China open research platform for the world

In a recent report, the US science website pointed out that in the field of science, China has been chasing more advanced countries in the past, but the situation is reversing! China now has the world's largest radio telescope and the first lunar rock in 45 years.

China has also begun to provide foreign researchers with the opportunity to use these treasures, and many foreign scientists have praised it as a boost to science.

In December 2020, Chang'e 5 mission brought 1.7kg of rock and soil from the moon, the first time since 1976, scientists are expected to reveal the evolution of the solar system, the science website reported.

People visit the moon samples brought back by Chang'e 5 at the National Museum of China: Science Website

On January 18, the Chinese National Space Administration (CNSA) confirmed that it would encourage the international joint research on space science based on lunar samples to promote international sharing of results and possibly start to review applications in April. At the same time, China's 500 meter aperture spherical radio telescope (fast) is also open, which is the most sensitive single disk radio telescope in the world.

Since 0:00 on March 31, Beijing time, fast officially opened up to the world and solicited observations from global scientists. "The number of applications is too large and the competition will be very fierce," said Li Di, the chief scientist of fast, who said the observation time allocated to foreign scientists was 400 hours, and that China would receive dozens of applications

Chang Jin, head of the National Observatory of China, pointed out that one of the main purposes of sharing resources is to do the best science. He said getting the idea of how foreign scientists use fast "helps to advance radio astronomy.".

Carl HELLES, a radio astronomer at the University of California, Berkeley, said he was happy to work with Chinese scientists, who has joined a fast team to observe interstellar media. "It's very convenient for foreign scientists to apply for fast," Li said. "In fact, anyone can apply." Fast website has released an English application template, international experts will rank and give suggestions on the application, and telescope time will be allocated to August 2021.

On December 1, the American "sky eye" arexibo radio telescope collapsed. Now the only research in the world is China 500 meter aperture spherical radio telescope fast, which has twice the sensitivity of arexibo, and is searching for weak and unusual pulsars and fast radio storms. Li also hopes fast will join the international pulsar chronometer, a telescope network that detects gravitational waves by looking for small time changes in the fast rotating pulsar signal.

Science website finally stressed that for foreign researchers, the journey to use China's precious scientific and technological resources has just begun, and that China is planning to implement many other large space exploration and scientific projects, which provide opportunities for foreign scientists.

It is expected that in April or may, the China National Space Administration will launch the core capsule of the Chinese space station, and two more will be added in the next few years to carry out microgravity, physical and space weathering experiments and open to international researchers.

Around 2024, China plans to launch an orbiting telescope, which is 2 meters smaller than the Hubble Space Telescope and can be connected to the space station. In addition, the Institute of high energy physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, plans to build a particle accelerator worth $5billion.

Biden plans to invest $250billion in scientific research

President Biden recently proposed to invest $250billion in research in the country in the coming years, according to sciencewebsite.

Of these, $180billion is dedicated to "future oriented R & D and technology", and another $70billion is used in research related fields, including combating epidemics and strengthening innovation capabilities in rural areas.

If the program is implemented, many federal research institutions will receive large sums of funding. For example, the NSF, the second largest research funding agency of the National Institutes of health, is expected to receive $50billion, nearly six times the current NSF budget.

However, science points out in the report that the ambitious "money sharing plan" faces the most realistic question: where does money come from? Can it be cashed out in the end?

Biden (source: White House website)

How does the $250billion "money sharing program" cost?

What will Biden's $250billion "money sharing program" cost? The core contents include:

1. NSF may be the biggest winner of the growth of scientific research budget. NSF currently has a budget of $8.5 billion. Under Biden's plan, the agency is expected to receive $50billion of funding, some of which will be allocated to a new technical council.

2. to allocate $40billion to upgrade research facilities in the federal government and universities of the United States. Although the program applies to facilities supported by several federal agencies, the only name mentioned is the Department of energy, which has 17 U.S. national laboratories. Half of the funds will be used for institutions serving ethnic minorities, including more than 100 traditional black colleges and universities. Biden also called for the establishment of a new national climate research laboratory "affiliated to the traditional black university".

3. institutions serving ethnic minorities will receive $10billion in scientific research funding, and another $15billion will be used to establish 200 centres of excellence. These centres can be used as incubators for start-ups, as well as training students in various fields of science and engineering to provide scholarships for graduate students.

4. provide $35billion to a number of institutions to deal with climate change and create an arpa-c to commercialize promising technologies.

About $30billion is used as "additional R & D funding to stimulate innovation and employment creation in regions, including rural areas".

6. provide us $14billion in financial support to the National Institute of standards and technology, which costs $1billion a year. The plan specifically requires the Ministry of Commerce agencies to use the money to "bring together industry, academia and government to develop technologies and capabilities that are essential to future competitiveness".

Biden also plans to quadruple the expansion of manufacturing cooperation in the United States, which will cost $150million to support a range of small and medium-sized enterprises that produce high-tech products.

Is Biden's new plan "on the go"?

For Biden, it is fortunate that several of the projects proposed by the science report are in line with the goals of several new legislation recently proposed by the house of representatives of the United States.

For example, both the Senate and the Senate proposed to increase NSF funds, and proposed to establish a new "technology" department under the original organizational structure of NSF, revise the thought orientation of paying attention to scientific research unilaterally but ignoring technological innovation, and further strengthen the connection between science, technology and industry.

The new "technology" sector, which is proposed by Chuck Schumer, the leader of the majority party in the U.S. Senate, proposed in the endless frontier act.

In response, the House bill recommends that the new Council be launched for $1billion and increase funding to $5billion in five years. The latest version of the Senate endless frontier bill proposes that the new Council grants "not less than $2billion a year.".

However, the final increase in the NSF budget and how much will be divided into the new Council remains unresolved. Regardless of the amount of investment, supporters of the Council said it was "to fight active technological investment in China and other economic competitors.".

It is noteworthy that some people are not optimistic about the establishment of a technical council and the expansion of NSF.

For example, some academic leaders fear that the new Council could undermine the NSF culture, dilute the agency's ability to support university basic research and hinder its development. Under the initial Senate bill, the technical council will be several times larger than the sum of the seven research councils currently in the NSF. They fear the agency will operate in a more liberal way, similar to the hype of DARPA.

Further, there are still many obstacles to Biden's $250billion "money sharing plan" to be "cashed out" in the end, Science reported.

Republicans and moderate Democrats strongly opposed Biden's proposal to raise money because it would remove some corporate tax cuts that were implemented during the former president's trump administration.

"If Congress refuses Biden's infrastructure plan, it's hard to imagine lawmakers approving a large-scale increase in the National Science Fund." Science reports point out.

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