Briefly

Mass production of carbon-14 kicks off

China has started the mass production of carbon-14 at a commercial nuclear reactor, the China National Nuclear Corporation said. The carbon-14 isotope was produced by the Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant, which is operated by a CNNC subsidiary, an official at the plant said on Saturday. The output should be able to "completely meet" China's market demand" for carbon-14, the official said, ending the country's near-total reliance on imports. Carbon-14 is widely used in fields such as agriculture, chemistry, medicine and biology. Its primary applications include detecting Helicobacter pylori, a bacterium that can cause stomach ulcers.

46 subglacial lakes found in Antarctica

Chinese scientists have discovered 46 subglacial lakes beneath the ice sheet in East Antarctica, using an innovative analysis method. Antarctica is covered by a vast ice sheet with an average thickness of over 2,400 meters. Beneath it are numerous subglacial lakes formed when melting ice streams flow over depressions in the bedrock beneath the ice sheet, according to Tang Xueyuan, a research group leader from the Polar Research Institute of China. Scientists analyzing the waveform features of ice bottom reflection shown in ice radar images in the AGAP-S region of the Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains in East Antarctica discovered the existence of the 46 subglacial lakes. Scientists from around the world have discovered 675 subglacial lakes beneath the Antarctic ice sheet, with three of them successfully drilled and sampled.

New remote sensing satellite launched

China launched a Long March 2D carrier rocket on Sunday morning to deploy a remote-sensing satellite into orbit, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation said. The State-owned space conglomerate said in a news release that the rocket lifted off at 7:45 am from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan province and successfully delivered the Yaogan 42B satellite to its designated orbit. Yaogan 42B is the latest addition to China's growing fleet of remote-sensing satellites, which play a crucial role in Earth observation.

Gambling and scam suspects repatriated

Chinese police have completed the repatriation of over 680 Chinese gambling and scam suspects from Cambodia, the Ministry of Public Security said on Sunday. Two police-chartered civilian flights brought back the last batch of 135 suspects to Wuhan, capital of Central China's Hubei province, on Sunday. That marked the completion of repatriation this year after Chinese and Cambodian police launched joint operations to crack down on crimes associated with gambling and swindling, the ministry said. The repatriations started earlier this month.

Chongqing car crash kills one, injures nine

A car accident in Chongqing's Banan district on Saturday left one pedestrian dead and nine injured, the municipal government said. At around 6 pm on Saturday, a 30-year-old driver surnamed He was driving from Banan district to Nan'an district when he lost control of his vehicle. The car veered off the road at Jiugongli Railway Station on Yunan Avenue in Banan, hitting 10 pedestrians. The driver has been taken into custody by the police, who concluded that he was not driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. The accident is under investigation.

Xinhua - China Daily