese start-up that is changing how AI models are trained Hangzhou-based DeepSeek is 2025’s ‘biggest dark horse’ in open-source large language models, Nvidia research scientist Jim Fan says Chinese start-up DeepSeek has emerged as “the biggest dark horse” in the open-source large language model (LLM) arena in 2025, just days after the firm made waves in the global artificial intelligence (AI) community with its latest release. That assessment came from Jim Fan, a senior research scientist at Nvidia and lead of its AI Agents Initiative, in a New Year’s Day post on social-media platform X, following the Hangzhou-based start-up’s release last week of its namesake LLM, DeepSeek V3. “[The new AI model] shows that resource constraints force you to reinvent yourself in spectacular ways,” Fan wrote, referring to how DeepSeek developed the product at a fraction of the capital outlay that other tech companies invest in building LLMs. DeepSeek V3 comes with 671 billion ...

  Chinese team says vaccine shows promise in treating breast cancer in mice Chinese scientists have developed a nanovaccine from tumour cell membranes that they say has shown promise in treating an aggressive form of  breast cancer  in mice. The nanovaccine is designed to boost the immune response of B cells – an abundant white blood cell found in tumours – which is known to have anti-tumour effects through multiple mechanisms. “Inoculation with tumour cell membrane-derived vaccines is a promising strategy to activate B cells, yet their efficiency is limited due to lack of co-stimulatory molecules,” the researchers wrote in a paper published in peer-reviewed journal Advanced Materials last month. To overcome this challenge, the team from the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences designed a tumour cell membrane-derived vaccine that also has components to stimulate an immune response. When tested on mice with triple-negative breast cancer – an in...

  More zebrafish to swim in China's space station SHANGHAI -- In 2025, six zebrafish are set to journey to China's space station, assisting scientists in exploring how the space environment impacts the muscle and skeletal development of vertebrates. This research is expected to bolster long-term human survival in space and pave the way for interplanetary habitation. A "fishbowl" in China's Tiangong Space Station will house six zebrafish and six grams of Ceratophyllum this year, according to Wang Gaohong from the Institute of Hydrobiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, who spoke to Xinhua on Monday. The study will focus on the impact of microgravity on the proteins in the zebrafish's bones and muscles. Once the experiment comes to a close, the fish will be frozen and brought back to Earth for further analysis. In April 2024, a container with four zebrafish and four grams of Ceratophyllum was sent to the space station by Shenzhou XVIII manned spaceship, for...

  Study reveals how plants identify 'beneficial friend' Scientists in Shanghai have unraveled how plants distinguish between beneficial and harmful microbes in soil at the molecular level, a discovery that could significantly impact green agriculture and global food security. Plants host a variety of microorganisms in their root systems. While symbiotic fungi establish mutually beneficial relationships with plants and aid in absorbing essential nutrients from the soil, pathogens deplete these nutrients, leading to reduced crop yields and plant death. By understanding how plants differentiate between "friend" and "foe", researchers aim to develop crop cultivation methods that reduce the need for environmentally harmful fertilizers, maintain yields and enhance resilience. Researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences in Shanghai identified LysM receptor kinases on plant cell membranes as key in detecting ...

  China’s Antarctic mission gets helping paw from robot dog A Chinese  robot dog  designed to carry heavy loads in extreme cold has successfully completed a series of tests in Antarctica, according to state broadcaster CCTV. Video footage broadcast on Saturday showed the six-legged dog carrying a box on its back at the Zhongshan polar research station. The report said the robot has specially designed shoes, made from a material that can withstand temperatures as low as minus 40 degrees Celsius (minus 40 Fahrenheit). “Moreover, the shoes minimise pressure when in contact with the ice, providing excellent anti-slip performance while reducing damage to the ice surface,” Mao Shijie, head of the Antarctic research missions’s robot team, told CCTV. It also has a specially insulated battery allowing it to function for two hours in temperatures of minus 40 and extra batteries can be attached if it needs to perform longer tasks, for example exploring the polar ice. The robotic dog...