China’s belt and road is integrating countries in Asia, Africa and Europe into China’s financial, industrial and infrastructure model into one global value chain

The ultimate purpose of the Belt and Road Initiative is deep economic integration through the development of global value chains. Importantly, the initiative is supposed to abide by market rules. Either geopolitical considerations were never taken into account or everything in the Vision and Actions document was carefully checked and revised to make it read …

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Alibaba’s Jack Ma sees 3-5 tough years for China but then about 5% GDP per year for 15 years

China’s economy will face “a difficult three to five years” but the slowdown will be good for its long-term development, Alibaba executive chairman Jack Ma told the South China Morning Post in an interview just before the e-commerce giant’s takeover of the 113-year-old newspaper. Ma said the Chinese economy was indeed grappling with structural problems …

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Dead mouse tissue made transparent with solvent to reveal brain and nervous system

A new and versatile imaging technique enables researchers to trace the trajectories of whole nerve cells and provides extensive insights into the structure of neuronal networks. The technique that shrinks the body and makes the tissue transparent could allow us to inspect human organs post mortem in greater detail than ever before Lesions caused by …

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Shipping containers full of capacitors will enable flexible railgun designs for shipboard and fixed or mobile land based railguns

The US Navy will be taking its futuristic Railgun out of the lab where it has been tested for to past eight years. Over the next two years, railguns will be tested in open firing ranges and eventually at sea, where the futuristic electromagnetic gun will be able to demonstrate its full capacity to fire …

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China’s first domestic aircraft carrier the Type 001A reported to be launched Dec 26, 2015

China is ready to launch its first domestically built aircraft carrier, known as the Type 001A, on Dec. 26 to mark the 122th birthday of Mao Zedong, according to Hong Kong newspaper Ming Pao. President Xi Jinping reportedly visited the Dalian Shipyard to inspect the progress of work on the carrier in August. Previous reports …

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US Air force has $2 million prize for engine that has turbine power to weight but piston fuel efficiency

The Air Force is energizing domestic research and development with a $2M prize for a light-weight, fuel-efficient, small turbine engine. This innovative acquisition approach will advance the technologies needed to support the world’s best Air Force. The turbine engine must be in the 100 horsepower class, with a 2.0 brake-horsepower per pound (bhp/lb) or better …

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Proposed design for future armored warship with railguns, lasers and drones

Startpoint brings together the best teams in naval defence systems to tackle the twin challenges of providing advanced technology set against the backdrop of funding constraints. It encompasses the structures, processes, people and policies that exist to deliver equipment and support to the Royal Navy (UK). Patrick Tucker at Defense One describes the Starpoint design …

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Largest gas field in the Mediterranean Sea off the shore of Egypt

A natural gas discovery could hold a potential of 30 trillion cubic feet of lean gas in place (5.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent in place) covering an area of about 100 square kilometres. It’s the largest gas discovery ever made in Egypt and in the Mediterranean Sea and could become one of the world’s …

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Russia plans to fly new hypersonic scramjet prototypes in 2019 or 2020

Russia’s Gromov Flight Research Institute (LII) expects its latest GLL-AP-02 hypersonic scramjet test vehicle to fly in “three or four years,” with officials telling Flightglobal that funding constraints and technical issues have slowed progress. LII’s Sergei Pernitsky and Sergei Vasilievich said via a translator at the MAKS air show in Moscow that work on the …

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Over 100 tons of sodium cyanide at Tianjin warehouse explosion area

The Beijing News on Saturday said all people within a 3-kilometer radius of the Tianjin warehouse explosion site are being forcibly evacuated from the area because of a possible chemical contamination. Sodium cyanide was detected east of the site, according to police cited by the paper. China confirmed Sunday that sodium cyanide, a toxic chemical, …

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