There is no doubt that China is today an undisputed
leader in research to boost the creation of renewable energy and space
exploration, with two of the largest experiments ever developed in the world so
far, an artificial 'moon' and an artificial 'sun'.
A Moon that simulates "zero gravity"
In Xuzhou prefecture, a group of scientists from the
China University of Mining and Technology built a research facility that
simulates a low-gravity environment of the Moon and in the words of Dr. Li Ruilin,
leader of the project, this simulator is the first in the world that can make
gravity disappear with no time limit.
At present, to make gravity disappear, a specially
designed aircraft is needed, capable of rising to great heights and then
falling in a free fall, however, with China's "artificial moon", this
weightless effect can last as long as necessary.
According to scientist Ruilin, the simulator is installed
over a vacuum chamber, where a 'mini-moon' measuring 60 centimeters in diameter
rests.
The lunar landscape is made up of rocks and dust, as
light as those on Earth's natural satellite, and is supported by a magnetic
field.
When this magnetic current is strong enough, it can
levitate light and heavy objects.
Dr. Li Ruilin said the research has two purposes: to
boost infrastructure construction on the moon and to play key roles in lunar
missions, such as testing equipment in extreme space environments.
The clean energy Sun
This artificial sun, created by China and named EAST
(Experimental Advanced Superconductor Tokamak), aims to discover how the
natural sun can heat and provide clean energy to the entire solar system.
In one of the tests of the Chinese artificial sun, it
managed to sustain, for 1,056 seconds, a temperature of 120 million degrees
Celsius, which is five times hotter than our natural sun.
Gong Xianzu, a researcher at ASIPP's Institute of Plasma
Physics, said that the project is a boost to provide near-limited clean energy
by recreating, for example, the reactions that occur naturally inside stars.
Undoubtedly, this is a scientific breakthrough that will
be much talked about for years to come.
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