介绍:
This is NEWS Plus Special English. I'm Mark Griffiths in Beijing. Here is the news.
The discovery of gravitational waves by American scientists using the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory has encouraged scientists around the world, with China set to accelerate research.
China's domestic gravitational wave research project "Tianqin" at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangdong Province has been awaiting government approval since July.
At an estimated cost of 15 billion yuan, roughly 2.3 billion U.S. dollars, the project will be carried out in four stages over the next 15 to 20 years, ultimately launching three high-orbit satellites to detect the waves.
Scientists say the project is different from the research by the U.S. ground-based observatory in that it will observe the waves from space. It is likely to collect better information, as a larger black hole may be detected from space than the one detected from the ground.
Sun Yat-sen University is willing to cooperate with other institutions, and has plans for 15,000 square meters of observatory and laboratory on a mountain in Zhuhai City.
Another domestic gravitational wave project "Ali" has totally different objectives, detecting the first tremors of the Big Bang, primordial gravitational waves. The program was named after the Chinese Academy of Sciences observatory in Ali in Tibet.
This is NEWS Plus Special English.
Chinese passengers made a record number of trips during the Spring Festival holiday.
According to the Ministry of Transport, passenger trips reached 400 million from Feb. 7 to 13, up almost 7 percent from last year.
More than 47 million trips were made by rail, more than 330 million on road and about 8.5 million by air. Road trips were up by 7 percent.
This year, the Chinese made almost 3 billion passenger trips across the country during the 40-day lunar New Year travel rush. The Lunar New Year holiday, also known as "Chunyun", lasts from Jan. 24 to March 3 and is the world's largest annual human migration for family reunions.
Around 1.5 billion passenger trips were made from the start of Chunyun to Feb. 13, up 4 percent year on year.
This is NEWS Plus Special English.
Beijing enjoyed better air quality during the weeklong Spring Festival holiday compared to last year thanks to wind and fewer fireworks.
The Beijing environment authority says that from Feb 7 to 13, the city saw three days with good air quality and a large reduction in the average reading of PM2.5, which decreased by 16 percent from the same period in 2015.
PM2.5 refers to particulate matter less than 2.5 microns in diameter that is hazardous to human health. Its average reading during the holiday was 98 micrograms per cubic meter, down from 117 in 2015.
Residents also saw three days where pollution reached medium and heavy levels, when it is suggested that seniors and children stay indoors.
Experts say more days with better weather to disperse air pollutants and fewer fireworks were the main contributors to the improvement in air quality.
It's estimated that sales of fireworks in Beijing saw a year-on-year reduction of 20 to 30 percent.
The authority says that fewer fireworks did alleviate air pollution during the week, but they were still a prominent contributor to soaring pollution on the lunar New Year's Eve and the New Year's Day which fell on Feb 8.
You are listening to NEWS Plus Special English. I'm Mark Griffiths in Beijing.
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