2021 10 25
China launches first solar exploration satellite
China has sent its first solar exploration satellite into space from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north China's Shanxi Province.
The China National Space Administration said that the satellite was launched aboard a Long March-2D rocket and entered its planned orbit successfully.
The satellite, which will conduct the first space exploration of solar Hα spectral imaging, is expected to improve China's research ability in solar exploration.
The satellite will operate in a sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 517 km, with a solar space telescope as its primary scientific payload. It will help researchers observe changes in the Sun during solar flares, such as changes in its atmospheric temperature and velocity.
The satellite's design includes the separation of its platform cabin and payload cabin, thus ensuring the ultra-high pointing accuracy and stability of the payload.
Solicited from the public, the name of the satellite, Xihe, is the goddess of the sun who created the calendar in ancient Chinese mythology.
Also onboard the rocket were 10 small satellites, including an orbital atmospheric density detection experimental satellite and a commercial meteorological detection constellation experimental satellite.
It was the 391st flight mission of the Long March carrier rocket series.
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NASA launches longest mission to distant asteroids, exploring planet formation mysteries
The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration has launched its Lucy spacecraft on a 12-year journey to explore Jupiter's Trojan asteroids, seeking to unlock mysteries of the solar system.
Lucy was launched on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 401 rocket from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
According to NASA, about an hour after launch, Lucy separated from the second stage of the rocket. Its two massive solar arrays, each nearly 24 feet wide, about 7.3 meters, successfully unfurled about 30 minutes later and began charging the spacecraft's batteries to power its subsystems.
The spacecraft is now traveling at roughly 67,000 miles per hour, about 108,000 kilometers per hour, on a trajectory that will orbit the Sun and bring it back towards Earth in October 2022 for a gravity assist.
Over the next 12 years, Lucy will fly by one main-belt asteroid and seven Trojan asteroids, making it the agency's first single spacecraft mission in history to explore so many different asteroids. Lucy will investigate these "fossils" of planetary formation up close during its journey.
Lucy is also NASA's longest mission lasting for 12 years.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said that Lucy embodies NASA's enduring quest to push out into the cosmos for the sake of exploration and science, to better understand the universe and the earth’s place within it.
Trojans are small bodies that are remnants of early solar systems. They orbit the Sun in two loose groups, with one group leading ahead of Jupiter in its orbit, and the other trailing behind.
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LinkedIn to replace its Chinese app with a modified one this year
LinkedIn announced that it will shut down its localized Chinese app later this year, and roll out a new app called "InJobs" designed for the Chinese market.
The career networking platform announced that the new app would serve as a portal to list and apply for jobs but the "social media" feature would be abandoned, including social feed and post’s sharing.
Mohak Shroff, senior vice president of LinkedIn, wrote in a statement, that while the company has found success in helping Chinese members find jobs and economic opportunity, it has not found the same level of success in the more social aspects of sharing and staying informed.
Lu Jian, president of LinkedIn China, said that LinkedIn China will make some adjustments on product and business strategy. The company has not reduced its investment in China, but will increase it.
In response to speculation about the announcement, he said the company will not reduce its staff or leave China。
LinkedIn suspended new user sign-ups in China for a month earlier this year to check the company's service compliance with local law.
The company launched its app in China in 2014. It had 53 million users in the market by July 2021, making up 7 percent of its total users.
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VW's electric vehicle deliveries to China more than triple
Volkswagen's deliveries of battery-powered electric vehicles to China more than tripled in the first nine months of the year.
The carmaker issued the data less than two months after it flagged the need to change its e-car strategy in the country.
Deliveries of battery electric vehicles to the world's largest car market stood at 47,200 in the January-September period, up from 15,700 in the same period last year.
Christian Dahlheim, head of group sales, said that as planned, Volkswagen significantly accelerated the battery electric vehicles’ market ramp-up in China in the third quarter, and it is on track to meet the target for the year of delivering 80,000 to 100,000 vehicles of its ID. model family.
Volkswagen Chief Executive Herbert Diess said in July that the company had to change its approach to how it markets its battery electric vehicles in China after first-half deliveries stood at just 18,285.
Data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers showed that in the January-September period, new energy vehicle sales amounted to about 2.16 million units, up 190 percent year on year.
Sales of passenger vehicles increased 11 percent year on year to 14 million units in the same period. However, the association cautioned that China's auto industry continued to face pressure from a chip supply shortage, high logistics costs and other factors.
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Zero-carbon terminal opens at China's Tianjin Port
A smart container terminal with zero carbon emissions started operations in north China's Tianjin Port.
The terminal was built in 21 months.
Chu Bin, chairman of the board of the Tianjin Port Group, said it is the world's first "smart" and "zero-carbon" terminal -- an example for the intelligent upgrade and low-carbon development of ports all over the world.
The terminal has an "intelligent brain." Based on AI technology, the brain can automatically give the best loading and unloading plans and control each piece of equipment, leading to 20 percent higher efficiency compared to traditional terminals.
The terminal has also used intelligent horizontal transportation robots equipped with various sensors such as laser radars, cameras and millimeter-wave radars. A base station with the BeiDou Navigation System was established at the terminal, which can achieve dynamic high-precision positioning with the help of 5G technology.
Doing away with fossil energy, the terminal only relies on wind power and photoelectricity. Its energy consumption can be reduced by over 17 percent compared with traditional automated terminals.
The smart zero-carbon terminal has a designed annual throughput of 2.5 million twenty-foot equivalent unit containers.
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African foundation hails China's pledge to support biodiversity conservation
China's financial pledge to support biodiversity conservation in developing countries illustrates its commitment to promoting planetary health. That is according to a statement from the Nairobi-based African Wildlife Foundation.
During the COP15, the 15th meeting of the Conference of Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, which was held in Kunming, the capital of southwest Yunnan Province, China announced an initiative to establish a biodiversity fund and took the lead by investing 1.5 billion yuan, about 233 million U.S. dollars, to support biodiversity protection in developing countries.
The foundation's CEO Kaddu Sebunya said in the statement that this commitment, alongside those made by other stakeholders, is the start of a resource mobilization drive which is necessary to meet the annual global biodiversity financing gap.
Sebunya noted that the China-initiated Kunming Biodiversity Fund will boost the implementation of the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, adding that the Chinese concept of ecological civilization will have a positive impact on global efforts to ensure that economic development remains in harmony with nature.
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China further opens onshore derivative market to foreign investors
The China Securities Regulatory Commission announced that it will allow qualified foreign institutions to trade more types of onshore derivatives.
Following its discussions with the People's Bank of China and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, the Commission announced on its website that investors under the Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor scheme will be allowed to trade commodity futures, commodity options, and stock index options, which will start from November 1.
The securities regulator said that this move would provide foreign investors with more hedging tools, help attract overseas capital, and improve the international influence of the domestic capital market.
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First China-Laos express train arrives in Vientiane
The first passenger train set to travel along the newly completed China-Laos railway was delivered to its operator in the Lao capital.
The Electric Multiple Unit train, designed and built by Chinese companies, can run at a speed of 160 kilometers per hour. They will be operated by the Laos-China Railway Company, a joint venture for the railway's construction and management in Vientiane.
The trains are called "Lancang" as a tribute to the ancient name of Laos and the Lancang-Mekong River which flows through the two countries. The train's exterior is painted in red, blue and white to represent the colors of the national flag of Laos.
With a handling capacity of 720 people, the train's carriages are equipped with snack and beverage bars, facilities for people with disability, as well as information services in Chinese, Lao and English.
Supervised by the China National Railway Group, the train departed from Kunming, in southwest China's Yunnan Province.
Test runs for the train will begin shortly ahead of the official opening of the 1,000-km railway line on December 2, the National Day of Laos.
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European Tour quartet set world record for fastest hole in 24.75 seconds
Professionals usually take 10 to 15 minutes to complete a hole on a golf course, but four European Tour players teamed up to break the Guinness World Record by achieving the feat in 24.75 seconds.
Sean Crocker of the United States, Nicolai Hojgaard of Denmark, Min-woo Lee of Australia and Wilco Nienaber of South Africa took up the challenge to break the record of 27.88 seconds set by an American team in 2018.
The hole chosen was the 501-yard fourth at Valderrama Golf Club in Spain.
After several failed attempts over more than two hours and many howls of frustration, Nienaber launched a 361-yard drive on to the fairway where Crocker waited for the ball to come to a stop.
His 140-yard approach shot landed within four feet of the hole and Lee sank the putt as Hojgaard lifted the flag.
The quartet had a nervous wait as the judges reviewed the footage and when the official time was announced – 24.75 seconds – it sparked wild celebrations.
Crocker failed to make the cut at the Andalucia Masters but, as promised, he leaves with an updated Instagram bio and his name in the record books.
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China celebrates 100th anniversary of modern archaeology
An event marking the 100th anniversary of the birth of modern Chinese archaeology was held on October 17 in the city of Sanmenxia, in central China's Henan Province.
The discovery of the Yangshao Culture, spanning from 5000 to 3000 BC, is seen as the beginning of the country's modern archaeology.
It is a Neolithic culture derived from the middle reaches of the Yellow River and was mainly found in today's Henan and Gansu provinces.
A hundred years ago, a small village named Yangshao in Henan's Mianchi County was discovered, leading to excavation work and archaeological findings, hence the name of the ancient civilization.
The commemorative event aimed to promote the ecological protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin, further explore the value of the Yangshao Culture, present the Chinese civilization and carry forward traditional Chinese culture.
It was jointly held by the Institute of Archaeology at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the National Cultural Heritage Administration, as well as the provincial government of Henan.
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That is the end of this edition of Special English. To recap, I am going to read Two of the news items again, at normal speed. Please listen carefully.
China launches first solar exploration satellite
China has sent its first solar exploration satellite into space from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north China's Shanxi Province.
The China National Space Administration said that the satellite was launched aboard a Long March-2D rocket and entered its planned orbit successfully.
The satellite, which will conduct the first space exploration of solar Hα spectral imaging, is expected to improve China's research ability in solar exploration.
The satellite will operate in a sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 517 km, with a solar space telescope as its primary scientific payload. It will help researchers observe changes in the Sun during solar flares, such as changes in its atmospheric temperature and velocity.
The satellite's design includes the separation of its platform cabin and payload cabin, thus ensuring the ultra-high pointing accuracy and stability of the payload.
Solicited from the public, the name of the satellite, Xihe, is the goddess of the sun who created the calendar in ancient Chinese mythology.
Also onboard the rocket were 10 small satellites, including an orbital atmospheric density detection experimental satellite and a commercial meteorological detection constellation experimental satellite.
It was the 391st flight mission of the Long March carrier rocket series.
This is Special English.
LinkedIn to replace its Chinese app with a modified one this year
LinkedIn announced that it will shut down its localized Chinese app later this year, and roll out a new app called "InJobs" designed for the Chinese market.
The career networking platform announced that the new app would serve as a portal to list and apply for jobs but the "social media" feature would be abandoned, including social feed and post sharing.
Mohak Shroff, senior vice president of LinkedIn, wrote in a statement, that while the company has found success in helping Chinese members find jobs and economic opportunity, it has not found the same level of success in the more social aspects of sharing and staying informed.
Lu Jian, president of LinkedIn China, said in a social media post that LinkedIn China will make some adjustments on product and business strategy. The company has not reduced its investment in China, but will increase it.
In response to speculation about the announcement, he said the company will not reduce its staff or leave China。
LinkedIn suspended new user sign-ups in China for a month earlier this year to check the company's service compliance with local law.
The company launched its app in China in 2014. It had 53 million users in the market by July 2021, making up 7 percent of its total users.
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