Chinese researchers have developed a multifunctional soft robot which is capable of operating in extremely cold environments and navigating complex structures, offering significant advantages in scenarios such as aero engine blisk inspection, slit detection, and operations in cold regions, Jiemian News reported on Thursday.
The robot, jointly developed by the Laboratory for Aerospace Structure Technology of the Northwestern Polytechnical University, the City University of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University based on a new type of electroactive polymer, performed tasks such as autonomous heating, inspection and ice melting at temperatures as low as -50 C.
Electroactive polymers are smart materials that can change their size, shape or volume in response to a strong electrical field, and are widely used in cutting-edge fields such as artificial muscles and soft robotics.
As application scenarios expand, robots face higher demands for multifunctional integration capabilities. Conventional electroactive polymers usually can only change dimensions when electrically activated, limiting adaptability to different environments and integration needs. Developing smart materials with multi-mode responsive behaviors and achieving functional integration remains an urgent challenge in current soft robotics research.
In this study, the team has developed a vinyl acetate-enhanced electroactive polyvinyl chloride gel with low-voltage deformation, strong electro-adhesion, and controlled heating. Compared with existing materials, it reduces heat generation by over 50 percent, extends lifespan 15-fold, increases output force 1.75 times, and boosts electro-adhesion force 2.15 times, researchers said.
Using this improved material, the research team has developed a miniature soft robot capable of rapid crawling, self-heating in low-temperature, modular assembly and collaborative operation.
This robot’s compact structure and the advances in its actuation enable the robot to operate at ultra-low voltage (72.5 V), which demonstrates a 75 percent reduction in driving voltage relative to state-of-the-art systems.
Breakthroughs in electro-adhesion enable the self-reconfigurable robots to achieve module connections within millimeter dimensions without relying on complex microstructures.
The achievement of self-reconfiguration in robots with a dimensional limitation is expected to facilitate the advancement of robotic swarms.
In extreme cold environment, the robot completed self-heating, aero engine blisk inspection, and ice melting tasks at freezing temperatures, demonstrating clear advantages in application scenarios such as aero engine blisk inspection, slit detection, and cold-region operations.
The study provides new insights for the development of small intelligent robot systems in extreme environments and also demonstrate the broad application potential of such materials in fields including electronic devices, bionic systems, and intelligent manufacturing.
The research team mainly focuses on applications of the robot in high-end precision equipment, such as rapid inspection of aircraft engines used in polar regions. By optimizing the robot’s structural design, it can also be applied to inspection tasks of narrow pipelines encountered in everyday life, such as oil and gas pipelines or heating pipes, Zhang Junshi, a professor from Northwestern Polytechnical University, who led the research, told the Global Times on Thursday.
Some researchers in the team also proposed to apply this material to the medical and healthcare field. Owing to its softness and controllable deformation, it can be used in massage, physiotherapy, or in developing soft exoskeletons for assisted movement, making them lighter, more adaptable and safer than current rigid structures, according to Zhang.
The research findings were recently published on the international journal Advanced Science, according to a statement released by the Northwestern Polytechnical University.
US nominee for ambassador to Buenos Aires has sparked a storm of criticism Wednesday among Argentine lawmakers, media and trade unions with some Argentine politicians accusing him of violating diplomatic conventions, interfering in Argentine domestic affairs and meddling in judicial matters. The nominee claimed that Argentina's ex-president should face justice in cases in which she was never convicted and pledged to use his posting as a bulwark against China during a hearing at the US Senate, according to AP on Thursday.
AP reported Thursday that opposition politicians in Argentina accused Peter Lamelas, US' nominee for ambassador to the second-biggest South American country, of violating diplomatic conventions, interfering in Argentine domestic affairs and meddling in judicial matters.
The report said that Argentine media went into fifth gear with their coverage of Lamelas. Argentine lawmakers introduced a bill in Congress rejecting his remarks as "an unacceptable interference in matters of national sovereignty." Trade unions planned a mass protest for Thursday outside the US Embassy in Buenos Aires.
Buenos Aires Herald reported Wednesday that Lamelas attended a hearing about his diplomatic appointment to Argentina in the US Senate.
AP reported that Lamelas said he would support right-wing Argentine President Javier Milei, in ensuring that the country's former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner - now serving a six-year sentence on corruption charges under house arrest - gets "the justice that she well deserves" in cases unrelated to her current sentence.
According to the report, Fernández is the most prominent figure in Argentina's Peronist opposition movement, which holds a majority in Congress.
At the hearing, Lamelas also made biased claims that Argentina's provincial governments "could negotiate with external forces, like the Chinese or others, to come in and do projects in that particular province, and that may also lend towards corruption on the part of the Chinese,"according to Buenos Aires Herald.
In response to Lamelas' claims, the Chinese Embassy in Argentina published a statement on Wednesday, saying that the remarks by the US politician are "rife with ideological bias and Cold War zero-sum mentality, evoking an unsettling sense of the 'Monroe Doctrine' making a comeback."
"Such rhetoric starkly contradicts and undermines the very 'democratic values' the US claims to champion," read the statement.
The Chinese Embassy emphasized that China's engagement and cooperation with Latin American countries, including Argentina, have always been guided by the principles of mutual respect, equality, and mutual benefit. We neither seek spheres of influence nor pursue geopolitical gains at others' expense, much less target any third party. Argentina should not be turned into an "arena" for great-power rivalry, but rather a "demonstration field" for international development cooperation to achieve reform, progress, and revitalization, according to the statement.
"We advise the relevant individual to refrain from projecting their hegemonic logic onto China," said the Chinese Embassy.
Lamelas' comments drew the ire of Buenos Aires Province Governor Axel Kicillof, Buenos Aires Herald reported.
"GO HOME LAMELAS," Axel Kicillof wrote on X. He said that a diplomatic envoy could not behave "as if they were the tutor of the sovereign policies of the country that receives them." Kicillof went on to say that the remarks "evoke the darkest eras of US interference in the democratic life of our region."
According to Buenos Aires Herald, on Wednesday afternoon, deputies from the main Peronist party, Unión por la Patria (UxP), filed a bill to declare Lamelas persona non grata. "His deplorable and unacceptable statements constitute a flagrant violation of Argentine sovereignty," the party wrote.
While the US Senate hearing with Lamelas was held on Tuesday, senators will vote on his appointment at a later date, Buenos Aires Herald reported.
Chinese President Xi Jinping received the credentials of 16 new ambassadors to China in Beijing on Friday.
The ambassadors are:
-- Pham Thanh Binh from Vietnam
-- Miguel Lecaro Barcenas from Panama
-- Jose Julio Gomez Beato from Dominica
-- Riza Poda from Albania
-- Jonathan Edward Austin from New Zealand
-- Thaddeus Kambanei from Papua New Guinea
-- Dalva M. C. R. Allen from Angola
-- Khaled Nazmy from Egypt
-- Ramiro Jose Cruz Flores from Nicaragua
-- Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli from Iran
-- Pablo Arriaran from Chile
-- Olexander Nechytaylo from Ukraine
-- Franck E. W. Adjagba from Benin
-- David Alfred Perdue Jr from the United States
-- Eliav Belotsercovsky from Israel
-- Morris Simon Batali from South Sudan
Xi also received Secretary-General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Nurlan Yermekbayev.
Welcoming the envoys to their new posts, Xi asked them to convey his best wishes to the leaders and the people of their respective countries, expressing hope that envoys will gain a full and in-depth understanding of China.
China cherishes its friendship with people across the globe, and stands ready to strengthen all-around cooperation and exchanges with other countries on the basis of mutual respect, equality, mutual benefit and win-win cooperation, Xi said.
Xi pointed out that, at present, China is advancing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts through Chinese modernization, while its economy maintains a steadily improving momentum.
Amid accelerating global changes and a turbulent international landscape, there is a pressing need more than ever for countries around the world to enhance solidarity and cooperation, embrace a broad vision to rise above estrangement and conflict, and bear in mind the future of all humanity, Xi noted.
This year marks the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War, as well as the 80th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations, Xi noted.
Xi said China stands ready to work with all countries to firmly safeguard the international system with the UN at its core and the international order underpinned by international law.
At the opening ceremony of the 2025 World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai on Saturday, the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) launched a new early warning initiative, "MAZU," aimed at strengthening international cooperation on extreme weather and climate risks.
MAZU stands for Multi-hazard, Alert, Zero-gap, and Universal, and it's also the name of the revered maritime and weather guardian in Chinese coastal culture. The system aims to establish a global early warning service network covering multiple disaster types, offering scalable, customizable, and sustainable AI-powered solutions tailored to the needs of different countries.
Expert said the release of the "MAZU" plan marks another milestone in China's fast-evolving AI development, which is shifting from industrial use to broader public services.
To help narrow the early warning capability gap - particularly in developing countries - the CMA said it will provide technical support, co-develop forecasting tools such as the "City Toolbox" and "FY Earth Toolbox," and share China's practical experience, including tiered meteorological services and high-level alert-response mechanisms.
MAZU will also support capacity building through international training programs, scholarship schemes, and academic exchanges to cultivate early warning professionals around the world.
In recent years, China's AI industry has rapidly progressed from enabling technologies to transforming entire systems, penetrating traditional sectors such as manufacturing, agriculture, and energy - driving automation and fostering human-machine collaboration, Wang Peng, an associate research fellow at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Saturday. "Meanwhile, it is transforming public services such as education, healthcare, and transportation by improving resource allocation and enabling more personalized, equitable delivery."
China is actively building a global disaster response network in support of the UN's "Early Warnings for All" initiative, aiming to strengthen its technological support in global climate governance, Wang said.
According to the World Intellectual Property Organization, China has become the world's largest holder of AI-related patents, accounting for 60 percent of the global total, Xinhua News Agency reported. As of April, China had filed 1.576 million AI patent applications, accounting for 38.58 percent of global filings - the highest globally.
China's rapid AI breakthroughs are driven by the synergy of technology, policy, and market forces - a "triple-helix" model of innovation, state support, and demand, Wang added.
He added that with advancements in frontier technologies such as quantum computing and AI agents, China is poised to strengthen its technological sovereignty and play a more pivotal role in shaping an intelligent and inclusive global AI future.
Nanhai district in Foshan city of South China's Guangdong Province launched a district-wide health campaign on Sunday to combat mosquito-borne diseases following a recent outbreak of chikungunya fever. The initiative aims to reduce the density of mosquito vectors and minimize disease transmission risks across the area.
According to the Office of the Command Center for Mosquito-Borne Infectious Disease Prevention and Control in Nanhai, the district-wide campaign will be launched in Nanhai at 8 am on Monday. All government agencies, enterprises, institutions, social organizations, and communities will participate in the initiative, with the goal of organizing and mobilizing staff and residents to collectively build a strong defense line for disease prevention and control.
Residents and workers are urged to take an active role in eliminating mosquito breeding grounds by cleaning up sanitation dead zones in workplaces, communities, markets, and vacant properties. Measures include draining standing water, removing garbage, and using insecticides to reduce the density of disease-carrying organisms.
Additionally, all organizations and individuals must strictly adhere to relevant legal regulations and actively cooperate with epidemic prevention measures implemented by authorities in accordance with the law. Those who fail to cooperate or obstruct the execution of these measures will be held legally accountable.
On Saturday, Chancheng district in Foshan also conducted a grid-style inspection focused on high-risk mosquito areas, such as old residential communities and farmers' markets, by removing standing water, clearing debris, and eliminating mosquito breeding grounds.
As of 12 am on Saturday, Guangdong had reported a total of 4,824 local cases of chikungunya fever this year, all of which were mild, with no severe cases or deaths reported. So far, 3,224 patients have been cured, discharged, or released from medical observation, according to xinhuanet.com on Sunday.
According to data reported by multiple locations including Shunde district of Foshan on Friday, five districts of Foshan have confirmed cases of chikungunya fever, with Shunde accounting for 3,627 cases, according to thepaper.cn.
Leaders from more than 20 countries and heads of 10 international organizations will attend the Tianjin summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and related events, said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Tuesday.
The SCO Tianjin summit will be held from August 31 to September 1, Wang said in Tianjin during a joint press meeting with SCO Secretary-General Nurlan Yermekbayev.
On the same day, Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, chaired SCO member states' meeting of the council of the ministers of foreign affairs in Tianjin.
Belarusian Foreign Minister Maksim Ryzhenkov, Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi, Kazakhstan's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Murat Nurtleu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kyrgyzstan Jeenbek Kulubaev, Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Tajik Foreign Minister Sirojiddin Muhriddin, Uzbek Foreign Minister Bakhtiyor Saidov, SCO Secretary-General Nurlan Yermekbayev, and Director of the Executive Committee of the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure Ularbek Sharsheev attended the meeting.
Wang called on SCO member states to strive to build greater consensus on strengthening the organization in a manner that demonstrates a sense of responsibility towards history and the future. He proposed five suggestions on the organization's development.
He said that member states should stay true to the original aspiration and carry forward the Shanghai Spirit, consolidate the foundation of security, pursue mutual benefit and win-win results to drive the new engine of development, pursue friendship and good-neighborliness, and safeguard fairness and justice.
Wang expressed appreciation for the support of member states for China's role as the rotating chair, adding that the SCO is set to enter a new phase of high-quality development through member states' joint efforts.
The participating parties highly commended China's outstanding work and positive outcomes as the rotating chair, and expressed their willingness to coordinate and collaborate with China to ensure the success of the Tianjin summit.
All parties fully recognized the important role of the SCO in strengthening strategic mutual trust among member states, promoting regional development and prosperity, maintaining common security, and deepening the bonds between the peoples.
In the face of turbulent international situations, all parties agreed that it is essential to further promote the Shanghai Spirit, strengthen solidarity and coordination, safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity, fight against the "three evil forces" of terrorism, extremism, and separatism.
They also agreed to enhance cooperation in various fields, promote dialogue among different civilizations, jointly uphold the authority of the United Nations, oppose unilateralism, and peacefully resolve hotspot issues through dialogue and negotiation, to make new contributions to world peace and development.
Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, Chinese president, and chairman of the Central Military Commission, has stressed that the environment concerns the well-being of people in all countries. During his inspections, Xi has always paid great attention to ecosystems, spanning from cities to rural areas, and from enterprises to communities.
Under the guidance of Xi's thought on ecological civilization, China has been advancing the green transition of its economy over the last decade. Regions across the country are actively promoting the construction of ecological civilization and advancing Chinese modernization featuring harmony between humanity and nature. These efforts are creating a "Beautiful China."
The coming five years will be critical to the building of a "Beautiful China." The Global Times is launching a series of stories to explore the progress of ecological civilization projects that Xi is concerned with, delving into the positive environmental changes occurring now, and offering valuable insights and references for both national and global efforts. From these practical examples, we can see how Xi's thought on ecological civilization is put into practice and further inspires public action.
In this installment, we turn our eyes to the southwest regions of China. Under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, they have developed the birding site as an eco-friendly business model, showcasing grassroots efforts in China to conceive and practice innovative approaches to ecological conservation that also generate economic benefits.
As a small bird with a bluish beak and chestnut-colored plumage landed on a branch, birdwatchers in the hide quickly swung their cameras to capture the rare moment. The bird, known as the silver-breasted broadbill, is part of wildlife under second class protection in China, rarely seen in the wild. Yet in recent years, it has become a regular visitor to a birding site managed by Piao Hai, a 38-year-old Hani man, in Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, Southwest China's Yunnan Province.
According to Dr. Zhao Jiangbo from the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, birding sites are an innovative model that combines biodiversity conservation with community development. This approach has gained traction across China as a way to balance environmental protection with economic growth, CCTV reported.
Bird protection is an important component of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization. The Party and government leaders attach great importance to bird conservation and have issued several critical instructions, emphasizing the importance of "implementation," read an announcement on the website of China's National Forestry and Grassland Administration. The first volume of selected works of Xi on ecological civilization has been published and is available nationwide. Covering writings from December 2012 to April 2025, the book reaffirms Xi's core philosophy: "Lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets," the Xinhua News Agency reported on July 6.
In practicing this vision, communities are exploring new forms of ecological protection like Piao's birding site that can generate real economic benefits - integrating conservation with livelihood improvement.
From hunters to guardians
Years ago, local residents in Piao's village viewed birds as little more than prey. "Catching birds used to be an everyday thing. We had no concept of protection," Piao told the Global Times.
The shift began in 2019, when the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden introduced the birding site economy to nearby villages. Experts guided villagers to create hospitable environments in areas with high bird activity to attract birds and provide opportunities for photography.
As a lifelong bird lover, Piao volunteered to be the village's pioneer.
Combining his knowledge of bird behavior with expert guidance, he designed a tiered pond system fed by a spring and crafted a waterfall from bamboo. He built simple yet cleverly integrated hides with foldable stools and discreet camera slots. These measures quickly drew a variety of birds to feed, rest, and play.
Today, Piao can list the bird species that frequent his site by heart - over 90 in total. His camera has captured not just the silver-breasted broadbill, but also the endangered eared pitta, as well as other beautiful birds such as the puff-throated babbler and oriental white-eye.
"The Botanical Garden provided us with technical guidance and equipment," Piao said. "They also promoted the birding site through their networks. Experts regularly visit to monitor progress and offer continued support."
Over time, "Piaohai birding site" has become a popular destination. Visitors have come from across China and abroad, including the UK, Germany, and Spain. In 2024 alone, around 3,000 tourists visited the site to photograph birds.
"Most visitors are retirees passionate about bird photography, though some young hobbyists come in groups. Over the holidays, children's research groups visit and experience life in the forest," Piao said.
The number of birdwatchers in China rose from 140,000 in 2018 to 340,000 in 2023, a 142.9 percent increase. About 35 percent of those surveyed began birdwatching purely out of interest, according to a CCTV report in April 2025.
"When I first opened, a British visitor was eager to photograph our local birds. I hadn't even built the proper hide yet, but he insisted. So I rigged up a simple cover for him. Despite the primitive setup, he stayed for two hours before finally rushing out," Piao smiled.
Now prosperous, Piao's family income surpassed 300,000 yuan ($41,857) in 2024. He explained that visitors pay between 100 and 300 yuan depending on the rarity of the birds. The village also benefits from revenue generated by food, lodging, and transportation. Piao also promotes local products like wild honey, tea, and mountain mushrooms to visitors.
"Ten percent of birding site income goes to the village, funding road repairs and community events. This wasn't mandatory - I proposed it. These birds don't belong to me. Sharing the rewards motivates everyone to join in protecting them," Piao added. Challenges and expansion
Despite the birding site model's popularity, some concerns have surfaced on social media. Critics worry that monetized conservation may disrupt birds' natural behaviors and habitats.
Piao acknowledged there may be some impact but believes the benefits outweigh the risks. "Some people are prejudiced, but once they engage, they often change their minds. We only do small-scale feeding within 20,000 mu (1,333 hectares) of forest - it's far from disrupting bird habitats."
Piao adds, "We also adjust our schedule based on bird habits. For example, we close during the breeding season in May and June. Raising awareness among villagers is the biggest gain. I also share bird pictures with the Garden for research."
As his expertise grows, Piao has inspired more villagers to join. The village now has eight bird site operators, forming a small-scale bird pond economy. Conservation is no longer an abstract idea - it's a shared value.
"Everyone now understands: Protect the birds, and the income keeps coming," Piao said. Inspired by similar ecological conditions, other parts of Yunnan are exploring birdwatching as an economic driver.
For instance, Yingjiang County in Yunnan is a well-known birdwatching site, home to over 600 bird species - out of China's 1,500 - some of which are endemic. Because it cannot compete purely on visitor numbers without harming its ecosystem, Yingjiang has developed an alternative model. Through bird festivals, collaborations with birding organizations, and viral promotions via social media, it quickly became a birdwatching mecca, according to people.com.cn.
The county encourages farmers to form birdwatching cooperatives. This ensures proper management while allowing locals to retain most of the profits, enhancing their sense of ownership in conservation, said the report.
Yingjiang established hidden observation sites for researchers and birdwatchers. A researcher described it as "a virtuous cycle from hobbyist birdwatching to research-driven protection," Xinhua reported.
Surveys conducted in 2023 found 26 hornbill nests in the reserve's "Hornbill Valley." Between 2022 and 2023, the hornbill population increased by over 20 individuals annually, Xinhua reported.
Exploring various new paths
Economic development should not be achieved at the cost of the ecology. The ecological environment itself is the economy. Protecting the environment is developing productivity, as Xi has said.
As ecological conservation concepts take root across China, various regions are exploring diverse approaches to protect bird habitats. These efforts not only safeguard biodiversity, but also enable more people to immerse themselves in nature, fostering new economic development opportunities.
The Hainan Changjiang Haiwei national wetland park in South China's Hainan Province exemplifies this trend.
Recently, exciting news emerged from the park: An Oriental Darter (Anhinga melanogaster), listed as a endangered species, was spotted there. Confirmed by the Hainan provincial bird records center, this marks the first record of the species in the province, according to people.com.cn on July 11.
Xue Meili, deputy director of the Haiwei wetland park management center and the discoverer of the Oriental Darter, has been on the frontline of wetland development since arriving in Changjiang in 2019.
Over time, she's captured images of rare species, not only filling gaps in Hainan's ornithological research, but also bringing this once-overlooked corner into the national media spotlight. The story of the Haiwei wetland is now reaching more and more people.
More importantly, these efforts are gradually translating into drivers for ecological economic growth. The wetland park has launched educational programs, organizing on-site birdwatching and ecological lectures for schools, while improving infrastructure and planning orderly openings for tourists in the future. Additionally, a variety of cultural and creative products featuring wetland animals, such as fridge magnets, postcards, and tote bags, are being rolled out successively.
"We hope to showcase the beauty of biodiversity, helping more people understand the importance of conservation while bringing tangible benefits to the local area," Xue told the Global Times.
According to Xinhua, in 2024, a total of 207 bird species had been recorded in the Haiwei wetland park, including 41 nationally protected birds and 3 national first-class protected animals. The wetland ecosystem and biodiversity are being effectively protected.
This transformation is not unique. Across the vast expanse of China, more places are using wetlands as platforms to build shared habitats for humans and birds, while exploring new paths to convert ecological advantages into development momentum.
These practices stem from national-level policy support, such as the release of the China Biodiversity Conservation Strategy and Action Plan (2023-2030). Moreover, Chinese procuratorial authorities have intensified efforts to combat poaching, enforce wildlife protection laws, and raise public awareness, according to the website of the Supreme People's Procuratorate.
In Piao's village, bird hunting is now a thing of the past. Piao plans to expand his bird sites and develop educational programs about bird species. He believes that as the number of birds grows, so too will the happiness of the people.
A team of Chinese experts discovered the world's deepest sandstone-type industrial uranium mineralization at a depth of 1,820 meters in the Tarim Basin in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, and this breakthrough set a new global record for the deepest discovery of sandstone-type industrial uranium mineralization, marking China's leading position globally in the exploration of deep-earth sandstone-type uranium resource and providing new theoretical support and innovative prospecting approaches for global uranium resource exploration, said the China Atomic Energy Authority (CAEA) on Friday. The uranium exploration aims to discover and confirm deposits with industrial value while evaluating their resource potential and development prospects. Industrial uranium mineralization serves as a direct and reliable indicator for locating industrial-grade uranium deposits, according to the CAEA.
This newly discovered industrial uranium mineralization is the first major thick-bedded mineralization found in the red variegated strata of the uninhabited hinterland of the Tarim Basin, filling a significant prospecting gap in China's largest desert-covered region, according to the CAEA.
"Not only did we discover the uranium, but we also established a technological system for sandstone uranium exploration applicable to desert regions worldwide," Qin Mingkuan, chief scientist at the China National Nuclear Corporation and a leader of a scientific research team for nuclear energy development in the Tarim Basin, told the Global Times.
"In the Tarim Basin, the exploration team faced challenges such as harsh terrain, inherently poor construction conditions, limited technical capabilities of uranium detection equipment, and the absence of successful domestic or international precedents to draw from. Therefore, the key to our success lay in breaking with tradition and adopting an innovative shift in thinking," Qin said.
In 2020, while reviewing 30 years of exploration data, Qin and his team noticed radioactive anomalies in red beds far from the basin's edge. He realized that the widely distributed red variegated strata in the main basin area could indeed form ore deposits under specific conditions, then shifted the focus to the main basin's "variegated red" new strata and the "desert hinterland of the basin" - areas long considered no-go zones for mineral exploration.
Guided by this approach, the team conducted multiple field surveys, innovatively proposed the "exfiltration-infiltration composite genetic regional prediction model," advanced sandstone-type uranium metallogenic theory, and developed efficient deep drilling technology for complex strata in the Tarim Basin, providing strong support for this breakthrough in sandstone-type industrial uranium mineralization prospecting, Qin said.
This signifies that China has overcome the theoretical barriers of sandstone-type uranium metallogeny and, based on "satellite remote sensing - aerial survey - ground detection - deep exploration" 3D detection technologies, has established an integrated green and efficient prospecting system for sandstone-type uranium deposits in desert-covered areas. This achievement represents a breakthrough in new regions, new strata, new types, and new depths, serving as a model for sandstone-type uranium exploration in China, according to the CAEA.
Regarding the next steps, Qin said the Tarim Basin remains a key target for their scientific and technological breakthroughs.
"The current discoveries will help advance the identification of deposits, but there is still a long way to go before actual extraction, which requires detailed exploration and multiple additional steps," Qin said. "Though the path may be winding, the future is undoubtedly bright."
A flash flood triggered by continuous rainfall struck Rasuwa district in northern Nepal in the early hours of Tuesday. According to the Chinese Embassy in Nepal, a Chinese-assisted construction project on the Nepali side of a border facility has reported six Chinese employees and eight Nepali workers missing. The Nepali military and police are currently conducting emergency rescue operations, according to the Xinhua News Agency.
A total of 17 people were reported missing after a mudslide hit the Gyirong Port area along the China-Nepal border on Tuesday morning, according to local authorities, per Xinhua.
