Science Talk: China's top 10 sci-tech news events in 2024

The China Association for Science and Technology has selected the Top 10 Science and Technology News Events of 2024.

Looking back at domestic scientific research achievements from last year, breakthroughs were made in the research of the lunar soil samples brought back by the Chang'e 6 mission, which received global acclaim, the association said.

In June, the Chang'e 6 lander initiated the first sample collection mission on the far side of the moon. As a result, Chinese scientists gained a better understanding of the ancient magnetic field and the history of volcanic activity on the moon, publishing their findings internationally.

China also made significant progress in the field of life sciences. In December, Chinese scientists led the International Human Protein Atlas Project, which was published in the journal Nature.

With this white paper, a deeper understanding was gained about the proteins in the human body. This is another international scientific project to decode the "book of human structure" after the completion of the human genome map in 2001, which will provide new theories, technologies and methods for human health management, precise disease prevention and control, diagnosis and treatment, and scientific healthcare.

In October, China's first domestically developed mobile operating system, Huawei HarmonyOS Next, was released, making it the third largest mobile operating system in the world after Apple's iOS and Google's Android.

Last year also saw the completion of the Taklimakan Desert "edge-locking" project. In November, the forest encircling the Taklimakan Desert was completely connected, creating the world's longest green ecological barrier around a desert.

This barrier, which took more than 40 years to build, protects the ecosystem south of the Tianshan Mountains in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, creates better production and living conditions for local residents, and demonstrates the strength of China's ecological governance and organizational capability.

The top 10 scientific and technological events of 2024 also include the revised Science and Technology Popularization Law being passed, and the opening of a museum dedicated to Chinese scientists.

In terms of major scientific infrastructure, construction was completed on the Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory in Guangdong province, and it will be put into use this year, making a huge contribution to the detection and research of neutrinos.

The ignition of the domestically developed 300-megawatt F-grade heavy-duty gas turbine in October in Shanghai was of great significance for ensuring China's energy security and its green development.

In basic scientific research, Chinese scientists observed for the first time a new type of antimatter hypernucleus — "anti-hyperhydrogen-4", the heaviest antimatter nucleus ever discovered.

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Shi Yudie contributed to this story.