介绍:
This is NEWS Plus Special English. I'm Mark Griffiths in Beijing. Here is the news.
Scientists have begun calibrating China's first dark matter probe in order to produce more accurate data, more than a month after the detector started to search for signals of the invisible material.
The Dark Matter Particle Explorer Satellite, dubbed "Wukong" after the Monkey King character from the Chinese classic "Journey to the West", was launched in December.
Like the Monkey King who can see through objects with his sharp eyes, the satellite has the most sensitive and accurate detectors especially designed for dark matter. It started working a week after the satellite entered a sun-synchronous orbit.
The satellite has already collected more than 100 million high energy particles. Scientists will look for high-energy electrons and gamma rays among them, which could be residue of dark matter's extinction.
Wukong is sending back around 20 gigabits of data a day. All the data will be analyzed by a special computer equipped with 128 10-cored CPUs.
Dark matter is one of the great mysteries of modern science. Dark matter does not emit or reflect electromagnetic radiation that can be observed directly. Exploration of dark matter could give scientists a clearer understanding of the past and future of galaxies and the universe, and would revolutionize the fields of physics and space science.
Wukong is designed to undertake a three-year mission, but scientists hope it can last five years. Wukong will scan space nonstop in all directions in the first two years and then focus on areas where dark matter is most likely to be observed. Initial findings will be published as early as the second half of this year.
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China's new carrier rockets, Long March-5 and Long March-7, will make their maiden space flights in June and around the end of September or early October, respectively.
Long March-5 is currently being tested at a launch site in South China's Hainan Province.
According to the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation, the new carrier rockets are using non-toxic, pollution-free fuels.
China's most powerful carrier rocket, the Long March-5 has a payload capacity of 25 tons to low Earth orbit, or 14 tons to geostationary transfer orbit.
It is scheduled to carry the Chang'e-5 lunar probe around 2017 to finish the last chapter in China's three-step moon exploration program, namely, orbiting, landing, and returning to earth from the moon.
Long March-7, a medium-sized rocket using liquid propellants, will carry up to 13-and-a-half tons to low Earth orbit or 5-and-a-half tons to sun-synchronous orbit at a height of 700 kilometers. It will carry cargo craft for the planned space station.
The corporation says the two carrier rockets' maiden flights will significantly boost China's ability to enter space and help realize leapfrog development in the country's space transportation system.
China has successfully completed 43 launch missions for more than 20 countries, regions and international satellite organizations since 1990.
You're listening to NEWS Plus Special English. I'm Mark Griffiths in Beijing.
Restrictions on who can apply for permanent residency in cities are to be relaxed for selected workers, including those from the countryside. The move aims to encourage a new form of urbanization.
The State Council, China's Cabinet, says revisions to the household registration system, known as hukou, would further encourage the integration of migrant workers in cities, as well as drive investment and domestic consumption.
The State Council said it will relax the rules on permanent residency in most cities for university graduates, skilled technicians and those returning after receiving an education overseas, as well as the restrictions on rural workers.
The executive body also called on provincial authorities to fully implement a new residency permit that became available on Jan 1. The permit, which runs alongside the hukou system, entitles holders to free education, healthcare, employment and legal services in the city in which they live.
In addition, the government will provide more policy support for improving shantytown dwellings and dangerous homes, and expand policy coverage to more townships.
The State Council also encouraged the investment of more social capital into constructing city facilities, including underground pipelines, and for urban areas to adopt the national Internet Plus strategy to build smart cities.
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Chinese employers have been told to frequently check workers' health in pneumoconiosis-prone fields and ensure treatment for those diagnosed with the condition.
China recorded almost 27,000 new cases in 2014, a 16-percent increase from the previous year.
Pneumoconiosis is a disease of the lungs caused by the inhalation of large amounts of dust or particulate matter. The condition accounted for almost 90 percent of all occupational disease cases reported last year.
The National Health and Family Planning Commission noted in a statement recently that people have been diagnosed with the condition at an increasingly earlier age in recent years. And industries in more central and western regions have become prone to the illness, mainly in jobs related to mining, construction materials and nonferrous metals.
The commission has urged employers to provide health checks for workers, before, during and after jobs in which they are exposed to various kinds of dust. It stresses that funds should be allocated from medical or work insurance to support patients who have difficulty paying for treatment.
The commission also encouraged pneumoconiosis sufferers to apply for aid subsidies from local governments.
You're listening to NEWS Plus Special English. I'm Mark Griffiths in Beijing.
Beijing residents lost as much as 8,000 yuan on average to traffic jams last year, the highest in the country.
A report has been issued by Didi Kuaidi, China's largest ride-hailing application and its partners. The report reveals that Beijing residents on average spent 52 minutes travelling 19 kilometers daily between home and work.
White-collar workers in China's mega cities including Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Shanghai, were those who lost most money to traffic congestion.
The cost ranged between 6,000 and 8,000 yuan per person in the four cities whose residents are among the best paid employees in China.
The research was based on data collected on Didi Kuaidi's online platform. It shows that not only those in mega cities suffered from poor traffic conditions.
Residents in second-tier cities spent 37 minutes on average between home and work, with a travelling speed of 23 kilometers per hour due to traffic jams. The speed was even slower than first-tier cities' 24 kilometers per hour.
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