In the future, the hard drive used in our computers may not be a semiconductor, or a group of E. coli bacteria, but from a silkworm cocoon.
Chinese scientists have developed the world’s first natural bioprotein hard disk memory – silk hard disk: in addition to storing information, it can also contain things such as blood samples, DNA, vaccines, and even implanted in living organisms.
On August 10, Tao Hu陶虎, a researcher and doctoral supervisor at the Shanghai Institute of Microsystems and Information Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and director of the 2020 Frontier Lab at the Shanghai Institute of Microsystems, told Pharma News (www.thepaper.cn) that the silk hard drive can store both digital and vital information; its biocompatibility is good, and it can be implanted into living organisms, such as the human body, preserved for long periods of time or even permanently, like the nameplates worn by soldiers in movies, made into life-giving nameplates that can never be lost; and made into life-controlled time capsules that can degrade and disappear in a controlled manner according to settings. It is expected to save information in extreme conditions such as outer space.
Taohu said that for the silk hard drive is not afraid of strong magnetic fields and strong radiation. In the microwave oven 30 minutes after the high fire, the silk hard disk information is still “safe and sound”. Silk hard disk storage capacity has reached 64GB per square inch, equivalent to 0.5TB.
The Saiteng OASSIST ECMO system was developed by Jiangsu Saiteng Medical Technology Co 江苏赛腾医疗科技有限公司 in Suzhou Industrial Park. The pre-charge amount of the pump head of the system is smaller with more even flow field compared with other ECMO machines, media reports said.
This is also the only domestic ECMO system in China that has begun the registration process.
So far, the OASSIST ECMO system has finished several animal trials successfully.
The system marks an opportunity for China to break free from its long-term dependence on importing these life-saving machines.
156 male Tibetan antelopes in total in Mayi Snow Mountain玛依雪山 in Qiangtang Nature Reserve羌塘自然保护区, the ones with big body and long horns were adult male Tibetan antelopes, while the ones with smaller body and short horns were sub-adult male Tibetan antelopes that were born last year. They stood in the water, shaking their bodies and tails. This bathing behavior of the Tibetan antelope in the water actually cools down and removes parasites. In summer, there is a big temperature difference between day and night on the plateau, although the thick fur of the Tibetan antelope can keep the cold away at night, but at noon, it will be very hot, so the Tibetan antelope will soak in the water to cool down; in addition, there are more mosquitoes and parasites in summer, so the Tibetan antelope soak in the water can clean some parasites on the body surface.
Data show that in recent years, the pace of foreign investment in China’s A-share significantly accelerated, in which the largest amount of stock purchases, have achieved considerable gains. However, they bought more bonds than stocks.
Foreign investors increased their holdings of Chinese bonds for 20 consecutive months.
Data show that the amount of bonds investment increased sharply in July. The face value of bonds under custody of overseas institutions was 2,344 billion yuan that month, up 148 billion yuan from June, up 6.74 percent, which means that overseas institutional investors have increased their holdings of Chinese bonds for the 20th consecutive month. It is understood that this is the second time during the year that foreign investors have increased their positions in a big way, and it is the highest monthly record for foreign investors to increase their positions in Chinese bonds since September 2017.
In the second quarter of this year, foreign institutions increased their holdings of Chinese bonds by 238 billion yuan, of which the largest increase was in government bonds, at 148 billion yuan, and if we add the bonds issued by banks such as China Development bonds, Import and Export bank bonds, and Agricultural Development bonds, the amount of increase in interest rate bonds by foreign institutions in the second quarter reached 246 billion yuan; in addition, ordinary bonds and local government bonds increased by 710 million yuan and 80 million yuan. The remaining asset-backed securities, corporate bonds, government-backed agency bonds, secondary capital instruments and medium-sized bills were all reduced by overseas institutions.
In the A-share market, trading within the prescribed range of stocks listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange and Shenzhen Stock Exchange through the Hong Kong Stock Exchange , known as “northbound funds”北向资金.
As of August 7, this year, 124 billion yuan of foreign funds have flowed into A-shares through the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. By the end of June this year, northbound funds held 2145 A-share stocks , the total position market value of 1.71 trillion yuan, an increase of 412 billion yuan from the end of March this year . During the second quarter, the “northbound funds”, increased new holdings of 970 stocks. Among them, Guizhou Moutai, Midea Group, Wuliangye and Li Xun Precision, four stocks position market value growth of more than 10 billion.
China, which overcame the impact of the epidemic earlier, was described as a “key haven” for many US companies. China’s economic recovery in the second quarter helped them hedge against sales losses in the US.
In reporting financial results for the second quarter of this year, presidents of some of the best-known US brands cited China’s business as helping them through what could have been a much worse period.
Skechers, the third-largest U.S. sneaker brand, revealed the company’s overall sales fell 42 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier, but were up 11.5 percent in China. Retail sales in China recovered faster than most expected from April to June, falling just 3.9 percent from a year earlier. US retail sales, on the other hand, were down 8.1 percent year-over-year in the second quarter.
Despite the current intensifying political tensions between the US and China, US branded retailers selling in China have been virtually unaffected and can benefit from China’s economic recovery.
Luxury sales are the area where the contrast between China and the world is greatest. LVMH revealed that the company’s luxury revenue fell 38 percent in the second quarter from last year, yet rebounded 65 percent in China. Consumers are mainly choosing to buy in the country because of travel restrictions.
Kering SA, the parent company of luxury brand Gucci, was in a similar situation, with luxury sales down 43 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier, and up 40 percent in China.
While the US and other Western countries are struggling to contain a new outbreak and restart their economies, China has the epidemic largely under control. Many analysts are predicting a return to positive retail sales growth in China in the third quarter. In April, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) argued that China would not achieve positive retail sales growth until 2021. Now the agency is revising its forecast and sees year-on-year growth of 1 percent in the third quarter of this year and 2.4 percent in the fourth quarter.
US coffee shop chain Starbucks’ second-quarter retail sales in China were down 19% year-over-year, but still below the global revenue loss (-38%).
Yum China, which operates fast-food brand, KFC, also revealed that the recovery has been uneven, with the market performing better in eastern China than elsewhere. The company’s operating income fell 11 percent in the second quarter.
In the apparel and footwear sector, high-end brands fared relatively better, with Canadian athleisure brand Lulu Lemon doing better in the second quarter. Canadian athleisure wear brand Lululemon saw only single-digit sales growth in China in April this year, but has grown 20% year-over-year in recent weeks.
Nike Group’s sales in China also returned to positive growth in the year to May 31, up 1 percent from last year, helping to offset a 38 percent decline in the company’s global revenue. Nike’s chief financial officer revealed that retail sales in China saw strong double-digit growth in May.
Finally, while overall car sales in China have not fully recovered, Tesla doubled its China sales to 48,384 units in the first half of the year year year-over-year through the production of its Model 3 electric model in Shanghai. Although Tesla’s U.S. factory was forced to close at one point, the company still posted a $104 million profit in the second quarter, with the Chinese market playing a key role.
Chinese exports rose sharply in July, according to official figures released on Friday, in a sign of resilience in the country’s trade activity despite the lingering impact of the coronavirus pandemic worldwide.
Exports rose 7.2 per cent in dollar terms compared with the same month a year earlier, according to data from China’s customs administration, defying expectations of a fall from economists polled by Reuters.
The sharp rise compares to a 0.5 per cent increase in June, when Chinese trade data began to improve after a severe contraction.
Higher demand for China’s goods comes after the economy returned to growth in the second quarter. It suggests that other economies are also beginning to emerge from the early stages of the crisis even as global trade levels remain depressed.
China successfully sent the Gaofen-9 04 高分九号04星 high-resolution satellite into orbit on Thursday. Launched by a Long March-2D rocket, the satellite will be used for land survey, city planning, land rights confirmation, disaster prevention and mitigation, among other tasks.
The UK’s AstraZeneca signed a deal with Shenzhen-based BioKangtai to cooperate on R&D, production and supply of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID19 vaccine in the Chinese mainland. BioKangtai will expand its annual production capacity to 100 million doses, reports said.
