WEEKLY REVIEW (April 19-25)
High-purity Quartz Developed from Ore
Researchers from Tianjin University have managed to extract high-purity quartz from ore. High-purity quartz are rocks that can be processed and purified to get silicon dioxide with a minimum purity of 99.995 percent. With high temperature resistance and good insulation, the material is crucial to the manufacture of photovoltaic panels and 5G optical fiber.
1,000-kW Battery-powered Locomotives Roll Off
China's first batch of 1,000-kW battery-powered locomotives rolled off the production line of CRRC Dalian Co., Ltd. in Dalian on April 21. The locomotives use high-capacity lithium iron phosphate batteries and have achieved zero carbon emission.
Penn Team Develops 1st Programmable Photonic Chip
A research team from the University of Pennsylvania in the U.S. has developed the first programmable chip that can use light to train nonlinear neural networks. This new chip is expected to drastically accelerate AI training and cut energy cost at the same time, laying a foundation for the development of fully light-powered computers.
NASA's Curiosity Finds Proof of Mars Carbon Cycle
Scientists have discovered siderite, an iron carbonate, in the sample collected by NASA's Curiosity rover from three drill sites on the sulfate-rich rocky layers of Mount Sharp in Mars' Gale Crater. The discovery indicates that there were indeed carbon cycles on ancient Mars. The research result was published in Science.