“They are having launches, and in the United States we’re in gridlock,” says Joan Johnson-Freese, a professor at the U.S. Naval War College, in Newport, R.I. “The Chinese will have a rover onthe moon, and we’re still developing PowerPoints for programs that don’t get approved by Congress.” That rover is rolling over the regolith right now.
via China: The Next Space Superpower – IEEE Spectrum.
NASA has a couple rovers on Mars.
China says it has successfully landed a craft carrying a robotic rover on the surface of the Moon, the first soft landing there for 37 years.
On Saturday afternoon (GMT), a landing module used thrusters to touch down, marking the latest step in China’s ambitious space exploration programme.
A Chinese Long March rocket is scheduled to blast off to the Moon on Sunday evening at about 6pm British time carrying a small robotic rover that will touch down on to the lunar surface in about two weeks’ time – the first soft landing on the Earth’s only natural satellite since 1976.
The take-off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in Sichuan Province marks the latest stage in China’s grand ambitions not just to put a man on Moon by the end of the next decade, but to build a permanent lunar base from which it can plan missions to Mars and beyond.
via In the footsteps of the US: Why next man on Moon will be Chinese – Science – News – The Independent.
The holiday hasn’t always been about shopping. Five years ago, only about two dozen companies were offering discounts on Singles’ Day, also known as “Double 11.”
Then Alibaba entered the game in 2009 and within three years, Singles’ Day had become the biggest 24-hour shopping event in the world.
via Singles’ Day Is China’s Cyber Monday – Business Insider.
It’s not a new refrain: Back in March 2009, China’s central bank governor, Zhou Xiaochuan, also called for the creation of a new reserve currency, albeit in less heated language. The world needs a new “super-sovereign reserve currency” to replace the current reliance on the dollar, Zhou wrote in a paper published on the People’s Bank of China’s website (Zhou still heads the bank). The goal, he wrote, is to “create an international reserve currency that is disconnected from individual nations and is able to remain stable in the long run.”
via China’s State Press Calls for ‘Building a de-Americanized World’ – Businessweek.
At 4,488 Yuan Renminbi (US$734) for the 16GB version, the iPhone might be within reach of well-heeled consumers in Beijing and Shanghai but is unlikely to win over punters in so-called third-tier cities and beyond, who have never owned a smartphone.
via Apple Underwhelms in China, Too | Light Reading.
In another online poll (again in Chinese, naturally), more than 80 percent said the price was too high.
Chic marketing may be wearing off the Apple brand.
The Chinese vendor says it has “completed data signaling at speeds of 400 Gbit/s over a distance of more than 5,000 kilometers” using a WDM system with 100GHz channel spacing and a “unique frequency algorithm to overcome the issue of signal degradation,” which is significant in long-distance transmissions.
That humans can be replaced by robots that do the job faster and cheaper is an idea that now pervades Chinese employers. “Chinese companies usually start considering robots when the payment for a skilled worker exceeds 50,000 yuan ($8,060) a year,” Tan Xueke, a manager at the Xinsong Robot Automation Company in Shenynang, told Xinhua News Agency.
via Chinese Restaurant Owner Says Robot Noodle Maker Doing “A Good Job!” | Singularity Hub.
OTEC uses the natural difference in temperatures between the cool deep water and warm surface water to produce electricity. There are different cycle types of OTEC systems, but the prototype plant is likely to be a closed-cycle system. This sees warm surface seawater pumped through a heat exchanger to vaporize a fluid with a low boiling point, such as ammonia. This expanding vapor is used to drive a turbine to generate electricity with cold seawater then used to condense the vapor so it can be recycled through the system.
The White House has said that it has taken its concerns about cyber-theft to the highest levels of China’s government. China denied the allegations, saying it was also the victim of cyber attacks.
via BBC News – US hackers attacked military websites, says China’s defence ministry.