BEIJING, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- The following is a summary of published science and technology news of China.
HYDROGEN AIRCRAFT
A Chinese four-seat hydrogen internal combustion aircraft prototype completed its maiden flight on Monday in Shenyang, northeast China's Liaoning Province.
The aircraft, when at a flight altitude of 200 meters, has sufficient power and an acceptable level of vibration while producing good performance, according to Xu Xiaoben, who served as the test pilot.
The aircraft is 8.2 meters in length and is capable of high-pressure gas hydrogen storage of up to 4.5 kilograms. The cruising speed of this aircraft is 180 kilometers per hour.
CELL FACTORY
Chinese scientists are considering building a biological "cell factory" of blue-green algae, in which air is the main raw material and the product is a range of organic compounds.
These cells of blue-green algae, also known as cyanobacteria, a kind of single-cell microorganism, have been modified using synthetic biotechnologies like gene editing. Featuring high reproduction speed and excellent efficiency of photosynthesis, they "eat" air and can produce organic compounds like glucose, sucrose, glycerol, resveratrol, and curcumin, among others.
SCI-TECH JOURNALS
China has made new achievements on establishing world-leading sci-tech journals, according to the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST).
The number of Chinese journals that rank in the top 5 percent and top 25 percent of the international rankings for their discipline has increased by 5.6 times and 1.8 times, respectively, since the implementation of an action plan to establish world-leading sci-tech journals. ■
