1. China's 'Eye of Heaven' opens globally

The world's largest single-dish radio telescope, the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) in Guizhou province, nicknamed "China's Eye of Heaven", was officially opened to the global scientific community on March 31.

Astronomers from around the world were invited to apply on FAST's website for outer-space observations. All the overseas applications will be evaluated, and the results will be announced on July 20. Observations will then begin in August.

A bird's eye view of China's Eye of Heaven. [Photo/WeChat account: szchtf]

2. Chinese scientists develop new photovoltaic material

A team led by Huang Wei, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and professor at Northwestern Polytechnical University, has developed a new-type perovskite photovoltaic material by using a multi-functional ionic liquid as solvent instead of the traditional toxic organic solvent.

The material has the advantages of high stability and a simple preparation process. The research result was published in the top international journal Science.

3. China releases side images of Mars from Tianwen-1 probe

Two "side" images of Mars taken by Tianwen-1, China's unmanned Mars probe, were released by the China National Space Administration on March 26.

The pictures were shot using the spacecraft's mid-resolution camera when it was flying about 11,000 kilometers above the Martian surface.

The probe has been in a "parking" orbit for one month. Several mission payloads on the probe have been activated to carry out scientific tasks, as well as observe and analyze the landforms and weather conditions at the optimal landing site.

A side image of Mars taken by the Tianwen-1 probe. [Photo/WeChat account: szchtf]

4. Chinese researchers bring new hopes for depressive disorder

A team led by Xu Huaqiang and Jiang Yi from the CAS Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica (SIMM) have published their latest research findings in the internationally renowned magazine Nature.

The near-atomic resolution structure of three 5-hydroxytryptamine receptors was reported internationally for the first time, which revealed how phospholipids and cholesterols modulate receptor functions and the molecular regulatory mechanisms of the antidepressant drug aripiprazole.

5. Chinese 'artificial sun' sets new goals

The Chinese-designed and -developed Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) at the CAS Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, also known as the "Chinese artificial sun", will undergo a new round of upgrades in the near future.

It has recently been challenged to meet new scientific research goals: reaching 100 million C for the core electron temperature and a 100-second pulse plasma, striving to push the world's controllable nuclear fusion energy research to new heights.

EAST in Hefei, East China's Anhui province. [Photo/WeChat account: szchtf]