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Sci-Tech

New Tech Turns Potato Effluent into Fertilizer

Scientists in China have developed a way of making fertilizer from waste water discharged by potato processing plants. This solves a pollution problem that has so far impeded China’s ambitions for the potato.

China envisions potatoes as the new staple food that can ensure food security, but protein-rich water discharged by starch processors, a major purchaser of potatoes, has been blamed for polluting rivers and lakes.

“For years, no technical solution to this problem has been found, so forcing environmental authorities to close down more than 10,000 small plants, to the detriment of both the potato market and farmers,” said Liu Gang, researcher with the Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Liu’s team has developed technology that can halve the effluent’s chemical oxygen demand (COD) by removing from it starch, fiber, and protein. Moreover the processed water does not need to be dumped, because its high nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus content make it perfect irrigation water.

The four-year test has shown the water to be harmless to crops, and three starch companies are now using the technology necessary to purify their discharge.

China is the world’s largest potato producer, and has allocated 5.6 million hectares to its cultivation. Given their resistance to cold and drought, the tubers are more suitable than wheat and rice for cultivation in China’s arid west and northwest.

Top 2015 Sci-tech News Unveiled in Beijing

The top science and technology news of 2015 was announced in Beijing on January 19. Academicians at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Engineering voted on what news items should appear on the list.

The top 10 domestic pieces were topped by the country’s breakthrough in quantum teleportation research, which was also praised by the European Physical Society as one of the greatest breakthroughs in physics in 2015.

The list also featured China’s accomplishments in space technology, including the launch of the first satellite in the global service of the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, as well as of the Long March-6 rocket, which carried 20 micro-satellites for space tests.

As regards transportation, China’s first domestically-produced large passenger aircraft, the C919, was joined by the permanent magnetic motor technology used in highspeed train systems.

The list also included news on the Weyl fermion, spliceosome, relativistic jets, cellular signaling, and China’s first liquid metal machines.

As for the top 10 international sci-tech news items of 2015, the success of the Cancer Genome Atlas project and the Ebola vaccine led the chart.

Chinese Unmanned Helicopter Completes South Pole Flight

An unmanned Chinese helicopter has completed its maiden flight from the Great Wall Station in the South Pole, where it photographed fauna and flora in the area. China currently has four Antarctic research stations – Taishan, Great Wall, Zhongshan, and Kunlun.

“Polar Hawk-2,” developed by Beijing Normal University, can operate for about one hour at a time at an altitude of up to 1,500 meters. The lithium-battery powered aircraft is highly efficient, quiet, and has low emissions, according to Cheng Xiao, head of the research team.

During its flight on January 18, the helicopter took over 350 highquality photos. Since the station is located in the Fildes Peninsula, known for its changeable weather, there have so far been no clear satellite photos of the station, but pictures taken by the helicopter clearly show it, Cheng said.

The photography conducted by the aircraft also recorded the local population of animals, including penguins and skua, and has helped to inform estimates of the quantity of greenhouse gases over Philip Island, so providing support for climate change studies, Cheng added.

Huang Huabing, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, commented that China’s research and development of unmanned helicopters is among the most advanced in the world.

Chinese unmanned helicopters have also conducted flights at the Svalbard archipelago in the North Pole and Zhongshan Station in the South Pole.

China to Land Probe Dark Side of Moon in 2018

China has officially begun a new round of lunar exploration, and will send the Chang’e-4 probe to the far side of the moon in 2018, China’s State Administration of Science, Technology, and Industry for National Defense (SASTIND) announced on January 14.

The far side of the moon is never visible to Earth because of gravitational forces, and has never been explored by humans. Chang’e-4 will be the first mission in human history to embark on this expedition, said Liu Jizhong, chief of the lunar exploration center under SASTIND. China already boasts mature science and technology to send a probe to the far side of the moon, and is open to cooperation with international society, Liu said. China sent a letter of intent of cooperation to foreign countries in early 2015.

China achieved its first soft-landing on the moon in December 2013 with Chang’e-3, which is still sending messages back to Earth.

Liu explained that Chang’e-4 is very similar to Chang’e-3 in structure but can handle a greater payload. It will be used to study geological conditions on the dark side of the moon.

China also plans to launch its Chang’e-5 lunar probe to finish the last chapter of China’s three-step (orbiting, landing, and return) moon exploration program. The Chang’e-5 lunar probe is now being developed by Chinese scientists, Liu said.