China Science

With a human-machine collaborative operation model, the AI Mirror World Restaurant in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, makes some of its meals and drinks through standardized production powered by AI kitchen equipped with smart noodle and beverage making machines.

China's MAZU all-in-one box, an intelligent meteorological early warning solution, was officially launched globally at the COP31 High-Level Forum on South-South Cooperation on Climate Change in Antalya, Türkiye, on Wednesday. Compatible with Ethernet, 5G and satellite communications, it delivers capabilities including nowcasting, an overview dashboard, operational monitoring and on-site AI assistance, enabling developing countries to rapidly ingest local observational data. (file pic)

China has successfully drilled and discovered a high-yield volcanic oil and gas well in ultra-deep formations exceeding 5,000 meters in the Bohai Sea, marking the country's major breakthrough in offshore ultra-deep natural gas exploration, according to the China National Offshore Oil Corporation on Thursday. The well encountered a cumulative gas pay zone of over 120 meters in volcanic formations and was completed at a depth of 5,770 meters, with a tested daily natural gas output of approximately 800,000 cubic meters.

China's second domestically built large cruise ship, Adora Flora City, completed its first trial voyage and arrived at Nansha International Cruise Home Port in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province, on Thursday, with the ship's operational capabilities tested. It is set to begin its inaugural commercial season on Nov. 22.

2,000-year-old "highway rest area" discovered: Archaeologists have preliminarily confirmed that a Qin Dynasty (221BC-206BC) site found in Yulin, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, was an auxiliary palace along the Qin Straight Road, an ancient transportation route stretching more than 700 kilometers that served as a major artery for trade, migration, and cultural exchange in ancient China. The Huangtuliang site covers a core area of nearly 10,000 square meters, while scattered archaeological remains extend across approximately 150,000 square meters. Large quantities of architectural materials, particularly bricks and roof tiles, have been found on the ground, alongside a small number of pottery fragments.

China on Wednesday issued a set of revised rules on the collection, preservation and use of human genetic resources, tightening safeguards for personal information and national biosecurity, while streamlining regulatory procedures for research and medical applications. Under the rules, activities involving human genetic resources must comply with relevant laws, regulations and other requirements. The rules also require the privacy and personal information rights of individuals providing human genetic resources be respected and protected during the relevant process. Relevant operations must be based on prior informed consent, and the legitimate rights and interests of providers must be safeguarded.

China's super-large-diameter shield tunneling machine "Dinghai" reached its designated position on Wednesday after 6,270 meters of continuous tunneling, marking the successful completion of shield tunneling work on the Zhoushan side of the Jintang undersea tunnel of the Ningbo-Zhoushan high-speed railway in east China's Zhejiang Province. As the world's longest undersea high-speed railway tunnel upon completion, the 16.18-kilometer Jintang undersea tunnel, with an 11.21-kilometer shield section, is a vital section of the Ningbo-Zhoushan high-speed railway.

China successfully sent a new satellite into the preset orbit via a Long March-2D carrier rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China on Wednesday. The launch marked the 677th mission of the Long March carrier rockets.

A lineup of leading domestically developed aircraft and drones, including the AG600 amphibious aircraft, Xinzhou-60 aircraft, C909 firefighting variant and Wing Loong II UAV, took part in a major wildfire response drill recently held in southwest China's Chongqing. More than 40 aircraft and drones, along with over 1,600 personnel, participated in the exercise, which tested the coordinated response of aerial and ground firefighting forces, as well as the integration of unmanned equipment into wildfire operations.

As Shenzhen gears up for the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting, robots are taking center stage! From serving food and entertaining visitors to patrolling streets and keeping them clean, robots are bringing a glimpse of the future to everyday life in the city.

China's first fully solar-powered small- and medium-sized commercial unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) successfully completed its maiden flight in northwest China on Wednesday. With a wingspan of 8 meters, the 3.2-meter-long drone has an endurance of up to 30 hours and features a modular design that supports various mission payloads, including communication and remote sensing equipment.

A China-developed 176-tonne pure electric autonomous rigid mining truck rolled off the production line on Monday in Shiyan, central China's Hubei Province. Standing 6.7 meters tall, the vehicle supports fast charging in just 20 minutes, with its battery capable of up to 6,000 charge-discharge cycles. It consumes over 65% less energy than diesel-powered rigid mining trucks of the same tonnage.

The Shenzhou-23 crew, who has been aboard China's Tiangong space station for more than five months, recently conducted in-orbit electroencephalogram (EEG) tests and other scientific experiments.

The San'ao Nuclear Power Plant, China's first nuclear power project backed by private investment, saw its second phase enter full-scale construction in east China's Zhejiang Province, as Unit 4's nuclear island carried out its first concrete pour on Tuesday. Planning to build six Hualong One nuclear units in three phases, the plant is expected to pump out over 54 billion kWh of electricity a year once fully operational, slashing nearly 50 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually.

Chinese researchers on Tuesday preliminarily identified meteorite samples recovered in the Shijiazhuang area, north China's Hebei Province, as L6 ordinary chondrites, following a bright fireball sighting on November 6. Further studies of the meteorite and its trajectory could help scientists better understand the origins and evolution of small bodies in the solar system and contribute to asteroid impact risk assessment and planetary defense research. dangrous

China's Kuaizhou-12 solid-liquid hybrid carrier rocket will complete its maiden flight and start commercial operations by 2027, with a launch cost of no more than 20,000 yuan (about $2,997.24) per kilogram, said its developer at a commercial aerospace forum held recently in central China's Hubei Province.

China's exports of integrated circuits and memory components surged 101.9% and 132.5%, respectively, in the first 10 months of 2026, while 3D printers, digital cameras and industrial robots rose 104.8%, 41.4% and 17.8% over the same period, according to the General Administration of Customs on Tuesday.

From survival to revival: The green peafowl, China's only native peafowl species, was once on the brink of extinction, with fewer than 500 wild individuals remaining in the country around 2015. Following years of conservation efforts, the species' population has since grown to more than 1,000, according to data released by China's National Forestry and Grassland Administration.

China's Kuaizhou-6 reusable liquid-propellant rocket is under accelerated development and is expected to make its maiden flight and attempt its first-stage recovery by 2027, its developer said on Monday. With a payload capacity of 20 tonnes, the rocket aims to further increase its carrying capacity by replacing its existing engine with a 140-tonne-class liquid-propellant engine and see wide commercial deployment by the middle of the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030).

China's Fengyun-4C satellite has recently sent back a new image of the Sun captured by its Solar Extreme-Ultraviolet Imager. In the image, the purple-pink corona glows with a hazy radiance, while the dark coronal hole at the center is the source of high-speed solar wind. Launched on December 27, 2025, from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in the southwestern province of Sichuan, Fengyun-4C is currently the world's most capable geostationary meteorological satellite when it comes to comprehensive single-satellite detection capabilities.