Asian Scientific Achievements

[Rob_Hugo@PortNW]

Science has always fascinated me. I am interrsted in the scientific advancements, past, present, future of Asia. Use this thread to post ideas, research, questions that you have regarding the scientific achievements of the countries of Asia.

[Anonymous]

A few years ago I read an article about a very small feathered dinosaur fossil found in China. This stirred international news with the thought that some dinosaurs were actually feathered! Of course, many people thought that perhaps this was a hoax and just a way to get more tourism to various areas of China.

I found another article recently about dinosaurs in China. Scientists have now found bird -like eggs in a dinosaur fossil! This sheds new light on dinosaur reproductive biology.

http://english.people.com.cn/200504/15/eng20050415_181227.html

I think it is amazing that the Chinese are ahead in this field. Of course their geographic location has helped them. This finding will help figure out how birds, dinosaurs and reptiles are related.

I checked briefly for another dinosaur discovery in China, and this one was just posted an hour ago, that a Chinese man found a large fossil. perhaps this fossil will unlock some more mysteries of the earth's past.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-05/09/content_440396.htm

[Anonymous]

Now this is an interesting topic. The only I remember from my own childhood is the mention that powder was invented in China. Its subsequent use in fireguns was a result of the trade that Marco Polo was part of. Interesting how people have different uses for different objects/creations. I wonder how accurate is the depiction of powder in the movie "Mulan". I understand it's a cartoon, where liberties where taken, but can anyone enlighten me?

[Anonymous]

In regards to the gunpowder usage depicted in Mulan, it had been a while since I saw the film but as I remember it was represented as unstable and random rockets. This was true for a short time but the Chinese actually became quite adept at controlling their use of gunpowder, this includes gunpowder "warheads" on arrows, rockets, mortars, and ultimately rifle type weapons. It really dependa on the timing of depiction. In Mulan, the "Huns" are coming, but the timing of the film would more likely indicate Jurchens or Mongols. By this time Chinese weapons were quite reliable but very cumbersome. The rockets and guns were likely to work properly and accurately, however, due to their unwieldliness they were rarely useful against a highly mobile and fast moving target. I just read a fascinating book titled "The History of Firearms; to 1500." This book looks at the reasons as to why guns were first developed and manufactured in China, but Europe quickly overtook China i development and quality. The authors general thesis is that guns were more fervently pursued in Western Europe because the style of warfare there encouraged their use. Armies of large groups of densely packed infantry fought against armies of large groups of densely packed infantry, the perfect environment for powerful but unwieldy weapons. Whereas in China, the primary enemy was made up of fast moving and spread out cavalry, a poor target. Thus the Chinese limited their use and development of firearms to sieges and the defense of fortifications, while the Europeans continued to use and develop guns on and for the battlefield.

I hope this at least partially answers your question, even if it was a bit long winded.

David D

[Anonymous]

The recent (last 10 years) dinosaur discoveries in China and Mongolia have been absolutely astounding. Not only feathered dinosaurs but predators that would make tyraosurus Rex look like a wimp. It is also facinating that once again major dinosaur finds are made in a desert or desert like environment such as the Badlands, centrral Egypt, Argentine highlands and of course N.W. China and Mongolia. I say facinating, because when the dinosaurs frequented these locals they were moist and humid tropical regions...

David D

[Anonymous]

Taiwan, anewly industrialized nation is finding itself in a unique position technologically.Taiwan is selling it's science and technology to developing world and still maintaining technological ties with US, France, UK, Sweden. More countries want to learn about integration of science and technology from Taiwan plus ofcourse building science. Same is hapenning to other Asian tigers: Hon kong, Singapore, South Korea.

[Anonymous]

When my wife and I were in China last May we saw and photographed ancient observatory in Bejing. I believe it was originally built in 1422. It is attributed to the Ming Dynasty. The scientific astronomical instruments were built with the help of the Jesuits. One of the earliest Jesuits was Matteo Ricci who was instrumental in bringing Western science and mathematics to China. If anyone is interested in seeing my pictures of this obsveratory or their instruments (built in the 18th century) e-mail me and I'd be happy to share them with you. But the way, the Jusuits mission to China and their audience with the Emperor is immortalized on a tapestry which this year was on display at the J.P. Getty Museum.

[Luis Camacho]

In late 2012, China's solar industry was on "life support". This warning was made for Li Junfeng, deputy director of the energy research.

Only five years later,  after the intervention of US Department of energy and the goverment of Germany, China create a plan of development of renewable energy, China went from "life support"  to global industry superpower. As the global prices plummeted, China's domestic demand started to ramp up. Partly as a consequence of the low prices and ready availability of the technology.

This is only one more example of the genial Chinese planning work. Chinese goverment visualize solutions to their society problems, develope  plans and follow them step by step. This is a great example of how to reach the sucess, not only in a science classroom but in our daily life.

[Author]

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