介绍:
This is NEWS Plus Special English. I'm Liu Yan in Beijing. Here is the news.
A China-led space gravitational wave detection project is recruiting researchers from around the world.
The Tianqin project was initiated in July by Sun Yat-sen University in Zhuhai, South China's Guangdong province. It centers on research of key technology in space gravitational wave detection.
To make the project more competitive, global talents in areas including gravity theory, space gravity experiments and precision measurement are sought with an annual salary of up to 1 million yuan, roughly 153,000 U.S. dollars.
The president of Sun Yat-sen University and head of the Tianqin project Luo Jun says the detection of gravitational waves is a huge challenge, and the project is a feasible plan and reflects the research capacity of China.
The 15-billion-yuan project aims to send wave-detection satellites into space in 15 to 20 years. Construction of a research center and observatory will start soon.
American scientists have detected gravitational waves caused by two black holes merging around 1.3 billion years ago. It was the first time the elusive phenomenon was directly detected since it was predicted by Albert Einstein 100 years ago.
The detection of gravitational waves is believed to help scientists understand more mysteries of the cosmos.
This is NEWS Plus Special English.
The United Nations Environment Program, UNEP, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Tongji University of China to renew cooperation on areas that promote sustainable development and the green agenda.
UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner and Professor Yang Xianjin, President of Tongji University, witnessed the signing of a new accord to elevate partnership between the two institutions to a new level.
Steiner said during the ceremony held in Nairobi in Kenya that the partnership between the two sides is unique and has led to the establishment of a center of excellence on research and training to promote sustainable development.
In 2002, UNEP and Tongji University jointly established the Institute of Environment for Sustainable Development at Tongji University to facilitate knowledge transfer on environmental sustainability.
Steiner hailed the strategic partnership between the global environment body and Tongji University to advance sustainable development in the Asia Pacific and the global south. He noted that the institute has created a platform for promoting environmental and sustainable development discourse.
He says Tongji University has a proud tradition of academic research and training that has created the next generation of entrepreneurs in green technology. He adds that a partnership between UNEP and the University has been instrumental in advancing the green agenda in Africa.
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Chinese ambassador to Argentina has met with some 50 Argentine students who returned home after pursuing academic studies in China with grants offered by the Chinese government. Ambassador Yang Wanming urged them to promote exchange between Argentina and China.
Addressing the students at the House of Chinese Culture in Buenos Aires, Yang expressed the hope that they will be able to apply what they have studied in China in their future careers at home.
The program of government grants offered by China began in 2007 as a cultural exchange initiative. Each year, the Chinese government offers more than 30 grants to qualified Argentines for pursuing academic studies in China and this number keeps growing.
One of the grant-holders said going to China was one of the best experiences of her life, and she always wanted to understand the Chinese culture, history and literature.
To Alexandra Conconi, the experience of living in China will be a "huge help" because as a project coordinator at a local consultancy firm, she partially works as a cultural mediator when her company does business with Chinese companies, including Sinopec and electronic giant Huawei.
Karina Fiezzoni, a lawyer with a law firm in Argentina, first went to Beijing to learn Chinese in 2004 and later acquired her Master's degree in China.
Fiezzoni says her experience in China was crucial as there are many differences between the two countries, both in terms of culture and the law. She adds that she is helping investors from the two sides overcome problems they encounter due to the two countries' different legal systems.
You're listening to NEWS Plus Special English. I'm Liu Yan in Beijing.
China is to increase to more than half the proportion of new energy vehicle purchases made by some government departments.
The State Council, China's Cabinet, says the decision is aimed at increasing green development as the country attempts to rein in pollution.
The government has been promoting electric vehicles as a way to reduce the smog that frequently blankets cities.
The State Council says new energy vehicles should account for more than 50 percent of annual new vehicle purchases of central government organs, public institutions and some cities.
The ratio was set at 30 percent in July.
The State Council also announced a new set of other policies designed to encourage the use of new energy vehicles.
As part of efforts to achieve "revolutionary breakthroughs" in battery performance, cooperation will be encouraged among enterprises, universities and research institutions.
More battery charging facilities will be built, with the sector receiving increased investment and subsidies.
Other measures include increasing the share of new energy vehicles in the public transportation system and enhancing their quality.
The policies come as the central government looks to industry to push industrial upgrades, ease pressure on the environment and foster new growth engines.
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A survey says middle school teachers in Shanghai are among the world's most qualified.
The survey was conducted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. It interviewed 4,000 Shanghai teachers from 200 junior middle schools in 2015 along with teachers from 37 other countries and regions.
Shanghai's education impressed the world after students of the city won first place in the Program for International Student Assessment in 2009 and 2012. The program is the organization's math, science and reading tests for students from dozens of countries.
The survey results show that almost 99 percent of the polled teachers in Shanghai have bachelor's degrees or higher, while the global average is 93 percent.
You're listening to NEWS Plus Special English. I'm Liu Yan in Beijing. You can access the program by logging onto NEWSPlusRadio.cn. You can also find us on our Apple Podcast. If you have any comments or suggestions, please let us know by e-mailing us at mansuyingyu@cri.com.cn. That's mansuyingyu@cri.com.cn. Now the news continues.
After life, would you like to be interred in a soulless box or have your ashes fertilizing living, growing flora? China wants you to choose the latter.
According to a regulation unveiled recently, China will promote eco-burials to ensure a harmonious relationship between humans and nature.
Eco-burials save the land, reduce funeral costs and do less harm to the environment. That is according to the document jointly released by the Ministry of Civil Affairs and eight other central authorities.
There are plans for facilities to support eco-burial services across the country by the end of 2020. The cremation rate will also be increased.
Chinese traditionally believe that souls only rest in peace if their bodies are covered by soil. Due to land scarcity and pollution, ground burial is banned in most cities.
However, it is still allowed in many rural and minority areas. The national cremation rate was 46 percent in 2014.
Nowadays people are becoming more open to other options. By the end of 2014, Beijing had seen 78,000 eco-friendly burials.
The change is also prompted by expensive entombing service. In Beijing, a tomb site for preserving the cremation urn can cost from 3,000 to more than 30,000 U.S. dollars.
Many have to bury their family members in neighboring Hebei Province and some even joke that they can't afford to die.
The ministry has said it will strive to encourage eco-burials across the nation, pushing tree, flower and sea burial in areas with strict cremation policies and encouraging deep burial, smaller tombs or replacing gravestones with trees.
Those opting for eco-burials will be awarded by the government.
You're listening to NEWS Plus Special English. I'm Liu Yan in Beijing.
Rare brown giant panda Qi Zai has faced temperatures of minus 30 degrees Celsius in the remote Qinling Mountains of west China this winter, but has come through unscathed.
According to staff with a "training base" toughening him up for release into the wild, the six-year-old male is the world's only completely brown giant panda, found among a colony of pandas with some brown in their coats.
Qi Zai has been kept in the Wild Panda Training Base in Shaanxi Province's Foping Nature Reserve for two years. Staffers initially fed Qi Zai artificially, but have left him to fend for himself this winter.
The Qinling giant panda is a subspecies of the giant panda family that was recognized in 2005. Qinling giant panda has a smaller and rounder skull, shorter snout and less fur than the more familiar Sichuan subspecies.
The world's first brown panda was discovered in 1985 in the Qinling Mountains. Since then, there have been eight brown pandas found, but Qi Zai is the last remaining alive.
Weighing around 105 kilograms, Qi Zai was energetic and ate 50 kilos of bamboo a day during the winter.
The local animal keepers are preparing to allow it to mate with a black giant panda when it becomes sexually mature, which may help to figure out the genetic mystery behind his brown fur.
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A Chinese museum has begun a process to preserve a giant sperm whale through a technique known as plastination, making the world's largest such whale specimen.
The 14-meter and 41-tonne whale was one of two that ran aground on beach in east China's Jiangsu Province recently. The plastination involves replacing water and fat with plastics; and the whole process will take at least three years to complete.
The Dalian Mystery of Life Museum in northeast China's Dalian City says after the plastination, the whale can be kept for at least 100 years.
The museum completed the world's first finback whale plastination in 2009. The process took almost two years, and the seven-meter specimen is now housed in the museum.
Whale preservation is a seriously disgusting task. A dead whale accumulates a lot of gas, and improper treatment could cause an explosion.
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