China's solar giants quietly shed a third of their workforces last year
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South China Morning Post
10 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
China-built satellite station a ‘shining' example of support for Namibian space programme
On the outskirts of the Namibian capital Windhoek, a Chinese-funded and built satellite data receiving ground station symbolises China's growing cooperation in Africa's nascent space industry. The station was described by the Chinese embassy as 'a shining example of China-Namibia cooperation ' as they celebrated the 35th anniversary of diplomatic relations. In a social media post on July 18 announcing the completion of the satellite facility ahead of time earlier this year, the embassy said it aimed to support Namibia in developing its space-related infrastructure and training technical talent , while enhancing its capacity in remote sensing satellite applications'. The ground station will primarily receive, process and distribute remote sensing satellite data for various applications such as environmental monitoring, agriculture , disaster management and resource assessment in the southwestern African country. China will also provide technical training to dozens of engineers to build up Namibia's capacity to operate and use the station independently. This ongoing cooperation highlights China's growing influence in space, as it helps African nations to build their space capabilities through strategic partnerships.
South China Morning Post
17 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
How did the tomato create the potato? Chinese scientists trace tuber's hybrid past
They could not look less alike in the supermarket aisle, but a Chinese-led research team has uncovered an ancient link that makes a forerunner of the tomato a genetic parent of the potato. By examining genomes and data sets from cultivated and wild potato species, the scientists traced the tuberous plant's evolution back about nine million years to a moment when a tomato ancestor created a hybrid with a group of potato-like – but tuberless – plants called etuberosum. They published their findings in the journal Cell on Thursday. All varieties of potato have underground tubers, but until now it has not been clear how they developed them and diversified. The researchers concluded that hybridisation was a key driver of the development of tubers – the part of the potato that makes it a staple crop today. 'We not only show that the cultivated potato and its 107 wild relatives are derived from an ancient hybrid speciation event, but also that tuber formation itself, a key innovative trait, has a hybrid ancestry,' the team said in the paper. The potato is the third most widely consumed food crop globally, after rice and wheat, and is eaten by over 1 billion people, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.
South China Morning Post
20 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Scientists trace the spike of north China flooding to solar cycle activities
A study led by scientists in China has found a link between the sun's 11-year cycle and summer rain in the country, identifying why drought conditions in the south and flooding in the north intensify during high solar years. The team studied precipitation patterns during the East Asian summer monsoon – particularly the intense mei yu or 'plum rain' period – and found that the solar cycle influenced summer precipitation by modulating climate patterns and shifting the rain belt north. 'The summer precipitation pattern on a decadal timescale … can be attributed to the solar precipitation regime,' the team said in a paper published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Climate on July 15. The researchers said their study identified the influence of changes in the solar magnetic cycle over decades on China's summer pattern of 'south drought and north flooding'. The findings of the researchers – from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, China Meteorological Administration, University of Science and Technology of China, and the Geomar Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel in Germany – could be used to improve climate prediction and forecasting, particularly on longer-term scales. 'It is well known that the positioning of the monsoon rain belt significantly influences the distribution of summer droughts and floods in China, making precipitation patterns a crucial focus for climate predictions during flood seasons,' the researchers said.
