Year-end review: The youth power of China's science and technology in 2021

In China in 2021, there is a group of young and middle-aged scientists. Although they are young, they have become the backbone of Chinese science and technology and the hope for the future of China's science and technology.

Some of them study lunar soil, some are involved in the direct artificial synthesis of starch using carbon dioxide, and some are fighting on the front line of new crown vaccine development; some are deputy chief builders of the full-sea-depth manned submersible "Fendouzhe", some are the Beijing general dispatcher of Tianwen-1, and some are the most "brain-burning" female anchor on Douyin... From them, we see the higher-level requirements of scientific researchers for their work, and we also see the fearlessness, courage and struggle of the younger generation.

It is they who have created many world-renowned achievements for the country and led the people towards a better life. Let us cheer for the power of youth.

1

Hou Weijie

Examiner of the space station's low-gravity "mock test"

On April 29, 2021, the Long March 5B Yao-2 carrier rocket successfully launched the Tianhe core module of the space station into the planned orbit. Before entering space, the space station had already conducted hundreds of physical simulation experiments in the laboratory.

The person conducting the micro-gravity "mock test" for the space station on Earth is Hou Weijie, deputy director of the Experiment and Testing Technology Research Laboratory of the 518th Institute of the Fifth Academy of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. He and his colleagues measure the various performance of the spacecraft in the micro-gravity environment of space in the most intuitive way, and pass the last test before the spacecraft flies into space.

Hou Weijie. Photo provided by myself

In 2018, Hou Weijie received the task of conducting micro-low gravity simulation tests for Chang'e 5. In order to simulate the micro-low gravity environment in space, he led the team to produce heavy-duty air-floating bearings with better performance and greater load, filling a domestic gap.

In order to complete the experimental tasks on time, Hou Weijie "soaked" in the laboratory every day. The laboratory is 1,200 square meters, and he walked back and forth several times every day to do experiments, easily exceeding 30,000 steps. Various large iron blocks placed on the side of the laboratory - the weights for the experimental balance, team members have to move dozens or even hundreds of times a day.

Currently, Hou Weijie and his team members are working on the Chang'e 7 project. "This mission is to conduct an environmental and resource survey of the lunar polar region," he said. "Although this is another road that no one has ever walked before, we will move forward courageously and never stop."

2

Bao Shuo

“Guiding” Tianwen-1 to Mars

On May 15, 2021, the Tianwen-1 rover lander and the Zhurong rover successfully landed in the southern part of the Utopia Plain on Mars. At the moment of successful landing, the Beijing Aerospace Flight Control Center burst into warm cheers and applause. But at this time, Bao Shuo, the chief dispatcher of the Beijing Aerospace Flight Control Center, remained very calm, always maintaining a steady speaking speed, accurately issuing commands one by one, and only showed a bright smile when he confirmed that the mission was over.

Bao Shuo. Photo provided by myself

After each mission, this post-90s general dispatcher has to issue thousands of instructions, each of which directly determines the next action of the probe. There has been no woman in this position for 40 years, and Bao Shuo is the first. She bears huge responsibilities and pressures, and every order she issues may affect the safety of the spacecraft.

In the eyes of her colleagues, Bao Shuo immediately turned into a fierce "Iron Man" as soon as she entered the flight control hall: no food, no sleep, no rest, just working every day. Chang'e 5 is scheduled to work on the moon for 48 hours. In order to survive this period with a clear mind, she adjusted her work and rest schedule 30 days in advance, sleeping only 3 hours a day, and not eating, sleeping, or drinking water for 20 consecutive hours. In order to focus on work, she can not contact her family for up to two months.

In her daily life, Bao Shuo is no different from her peers. At work, she would argue with her colleagues over a problem until her face turned red, but in private, she is a cute girl who can take selfies with a beauty camera, and is also a die-hard fan of a professional crosstalk club. She has many photos of her favorite crosstalk performers stored in her phone.

When Bao Shuo learned that netizens called him a "model for the post-90s generation," he smiled and shook his head, saying, "I don't deserve it. Don't label me randomly. Contributing to the country is not limited by age."

3

Qin Chengfeng

Developing new "weapons" to fight the epidemic

mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid) vaccines are a new type of vaccine in recent years. The technical threshold for developing them is relatively high. my country has never approved mRNA vaccines to enter clinical trials before. One more weapon against the epidemic means one more chance of victory. In addition to inactivated virus vaccines, if China has its own mRNA vaccines developed, designed and produced, it will add more confidence to the fight against the epidemic.

Qin Chengfeng, a researcher at the Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Academy of Military Sciences, and his team are advancing the research and development of domestic mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. They are currently conducting phase III clinical trials overseas, which may achieve a "zero" breakthrough in China's mRNA vaccines.

Qin Chengfeng. Image source: China Military TV Network

Qin Chengfeng introduced that the domestically produced mRNA vaccine uses a single-dose prefilled needle, and its thermal stability is significantly different from that of the mRNA vaccines that have been marketed abroad. During the manufacturing process, the vaccine uses a better presentation technology, which can reduce the vaccine's sensitivity to temperature and allow the vaccine to be stored at 2 to 8 degrees Celsius, which will greatly improve the convenience of using the new crown vaccine.

After graduating from high school, Qin Chengfeng was admitted to Wuhan University, where he found his research interest - viruses. Since Qin Chengfeng had always wanted to wear a military uniform, after graduating from university, Qin Chengfeng was recommended to continue his studies in the Microbiology Department of the Military Medical Research Institute with excellent grades. Since then, Qin Chengfeng systematically studied the theory and technology of virology, laying a solid foundation for his later scientific research work.

As early as 2017, Qin Chengfeng published a research paper on Zika virus, which attracted the attention of the global scientific community. The paper provided important evidence for the global response to the Zika epidemic and helped the development of vaccines and drugs. At that time, the average age of him and his team members was less than 30 years old. Today, he is at the forefront again, once again allowing Chinese soldiers to stand on the international scientific stage.

Qin Chengfeng said that scientific research is an exploration of the unknown world, which is full of uncertainty. This will make them curious and continue to move forward, and also make them look forward to every day and every experiment. Perhaps an inadvertent discovery will become a scientific research result that will ultimately benefit mankind.

4

Cai Tao

The "magician" who uses carbon dioxide to artificially synthesize starch

In 2015, Cai Tao, an associate researcher at the Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, received a task - to artificially synthesize starch and create it out of thin air. "Creating it out of thin air? Is it possible?" When he received the project, he did not believe it could be done.

Cai Tao. Photo by Science and Technology Daily reporter Lu Chengkuan

In natural reactions, starch synthesis and accumulation involve about 60 metabolic reactions and inter-organelle transport. How to simplify the complex synthesis pathways in agriculture into simple synthesis pathways required for industrial production is the biggest challenge facing artificial starch synthesis. After computer algorithm mining and screening, Cai Tao and his colleagues finally locked in 30 possible pathways between the starting point of carbon dioxide and the end point of starch, each of which contains 9 to 12 important reactions.

Cai Tao and his team members explored the unknown road ahead for more than 2,000 days and nights. In August 2021, the team, which had been silent for 6 years, published their results in the journal Science. "This is a milestone breakthrough that will have a transformative impact on the next generation of biomanufacturing and agricultural production." The reviewers of the paper praised this original breakthrough from China without hesitation.

Cai Tao and his colleagues, like magicians, turned stone into gold, allowing my country to achieve the first global synthesis of starch from carbon dioxide, making it possible for starch production to shift from traditional agricultural planting models to industrial workshop production models.

"We have only made some progress so far, and we still face many challenges ahead." Cai Tao was cautious and pragmatic about this major achievement. Next, they will face new challenges and move this achievement from the laboratory to the factory.

5

Yang Fan

Finding the best home for your telescope

Lenghu, Qinghai, a small town that was nearly abandoned due to the depletion of oil resources, has received unprecedented attention in 2021 because it was selected as a world-class astronomical observatory site. Yang Fan, an assistant researcher at the National Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, is one of the core members of the site selection team. He said: "We have only one goal, which is to find the most suitable home for the future telescope."

Yang Fan. Photo provided by me

They traveled all over the Lenghu Gobi Desert and decided to set up observation equipment on the Saishiteng Mountain, which is 1,000 to 1,500 meters higher than the average altitude of the Gobi Desert, "so that the telescope can see the dimmest stars here."

"I have climbed all the mountains in my life here." Yang Fan said that in the past three years, they have overcome difficulties such as lack of oxygen, cold, power supply and food in the high-altitude mountains and finally built a key site parameter measurement platform.

On August 18, 2021, Nature magazine published this major scientific progress on the site selection of astronomical observatories.

When he was young, Yang Fan made a clear plan for himself - to go to college, study for a master's degree, study for a doctorate, and do research. After the college entrance examination, he applied for the Department of Biology and the Department of Mathematics at Beijing Normal University. Before that, astronomy was still unfamiliar to him. Because the popular departments were "full", he obeyed the transfer and came to the Department of Astronomy at Beijing Normal University.

"My mother, who works at the Institute of Mathematics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, once asked me seriously whether I would consider changing my major to mathematics, so that I might have more options after graduation. However, after a year of studying basic courses, I developed a strong interest in astronomy. Therefore, I firmly told my mother that I like astronomy. This decision has brought me to where I am today," said Yang Fan.

Passion is the starting point of everything and the answer to everything. Love never stops, and Yang Fan's journey continues.

6

Gai Zhikun

Prehistoric giant shark discovered from "snow-hidden" fossils

During the days when scientific expeditions were impossible due to the epidemic, Gai Zhikun, a researcher at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, started with a walnut-sized fossil of a lobate shark tooth and read a story of a prehistoric giant shark migrating across the ocean.

Gai Zhikun. Photo provided by myself

Originally, Gai Zhikun just wanted to "expand his research horizons and make a two- or three-page briefing." But as the research progressed, he found that this tooth was not simple. It is the first tooth fossil of the genus Pleurodon found in China, which greatly expands the paleogeographic distribution range of Pleurodon in the Northern Hemisphere and provides important fossil evidence for the migration of Pleurodon across the Paleo-Tethys Ocean. The relevant research results were published as a cover article in the international academic journal "Acta Geologica Sinica (English Edition)" on August 25, 2021.

Gai Zhikun attributed part of the credit to good luck, because he knew that discoveries are only made in a few moments, and gaining nothing is the norm in scientific research.

It was also a coincidence that Gai Zhikun chose paleontology research. Due to food poisoning before the college entrance examination, he was transferred to the Department of Earth Sciences, which he had never applied for, and studied a major he had "never heard of" - resource and environmental zoning and management. During his four years in college, Gai Zhikun gradually found a way and planned to continue his postgraduate studies. In order to avoid the mathematics that troubled him, he chose paleontology.

Entering the world of paleontology, Gai Zhikun didn’t know if he was interested. But he believed in a simple truth: “You have to do something to the extreme before you can talk about whether you are interested.”

Moving forward with "extreme", Gai Zhikun feels that he has just started.

7

Ye Guangfu

The youngest astronaut of Shenzhou XIII

In October 2021, three astronauts, Zhai Zhigang, Wang Yaping and Ye Guangfu, carried out the Shenzhou 13 manned flight mission. Ye Guangfu was the youngest one.

Ye Guangfu. Xinhua News Agency

Ye Guangfu's dream since childhood was to become a pilot. When Ye Guangfu was in his third year of high school, the news of the Air Force's recruitment of pilots reached his school. He signed up for the competition and successfully entered the Air Force Changchun Flight Academy. As an Air Force pilot, he has a total of 1,100 hours of fighter flight experience.

Ye Guangfu joined the astronaut team in 2010. Although pilot is the profession closest to astronaut, with the sky and space only one letter apart, the transition from pilot to astronaut is as difficult as climbing a ladder to heaven.

In addition to completing hundreds of subjects in eight categories that challenge the limits of body and mind, including basic theoretical studies, space environment endurance and adaptability training, life-saving and survival training, as well as rigorous and normalized examinations, they also have to face psychological torment and challenges.

For Ye Guangfu, the most challenging part is the underwater training for extravehicular activities. After he puts on his underwater training suit, which weighs nearly 500 kilograms, he needs to work underwater for five or six hours. After each training session, the two layers of gloves and underwear he wears are soaked with sweat.

Before departure, Ye Guangfu said that his biggest wish was to take a good look at the blue planet Earth through the porthole in his spare time.

As for the next mission, Ye Guangfu looks forward to taking on the important task of extravehicular activity. We wish him good luck.

8

Liu Yeyao

Writing a life of struggle in the "Struggler"

Liu Yeyao, deputy chief builder of the "Struggler" and senior engineer of the Institute of Acoustics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, opened the mobile phone album and found that the underwater photos occupied 3/4 of the storage space, and most of the shooting locations were distributed in the sea where few people go. The deep-sea equipment, underwater creatures, a piece of mud, and irregularly distributed underwater rocks photographed through the porthole have become his daily concerns.

Liu Yeyao. Photo provided by Gezhi Lundao

From entering the Institute of Acoustics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2006, to the dive of the "Struggler" to the bottom of the sea 10,000 meters in November 2020, to the first routine scientific research application of the "Struggler" on October 5, 2021, Liu Yeyao has dedicated 16 years of youth to the manned deep-sea diving industry.

During the first sea trial of the Jiaolong in 2009, Liu Yeyao and three colleagues often stayed in the submersible for two or three hours at a time. During this period, they not only had to overcome difficulties such as high temperatures in summer and ups and downs, but also had to race against time and conduct scientific research day and night. With the successful development of the "high-speed digital underwater acoustic communication system", the Jiaolong can convert key data such as life support, battery status, speed and position into digital signals and transmit them to the mother ship at regular intervals to ensure that manned deep-sea diving continues to achieve technological breakthroughs.

By the time the Deep Sea Warrior was in sea trials, the dives were smooth thanks to the accumulation of previous technical and operational experience. Liu Yeyao and his colleagues dived more than 20 times in more than 40 days, shortening the sea trials from four years to two months, significantly improving efficiency.

During the sea trial of the "Fendouzhe", underwater acoustic communication became the only bridge of communication between the submersible and the mother ship "Tansuo No. 1". It can realize the real-time transmission of text, voice and images from the submersible from the 10,000-meter seabed to the mother ship on the sea surface, ensuring the smooth implementation of operational tasks such as target search and terrain detection.

"I participated in the sea trials of the three submersibles throughout the whole process and felt very honored," Liu Yeyao said. "This was also a process in which my life goals gradually became clearer. The longer the time went by, the deeper my feelings for it became. The country's affairs also became my own affairs."

9

Yang Wei

Making the moon 800 million years old

On October 19, 2021, the Chinese Academy of Sciences released the latest research results on the Chang'e-5 lunar scientific research samples. This is the first batch of research results on the Chang'e-5 lunar scientific research samples independently completed by Chinese scientists. Among them is the work completed by the team of Yang Wei, a post-80s researcher at the Institute of Geology and Geophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Yang Wei. Image source: Official website of Wuhan Branch of Chinese Academy of Sciences

On December 17, 2020, the Chang'e-5 returner, loaded with lunar stories, landed in Siziwang Banner, Inner Mongolia, and brought back 1,731 grams of lunar samples. Many scientists hope to "see the moon's past" from these samples that are more precious than gold.

A small glass bottle containing 3 grams of black lunar soil powder was delivered to Yang Wei and his colleagues.

"You know, some people born in the 1980s have been researching related technologies since they entered the institute. They have been working hard for ten years, just waiting for today!" Yang Wei said. In the face of major opportunities, working overtime and forgetting to eat and sleep are not worth mentioning. The team consumed only 0.15 grams of lunar soil, completed the relevant experimental analysis work in 7 days, and completed 3 related paper manuscripts in 14 days, spelling out the "Chinese speed".

The research results of Yang Wei and his colleagues have given people a new understanding of the evolution of the moon. The basalt brought back by Chang'e 5 was formed at an age of 2.030±0.04 billion years, which means that the "youngest" basalt on the moon was formed 2 billion years ago. Furthermore, there was still magma activity on the moon until 2 billion years ago, which is 800 million years older than the "age" previously estimated by scientists.

Yang Wei did not exaggerate about the achievements he had made, but simply said: "People don't have many opportunities to encounter such major events in their lifetime, and we do have a sense of mission. Everyone who has a special skill wants to contribute it."

In addition to scientific research, Yang Wei is a marathon enthusiast. Running is his favorite way to relieve stress. He still has a long way to go in scientific research. I wish him a steady and long run.

10

Zhou Siyi

The most "brain-burning" female anchor on TikTok

"Recently, many children have asked me whether there are UFOs (unidentified flying objects)." Zhou Siyi, who speaks slowly and looks like an elementary school student, calls himself a "kindergarten teacher" and calls his fans "children."

Zhou Siyi. Video screenshot

Zhou Siyi, 29, is a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Theoretical Physics at the University of Science and Technology of China. His research interests include cosmology, string theory and field theory, touching on the most cutting-edge areas of modern physics.

In recent months, Zhou Siyi has become a popular science creator on the short video platform Douyin. She uses easy-to-understand language to break down and explain the profound mysteries of the universe to her fans.

Zhou Siyi was born in Wuhan, Hubei. Her grandfather was a high school physics teacher. Her father studied electrical automation and opened a company specializing in the automation control of large machinery. She showed interest and talent in physics at a very young age.

But unfortunately, Zhou Siyi's parents did not support her in pursuing scientific research. She had heard the words "girls are not suitable for studying physics" countless times since she was a child.

Zhou Siyi believes that many people have prejudices against women studying physics. That is why she wrote in her Douyin profile: "I like to teach children interesting physics knowledge. Especially to cute little girls."

Among Zhou Siyi's fans, there are top domestic physics researchers, as well as high school and middle school students. They often discuss quantum mechanics, black holes, dark matter and other issues in the fan group. One of her short videos about the speed of gravitational waves has triggered hundreds of netizens to discuss scientific issues: "Can gravitational waves pass through black holes?" "Will gravitational waves also have diffraction phenomena?"...

The longer he does this, the more Zhou Siyi believes that the audience base of short video platforms is far larger than that of traditional knowledge Q&A groups, which will allow scientists' ideas to spread more widely and attract more young people to engage in scientific research in the future.

Source: Science and Technology Daily

◎ Science and Technology Daily reporter Chen Xi

Editor: Zhang Qiqi

Review: Julie

Final review: Liu Haiying