Ling Xin

1 week ago | scmp.com | Ling Xin

Water ice is likely to exist at the moon’s south pole, but it would be fragmented, scattered and buried deep beneath the surface, posing significant challenges for detection and extraction, according to a new study by Chinese researchers.

1 week ago | scmp.com | Ling Xin

China is accelerating its efforts to build the world’s first nuclear fusion reactor capable of achieving net energy generation – a move that would be a historic step towards commercialising a clean, safe and near-limitless source of energy. The Burning Plasma Experimental Superconducting Tokamak (Best), is now in its final assembly phase in Hefei and is expected to be completed in 2027, state news agency Xinhua reported.

1 week ago | scmp.com | Ling Xin

American scientists are eager to get their hands on China’s Chang’e-5 moon samples – but they will not be allowed to use Nasa funding to study them. Earlier this month, planetary scientist Timothy Glotch of Stony Brook University was selected by the China National Space Administration (CNSA) to receive a rare set of specimens collected by China’s lunar sample return mission in 2020.

2 weeks ago | scmp.com | Ling Xin

Geophysicist Zhigang Peng has been voted in as the next president-elect of the Seismological Society of America in Baltimore, making him the first Chinese-American to hold the position in the organisation’s 118-year history. A long-time professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology and graduate of the University of Science and Technology of China, Peng was elected at last week’s annual meeting of the society and is set to assume the presidency in 2026.

3 weeks ago | scmp.com | Ling Xin

White House moves to cancel Nasa’s flagship Mars sample return programme amid sweeping budget cuts would leave China’s Tianwen-3 mission – set to deliver around 600 grams (21 ounces) of Martian material to Earth by 2031 – alone in the race. The White House recommended ending funding for the mission, already subject to major cost overruns and delays, in its 2026 budget proposal which is expected to be finalised by Congress and the White House in coming months.