Posted on

The Three Gorges Dam is set to face the largest ever flood peak since it was built

The Three Gorges Dam in Central China’s Hubei Province on Thursday is set to face the largest ever flood peak since it was built. The reservoir has been ready to confront the challenge by coordinating with dams at its upper stream to retain the flood water, said the Three Gorges Corp.

The latest hydrometeorological forecasts estimated the inflow flood peak of the Three Gorges project will reach 73,000 cubic meters per second at 8 am on Thursday, the largest volume since it was built in 2003.

To confront the flood peak, dams in the upstream of the Yangtze River – including Wudongde, Xiluodu and Xiangjiaba dams, also managed by the Three Gorges Corp – will work together under “elaborate deployment and operation” to jointly retain the flood, the Three Gorges Corp said in a statement it sent to the Global Times on Wednesday.

The dams will sufficiently exert the flood defense function of a cascade reservoir within the basin, and are expected to ease the flood defense pressure for Southwest China’s Sichuan Province and Chongqing Municipality, as well as the Three Gorges project, according to the statement.

It is estimated the inflow water peak will be cut down to 68,000 cubic meters per second from 70,000, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the discharge flow of the Three Gorges project will increase to 46,000 cubic meters per second from 42,000 under the demand of the Changjiang Water Resources Commission under the Ministry of Water Resources.

On Saturday, the Three Gorges Dam withstood the No.4 flood of the Yangtze River of the year, which had an inflow of 62,000 cubic meters per second.

Two days after, the No.5 flood occurred along the upstream of the Yangtze River.

Several branches of the upstream of the Yangtze River saw record flood peaks due to constant heavy rainfall. 


Southern China has been suffering severe floods this summer. The Chongqing Municipality on Tuesday launched a Level I emergency response to flood defense as the No.5 flood of the Yangtze River hit the city with a population of 31 million.
Posted on

Taiwan’s OTT-TV ban politicizes cultural interactions with the mainland

The economic affairs authority of Taiwan launched a new rule targeting technology giants iQIYI and Tencent from carrying out “illegal operations” in Taiwan without an official license, which experts said is a move that reflects Taiwan Democratic Progressive Party’s desire to follow in the US footsteps and create problems via political manipulation in an attempt to diverge from the mainland.

The authority has given OTT-TV 14 days notice, after which the plan will be officially announced on September 3, according to a statement by the Taiwanese economic affairs authorities on Tuesday.

An OTT media service is a streaming media service offered directly to viewers via the internet, meaning it bypasses cable, broadcast, and satellite television platforms, and therefore any local controls too.
In July this year, the Taiwan communications authorities adopted draft measures on the management of internet audio-visual services to cater to OTT service providers both in and outside the region. Such an approach is considered an attack on OTT practitioners on the mainland, and has also been referred to as “iQIYI, Tencent terms” in Taiwan.

Posted on

Two American drones reportedly COLLIDE & go down over Syria’s Idlib

On 18 August, a $15 million United States military MQ-9 Reaper drone was shot down over opposition-held Idlib in northwestern Syria. Initially, the opposition armed forces insisted that they had shot down a Russian Oran-10 unmanned surveillance drone, but photos that later appeared on social media showed that the downed drone was the wreckage of an MQ-9 drone.
Posted on

Self-developed operating system

China’s self-developed operating system Kylinsoft V10, which was officially launched on August 13, is to meet the rising needs for a self-reliant and safer operating system.

Developed jointly by China Standard Software Co and Tianjin Kylin Information, subsidiaries of China Electronics Corporation (CEC), Kylinsoft V10 meets the needs of the 5G era and achieves multi-terminal integration by connecting mobile phones, tablets, PCS and other devices, according to CEC’s report.

The Kylin technology can support a large number of Android applications, and has seamlessly transferred more than 3 million Android compatible hardware and software to domestic platforms.

One of the most important things of V10 is that its desktop version has integrated with the Android compatibility ecosystem, which enables users to download and run a huge number of Android applications, Kong Jinzhu, executive president of Kylinsoft, said in his speech at the launch, adding that the Kylin system has received a high recognition and the massive adaption in governmental departments ranges from customs to transport and agriculture.

Posted on

Turn desert into farmland

Liquid Nanoclay– a new innovation produced by Norwegian startup Desert Control. Made with just water and clay, Liquid Nanoclay is designed to be sprayed on sand or sandy soil. It soaks in and attaches to sand particles, boosting water retention and enriching the soil with plant-essential nutrients.According to Desert Control, the mixture increases the fertility of nutrient-poor sandy soils and can reduce water usage by more than half. What’s more, Liquid Nanoclay can turn arid land into arable land in just seven hours, says the company.

Posted on

China exports first batch of independently developed zirconium sponge, key material for nuclear reactor

The first batch of nuclear-grade zirconium sponge independently produced by a Chinese company was recently shipped to Russia, it was announced on Monday by China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) on its official WeChat account.

Nuclear-grade zirconium sponge independently produced by China National Nuclear Corporation ready to be shipped to Russia in August, 2020

For a long time, zirconium alloy material used for fuel assembly in domestic nuclear power plants depended on imports, according to CNNC.

This is the first time that China has sent nuclear-grade zirconium sponge of its own in bulk overseas, marking a breakthrough in the country’s nuclear-grade zirconium material exports. It also signals that China’s nuclear-grade zirconium sponge manufacturing has reached the international level, CNNC said.

In the nuclear industry, zirconium sponge is used to produce zirconium alloys for nuclear reactor components, such as the cladding for fuel rods, according to the Zircon Industry Association.