The quantum computing prototype Zuchongzhi was selected as one of the top ten scientific advances in China in 2021
The 17th "Top Ten Advances in Chinese Science" selection activity was led by the High-tech Research and Development Center (Basic Research Management Center) of the Ministry of Science and Technology, and was organized by "China Basic Science", "Science and Technology Herald", "Proceedings of the Chinese Academy of Sciences", and "China Science Foundation" and 5 editorial departments including "Science Bulletin" to participate in the recommendation of scientific research progress, invite academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, academicians of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, directors of state key laboratories, members of the general expert group and project leaders of key special projects of the national key research and development plan, and the original 973 plan More than 3,500 well-known experts and scholars, including experts from the advisory group and the advisory group and the chief scientist of the project, voted online for 30 candidate scientific advances, and the top 10 votes were selected as the "Top Ten Scientific Advances in China in 2021".
The Tianwen-1 probe of the Mars exploration mission successfully landed on Mars; the Tianhe core module of the Chinese space station was successfully launched, and the Shenzhou 12 and 13 manned spacecraft were successfully launched and successfully docked with the Tianhe core module; from carbon dioxide to starch Artificial synthesis; Chang'e-5 lunar samples reveal the mystery of lunar evolution; reveal the mechanism of SARS-CoV-2 escaping antiviral drugs; FAST captures the world's largest fast radio burst sample; realizes large-scale preparation of high-performance fiber lithium-ion batteries; programmable two-dimensional 62 The quantum walk of the bit superconducting processor "Zu Chongzhi"; the self-powered soft robot successfully challenged the Mariana Trench; 10 major scientific advances such as revealing the causes of bird migration routes and key genes of long-distance migration were selected.
1. The Tianwen-1 probe successfully landed on Mars
Tianwen No. 1 probe
At 7:18 on May 15, 2021, the Tianwen-1 probe successfully landed on the pre-selected landing area in the southern part of the Utopia Plain on Mars. China's first Mars exploration mission landed on Mars successfully. The task adopts the four-stage series deceleration technical route of "aerodynamic deceleration - parachute deceleration - dynamic deceleration - landing buffer", and establishes a design iterative improvement process and a multi-disciplinary comprehensive optimization method, which improves the system's ability to cope with fault conditions and entry conditions. safe landing capability. The landing of the Tianwen-1 probe on Mars is the first time that China has landed on an extraterrestrial planet. It has taken an important step in China's interstellar exploration journey, realized the leap from the Earth-Moon system to the interplanetary system, and left Chinese people on Mars for the first time. The imprint makes China the second country to successfully land on Mars, and is another milestone in the development of China's aerospace industry.
2. The Tianhe core module of the Chinese space station was successfully launched, and the Shenzhou 12 and 13 manned spacecraft were successfully launched and successfully docked with the Tianhe core module
Chinese space station simulation map
On April 29, 2021, the Tianhe core module of the Chinese space station was launched from the Wenchang Space Launch Site in Hainan, and entered the predetermined orbit accurately. The mission was a success. The successful launch of the Tianhe core module marks that the construction of the Chinese space station has entered the stage of full implementation, laying a solid foundation for the follow-up missions. On June 17, the Shenzhou 12 manned spacecraft was successfully launched and successfully docked with the Tianhe core module, successfully sending the three astronauts Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo into space. This is the launch of the Tianhe core module into orbit. After the first rendezvous and docking with a manned spacecraft. China's manned spacecraft has left the experimental stage and has begun to normalize its round-trip in space. China has officially entered the space station era. On October 16, the Shenzhou 13 manned spacecraft was successfully launched, and successfully docked at the radial port of the Tianhe core module using the independent rapid rendezvous and docking mode, and successfully sent three astronauts, Zhai Zhigang, Wang Yaping and Ye Guangfu into space. The first radial rendezvous and docking of a Chinese manned spacecraft in space.
3. Synthesis from carbon dioxide to starch
Starch is the most important component of food and an important industrial raw material. reported an artificial starch synthesis pathway (ASAP) consisting of 11-step core reactions, which couples chemical catalysis and biocatalysis reactions, and realized in the laboratory from carbon dioxide and hydrogen to Artificial total synthesis of starch molecules. By designing an unnatural pathway from carbon dioxide to starch synthesis from scratch, using modular reaction adaptation and protein engineering methods, the problems of computer pathway thermodynamic matching, metabolic flow balance and by-product suppression are solved, and artificial pathway assembly and cascade reaction evolution are overcome. etc. problems. Driven by hydrogen, ASAP converts carbon dioxide into starch molecules at a rate of 22 nmol carbon units per milligram of catalyst per minute, which is 8.5 times higher than the synthesis rate of corn starch; the theoretical energy conversion efficiency of ASAP starch synthesis is 7%, which is higher than that of corn and other crops. 3.5 times, and can realize the controllable synthesis of linear and amylopectin. This achievement does not rely on plant photosynthesis, and realizes the artificial total synthesis of carbon dioxide to starch.
4. Chang'e-5 lunar samples reveal the mystery of lunar evolution
Microscopic image of the Chang'e-5 lunar soil sample (basalt cuttings)
Li Xianhua, Yang Wei, Hu Sen, Lin Yangting, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Li Chunlai, National Astronomical Observatory of Chinese Academy of Sciences, etc. used the ultra-high spatial resolution dating and isotope analysis techniques established over the past decade to analyze Chang'e Five The lunar sample basalt was studied for precise chronology, rock geochemistry and magmatic water content. The results show that the Chang'e-5 basalt was formed in 2.030±0.04 billion years, confirming that the volcanic activity of the moon could last until 2 billion years ago, which is about 800 million years longer than the volcanic activity limited by previous lunar samples. This result provides a key anchor point for impact crater dating, which will greatly improve the accuracy of impact crater dating on the surfaces of inner solar system stars. The study also revealed that the lunar mantle source region of the Chang'e-5 basalt is not rich in radioactive heat-generating elements and water, excluding radioactive elements to provide heat sources, or rich in water to lower the melting point. A new direction is proposed.
5. Reveal the mechanism of SARS-CoV-2 escaping antiviral drugs
The replication correction mechanism of the new coronavirus "trans backtracking"
The emerging new coronavirus mutants pose serious challenges to the current antiviral methods such as vaccines and neutralizing antibodies, and it is urgent to develop broad-spectrum drugs that can effectively deal with various mutant strains. During the life cycle, a series of transcriptional replication enzymes of the virus assemble into a "transcriptional replication complex" supramolecular machine, which is responsible for the entire process of viral transcriptional replication and is highly conserved among various mutant strains. It is the key to the development of broad-spectrum antiviral drugs core target. Lou Zhiyong, Rao Zihe of Tsinghua University and Gao Yan of Shanghai University of Science and Technology discovered and reconstructed the virus "capped intermediate complex", "mRNA capped complex" and "mismatch correction complex", and clarified their working mechanism . The complete composition of the new coronavirus transcription and replication machinery was revealed; the nucleoside transferase domain of viral polymerase was found to be the key enzyme that catalyzes the "cap" maturation of mRNA, and the synthesis process of the cap structure was clarified. The spectrum of antiviral drugs provides a new target; it is found that the virus "removes" mismatched bases and antiviral drugs in a "trans backtracking" manner, which clarifies the molecular mechanism of the poor effect of remdesivir and other drugs. Antiviral drugs targeting polymerases provide key scientific evidence.
6. FAST captures the world's largest fast radio burst sample
Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are the brightest bursts in the radio-band universe. FRB 121102 is the first repeating fast radio burst known to mankind. Li Di and others of the National Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences successfully captured the extreme activity period of FRB 121102 using the "Chinese Sky Eye" FAST. The most violent period reached 122 bursts per hour, and the cumulative acquisition A total of 1652 burst signals with high signal-to-noise ratio were collected, which constituted the largest collection of FRB burst events so far. The study found that the FRB burst rate has a characteristic energy E0=4.8x1037 erg; the double-peak structure of its energy spectrum was detected, that is, the low energy end is close to the regular logarithm, showing the randomness of the FRB repetition process; the high energy end is close to the Lorentz function, Demonstrate the possible associated processes of strong radiation. The FAST sample rules out periodic or quasi-periodic bursts of FRB 121102 between a millisecond and an hour, strictly limiting the possibility that repeated FRBs originate from a single compact object. This study shows the complete energy spectrum of FRB for the first time, and deeply reveals the basic physical mechanism of FRB.
7. Realize the large-scale preparation of high-performance fiber lithium-ion batteries
Schematic diagram of the integrated assembly of the fiber-polymer lithium-ion battery
How to meet the requirements of highly integrated and flexible development of electronic products by designing new structures (such as the creation of fiber lithium-ion batteries) is a major challenge in the field of lithium-ion batteries. Peng Huisheng and Chen Peining of Fudan University found a unique hyperbolic cotangent function relationship between the internal resistance and length of fiber lithium-ion batteries, that is, the internal resistance does not increase with the increase of length, but first decreases and then tends to stabilize. The fiber lithium-ion battery constructed under the guidance of this theory has excellent and stable electrochemical performance, the energy density has increased by nearly 2 orders of magnitude compared with the past, and the capacity retention rate exceeds 80% after 100,000 bending times; the world's first The fiber lithium-ion battery production line realizes its large-scale continuous production; the fiber lithium-ion battery system obtained by weaving and integration has the same electrochemical performance as commercial lithium-ion batteries, and better stability and safety.
8. The quantum walk of the programmable two-dimensional 62-bit superconducting processor "Zu Chongzhi"
Zuchongzhi
Quantum walk is a quantum mechanical simulation of classical random walk, and it is a tool to realize quantum simulation, quantum search algorithm and even general quantum computing. The University of Science and Technology of China Zhu Xiaobo, Pan Jianwei and others realized the expansion of the qubit structure from one-dimensional to two-dimensional by developing a three-dimensional lead technology compatible with planar technology, and designed and fabricated an 8×8 two-dimensional structure composed of 62 bits. Superconducting qubit arrays, built the "Zu Chongzhi" quantum computing prototype, and demonstrated high-fidelity single-particle and two-particle continuous-time quantum walks through this device. Using the high programmability of quantum processors, the precise control of the walking paths of qubit-excited particles is realized, and a Mach-Zehnder interferometer is realized in a solid-state quantum chip. This work is the first published achievement in the field of superconducting quantum computing with more than 60 bits in the world. It verifies the high-precision quantum control capability of noisy medium-scale qubit systems. Computational Superiority" laid the foundation.
9. Self-powered soft robot successfully challenged the Mariana Trench
Soft robots drive experiments in the Mariana Trench 10,000 meters deep
Deep-sea robots and equipment require high-strength metal pressure-resistant housings or pressure compensation systems to protect internal electromechanical systems. Li Tiefeng et al. of Zhejiang University extracted bionic inspiration from the physiological characteristic of deep-sea lionfish "head bones are scattered and fused in soft tissues", and revealed the internal mechanism of the destruction and drive failure of soft robot functional devices under extreme pressure conditions in the deep sea; proposed hard devices The method of dispersing and integrating into the soft matrix to realize the regulation of internal stress, and the method of electric-driven artificial muscle fusion to adapt to the deep-sea low temperature and high pressure environment; the system construction method and driving theory of the 10,000-meter deep-sea soft robot are established. The self-powered soft robot developed successfully challenged the Mariana Trench, achieved 10,900-meter deep diving and driving, and achieved deep-sea navigation at 3,224 meters below the sea level of the South China Sea. This research greatly reduces the weight and economic cost of deep-sea robots, and promotes the application of soft robots in deep-sea engineering.
10. Reveal the causes of bird migration routes and key genes for long-distance migration
Origin of Arctic peregrine falcon migration routes and key genes for long-distance migration
"How do migratory organisms discover their migratory routes?" has always been a topic of widespread concern in society and academia, and is also one of the 125 most challenging scientific questions in Science. Zhan Xiangjiang and others of the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences spent 12 years using satellite tracking data and genomic information to establish a set of Arctic peregrine falcon migration research systems. They found that peregrine falcons mainly use five routes to cross the Eurasian continent, and the western peregrine falcons are short-distance. Migration, long-distance migration in the east. During the transition from the Last Glacial Maximum to the Holocene, the changes in breeding and overwintering areas caused by the retreat of glaciers may be the main historical reasons for the formation of migration routes. The study also found that peregrine falcons with longer migration distances carry a dominant allele of ADCY8, which is associated with long-term memory formation, suggesting that long-term memory may be an important basis for long-distance migration in birds. The research combined remote sensing satellite tracking, genomics, neurobiology and other research methods, and clarified the causes and genetic basis of bird migration routes through multidisciplinary integrated analysis methods.
