1. New rocket makes successful flight 

The newest addition to China's carrier rocket family -- the Long March 7A -- made its first successful flight at the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province on March 12. 

The rocket sent the New Technology Demonstrator 9 experimental satellite, which will conduct verification tests of new technologies like space environmental monitoring, into orbit. 

The launch marked the 362nd flight of the Long March rocket series and the second by the Long March 7A. Its first flight failed in March 2020 due to malfunctions. 

A Long March 7A carrier rocket blasts off at the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province on March 12. [Photo/WeChat account: szchtf] 

2. Chinese scientists develop new textile that supports display 

The research team led by Professor Peng Huisheng from Shanghai-based Fudan University's Department of Macromolecular Science has developed a new type of fully flexible textile with a display system that may allow people to receive and send messages, read information, and take notes on their clothing in the near future. 

Clothes made of this new luminescent fiber will be as comfortable as those made of ordinary fabric. Tests have shown that the textile can maintain a stable display performance after repeated folding and stretching. 

A paper of their study was published in the United Kingdom-based journal Nature on March 11. 

3. Chinese researchers make progress in quantum field 

The Li Chuanfeng and Xiang Guoyong research groups from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) have conducted in-depth studies on the complex number, a kind of quantum resource, by collaborating with Alexander Streltsov from the University of Warsaw. 

The results of this research reveal the irreplaceable role of the complex number in the local discrimination of bipartite quantum states. Furthermore, in the framework of quantum resource theory, they studied the measurement method of this resource and the transformation problem under various free operations. 

It has been verified that the complex number plays an important role in quantum mechanics. 

Experimental results for local quantum state discrimination. [Photo/WeChat account: szchtf] 

4. Domestic artificial cornea to be used in clinical practice soon 

According to Shi Weiyun, president of the Shandong Provincial Eye Hospital, the artificial cornea developed by China is expected to be put into clinical use in June. 

Patients can restore their eyesight to up to 1.0, said Shi. There are currently more than 30 patients who have had their eyesight restored to above 0.5. 

Domestically developed artificial cornea is expected to be put into clinical use in June. [Photo/WeChat account: szchtf] 

5. China's Chang'e 4 probe resumes work for 28th lunar day 

The lander and the rover of China's Chang'e 4 probe have begun their 28th lunar day of work on the far side of the moon. 

Landing on the moon on Jan 3, 2019, the Chang'e 4 probe has survived 795 Earth days on the moon, the Lunar Exploration and Space Program Center of the China National Space Administration said on March 8. 

A lunar day is equivalent to about 14 days on Earth, and a lunar night is of the same length. The solar-powered probe switches to dormant mode during the lunar night. 

The rover Yutu 2, or Jade Rabbit 2, is currently located about 429 meters northwest of the landing site.