Briefly

Milky Way weighs less than earlier thought

A research team made up of Chinese and foreign scientists has accurately measured the mass of the Milky Way, revealing it to be about 550 billion times the mass of the Sun. The results were published recently in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. The newly measured mass of the Milky Way is nearly half the average value measured by other research teams, which was about 1 trillion times the mass of the Sun. "Our latest results suggest that the Milky Way may be 'slimmer' than we previously thought," said Xue Xiangxiang, a main member of the research team and a researcher from the National Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. According to Xue, the mass is crucial to understanding the dynamics of the galaxy. However, there has been a high uncertainty in its estimation due to the limitations of observations. In this research, the scientists obtained the results based on data from the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope, a leading optical telescope in China, and the European Space Agency's Gaia satellite.

Initiative marks 85th anniversary of RUC

To mark the 85th anniversary of Renmin University of China, the university recently launched an initiative to build China's own knowledge system. The initiative stressed the need for Chinese universities to conduct in-depth research on Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. It also called on universities to promote traditional Chinese culture and explain the uniqueness and development of Chinese culture to strengthen cultural confidence. A university think-tank mechanism should be built and an international online academic platform needs to be built to promote the peaceful coexistence and communication among different civilizations. RUC is the first modern university founded by the Communist Party of China. It is regarded as "a flagship of China's higher education in humanities and social sciences".

Documentary series depicts achievements

A television documentary featuring the historic achievements that have occurred in China since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2012 will begin airing on Saturday. The 16-episode documentary series was jointly produced by the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, the Institute of Party History and Literature of the CPC Central Committee, the National Development and Reform Commission, the National Radio and Television Administration, China Media Group and the Political Work Department of the Central Military Commission ahead of the upcoming 20th National Congress of the CPC. The documentary will comprehensively reflect the historic achievements and changes that have occurred in China under the leadership of the Party over the past decade and offer a vivid presentation of the happy lives and positive spirit of Chinese people in the new era. During the production process, the film team, divided into 10 groups, traveled to 97 towns and subdistricts in 22 provincial-level regions, covering more than 40,000 kilometers.

Xinhua - China Daily