BEIJING, June 1 (Xinhua) — The following is a summary of published science and technology news of China.
GUIDE ROBOT FOR BLIND PEOPLE
A research team from China’s Shanghai Jiao Tong University has developed a six-legged guide robot for visually impaired people that is expected to address the country’s shortage of real guide dogs.
As a strong backup for the real guide dogs, the guide robot can accurately recognize the speech of blind people and respond in less than one second, walking at a maximum speed of three meters per second while maintaining a stable walking state with little noise.
The robot has visual environmental perception capabilities, allowing it to autonomously navigate to its destination, dynamically avoid obstacles, and recognize traffic lights. With the support of the internet, it can also serve as a home companion and an emergency responder for blind people.
RICE BREEDING IN DESERT
Amid the sprawling desert in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Chinese scientists are harnessing advanced greenhouse technologies to unleash the agricultural potential of the otherwise infertile land.
Within the greenhouses that stretch 10,000 acres in Hotan, southern Xinjiang, scientists from the Institute of Urban Agriculture (IUA) of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences have recently harvested the first batch of rice grown in the desert.
The rice is cultivated on three-layer frames along with precise environment control in desert greenhouses, rather than conventional methods, which nearly halves the growth cycle, harvesting in just two months.
COOPERATION ON AGRICULTURAL INNOVATION
Agricultural scientists from 15 countries and several international organizations gathered in Beijing to discuss how to further strengthen cooperation to promote the green, high-quality and sustainable development of agriculture through sci-tech innovation, and ensure global food security.
It is necessary for agricultural scientists to work together and share their knowledge and experience to deal with challenges in global food security and sustainable agricultural development such as climate change and resource scarcity, Wu Kongming, president of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), said at a symposium jointly supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF).
The CAAS launched cooperation with the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) in 2011, focusing on the exploration and utilization of excellent traits in crops and livestock, as well as the analysis of disease resistance mechanisms. Cooperation and exchanges were also carried out in areas such as dryland agriculture, agricultural economy and agricultural information, according to Wu.
