China's scientific research and high-tech industries - Page 4

oneman28 · 11-01-2005, 08:33 AM

HiVi is a leading manufacturer of stereophile quality audio systems. Employing some of the worlds’ finest electro-acoustical technicians and craftsmen, the company established state-of-the art R+D facilities in Toronto, Canada in 1994 and was fueled by early successes with innovative driver designs. In 1997, HiVi merged with highly-regarded speaker manufacturer Swans Speaker Systems and opened corporate offices in Monterey Park, California. Respected audio designer Frank Hale, former president of Swans, continues to serve today as Chief Designer for HiVi Speaker Systems.

HiVi’s proprietary driver technologies including Planar Ribbon Tweeters are employed by many of the audio industry’s top brands. With focused re-investment in research and development, HiVi continues to advance the art and science of electro-acoustical engineering. The merger with Swans provided the opportunity for complete system research and design. Within a few short years, the company’s steadfast commitment to uncompromising audio performance was receiving noteworthy recognition and critical acclaim:

2000 T.H.E. Show: “Exceptional Value Award” - HiVi Swans Diva Speaker Cabinets

2002 T.H.E. Show: “Award of Excellence” - HiVi Swans F1HT

2002 T.H.E. Show: “Best Value Award” - HiVi Swans M4000HT

2003 CES: “Best of CES 2003 High-End Audio Finalists” - HiVi Swans 2.2 HT

2003 CES: “Best of CES 2003 High-End Audio Finalists” - HiVi Swans T600F

2003 T.H.E. Show: “Excellence in Design & Engineering” - HiVi Swans 2.2HT

2003 T.H.E. Show: “Most Innovative Speaker Design” - HiVi Swans T600F

2004 T.H.E. Show: “Excellence in Design and Engineering” HiVi Swans M20000HT

2005 CES: “Best of CES 2005 High-End Audio Finalists” - HiVi Swans S600HT

HiVi’s range of drivers and complete speaker systems have been established in niche European, Asian and North American markets for more than a decade. HiVi wholly owns 300 retail stores across Asia, with direct retail presence in an additional 700 locations. With critical success has come substantial growth, and HiVi’s markets continue to expand globally. The HiVi product range has also grown to serve these markets to include high-quality car audio systems, custom home installation speakers and multi-media systems along with home theater systems and drivers.

HiVi founder and president Hong Bo Yao continues to drive the company to new heights. Ongoing research and development programs continue to produce innovative products and technologies - raising the bar on what is possible in high-quality audio reproduction. HiVi is capitalizing on these technologies and extending product offerings successfully into new markets and new categories - converting listeners to audiophiles with uncompromised excellence.

oneman28 · 11-01-2005, 21:21 PM

http://www.reed-electronics.com/elec...CA6278906.html

Quote:

China-based wafer foundry Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC) today reported its Q3 sales increased 10.9 percent sequentially to $310 million from $279.5 million in Q2, and up 12.8 percent year-over-year.

Factors leading to these increases were an increased capacity to 143,188 8-inch equivalent wafers; increased 8-inch equivalent wafer shipments to 355,664, up 7.6 percent from 330,499 wafers in Q2; an increase in the blended ASP by 4.2 percent sequentially and an increased utilization rate to 92 percent, the company said.

“As we continued to focus on the execution of our business plan we saw strong orders from our customers across leading edge and mainstream technology nodes during the third quarter,” said Dr. Richard Chang, president and CEO of SMIC, in a statement regarding the results.

“We increased the contribution from our high-end processes deriving more than 90 percent of our revenues from 0.18-micron and below technology for the first time,” he continued.

“Our business continues to generate strong cash flows from operations with approximately $500 million year to date. At the end of third quarter, we had over $577 million of cash on hand and available credit facilities of over $700 million, which will enable us to continue investing in advanced technology development and equipment to serve our customers,” Chang explained.

During Q3, SMIC said it added one of the top five fabless customers in the world to its customer base and engaged with another top five fabless companies. SMIC is expanding its presence in the computer application segment and hope to extend its partnership with these leading semiconductor companies to more advanced technology nodes.

SMIC reported that it taped out 25 new products, with over one third of the new tape out products coming from Mainland Chinese customers and one third of those at the 0.13-micron technology node.

“As we continue to focus on the Mainland Chinese IC industry, we have successfully manufactured the world's first working 0.13-micron TDS-CDMA chip for Chongqing Chongyou Information Technology Co. Ltd.,” Chang noted.

Further, he said, “I am pleased to report that our research and development team has made progress in the execution of our 90nm technology roadmap. Our qualification lot yields have exceeded the targets set by our customer and are comparable to the industry average.”

SMIC expects to commence pilot production by the end of Q4 and commercial production shortly thereafter. The company will also use its 90nm logic process with the technology licensed from Saifun Semiconductors to manufacture a 2Gbit NAND flash product, and has entered into a definitive agreement with Elpida to migrate its customer's capacity from 100nm to the 90nm process at Fab 4 in Beijing.

Further down the technology roadmap, SMIC said it recently entered into an agreement with a customer to co-develop its 65nm process to deliver engineering samples by the end of 2006.

The wafer foundry’s testing and assembly project in Chengdu is on schedule to begin pilot production during Q4, meant to allow the company to offer in-house turn-key manufacturing services in China. “With the shortage of assembly house capacity for memory and flip-chip logic products, we are eager to commence commercial production to serve our customers,” Chang said.

oneman28 · 11-03-2005, 00:32 AM

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/20...nt_3722338.htm

Chinese scientists found and successfully extract the best anti-malaria medicine in 1970s from herbs. Malaria is a big problem in Africa. Before that, Quinine was used as the only maralia treatment. but it had serious side-effect.

Chinese anti-maralia drugs are more efficent and have little side-effect. Chinese gov donates a lot to african countries. WHO also buys a lot from China each year and distributes them to African countries.

Quote:

SHANGHAI, Nov. 2 (Xinhuanet) -- A delegation consisting of 13 senior African government officials visited a Shanghai-based pharmaceutical company on Wednesday, calling for further cooperation with China in anti-malaria drugs.

The delegation includes Comoros Vice President Caabi El-Yachroutu Mohamed and Bience Gawanas, commissioner for social affairs of African Union.

After visiting the Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd, members of the delegation said Africa will enhance cooperation with Chinese pharmaceutical companies so as China can provide African people with more efficient anti-malaria drugs.

They also called on Chinese pharmaceutical companies to set up branches in African continent for medicine production.

Malaria, carried and transmitted by mosquitoes, causes more deaths than AIDs every year in Africa, said Jotham Musinguzi, an official from Uganda Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development.

China will, in the next three years, increase its assistance todeveloping countries, African countries in particular, by providing them with anti-malaria drugs and other medicines and helping them set up and improve medical facilities and train medical staffs. Enditem

oneman28 · 11-04-2005, 04:35 AM

http://www.eetimes.com/news/latest/s...leID=173402386

Quote:

Dylan McGrath
EE Times
(11/02/2005 6:17 PM EST)

SAN FRANCISCO — Seventy-three percent of designers in China and Taiwan are designing ASICs at 180 nanometer or below, an increase of 21 percentage points from 2004, according to the results of an annual study by Global Sources Ltd. and Gartner Inc.
For standard IC projects, 52 percent of desingers in China and Taiwan are using 180 nanometer or finer line widths, 10 percentage points higher than 2004, according to the joint study, titled "Design Trends & Electronic Design Automation (EDA) Tools: Mainland China & Taiwan."

Global Sources and Gartner surveyed 378 engineers in China and 226 in Taiwan for a study that compares design trends and use of EDA tools in both regions.

According to the companies, the survey shows that 66 percent of Taiwan respondents and 69 percent of China respondents use four iterations or less in ASIC development, up 16 and 11 percentage points, respectively, from 2004.

"The use of fewer iterations shows that EDA tools are becoming more sophisticated and that engineers are becoming more skilled at using EDA software," said Nancy Wu, principal analyst of Gartner Dataquest's design and engineering group, in a statement.

The survey found that consumer products dominate design in China and Taiwan, with 35 percent of designers citing consumer electronics as their key focus, followed by communication projects (19 percent), industrial controls (16 percent) and computers/computer peripherals (15 percent).

The survey was jointly conducted on behalf of Global Sources by Electronic Engineering Times-Asia, which is jointly owned by Global Sources and CMP Media Inc., owner of EE Times.

oneman28 · 11-05-2005, 04:05 AM

http://english.people.com.cn/200511/...05_219225.html

Quote:

People suffering from various infectious and genetic diseases may benefit from plans to support biotech medicine, China Daily reported Saturday.

In the next five years, the State will focus on developing new low-cost biotech medicines and vaccines, among other biotechnology initiatives, Qi Chengyuan, director of the High and New Technology Depratment under the National Development and Reform Committee (NDRC), was quoted as saying by the Beijing-based newspaper.

The central government will also concentrate on schemes to screen people for genes that might cause diseases.

China's biotech investment is said to be the largest in a developing country.

Qi made his remarks on Friday at the opening of the three-day Fourth China Tianjin Economic Development Area Bioforum. Investment will look at such things as genetically modified seeds, biotechnology-based manufacturing, bio-energy and biotech-based environmental protection, said Qi. All will be part of the 11th Five-Year Programme (2006-2010).

Drafts of the plan, which has been worked on by the NDRC, the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), the Ministry of Health and other government departments, will be finished early next year, according to MOST sources.

During the current 10th Five-Year Plan (2001-2005), the central government quadrupled its investment in life sciences and biotech sectors to 13 billion yuan (1.6 billion US dollars), from the previous five-year period. That's according to statistics from the National Biotech Development Center.

The huge investment and the vast number of talented people in China means the nation is among the world's top countries in biotechnological terms. It is doing a lot of work in areas such as proteomics (the branch of molecular biology concerned with the behaviour and interaction of proteins within cells), stem cell research, genetically modified seeds and gene therapy.

Zhang Jing'an, secretary general of the Ministry of Science and Technology, said total investment in the field could reach 50 billion yuan (6.2 billion US dollars) in the 11th Five-Year Programme period.

Source: Xinhua

oneman28 · 11-05-2005, 04:40 AM

http://english.people.com.cn/200511/...05_219226.html

Quote:

Robot has taken place of men to monitor electricity grid in east China's Shandong Province, scientists announced Friday, just after it passed a 10-day test of monitoring a 500,000 volts transformer substation.

The four-wheeled robot, developed by the Shandong Electricity Power Research Center, is the country's first robot to have been used to carry out surveillance missions close to strong magnetic fields of hyper-tension transformer substations, scientists with the center said.

Technologies of computer, automation, machinery, electronics, remote infrared imaging, visual and audio sensing were involved in the course of developing the robot, they said.

It is also the first time in the world that an intelligentized, movable robot was used for transformer substations surveillance, they stressed.

In China, facilities of transformer substations have long been monitored only by men, whose safety was put to risk under high-tension grip and severe weather.

Scientists with the Shandong center said the robot they developed was able to complete all the work formerly done by grip surveillance workers all by itself or to carry out commands set by the workers.

The robot could immediately detect heat exhaustion, or any foreign body hanging on the grip, they said, adding that "it is nothing less than a professional worker."

After the technology is further polished, the robot is likely to be put in mass production, the Shandong Power Group said.

Source: Xinhua

oneman28 · 11-06-2005, 01:42 AM

http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/11/04/business/vc.php

Quote:

By John Markoff The New York Times

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2005

SAN FRANCISCO When Joe Schoendorf, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist, was in Shanghai a few years ago to hear a pitch from a Chinese start-up company, he sensed something familiar. He interrupted the meeting, walked to the window and pulled back the curtains.

"What are you looking for?" he remembers the would-be entrepreneurs asking.

"I just wanted to make sure I was in China and not back in Palo Alto," he responded.

China's high-technology community, with its brains and competitive spirit, is probably more like its counterpart in Silicon Valley than any other in the world.

Yet Silicon Valley's views of investment in China have tended to swing between wild optimism and deep anxiety - with the anxiety going beyond a fear of losing money. Some worry about helping Chinese start-ups move up the technology food chain.

These days, the Valley venture capitalists are sharply divided in two camps: one rushing into China and one holding back.

"The Valley is excited and it's scared at the same time," said Richard Shaffer, editor in chief of VentureWire, a venture capital newsletter publisher.

The dominant perspective is that China is a vast sea of opportunity, from its low-cost skilled labor pool to its enormous consumer market that is more than one billion strong.

In fact, it is now routine for venture investors to demand that their start-up firms place the bulk of software development and manufacturing efforts in China or India. (A supply chain problem at a manufacturing arm in China, however, can easily ruin financial results in any given quarter.)

For China skeptics, the concern is that American investment will help energize a formidable competitor, which could come to dominate both markets and technologies.

The fear is based in the Valley's complex relationship with China as supplier, partner, customer and competitor. Most venture capitalists say this evolving relationship will define the future of the Valley and maybe even technology development in the United States.

The Ningbo Bird Co. is one case in point. It went from being a contract manufacturing supplier for Motorola to being a serious rival in the Chinese handset market in a matter of a few years.

Still, last year, most of the Valley seemed to throw caution aside as venture firms invested nearly $1.3 billion in China, up nearly 30 percent from 2003, according to Zero2IPO, a venture capital research and consulting company based in Beijing.

But in the first half of this year, investment slowed drastically after several changes in Chinese securities regulations. Those new rules caused "a decline of 50 percent in the first two quarters," said Dixon Doll, managing director of Doll Capital Management, based in Menlo Park, California.

The lull is ending, though, in part because of the high-profile success of the initial public offering of Baidu, a Chinese search engine company that was able to raise $86.6 million in August, and a securities rule change in October. In September, Sequoia Capital, a major backer of Google, was reported to be planning a $200 million fund and hiring several employees in China.

That announcement followed an earlier joint agreement this summer by Accel Partners, a leading Silicon Valley firm, and the International Data Group to set up a $250 million fund.

There have even been reports recently that Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, the Valley's highest-profile venture firm, was creating its own China fund, though people briefed on the firm's plans said that was not true. While Kleiner has recently added Colin Powell as a partner to serve as a "rainmaker" in Asia, it remains concerned about changes in Chinese security laws that could complicate the return of investment funds to the United States.

Schoendorf, who is an Accel partner, sees benefits in helping China to become a fierce new competitor. He likens this moment of anxiety and promise to the 1970s, when Japan began to compete successfully with the United States.

"The Chinese graduate more engineers than we do," he said. "They're smart, they work hard, and so the only way to compete with them is to remain more innovative."

oneman28 · 11-07-2005, 03:50 AM

http://english.people.com.cn/200511/...07_219573.html

Quote:

A foundation stone laying ceremony for the Chinese mainland's first large-scale OLED (Organic Light Emitting Display) production line was held November 6 in Kunsan of Jiangsu. It is an application of a high-tech achievement of the 863 (High Tech Research and Development) Program during the tenth Five Year. The technology used in the production line comes from Tsinghua University and Beijing Visionox Technology Co. Ltd. The move indicates that China has made major breakthrough in independent technological innovation and industrialization of research results in the new flat panel display area.

In 2005 OLED, together with Internet, mobile phone and PC, were listed by the US CNN as one of the 25 innovative technologies that have had the greatest impact on mankind in the last 25 years.

Tsinghua University began basic research on OLED since 1996 and set up Beijing Visionox Technology in collaboration with other investors at the end of 2001 to engage in the construction of pilot-scale production line and development of production technologies. It has applied for over 50 OLED patents at home and abroad and has taken part in the enacting of OLED international standards.

The successful industrialization of the OLED technologies indicates that China has for the first time acquired complete industrialized technologies by relying on independent research and development and innovation in the photoelectric display industry, thereby has avoided walking down the same old path of the whole introduction of CRT (kinescope) and LCD (liquid-crystal display).

By People's Daily Online

oneman28 · 11-08-2005, 20:24 PM

http://www.digitalmediaasia.com/defa...rticleID=11055

Quote:

03/11/2005 by Parthajit

Huawei announced that its 40-Gbit/sec per wavelength DWDM transmission system has been incorporated into the company's OptiX BWS 1600G and OptiX BWS 1600A DWDM platforms.

Both DWDM platforms now allow both 10- and 40-Gbit/sec systems to co-exist and cooperate within the same core equipment. The company says the 40-Gbit/sec per wavelength DWDM transmission system allows operators to securely transmit larger capacity long-haul DWDM signals, addressing global carriers' requirements for high, single-wavelength bandwidth transmission capability.

Huawei hopes that the launch of its 40-Gbit/sec per wavelength DWDM system will provide a commendable long-haul transport network solutions for global carriers.

oneman28 · 11-09-2005, 06:26 AM

http://english.people.com.cn/200511/...08_219713.html

Quote:

Any news about TD-SCDMA is eye-catching on the eve of the launching of the third generation mobile communication (3G) market.

China's major telecom equipment manufacturer ZTE has obtained the contract to build a test network in Romania based on homegrown standard TD-SCDMA, said sources with the company.

If the network is successful, Romania would adopt TD-SCDMA, which would in return push forward the technology's progress in Europe," said Yang Hua, secretary-general of TD-SCDMA Industry Alliance.

Mixed opinions have accompanied TD-SCDMA from the day it was born. Despite a test result reported to be "satisfactory" by the concerned departments, the technology failed to convince overseas partners, or even local telecom operators.

Due to its late start, TD-SCDMA is in an unfavorable position and has not been commercially used in China. The technology appears to be quite weak in competition against the other two international standards, WCDMA and CDMA2000, in the overseas market.

ZTE's breakthrough in Romania this time can be considered the first "test" of China's homegrown standard by foreign telecom operators and also the starting point for TD-SCDMA to go to the world, said analysts.

As the spokesman for the TD-SCDMA camp, Yang strongly supports the technology's development outside of China, saying that there is market opportunity for TD-SCDMA not only in underdeveloped countries.

"Due to a frequency spectrum limit, the United States could not continue to expand the use of CDMA2000 and chose TDD spectrum," said Li Shihe, who is considered father of China's third mobile communication.

In the TDD spectrum, TD-SCDMA is the most mature technology. "The US's adoption of TD-SCDMA would be the most important part of TD-SCDMA's overseas market," said Li.

"As FDD spectrum resources are so crowded, TDD will be adopted sooner or later," said Yang.

The International Telecom Union defined the TDD and FDD frequency spectrum independently. Among the 120 3G licenses issued globally, 101 pieces are within the TDD frequency spectrum.

However, as Europe, the U.S., Japan and the Republic of Korea all began to offer 3G services several years ago, it is doubtful whether TD-SCDMA can break into their market as a latecomer.

Japanese and Korean telecom officials said they are unlikely to introduce TD-SCDMA because the investment based on the other two technologies is already large scale. As the application matures, new standards are hard to cut in, they said.

Japan and the ROK both have their own 3G models and it is of little possibility for them to adopt TD-SCDMA, said Zhou Huan, board director of Datang Telecom, a major developer of TD-SCDMA.

Zhou Huan said 3G development in the U.S. is limited by frequency spectrum resources, but it still has other options. Whether it would choose TD-SCDMA depends on the technology's commercial use status in China, Zhou said.

China's 1.3 billion population makes the country the world's largest mobile communication market. Based on the confidence, the Chinese government proposed its own standard to compete against CDMA2000 and WCDMA.

The TD-SCDMA Industry Alliance has grown from the original 8 domestic telecom companies in 2002 to 21 members with world leading companies in the field all included.

Even if TD-SCDMA does not enter the international market and is only developed domestically with policy support, multinational companies will not give up investment in the standard, said experts.

Source: Xinhua

oneman28 · 11-10-2005, 12:09 PM

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/20...nt_3762599.htm

Quote:

BEIJING, Nov. 10 (Xinhuanet) -- China's self-made human avian influenza vaccine is waiting for the approval of a clinical test, said a health official here Thursday.

Preclinical experiments of the vaccine, which started in May 2004, have ended. A clinical test will be carried out as soon as the State Food and Drug Administration approves it, said Wang Yu, director of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

The vaccine for human avian influenza was jointly developed by the center and a Chinese drug company. Clinical tests will further prove its safety and effectiveness, he said at the first China-Thailand-Vietnam workshop on prevention and control of human avian influenza.

Officials and experts from the Chinese Ministry of Health, the disease control and prevention center, the Ministry of Public Health of Thailand, the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology of Vietnam, Hong Kong and Macao are sharing information and techniques to curb human avian influenza on Thursday and Friday.

oneman28 · 11-11-2005, 08:24 AM

http://technology360.typepad.com/tec..._on_new_c.html

Quote:

The following email report from Bob Miller of Viacel, is posted by permission. --Dennis

"Recent test suggests that the digital TV modulation being developed in China (actually deployed in a few locations) is far better in a number of very important ways than either that being used in the US, ATSC 8-VSB, or that being used in most of the world, DVB-T COFDM.

One of the supposed strong points attributed to 8-VSB was that it needed only half the power that the world standard, DVB-T COFDM, needed to cover the same area. Most of the world rejected 8-VSB despite the supposed power advantage saying that in their test this advantage could not be found or was insignificant. They all concluded that the far more multipath resistant DVB-T COFDM was preferred.

Now the Chinese, coming last to the party, have their own standard, DMB-T, that these recent test suggest is far better than either the world standard or the ancient (by todays standards) US standard. With at least four already making DMB-T digital TV receivers for the Chinese market and many more companies in the wings maybe the US should consider bailing out of our disastrous digital TV transition while there are still few receivers in the market and going with the Chinese DMB-T standard. DMB-T Receivers would probably cost less than $10 in a few years if recent history serves.

DVB-T receivers can be bought for $37 in a convenience store in the UK and sell like hot cakes. US receivers sell for $200 to $600 and don't hardly sell at all. With China trying to get digital TV into as many homes as possible before the 2008 Olympics maybe we should try to get on the bandwagon now.

It is not as if we would lose to Chinese manufacturers by going with the Chinese standard. The lowest priced US ATSC 8-VSB receiver is already being made in China, the Hisense USDTV $200 8-VSB ATSC receiver. We are going to buy Chinese digital TV receivers anyway. Why not just buy the best at $10 instead of the worst at $200?

Test S/N reception characteristics (lower is better)

18.5 db ATSC OQam Linx (8-VSB)
16 db DVB-T (COFDM World standard)
15 db DMB-T (COFDM Chinese standard) and
12.5 db DMB-T (COFDM Chinese standard) using a similar scheme to DVB-S-2 with LDPC
How close is that to Shannon limit?

So the latest DVB-T compared to the latest 8-VSB gives DVB-T a 2.5 db advantage. Better than I thought. I thought it was about even. Doug don't jump. You can live with this.

These test put the US modulation, ATSC 8-VSB, at the bottom of the power list. That is it takes more power to get an 8-VSB signal to you than it does for all other DTV modulation systems. The supposed advantage was with 8-VSB, NOT SO. Now we have the worst modulation as far as reception in multipath environments and in power requirements.

BTW the DMB-T is the Chinese standard. The Korean Standard has now been changed from DMB-T to T-DMB to differentiate it from the Chinese standard. Both radically different COFDM implementations.

More to come when they let me."

http://www.pacificepoch.com/newsstories/13716_0_5_0_M/

Quote:

Tsinghua University's DMB-T May Become China's DTV Land Transmission Standard

DMB-T, SARFT, Shenzhen Lihe, Tsinghua University, digital TV
Posted by: Zhou Zhengqian on Oct 13 | 15:10
Editorial Summary
Tsinghua University signed a digital TV cooperation agreement with Jiangxi province on October 11. Tsinghua University president's assistant Feng Guanpin said during the signing ceremony that China will release a national digital TV land transmission standard by the end of this year and that Tsinghua University's DMB-T standard may be chosen as the national standard. Tsinghua University developed the intellectual property to DMB-T standard's key technology. Tsinghua University established Shenzhen Lihe Digital TV this June. Shenzhen Lihe is China's largest land digital TV systems integration company. Shenzhen Lihe has reached cooperation agreements with six of SARFT's provincial subsidiaries. Shenzhen Lihe plans to cooperate with fifteen provinces by the end of 2005, cover the Pearl River Delta region including Hong Kong and Macau by the end of 2006, and finish a national land digital TV network in 2008.

oneman28 · 11-12-2005, 02:49 AM

http://www.newscientist.com/channel/...mg18624974.200

Quote:

Explore: info-tech

THE Great Wall of China is poised to play its part in pushing back the boundaries of quantum cryptography. Later this year a Chinese team, which has just broken the record for transmitting entangled particles, will test the feasibility of satellite-based quantum communication using the wall.

The Great Wall's new role was revealed after Jian-Wei Pan of the University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei and his colleagues successfully transmitted "entangled" photons through more than 7 kilometres of the Earth's turbulent lower atmosphere without losing the photons' fragile quantum properties.

Quantum entanglement allows two particles to behave as one even if they are very far apart. Measure the property of one particle and you instantly know the property of the other. Entanglement allows you to transmit secure encryption keys over a public channel, but until now the furthest anyone had transmitted entangled particles through air was about 600 metres. This was achieved by researchers at the University of Vienna, who sent entangled photons across the river Danube (New Scientist, 28 June 2003, p 15).

Depending on atmospheric conditions, the amount of air between a base station and a satellite in low Earth orbit is equivalent to 5 to 10 kilometres of air at ground level, so the Chinese experiment brings satellite-based quantum communication within reach.

The team achieved their record distance by improving on the optics used by the Viennese team. Instead of a using a 1-millimetre-diameter laser beam to transmit photons, the Chinese team used large telescopes to transmit laser beams 12 centimetres across. These were beamed to two receivers, one 7.7 kilometres away in one direction and another 5.3 kilometres away in another (Physical Review Letters, vol 94, p 150501). The wide beam ensured clear reception even though one of the beams passed through the polluted air of downtown Hefei, says Pan.

Other physicists in the field are impressed. "I congratulate the Chinese group on their success," says John Rarity, a researcher in quantum communications systems at the University of Bristol, UK. "It shows space-based quantum key distribution is technically possible."

But further tests over longer distances are needed to verify this, which where the wall comes in. "In the autumn we will test transmission of entangled photons between receivers 20 kilometres apart on the Great Wall," he says. "We used to use light from fires on the Great Wall to signal invasions, now we are going to signal the future."

oneman28 · 11-12-2005, 12:49 PM

http://www.smalltimes.com/document_d...ument_id=10306

Quote:

Small Times

Nov. 11, 2005 ?New findings from Lux Research Inc. say that trends in Chinese nanotech research have set the world's largest nation on a course to challenge dominant nanotech players like the U.S., Japan, and Germany.
The company says that China's nanotech efforts would have broad-reaching implications for issues including energy independence, military capabilities, and development of the domestic high-tech sector.

In particular, it found that China's share of academic publications on nanoscale science and engineering topics rose from 7.5 percent in 1995 to 18.3 percent in 2004, taking the country from fifth to second in the world.

In addition, it found that on an absolute basis, China's estimated government nanotechnology spending of $250 million in 2005 lags countries like Germany and Japan. But when adjusted for purchasing-power parity -- which takes account of China's far lower infrastructure and labor costs -- its spending is second only to the U.S.

Furthermore, the company found that, whereas advanced applications were lacking, the nation was a leader in incorporating nanoparticle-enabled coatings and composite materials into commercial products.

oneman28 · 11-14-2005, 05:22 AM

http://english.eastday.com/eastday/e...ai1642940.html

Quote:

14/11/2005 14:13

China has developed what it calls the equivalent of the anti-bird flu drug Tamiflu in preparation for a feared pandemic if the virus begins spreading among humans, the Reuters reported.

Zhong Nanshan, director of the Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Diseases, was quoted in the Information Times newspaper as saying the drug would be effective in treating the virus.

"New progress will be achieved in the near future," the paper's Saturday edition reported Zhong as saying.

China has yet to report a human case of bird flu, which has killed more than 60 people in Asia since 2003, though the World Health Organisation (WHO) is helping to probe a possible human case in Hunan province, which had an outbreak in October.

The Information Times report did not say when the drug might be available or say how it compared with the antiviral Tamiflu, made by Swiss drug giant Roche Holding AG.

In the absence of a vaccine for bird flu, the World Health Organisation recommends that governments stockpile Tamiflu, which does not cure the disease but can reduce its severity and might slow the spread of a pandemic.

Roche said last week it had stopped selling Tamiflu in China and was instead sending all supplies to the health ministry.

The move followed similar suspensions of supplies to pharmacies in the United States, Canada and Hong Kong to head off hoarding by consumers worried about the spread of bird flu as the world heads into the influenza season.

In the fight against bird flu, Zhong said close monitoring of patients who have caught pneumonia from unknown causes was vital to determine whether influenza, a recurrence of severe acute respiratory syndrome or an outbreak of bird flu was to blame.

As such, involving the WHO had been a sensible step. "This is helpful for the correct diagnosis of patients' diseases and for the treatment of these infectious illnesses," Zhong was quoted as saying.

One of the basic ingredients of Tamiflu is shikimic acid, which is derived from the pod of the star-shaped anise fruit, grown in China, or via fermentation.

But Zhong dismissed as groundless rumours that star anise, by itself, could be an effective treatment against bird flu or influenza because the amount used in Tamiflu was minute.

China has reported a total of eight outbreaks of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu in poultry since the start of October.

Premier Wen Jiabao warned last week week that the country was facing a "very serious situation" as the disease had not been brought under control and was likely to spread.

The latest outbreak occurred in Jingshan country in Hubei province. Local authorities have culled more than 31,000 poultry within a radius of 3 km (2 miles), Xinhua news agency reported.

11-01-2005, 08:33 AM	#46 (permalink)
oneman28 Banished *Senior Contributor* Join Date: 02-20-05 Posts: 894	HiVi， leading manufacturer of stereophile quality audio systems HiVi is a leading manufacturer of stereophile quality audio systems. Employing some of the worlds’ finest electro-acoustical technicians and craftsmen, the company established state-of-the art R+D facilities in Toronto, Canada in 1994 and was fueled by early successes with innovative driver designs. In 1997, HiVi merged with highly-regarded speaker manufacturer Swans Speaker Systems and opened corporate offices in Monterey Park, California. Respected audio designer Frank Hale, former president of Swans, continues to serve today as Chief Designer for HiVi Speaker Systems. HiVi’s proprietary driver technologies including Planar Ribbon Tweeters are employed by many of the audio industry’s top brands. With focused re-investment in research and development, HiVi continues to advance the art and science of electro-acoustical engineering. The merger with Swans provided the opportunity for complete system research and design. Within a few short years, the company’s steadfast commitment to uncompromising audio performance was receiving noteworthy recognition and critical acclaim: 2000 T.H.E. Show: “Exceptional Value Award” - HiVi Swans Diva Speaker Cabinets 2002 T.H.E. Show: “Award of Excellence” - HiVi Swans F1HT 2002 T.H.E. Show: “Best Value Award” - HiVi Swans M4000HT 2003 CES: “Best of CES 2003 High-End Audio Finalists” - HiVi Swans 2.2 HT 2003 CES: “Best of CES 2003 High-End Audio Finalists” - HiVi Swans T600F 2003 T.H.E. Show: “Excellence in Design & Engineering” - HiVi Swans 2.2HT 2003 T.H.E. Show: “Most Innovative Speaker Design” - HiVi Swans T600F 2004 T.H.E. Show: “Excellence in Design and Engineering” HiVi Swans M20000HT 2005 CES: “Best of CES 2005 High-End Audio Finalists” - HiVi Swans S600HT HiVi’s range of drivers and complete speaker systems have been established in niche European, Asian and North American markets for more than a decade. HiVi wholly owns 300 retail stores across Asia, with direct retail presence in an additional 700 locations. With critical success has come substantial growth, and HiVi’s markets continue to expand globally. The HiVi product range has also grown to serve these markets to include high-quality car audio systems, custom home installation speakers and multi-media systems along with home theater systems and drivers. HiVi founder and president Hong Bo Yao continues to drive the company to new heights. Ongoing research and development programs continue to produce innovative products and technologies - raising the bar on what is possible in high-quality audio reproduction. HiVi is capitalizing on these technologies and extending product offerings successfully into new markets and new categories - converting listeners to audiophiles with uncompromised excellence.