Aerial view of the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope. (PHOTO: XINHUA)

By Staff Reporters

China's Ministry of Science and Technology released a list of 10 representative domestic sci-tech advances that took place in 2022.

It is the 18th annual endeavor to publicize China's major basic research in science. Over 3,000 specialists, including academicians at Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), participated in the assessment of the list, which was released on March 17.

Topping the list is the Zhurong rover, which unveiled some secrets of Mars. Taking four months to complete, CAS's studies based on the spacecraft data testified to the long-standing presence of water on Mars. This may shed light on how the planet has been evolving geographically and climatically.

Other breakthroughs include special radio bursts detected by the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope, solar cells with record-high efficiencies, an innovative method for larger digital storage, and a new technological principle for direct hydrogen generation from seawater. Research on the characteristics of COVID-19 mutations and their immune escape mechanisms was also highlighted as part of the list.

The rest are the synthesis of the organic compound ethylene glycol under mild and pressure conditions, quantum coherent synthesis of ultracold triatomic molecules, discovery of a new mechanism for femtosecond laser-induced micro and nano structures in complex systems, and experimental confirmation of superconducting state segmented Fermi surface.