Day: July 24, 2025

A strange thing happened when a team of scientists folded a series of ultra-thin sheets of graphene in their laboratory in China. Advertisement The researchers from the Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics found that friction did not increase as the material got thicker. In fact, some of the thicker folds slid more easily. The revelation was a bonus for the team – not only had they become the first to directly observe friction between solid materials at the quantum level, they had seen something that could help with the development…

Advertisement The dam is being built on the Yarlung Tsangpo in Medog – a remote yet geopolitically significant county close to the disputed border with India. As well as becoming a major energy source, the dam is a key element in Beijing’s plans to develop the region and strengthen its border security. What is the location? Medog, also known as Motuo in Chinese, is a border county in the southeast of the Tibet autonomous region, which lies in the foothills of the Himalayas. Advertisement South China Morning Post

Chinese researchers have manufactured the world’s largest barium gallium selenide (BGSe) crystal, a breakthrough that could pave the way for ultra-high-power laser weapons capable of zapping satellites from the ground. Advertisement The synthetic crystal, measuring 60 millimetres (2.3 inches) in diameter, efficiently converts short-wave infrared lasers into mid- to far-infrared beams that can penetrate atmospheric windows for long-distance transmission. Crucially, it can withstand laser power as intense as 550 megawatts per square centimetre – exceeding the damage threshold of existing military-grade crystals by an order of magnitude. The resulting laser…

TikTok may come up in trade talks with China next week, but if Beijing does not approve a divestment deal for Chinese owner ByteDance, the app will soon go dark in the United States, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on Thursday. Advertisement US President Donald Trump’s administration will allow TikTok to remain in the US “if it’s in American control, and … China can have a little piece or ByteDance, the current owner, can keep a little piece”, Lutnick said, speaking on CNBC. “Americans will have control. Americans will…

China has issued a sharp rebuke to comments made by Peter Lamelas, the US ambassador-designate to Argentina, saying they reflected a “Cold War mentality” after he accused Beijing of fostering corruption and being a malign influence across Latin America. Advertisement At his Senate confirmation hearing on Tuesday, Lamelas said he intended to travel across Argentine provinces to monitor agreements involving Chinese companies, which he claimed “could lend themselves to corruption”. On Thursday, the Chinese embassy in Buenos Aires condemned the remarks, warning that such rhetoric risked turning Argentina into “a…

Alexandra Schmauch, who works at a property company in Dallas, Texas, was initially sceptical of the Labubu doll craze. As she watched the commotion build on TikTok and many of her friends became avid collectors, however, curiosity got the better of her. Advertisement Eventually, after several attempts, she managed to secure a couple of Labubus, relishing the “blind box” surprise of not knowing which Labubu character was inside. “A lot of the fun is how hard they are to get,” said Schmauch, aged 28. “I was lucky enough to get…

Chinese scientists have proposed a novel method for producing aerogels that significantly improves their heat resistance and mechanical properties, with potential for use in high-speed aircraft and space exploration, according to a paper published this month in a top journal. Advertisement Aerogels are lightweight, porous solid materials with extremely low density and exceptional thermal insulation properties. They are widely used for insulation or thermal protection in spacecraft, military equipment and electronics. However, despite their superior insulating abilities, conventional aerogels typically suffer from poor mechanical strength, making them vulnerable to pressure…