innovation | CHINDIA ALERT: You'll be living in their world, very soon

20/02/2014

Indian govt approves Rs 650 crore for Nano mission – The Times of India

Union Cabinet on Thursday gave its approval for continuation of Nano mission – a mission on Nano Science and Technology – in its second phase in the 12th Plan Period (2012-17) and sanctioned Rs 650 crore for the purpose.

Nano Technology is a knowledge-intensive and “enabling technology” which is expected to influence a wide range of products and processes with far-reaching implications for the national economy and development.

“The mission’s programmes will target all scientists, institutions and industry in the country. It will also strengthen activities in nano science and technology by promoting basic research, human resource development, research infrastructure development, international collaborations, orchestration of national dialogues and nano applications and technology development”, said an official statement of the government.

The Nano mission, in this new phase, will also make greater effort to promote application-oriented R&D so that some useful products, processes and technologies also emerge. It will be anchored in the Department of Science and Technology and steered by a Nano Mission Council chaired by an eminent scientist.

The government had launched the Nano mission in May 2007 as an “umbrella capacity-building programme”.

As a result of the efforts led by the Nano mission, India is at present amongst the top five nations in the world in terms of scientific publications in nano science and technology (moving from 4th to the 3rd position).

The Nano mission itself has resulted in about 5000 research papers and about 900 Ph.Ds and also some useful products like nano hydrogel based eye drops, pesticide removal technology for drinking water, water filters for arsenic and fluoride removal and nano silver based antimicrobial textile coating.

Under the mission, Indian scientists have been given access to global state-of-the-art facilities like the Photon Factory at Tsukuba, Japan and PETRA III in Hamburg, Germany.

via Govt approves Rs 650 crore for Nano mission – The Times of India.

Posted in Good news, India alert, innovation, Politics, Technology | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Cabinet of India, Department of Science & Technology, Hamburg, India, Nano, Nano Mission Council, Nano Science and Technology, Nano Technology, Nanotechnology, Photon Factory, science and technology, technology development, Tsukuba Ibaraki

12/02/2014

Xiaomi is the world’s third most innovative company; “Made in China” now a compliment – Yahoo News Singapore

For the longest time, China has been known as a manufacturing powerhouse and because of that, its quality of goods has a notorious reputation. Consumers shun away and give products a smirk whenever there is a “Made in China” label on it.

American consumers associate Chinese manufacturing with the terms “mass produced,” “cheap” and “poor safety standards” more than anything else.

However, that is now changing.

“Made in China” is now a compliment as the emphasis on quality is returning.

Fast Company just announced their own list of the World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies. Other than tech giants from the west such as Google, Apple, Tesla, Dropbox and a handful of others, several Chinese companies rose to the list, raising the eyebrows of industry watchers.

In particular, Xiaomi, emerged as the third most innovative company just behind Google and Bloomberg, beating several other companies including Apple and Nike. Xiaomi is reinventing the smartphone business, a segment that is exploding around the world now.

via Xiaomi is the world’s third most innovative company; “Made in China” now a compliment – Yahoo News Singapore.

Posted in China alert, Economics, innovation, Technology | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Apple, China, compliment, Dropbox, Fast Company, Google, List of companies of China, notorious reputation, Tesla Motors, Xiaomi, Xiaomi Tech

10/02/2014

THE WORLD’S TOP 10 MOST INNOVATIVE COMPANIES IN CHINA

From: http://www.fastcompany.com/most-innovative-companies/2014/industry/china

THERE’S A STUBBORN MEME THAT CLAIMS CHINA HAS NO CULTURE OF INNOVATION. IN ACTUALITY, IT’S SHAPING GLOBAL BUSINESS TRENDS, MOST NOTABLY IN SOCIAL MEDIA. MAMMOTH NETWORKS SUCH AS TENCENT‘S WECHAT, FOR EXAMPLE, ARE NOT SIMPLY FACEBOOK COPYCATS–THEY’VE SPARKED THE MESSAGING WARS OCCURRING ON AMERICAN SOIL AMONG APPS LIKE SNAPCHAT AND KIK, AND CONTRIBUTE BILLIONS TO THE WORLD’S RICHEST COUNTRY.

BY FAST COMPANY STAFF

1. XIAOMI

For launching low-cost, high-quality smart TVs and -phones to steal market share from industry stalwarts.

2. BEIJING GENOMICS INSTITUTE

For making DNA sequencing mass-market.

3. CHINA’S LUXURY BRANDS

For greeting its booming middle and upper classes with distinctly native offerings.

4. HAIER

For letting its 80,000 employees self-organize and oust ineffective leaders—a bold approach to innovating the fridge and microwave business.

5. TENCENT

For pummeling the Chinese social-networking competition and sending chills through Silicon Valley with a 10-terabyte storage offer.

6. GEAK

For making wearable tech closer to vogue with a ring that syncs to phones and shares contacts via fist bump.

7. PHANTOM

For clearing the air in Beijing homes with the app-controlled EcoTower. .

8. BAIDU

For moving from search to smart cameras, giving users their own Internet-enabled monitoring devices.

9. YY

For letting anyone become a star in the world’s most-crowded country.

10. COOTEK

For tapping into user demand for faster typing.

Posted in China alert, Economics, innovation, Technology | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Beijing, China, GLOBAL BUSINESS TRENDS, HAIER, Silicon Valley, Social media, TENCENT, Tencent Holdings, WeChat, Xiaomi Tech

17/01/2014

* China’s Tech Firms Now Challenging the Likes of Samsung, Apple – China Real Time Report – WSJ

Chinese tech firms, once mostly known for their manufacturing prowess, are now challenging market leaders and setting trends in telecoms, mobile devices and online services. As Juro Osawa and Paul Mozur report:

Keeping better-known global competitors at bay in their massive home market, Chinese tech companies are hiring Silicon Valley executives and expanding overseas with aggressive marketing campaigns featuring international sports stars and celebrities.

They still face a perception problem among consumers in many parts of the world that their products aren’t as high-quality or reliable as others. Some foreign competitors have alleged that Beijing gives unfair advantages through subsidies, cheap financing and control over the currency market.

But, many executives at Chinese and Western companies contend, China’s technology sector is reaching a critical mass of expertise, talent and financial firepower that could realign the power structure of the global technology industry in the years ahead.

via China’s Tech Firms Now Challenging the Likes of Samsung, Apple – China Real Time Report – WSJ.

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Tags: Apple, Asia, Beijing, China, Chinese, Chinese language, Chinese tech firms, mobile devices, Samsung, Silicon Valley, Silicon Valley executives

14/12/2013

China to explore for seabed mining, develop deep-sea tourism

Posted in China alert, Economics, innovation, Technology, Tourism | Leave a Comment »

Tags: China

09/12/2013

Could China lead the race to develop world’s first invisibility cloak? | South China Morning Post

Scientists on the mainland say they are increasingly confident of developing the world’s first practical invisibility cloak, using technology to hide objects from view and make them “disappear’’.

At least 40 research teams have been funded by the central government over the past three years to develop the idea, which in recent decades has largely been the stuff of science fiction and fantasy novels like the Harry Potter series than science fact.

The technology would have obvious military uses, such as developing stealth aircraft, but Beijing believes the research could lead to wider technological breakthroughs with broader uses, scientists involved in the research said.

The teams involved include researchers at Tsinghua University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

China\’\’s J-20 stealth fighter jet. The invisibility technology would have obvious military uses, such as developing stealth aircraft. Photo: SCMP Pictures

The main approaches are developing materials that guide light away from an object; creating electromagnetic fields to bend light away from what you are trying to hide, plus copying nature to make high-tech camouflage materials.

A team led by professor Chen Hongsheng at Zhejiang University released a video earlier this month demonstrating a device that made fish invisible. The same technology also made a cat “disappear’’.

The device was made of a hexagonal array of glass panels, which bends light around the object, making it disappear from view.

Other teams on the mainland have made similar breakthroughs during their research. Professor Ma Yungui, an optical engineering scientist who also works at Zhejiang University, said his team would soon announce their latest finding: a device that stops objects being detected by heat sensors or metal detectors.

via Could China lead the race to develop world’s first invisibility cloak? | South China Morning Post.

Posted in China alert, Economics, innovation, Politics, Technology | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Beijing, China, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Harry Potter, Invisibility, invisibility cloak, research teams, technology, Tsinghua University, Zhejiang University

30/11/2013

BBC News – Why China is fixated on the Moon

The Moon could be a \”beautiful\” source of minerals and energy, a top Chinese scientist has told the BBC.

Exotic materials including helium-3 and the potential for solar power could prove invaluable for humankind, he says.

The comments come from Prof Ouyang Ziyuan of the department of lunar and deep space exploration.

His first interview with the foreign media provides insights into China\’s usually secretive space programme.

Prof Ouyang was speaking ahead of the first Chinese attempt to land an unmanned spacecraft on the lunar surface.

The Chang\’e 3 lander is due to launch imminently, perhaps as soon as Sunday evening, UK time.

It will be the first to make a soft touchdown on the Moon since an unmanned Russian mission in 1976.

No humans have set foot on the lunar surface since America\’s Apollo missions ended in 1972.

via BBC News – Why China is fixated on the Moon.

Posted in Aerospace, China alert, Economics, innovation, Technology | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Apollo program, China, Moon, Ouyang Ziyuan, United States

08/11/2013

China to build huge super nuclear bomber carrying over 200 nuclear bombs

Another innovation in military hardware. See:

Posted in China alert, innovation, Military, Technology | Leave a Comment »

Tags: China, Military

25/10/2013

Chinese scientists unveil energy-generating window | South China Morning Post

Scientists in China said on Thursday they had designed a “smart” window that can both save and generate energy, and may ultimately reduce heating and cooling costs for buildings.

While allowing us to feel close to the outside world, windows cause heat to escape from buildings in winter and let the sun’s unwanted rays enter in summer.

This has sparked a quest for “smart” windows that can adapt to weather conditions outside.

Today’s smart windows are limited to regulating light and heat from the sun, allowing a lot of potential energy to escape, study co-author Yanfeng Gao of the Chinese Academy of Sciences said.

“The main innovation of this work is that it developed a concept smart window device for simultaneous generation and saving of energy.”

Engineers have long battled to incorporate energy-generating solar cells into window panes without affecting their transparency.

Gao’s team discovered that a material called vanadium oxide (VO2) can be used as a transparent coating to regulate infrared radiation from the sun.

VO2 changes its properties based on temperature. Below a certain level it is insulating and lets through infrared light, while at another temperature it becomes reflective.

A window in which VO2 was used could regulate the amount of sun energy entering a building, but also scatter light to solar cells the team had placed around their glass panels, where it was used to generate energy with which to light a lamp, for example.

“This smart window combines energy-saving and generation in one device, and offers potential to intelligently regulate and utilise solar radiation in an efficient manner,” the study authors wrote in the journal Nature Scientific Reports.

via Chinese scientists unveil energy-generating window | South China Morning Post.

Posted in China alert, Economics, energy, innovation, Technology | Leave a Comment »

Tags: China, Chinese Academy of Science, energy, Infrared, Nature (journal), Scientific Reports, Smart glass

24/10/2013

Chinese tee! How the game of golf could stem from the Far East | Mail Online

First the compass, then gunpowder and printing; now golf!

“It’s an ancient game that has never quite worked out where its origins lay.

But while it is generally considered to have been born in Scotland, a new Chinese mural could spark the battle of ownership over the sport.

A 500-year-old scroll showing three Chinese ladies and their caddies playing chuiwan – an activity very similar to golf – will be displayed at the V&A today.

Court Ladies in the Inner Palace, Du Jin, believed to be from the 2nd half 15th century, from the Shanghai Museum. The 500-year-old scroll showing three Chinese ladies and their caddies playing chuiwan – an activity very similar to golf – will be displayed at the V&A today

While it is generally considered to have been born in Scotland, the Chinese mural could spark the battle of ownership over the sport

The museum’s curators say the scroll predates any paintings of European golfers, The Times reported.

It could be proof that their game of hitting a ball with a stick bears more resemblance to golf than the Scottish, who claim that golf derived from their game of hockey.

Scotland has long declared itself to be the home of golf.

It claims that the games goes as far back as the 15th century when, the game of ‘gowf’, as it was known in those days, was banned by Parliament under King James II, who branded it as a distraction from military training.

The ban was lifted when the Treaty of Glasgow came into effect in 1502.

However, the earliest form of golf can be traced back to the Roman game of paganica, where players used a bent stick to hit a stuffed leather ball

From the tenth century, the Chinese game chuíwán ¿ played with several clubs and a ball were played in China during the Song Dynasty, according to the International Golf Federation

From the tenth century, the Chinese game chuíwán — played with several clubs and a ball were played in China during the Song Dynasty, according to the International Golf Federation.

A book written during the Song dynasty described how competitors would dig holes in the ground and then drive the ball into them using different coloured sticks.

Literally, chui means ‘hit’ and wan means ‘ball’.

It could have reached Western shores after Chinese traders began travelling to Europe in the Middle Ages, explaining why golf became popular from the 15th century.

The painting, which comes from the Shanghai Museum, is part of the V&A’s Masterpieces of Chinese Painting 700 – 1900 exhibition, and will be shown in Britain for the first time.”

via Chinese tee! How the game of golf could stem from the Far East | Mail Online.

Posted in China alert, Culture, innovation | Leave a Comment »

Tags: 15th century, ancient game, China, Chinese ladies, Chinese painting, International Golf Federation, Scotland, Shanghai Museum, Song Dynasty

CHINDIA ALERT: You'll be living in their world, very soon

Chindia Alert: You’ll be Living in their World Very Soon

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Indian govt approves Rs 650 crore for Nano mission – The Times of India

* China’s Tech Firms Now Challenging the Likes of Samsung, Apple – China Real Time Report – WSJ

China to explore for seabed mining, develop deep-sea tourism

Could China lead the race to develop world’s first invisibility cloak? | South China Morning Post

BBC News – Why China is fixated on the Moon

China to build huge super nuclear bomber carrying over 200 nuclear bombs

Chinese scientists unveil energy-generating window | South China Morning Post

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