China syndromeWikiLeaks reveals relentless Chinese drive for scientific hegemony
Among the documents released by WikiLeaks are cables from the science office in the U.S. embassy in Beijing; the cables — some based on Chinese informers — reveal an aggressive, government-funded R&D effort by the Chinese government; among the items of interest: gait biometric device which will be placed under floors and sidewalk to identify people, covertly, by the way they walk; efforts to hack quantum cryptography; and a plan to build 70 nuclear-fusion reactors in 10 years
Buried deep within the mountain of diplomatic cables recently released by WikiLeaks were a few items of interest to the science world. One of those bits we already knew: China is aggressively chasing after quantum teleportation/cryptography (and slaying at it):
In the area of quantum communication, HFNL [Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale] was conducting research in quantum teleportation and free space quantum cryptography that scientists hope will result in “totally secure” communications.
Readers would be forgiven were they to suspect that China’s interest in quantum cryptography was based mostly on a desire to be able to hack it.
Motherboard reports that most exciting — some would say, bizarre — is what China’s after in biometrics. Specifically, the Chinese government is interested in technology which would allow one to determine who someone is based solely on their footsteps:
The Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) Institute of Intelligent Machines (IIM) in Hefei has developed a biometrics device that uses a person’s pace to identify them. The device measure weight and two-dimensional sheer forces applied by a person’s foot during walking to create a uniquely identifiable biometrics profile. The device can be covertly installed in a floor and is able to collect biometrics data on individuals covertly without their knowledge. When questioned about the device’s potential applications, IIM officials stated the device was being used by “secret” customers and was not available on the commercial market.
The cables also claim that China is chasing fusion power, that is, the holy grail of “free” energy, as quickly as the rest of the world, but this is kind of insane:
In 2009, IIP [Institute of Plasma Physics] successfully maintained a 10 million degree Celsius plasma nuclear fusion reaction for 400 seconds. IIP also successfully maintained a 100 million degree Celsius plasma nuclear fusion reaction for 60 seconds.
For reference, the Joint European Torus, Europe’s fusion device and the largest on Earth, has so far maxed out at five seconds.
Another intriguing item: China is planning to build seventy nuclear fission (the “old” kind of nuclear power) reactors in the next ten years. Currently, the United States has 105 already built and China has 13.
“It needs to be noted that the general idea here, that China is winning at science or at least trying very hard, is old news. The WikiLeaks cables are mostly just adding some more color and detail to the picture,” Motherboard concludes.
