How was the world's largest muon detector array built? How do you grow vegetables in the desert? Tech experts share the stories behind them

Chengdu Business Daily Red Star News

2024-05-25 16:11Published on the official account of Red Star News of Chengdu Business Daily, Sichuan

On the evening of May 24, on the shore of Xinglong Lake, the launching ceremony of the 2024 Sichuan Science and Technology Activity Week and Chengdu Science Night was held in Hall 1 of Chengdu Science and Technology Innovation Ecological Island, and many Chengdu science and technology innovation landmarks were jointly "lit up". Carry forward the spirit of scientists, and give the brightest "science and technology star" with the highest courtesy - at the launching ceremony of the event, 10 innovative teams from the "artificial sun", "Lasso", the national supercomputer Chengdu Center and other "national important instruments" appeared, becoming the brightest stars on the "Avenue of Stars" of Science Night.

If science and technology light up the times, then scientific and technological workers are the "light chasers" of the times. What's new in scientific installations? What are the innovation stories behind the "big country heavy weapon"? Today, let's hear from the tech workers.

in Sichuan

There is a group of people who "decipher" cosmic rays

In the depths of the universe, countless particles are speeding at a speed close to light, carrying important scientific information such as the origin of the universe, the evolution of celestial bodies, and solar activity, and finally reach the earth, which is the cosmic ray, also known as the "cosmic messenger". In order to "capture" these "messengers", the Institute of High Energy Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (hereinafter referred to as the Institute of High Energy Physics) has built a high-altitude cosmic ray observatory on Haizi Mountain in Daocheng, Sichuan, in an attempt to solve the mystery of the origin of cosmic rays by analyzing these "visitors from the sky".

As the most sensitive ultra-high-energy gamma-ray detection device in the world, "Lasso" has built the world's largest muon detector array, but this process is very difficult. "Ten years of sharpening a sword", Xiao Gang, a senior engineer at the Institute of High Energy Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Tianfu Cosmic Ray Research Center, summed it up.

In the early stage of construction, the performance of the Muzi detector was not stable. "In October 2018, when we installed the first batch of Muzi detectors, we found a 3% signal difference between the detectors, but we couldn't find the cause." Xiao Gang told reporters that the Haizi Mountain at an altitude of 4410 meters has a complex landform, high cold and lack of oxygen, and the researchers are experimenting during the day and working overtime at night to analyze, and the pressure is huge, "After a month of hard work, we finally found the problem with our own experimental methods, and I still remember the moment when the data came out, the team members jumped and jumped with joy." After timely adjustment, the team finally successfully completed the construction of the Muzi detector array. ” 

In February this year, "Lasso" found for the first time the origin of cosmic rays with energies higher than 100 million electron volts. "At present, we are laying out projects such as deep-sea neutrino experiments, large-scale Cherenkov telescope experiments, and astronomical experiments in South America." Xiao Gang said that the study of cosmic rays is a very long process, "In the future, we will continue to explore and solve the mystery of the century of the origin of cosmic rays." ”

▲First from right: Xiao Gang, senior engineer of the Institute of High Energy Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Tianfu Cosmic Ray Research Center

Can you grow vegetables in the desert?

This Chengdu lab will make it happen 

During the 2022 Qatar World Cup, the plant factory integration technology developed by the Institute of Urban Agriculture of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences realized "growing vegetables in the desert" in Qatar. This technology comes from a plant factory laboratory in Chengdu - LED plant factory.

"One of the keys to the integration of plant factory technology is the 'soil'." Qi Zhiyong, chief scientist of the Institute of Urban Agriculture of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and director of the Kashgar Experimental Station, told reporters, "'Soil' is a kind of artificial soil, which is a material that is artificially synthesized and solidified with organic matter, and has strong water absorption, water retention and air permeability. By combining soil and shallow flow cultivation techniques, you can produce the most food with the least amount of water and nutrients. ” 

"Next, we will also explore and study the use of urban garden waste, organic waste and other materials to synthesize 'base soil', which can further solve the problem of organic waste generated in the process of park city construction." ”

In Qi Zhiyong's view, the spirit of scientists represents down-to-earth, creative innovation, and the completion of scientific research from 0 to 1, "When we see fruit trees planted on the roofs of the city, and vegetables planted on the desert Gobi Desert, these scientific research achievements bring tangible benefits to the people, which is very comforting and touching for us." ”

▲Qi Zhiyong, chief scientist of the Institute of Urban Agriculture of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and director of the Kashgar Experimental Station

Artificial Intelligence, Weather Forecasting......

The National Supercomputing Center in Chengdu assists scientific research and innovation in various fields

In the era of digital economy, computing power is the cornerstone of big data, artificial intelligence and the metaverse. "The most significant feature of supercomputers is that they have strong computing power, especially with the rapid development of large models and generative artificial intelligence, the blessing of computing resources is becoming more and more important." Xiang Yukai, an algorithm expert from the Innovation and Application Department of the National Supercomputing Chengdu Center, said.

In 2020, the National Supercomputing Center in Chengdu (hereinafter referred to as the National Supercomputing Center in Chengdu) was completed and put into use, filling the gap in the layout of the national supercomputing center system in the western part of the mainland. It is understood that at present, the service areas of the National Supercomputer Chengdu Center cover nuclear science, aerospace, information technology, artificial intelligence, etc., and have successively provided computing power services for users such as the high-altitude cosmic ray observatory, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Baidu.

"Supercomputing is actually very close to our lives. On the one hand, with the support of high-performance computing power, the National Supercomputing Center in Chengdu can cooperate with meteorological research departments to provide meteorological forecasts with higher spatial resolution and higher frequency. On the other hand, the National Supercomputing Center in Chengdu also provides a computing power foundation for large model training, and these large models are 'ubiquitous' around us. Xiang Yukai said, "For example, Xiaoduo Technology, a local innovative company in Chengdu, has developed a large language model for e-commerce services after in-depth cooperation with the National Supercomputing Chengdu Center, training strong language understanding and generation capabilities, and achieving a breakthrough in large models in vertical fields." Behind the e-commerce customer service we usually use, it is this big model that is supported. ” 

▲Xiang Yukai, an algorithm expert from the Innovation and Application Department of the National Supercomputing Center in Chengdu

The process of scientific research is also a process of trial and error. In Xiang Yukai's view, the persistent spirit of research is the key to scientific research, "between the continuous mistakes and unexpected results of repeated thinking, deep research behind the reasons, in order to get new discoveries from mistakes, this is also the professionalism that young scientific and technological workers should have." ”

Red Star News reporter Lu Jiayu

Edited by Yixi Chen

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