On February 28, the High Technology Research and Development Center (Basic Research Management Center) of the Ministry of Science and Technology released the Top Ten Advances in Chinese Science in 2021. The Successful landing of the Mars exploration mission Tianwen-1 probe on Mars and the artificial synthesis of carbon dioxide to starch and other 10 major scientific advances stood out from 30 candidate advances.
According to the level of votes, the top ten progress of Chinese science in 2021 are:
The Mars exploration mission Tianwen-1 probe successfully landed on Mars
The Tianhe core module of the Chinese space station was successfully launched, and the Shenzhou 12th and 13th manned spacecraft were successfully launched and successfully docked with the Tianhe core module
Synthetic synthesis from carbon dioxide to starch
Lunar samples from Chang'e-5 reveal the mysteries of the moon's evolution
Reveals the mechanism of SARS-CoV-2 escape antiviral drugs
FAST captures samples of the world's largest fast radio burst
Realize the large-scale preparation of high-performance fiber lithium-ion batteries
Programmable quantum walk of the two-dimensional 62-bit superconducting processor "Zu Chong No."
The self-powered soft robot successfully challenged the Mariana Trench
Reveal key genes for bird migration routes and long-distance migration
1
Mars exploration mission Tianwen-1 probe
Successful landing on Mars
At 7:18 a.m. on May 15, 2021, the Tianwen-1 probe successfully landed in the pre-selected landing zone in the southern part of the Martian Utopian Plain, and the first Mars exploration mission on the mainland landed on Mars successfully. The task adopts the four-stage tandem deceleration technical route of "pneumatic deceleration - parachute deceleration - power deceleration - landing buffer", establishes a design iterative improvement process and multidisciplinary comprehensive optimization method, and improves the safe landing ability of the system to cope with fault conditions and enter the limit of the pull off.
The landing of the Tianwen-1 probe on Mars is the first time that the mainland has realized the landing of an extraterrestrial planet, taken an important step in the continental interstellar exploration journey, realized the leap from the Earth-Moon system to the interplanetary system, left a Chinese mark on Mars for the first time, and made the mainland the second country to successfully land on Mars, which is another milestone in the development of the continental space industry.
Tianwen-1 probe
2
The Chinese space station Tianhe core module was successfully launched
Shenzhou 12 and 13 manned spacecraft were successfully launched
And successfully completed docking with tianhe core cabin
On April 29, 2021, the Core Module of the Chinese Space Station was launched at the Wenchang Cosmodrome in Hainan, accurately entering the predetermined orbit and the mission was successful. The successful launch of the Tianhe core module marks that the construction of the continental space station has entered the full implementation stage, laying a solid foundation for the follow-up mission.
On June 17, the Shenzhou XII manned spacecraft was successfully launched, and successfully docked with the Tianhe core module, successfully sending Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming, and Tang Hongbo into space, which was the first rendezvous and docking with the manned spacecraft after the Tianhe core module was launched into orbit. The mainland's manned spacecraft have left the experimental stage and begun to realize the normalization of space round-trip, and the mainland has officially entered the era of space stations.
On October 16, the Shenzhou 13 manned spacecraft was successfully launched, and the independent rapid rendezvous and docking mode was successfully docked at the radial port of the Tianhe core module, successfully sending Zhai Zhigang, Wang Yaping and Ye Guangfu into space, and realizing the first radial rendezvous and docking of the mainland manned spacecraft in space.
Simulation of the Chinese space station
3
Starch is the most important component of grain and an important industrial raw material. Ma Yanhe et al. of the Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences reported on the artificial starch synthesis pathway (ASAP) composed of 11-step core reactions, which coupled chemical catalysis with biocatalytic reactions, and realized artificial total synthesis from carbon dioxide and hydrogen to starch molecules in the laboratory.
By designing the unnatural pathways of carbon dioxide to starch synthesis from scratch, modular reaction adaptation and protein engineering methods are used to solve the problems of thermodynamic matching of computer pathways, metabolic flow equilibrium and by-product inhibition, and overcome the problems of artificial pathway assembly and cascade reaction evolution. Under hydrogen drive, ASAP converts carbon dioxide into starch molecules at a rate of 22 nmol carbon units per milligram catalyst, which is 8.5 times higher than the synthesis rate of corn starch; the theoretical energy conversion efficiency of ASAP starch synthesis is 7%, which is 3.5 times that of crops such as corn, and can realize the controlled synthesis of linear chain and pullulan. The result does not rely on plant photosynthesis and realizes the artificial total synthesis of carbon dioxide to starch.
Synthetic pathway of artificial starch
4
Li Xianhua, Yang Wei, Hu Sen, Lin Yangting of the Institute of Geology and Geophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Li Chunlai of the National Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences used the ultra-high spatial resolution dating and isotopic analysis techniques established over the past decade to conduct accurate chronology, rock geochemistry and magma water content of the Chang'e-5 lunar sample basalt. The results show that the Chang'e-5 basalt was formed in 2.030 ± 0.04 billion years, confirming that the volcanic activity of the Moon can continue until 2 billion years ago, about 800 million years longer than the volcanic activity previously defined by lunar samples.
This result provides a key anchor point for impact crater dating, which will greatly improve the accuracy of impact crater dating on the surface of the inner solar system. The study also revealed that the lunar mantle source area of the Chang'e-5 basalt is not rich in radioactive thermogenic elements and water, excluding the two mantle melting mechanisms provided by radioactive elements or rich in water to reduce the melting point, which proposes a new direction for future lunar exploration and research.
Microscopic image of a sample of the Chang'e-5 lunar soil (basalt chips).
5
The emerging mutations of the new crown virus pose a serious challenge to the existing antiviral means such as vaccines and neutralizing antibodies, and it is urgent to develop broad-spectrum drugs that can effectively deal with various types of mutant strains. During the life cycle, a series of transcriptional replication enzymes of the virus are assembled into a "transcriptional replication complex" supramolecular machine, which is responsible for the whole process of viral transcriptional replication, and is highly conserved in various mutant strains, which is the core target for the development of broad-spectrum antiviral drugs.
Zhiyong Lou, Zi Rao, and Gao Yan of ShanghaiTech University of Tsinghua University discovered and reconstructed the virus "caped intermediate complex", "mRNA cap compound" and "mismatch correction complex" and elucidated their working mechanism. It reveals the complete composition of the transcriptional replication machine of the new coronavirus; the nucleoside transferase domain of viral polymerase is found to be the key enzyme that catalyzes the maturation of mRNA" and clarifies the synthesis process of cap structure, providing a new target for the development of new and safe broad-spectrum antiviral drugs; it is found that the virus "rejects" mismatch bases and antiviral drugs in a "trans-retrospective" manner, elucidating the molecular mechanism of remdesivir and other drugs with poor efficacy, and providing a key scientific basis for optimizing antiviral drugs against polymerase.
The replication correction mechanism of the "trans-retrospective" of the new crown virus
6
Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are the brightest bursts in the radio band universe. FRB 121102 is the first repeated fast radio burst known to mankind, li Jing of the National Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and others used the "Chinese Sky Eye" FAST to successfully capture the extreme activity period of FRB 121102, the most intense period reached 122 outbreaks per hour, and the cumulative acquisition of 1652 high signal-to-noise ratio burst signals, constituting the largest set of FRB outbreak events.
It is found that the characteristic energy E0=4.8x1037 erg of FRB burst rate is detected; the bimodal structure of its energy spectrum is detected, that is, the low energy terminal is close to the regular logarithm, showing the randomness of the rapid radio burst repeating process; the high energy terminal is close to the Lorentz function, showing the possible correlation process of strong radiation. The FAST sample ruled out periodicity or quasi-periodicity of FRB 121102 bursts between milliseconds and one hour, severely limiting the possibility of repeated fast radio bursts originating from a single dense object. This study presents for the first time the complete energy spectrum of FRBs, revealing the underlying physical mechanisms of FRBs.
FAST captures a fast radio burst sample schematic
7
How to meet the requirements of highly integrated and flexible development of electronic products by designing new structures (such as creating fiber lithium-ion batteries) is a major challenge facing the field of lithium-ion batteries.
Fudan University Peng Huisheng, Chen Peining, etc. found a unique hyperbolic cotangent function relationship between the internal resistance and length of fiber lithium-ion batteries, that is, the internal resistance does not increase with the increase of length, but first declines and then tends to stabilize. Under the guidance of this theory, the fiber lithium-ion battery has excellent and stable electrochemical properties, the energy density is increased by nearly 2 orders of magnitude compared with the past, and the capacity retention rate after bending 100,000 times exceeds 80%; the world's first fiber lithium-ion battery production line has been established to achieve its large-scale continuous preparation; the fiber lithium-ion battery system obtained by weaving integration has electrochemical properties comparable to that of commercial lithium-ion batteries, and the stability and safety are more excellent.
Schematic diagram of the integrated assembly of a fiber polymer lithium-ion battery
8
Programmable 2D 62-bit superconducting processor
The quantum walk of the "Zu Chong No."
Quantum walking is a quantum mechanical simulation of classical random walking, which is a tool to realize quantum simulation, quantum search algorithm and even general quantum computing.
Zhu Xiaobo and Pan Jianwei of the University of Science and Technology of China have realized the expansion of the qubit structure from one-dimensional to two-dimensional through the development of three-dimensional lead technology compatible with the planar process, designed and produced a two-dimensional superconducting qubit array of 8×8 composed of 62 bits, built the "Zu Chong Zhi" quantum computing prototype, and demonstrated the high-fidelity single and double particle continuous time quantum walk through the device. Using the high programmability of the quantum processor, the precise regulation of the walking path of the qubit excitation particles is realized, and the Mach-Zender interferometer is realized on the solid-state quantum chip.
This work is the world's first published superconducting quantum computing achievements with a bit count of more than 60, which verifies the high-precision quantum regulation ability of noisy medium-scale qubit systems, and lays the foundation for the development of Zu Chong No. 2 and the realization of "quantum computing superiority".
Zu Chong's trumpet
9
Deep-sea robots and equipment require high-strength metal pressure-resistant housings or pressure compensation systems to protect internal electromechanical systems. Li Tiefeng et al. of Zhejiang University extracted bionic inspiration from the physiological characteristics of "head bone dispersion and fusion in soft tissue" of deep-sea lionfish, revealed the internal mechanism of soft robot functional device failure and drive failure under extreme pressure conditions in the deep sea, proposed the method of dispersion and integration of hard devices into soft matrix to achieve internal stress regulation, and the method of electric drive artificial muscle fusion manufacturing method adapted to deep-sea low temperature and high-pressure environment; established the system construction method and driving theory of 10,000-meter deep-sea soft robot.
The self-powered soft robot developed successfully challenged the Mariana Trench, realized 10,900 meters of seabed diving and driving, and achieved deep-sea navigation at 3224 meters below the sea level in the South China Sea. The study has significantly reduced the weight and economic cost of deep-sea robots, and promoted the application of soft robots in the field of deep-sea engineering.
Soft robot in the Mariana Trench 10,000 meters deep sea drive experiment
10
Uncover the causes of bird migration routes
and long-distance migration of key genes
"How do migratory organisms discover their migration routes?" It has been a topic of widespread concern in society and academia, and is one of Science's 125 most challenging scientific questions.
Zhan Xiangjiang, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and others lasted 12 years, using satellite tracking data and genomic information, established a set of Arctic peregrine falcon migration research system, and found that peregrine falcons mainly used 5 routes to cross the Eurasian continent, with the western peregrine falcon showing short-distance migration and the eastern part migrating long-distance migration. During the transition from the last glacial peak to the Holocene, the reproduction and wintering grounds caused by the retreat of glaciers may be the main historical reasons for the formation of migration routes. The study also found that peregrine falcons with longer migratory distances carry the ADCY8 dominance allele, which is associated with long-term memory formation, suggesting that long-term memory may be an important basis for long-distance migration of birds. Combined with remote sensing satellite tracking, genomics, neurobiology and other research methods, the study elucidated the causes and genetic basis of bird migration routes through multidisciplinary integrated analysis methods.
Key genes for the origin of Arctic peregrine falcon migration routes and long-distance migration
(Science and Technology Daily)