Archive link: https://archive.ph/hu9TT (Links omitted)

Researchers in China have made what they claim to be the first samples of pure hexagonal diamond, a theorized rare variant of superstrong diamond found in meteorites from shattered dwarf planets.

Natural diamond, also called cubic diamond, has been considered the hardest natural material on Earth for so long that the Mohs hardness scale, which rates minerals' resistance to scratching, uses diamond as the scale's upper limit. It's called cubic diamond for its neat arrangements of carbon atoms in a cubic structure. In contrast, hexagonal diamond organizes carbon atoms in a lattice made of hexagons, like a honeycomb.

An elusive mineral

In 1962, researchers at the Pittsburg Coal Research Center theorized that layers of carbon atoms making up diamond could be organized in a hexagonal lattice instead of a cubic one, thanks to how carbon forms bonds with other carbon atoms. In 1967, researchers discovered hexagonal diamond — or lonsdaleite — in the lab, suspecting it could be harder than cubic diamond.

They started looking for it in a special type of diamond-rich meteorite called ureilite, which forms from the mantle of smashed dwarf planets. The first detections of hexagonal diamond in the wild were documented in a 1967 paper; three Canyon Diablo meteorites (fragments of an asteroid that created a large crater in Arizona) with about 30% hexagonal and 70% cubic diamond phases, and Goalpara meteorites (found in Assam, India) that had a small amount of hexagonal diamond.

Not everyone agrees that the Canyon Diablo lonsdaleite exists. Some scientists thought the evidence could be explained by flawed cubic diamond that was stacked chaotically, and they weren't convinced that lonsdaleite had been detected in previous studies. However, multiple recent studies have identified lonsdaleite in meteorites and in lab samples, including a 2025 study that made small amounts of it in the lab.

The biggest challenge in identifying lonsdaleite is the lack of pure samples; in many cases, it is mixed with cubic diamond, graphite and other minerals. This makes it difficult ‪—‬ or even impossible ‪—‬ to test and measure its unique properties.

The new study, published March 4 in the journal Nature, addressed this problem by creating several pure hexagonal diamond samples about 0.06 inches (1.5 millimeters) in diameter ‪—‬ big enough to measure the samples' material properties. The team found that hexagonal diamond is both stiffer and harder than cubic diamond, and that it resists oxidation much more than cubic diamond does. This means hexagonal diamond can tolerate much higher temperatures without its surface getting all gunked up by reacting with oxygen, which is important for applications like drilling.

First evidence of hexagonal diamond?

The study also provides major evidence that hexagonal diamond is a real material. According to the study, "structural and spectroscopic analyses, supported by large-scale molecular dynamical simulations, unambiguously confirm the identity of HD (hexagonal diamond)."

To make the samples, the researchers compressed very organized graphite (graphite with carbon atoms neatly arranged) for 10 hours at 20 gigapascals, or about 200,000 times Earth's atmospheric pressure at sea level, and subjected them to temperatures ranging from 2,300 to 3,450 degrees Fahrenheit (1,300 to 1,900 degrees Celsius). At higher temperatures and pressures, the lonsdaleite started morphing into cubic diamond.

Hexagonal diamond could improve processes and tools that currently rely on cubic diamond, like drilling and cutting tools, polishing abrasive coatings, and dissipating heat from electronics. Its presence in meteorites can also tell us a lot about how the meteorite formed and where it came from, giving more clues about our solar system.

The elusive material "has potential applications in many fields, for example in cutting tools, in thermal management materials and in quantum sensing", Chong-Xin Shan, co-lead of the new Nature study and a physicist at Zhengzhou University, told Nature in an article.

The new study also provides "a practical strategy for producing HD (hexagonal diamond) in bulk form," opening the way for bigger samples, more scientific exploration, and industrial applications no longer limited by cubic diamond's hardness, according to the authors.

https://archive.ph/9mowX

https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASV3F3WLTV3FUTFK00KM.html

Second is ASEAN btw, by 20%

Full speech here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RH9kwUJ5ij0

Arnaud Betrand's comments:

That's easily the most insanely provocative statement that Taiwan's Lai Ching-Te has ever made, and that's a very high bar.

In a speech on Saturday he literally said that Imperial Japan's colonial rule over Taiwan was better than that of the KMT (Chiang Kai-shek's party that built modern Taiwan and his main opposition party today).

His exact words: "Japan colonized Taiwan in order to advance the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. The Nationalist government came to Taiwan just the same - merely [treating it] as a springboard for retaking the mainland. And especially after the KMT government arrived in Taiwan, the way it treated the Taiwanese people was even worse than colonial-ruled Taiwan - worse than colonial Japan's treatment of Taiwan."

There's so much wrong with this, I'm not even sure where to start.

First of all, the expression "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere" to frame Japanese imperialism during WW2 is anything but neutral: it's Imperial Japan's own propaganda term for their imperial project of domination of Asia. An empire, incidentally, that the WW2 allies - including his U.S. patrons - lost millions of soldiers defeating.

Used unironically as he does, it's like describing Nazi Germany's occupation of Europe as an effort to build a "Prosperous New European Order"

Secondly, the man is literally - officially - the President of the Republic of China, the very state that Sun Yat-sen and the KMT founded. He draws his constitutional authority from the constitution they wrote, and won his presidency through the voting system they established - and then calls them worse than Imperial Japan.

Heck this very speech was given at an event celebrating 30 years of direct presidential elections in Taiwan - which the KMT itself introduced. So he used the anniversary of a KMT achievement to argue that the KMT was worse than a colonial empire that never gave Taiwanese a single vote

Lastly, the framing of the existence of a "Taiwanese people" that was subsequently colonized by both Japan and the KMT is historically and demographically absurd. Over 95% of Taiwan's population is Han Chinese, descended from mainland migrants - and that includes Lai's own family (!), which came from Pinghe county in Fujian province.

So framing things this way is basically saying that Japanese colonial rule over the Chinese people of Taiwan was preferable to governance by other Chinese people, including his own! You could hardly do more to insult your own ancestors, and yourself.

I mean, think about the absurd twisting of history that's going on here, the degree of madness in the current Taiwanese separatist narrative.

Lai doesn't hold office as the president of some independent "Taiwanese" republic: he is the president of the Republic of China - the state that took Taiwan back from Japan. His office exists because that liberation happened. As the President he is, by definition, its inheritor.

And he's arguing it was a mistake because, otherwise, his entire narrative falls apart. If the KMT's arrival was a liberation - which it legally, historically, and constitutionally was - then there is no "colonized Taiwanese people," no separatist grievance, and no justification for independence.

So we arrive at the absurd situation where the president of the Republic of China has to stand at a podium and argue that the Republic of China should never have retaken Taiwan.

Beyond shameful

China’s Foreign Ministry has announced that the ⁠Red ⁠Cross Society of China will send $200,000 in emergency ⁠humanitarian aid to the Iranian Red ⁠Crescent Society.

It said the funds will be specifically designated for parents of students who have been killed in the war.

Speaking at a news briefing, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said Beijing “condemns all indiscriminate attacks on civilians”.

cross-posted from: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/11009443

Very interesting video that goes into far more depth about the situation of queer people in China than a lot of English-language media does. It's actually nuanced and researched; not just "China Bad" nonsense (it does mention the state surveillance meme and there's a brief jab at "Tankies" in the beginning - somewhat deserved IMO - but other than that it's mostly nuanced).

The big takeaway I got from it is that nationalism, patriarchy, Confucianism, and the birth rate are the biggest factors for why queer rights aren't expanding. Basically there are systemic issues but it's largely cultural & social taboos that are the deciding factor. In general I'd say it looks like China is behind the West on queer rights but only by maybe two or three decades and not anymore near the level of somewhere like Uganda or Saudi Arabia as anti-China libs keep trying to claim.

Not great, but room for improvement. I have faith that conditions will improve.

China unveiled the world's first T1200-grade ultra-high-strength carbon fiber on Wednesday, a milestone that fills a critical void in the global market and marks a major leap forward in the country's advanced materials capabilities, China Media Group reported.

Developed by China National Building Material Group, the newly released T1200-grade ultra-high-strength carbon fiber is not merely a laboratory prototype but an industrialized product already capable of 100-ton-level mass production, making China the first country to achieve such output capacity for carbon fiber at this grade.

"T1200-grade carbon fiber represents the current technological pinnacle of industrial-scale production. With 100-ton-level output capacity, the group can provide a stable supply of advanced materials for sixth-generation fighter jets, commercial aerospace and low-altitude aircraft, helping ease bottlenecks that have constrained some high-end equipment," Chen Jing, a vice president of the Technology and Strategy Research Institute, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

With a diameter less than one-tenth that of a human hair, the T1200 carbon fiber boasts a tensile strength roughly 10 times that of conventional steel, yet weighs only one-quarter as much - highlighting its exceptional combination of lightness and toughness.

Thanks to these superior advantages, the material can be widely applied in strategic emerging industries such as aerospace, the low-altitude economy and humanoid robotics.

According to Chen, scaling up production of this material presents several key challenges. The precursor fiber must meet extremely stringent quality standards, and the entire production process demands precise control, particularly during the high-temperature carbonization stage, which determines the final mechanical performance.

Equipment stability is another critical factor: 100-ton-level output requires tens of thousands of tons of precursor supply, placing stringent demands on the consistency of carbonization furnaces. In addition, producers must manage cost pressures, as high-performance carbon fiber involves long production cycles and high energy consumption while still requiring economically viable large-scale output.

Chen said that the nation has initially built a coordinated mechanism linking demand traction, technological breakthroughs, industrial support and scenario-based validation.

"The system is not yet fully mature and remains at a critical stage, as it needs to gradually transition from an administratively driven model toward stronger market-based dynamics," he added.

China has made breakthroughs in the new materials sector, benefiting multiple key industries. Industry experts said that recent breakthroughs in new materials technologies have directly targeted long-standing bottlenecks that constrained industrial development.

Recently, researchers from the Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, in collaboration with multiple institutions, experimentally verified room-temperature intrinsic ferroelectricity in the mainstream wide bandgap semiconductor gallium oxide, marking a significant advance by Chinese scientists in the study of ferroelectricity in wide bandgap semiconductors, the Science and Technology Daily reported on February 25.

The progress opens a new pathway for semiconductor technologies, providing a novel material foundation and design approach for building multifunctional information devices capable of operating under high-power and extreme environmental conditions, according to the report.

Researchers from Nankai University and partner institutions have developed a new electrolyte system that replaces the traditional lithium-oxygen coordination structure, the Xinhua News Agency reported on February 26. The newly developed lithium battery demonstrates high specific energy and strong low-temperature tolerance, maintaining operation even at -50 C, according to Xinhua.

New materials form the foundation of strategic emerging industries and serve as a key driver of industrial upgrading.

Chen said that breakthroughs in these new materials show that China can mobilize resources to advance technologies in strategically contested fields. At the same time, the country is strengthening "soft infrastructure," including the early formulation of scenario-based standards and cross-industry data platforms, to build a sustainable collaborative ecosystem.

1. Arthur Konnerth - German neuroscientist

2. Cao Ting - AI scientist

3. Ngo Bao Chau - maths genius

4. Yuan Yuan

5. Zhu Ziqiang

6. Zhou Ming

7. Feng Gensheng

8. Thomas Mikael Oliveberg - nobel prize jurist

9. Jiang Jianfeng

10. Su Fei

11. Terence Tao

12. Liu Jun

13. Wu Meng

14. Lin Wenbin

15. Zheng Yu

16. Xie Zhenfei

17. Shan Liang

18. Nigel Slater

19. Qian Hong

20. Andre Geim

21. Liang Jie

22. Fang Lei

23. Zhongwei Shen

24. Bao Zhirong

25. Xu Zhenpeng

China's cities are telling new stories of transformation and opportunity as the 2026 Two Sessions begin, and the country enters the first year of the 15th Five-Year Plan. How are local economies evolving to meet national goals? What can hometown stories reveal about China's path over the next five years? In this special edition of The Hub, themed "From Hometowns to Horizons," CGTN's reporters explore China's cities by visiting their hometowns.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi said China-Africa relations are expected to make new progress this year, as the two sides mark the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties.

He made the remarks at a press conference on the sidelines of the fourth session of the 14th National People's Congress.

Over the past seven decades, China-Africa friendship has withstood the test of changing international circumstances and shown enduring vitality, Wang said.

"It's no exaggeration to say that China-Africa friendship has been passed down from generation to generation, forged heart to heart, and built with sweat and blood," he said.

Wang said the building of a China-Africa community with a shared future will take fresh steps forward, noting that China plans to host visits by several African leaders in 2026.

China will also fully implement zero-tariff treatment on 100 percent of tariff lines for products from Africa, starting May 1, he said.

"We are removing tariffs completely to boost trade, multiply benefits for the people, and help Africa access the enormous opportunities of the Chinese market," he said.

This year has also been designated as the China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges. Nearly 600 cultural and people-to-people exchange activities will be held throughout the year, Wang said.

The part about the Deputies doing feedback on the government representatives job is so interesting.

"The good life is built on an equal, accessible education for everyone." - 幸福的温度是教育公平惠及全民的宽度

Perched over 4,500 meters above sea level in Nagqu of Xizang Autonomous Region stands the Nagqu Special Education School of China. The school is dedicated to fostering essential life skills for children with disabilities, while ensuring specialized door-step education and rehabilitation services—making sure that no child is left behind.

Over the past five years, the focus of special education in China has shifted from providing full-coverage access to pursuing the highest quality standards of instruction. As of 2025, over 97 percent of children with disabilities nationwide are enrolled in compulsory education. Meanwhile, the employment rate for graduates with disabilities from higher education institutions has exceeded 85% for five consecutive years.