Chinese Academy of Sciences

Exploring the frontier of science for the benefit of humanity.

[Chinese Academy of Sciences @CAS__Science]

🐋 How do you find a whale in the vast ocean?
After years of surveys, we've directly observed 20+ cetacean species in the South China Sea. 🌊
But seeing them is only part of the story.
🎧 Underwater acoustics help us detect whales through their vocalizations.
🧬 DNA + acoustic recordings + other clues can help identify elusive species.
Sometimes, a sound from the deep is a calling card.

#CAS #Whales #OceanScience #MarineMammals #MarineLife

[Chinese Academy of Sciences @CAS__Science]

🦖🐦 We've identified the earliest known flightless bird!
The Jurassic species Yuezhuornis yangyuanensis combines striking dinosaur- and bird-like features, showing that early birds explored diverse lifestyles—not just flight.
Read more: https://t.co/1PcK44GiEV

#CAS #Paleontology #BirdEvolution #Fossils #Jurassic #Dinosaur

[Chinese Academy of Sciences @CAS__Science]

🦪Inspired by clam hinges, we developed a "layer cake" film with alternating light-emitting and tough silicone rubber layers.
Hard layers bear the load; soft layers distribute stress and stop cracks from spreading.
Stretch, squeeze or rub it—and it lights up. ✨
Potential applications: smart wearables, structural monitoring, anti-counterfeiting and battery-free flexible displays.

#CAS #Biomimicry #Mechanoluminescence #FlexibleMaterials #MaterialsScience #SmartMaterials

[Chinese Academy of Sciences @CAS__Science]

🌕 We've identified stable gamma-iron, a rare form of iron, in natural lunar samples returned by the Chang'e-6 mission for the first time.
Its tiny particles contain a stable magnetic swirl that may preserve a record of ancient magnetic fields on the Moon, offering new clues to the Moon's magnetic history.
Read more: https://t.co/P2yZqErJmU

#CAS #ChangE6 #Moon #LunarScience #Magnetism #LunarSample

[Chinese Academy of Sciences @CAS__Science]

Drylands cover more than 40% of the world's land surface. How can we better understand and protect these fragile ecosystems?

"Xinjiang: Science Across the Dryland" is a new video series exploring the Third Xinjiang Scientific Expedition and its efforts to understand the changing drylands.

With its unique mountain–oasis–desert ecosystem, Xinjiang in northwest China offers a valuable window into how dryland environments are changing.

🌱 Understanding how Xinjiang's drylands are changing is not just about understanding one region. It can help us find solutions for drylands around the world.

🎬 Watch EP1 and begin the journey.

#ScientificExpedition #Drylands #Ecology #ScienceTok #Xinjiang #Sustainability

[Chinese Academy of Sciences @CAS__Science]

🔎Xinjiang. 5 years. 1,000+ expedition teams. 91,232 survey sites.

During the Third Xinjiang Scientific Expedition, we've carried out comprehensive field surveys across Xinjiang in northwest China, covering water, land, biodiversity, mineral and energy resources, and the ecological environment.

The findings offer new insights into desertification control, dryland biodiversity, agriculture, genetic resources, and ecological restoration, with broader relevance for dryland regions worldwide.

📍 Check out the infographic for more.

#CAS #Xinjiang #ScientificExpedition #Drylands #Biodiversity #SustainableDevelopment

[Chinese Academy of Sciences @CAS__Science]

Could a real-life "Three-Body Problem" exist? 🌌

In The Three-Body Problem, three stars create a fascinating cosmic puzzle. In real life, we've found a rare triple-star system containing a pulsar, a white dwarf and a Sun-like star.

How did these three stars end up in a rare triple system? 🎬 Watch the video to follow their journey through stellar evolution.

#ThreeBodyProblem #Astronomy #Pulsar #StellarEvolution #SpaceScience #SciFi

[Chinese Academy of Sciences @CAS__Science]

🌌 We've identified the first known pulsar triple system still evolving!

Chinese and European teams independently confirmed the system. By combining publicly available data from multiple space missions, we precisely determined its orbital parameters and the masses of all three members.

The system contains:
🔭 Pulsar PSR J0435+3233 — ~1.16 or 1.34 solar masses, from two solutions within the same model
⚪ White dwarf — ~0.3 solar masses
⭐ Sun-like star

The Sun-like star orbits the inner binary (8-days period) every 73.5 years on an eccentric orbit.

A rare laboratory for studying stellar evolution and gravity. 🌌

Read more: https://t.co/5atFTOtJlJ

#CAS #Pulsar #StellarEvolution #TripleStarSystem #FAST #Astronomy

[Chinese Academy of Sciences @CAS__Science]

🌞 First messages from SMILE are here!

Together with ESA, we've released the first batch of in-orbit observations from SMILE's four scientific instruments.

The data include the first uninterrupted panoramic images of the Northern Hemisphere's auroras, revealing their fine structures, from UVI; an X-ray image of a supernova remnant in the Large Magellanic Cloud from SXI; and the first high-resolution magnetic field and ion measurements obtained from such a high Earth orbit by MAG and LIA.

With its in-orbit commissioning review complete, SMILE is now officially on the job — exploring how the solar wind interacts with Earth's magnetosphere and helping us better understand space weather.

Read more: https://t.co/0Dm6Kw7dCt

#SMILE #CAS #ESA #SpaceScience #SolarWind #SpaceWeather #Satellite

[Chinese Academy of Sciences @CAS__Science]

🌍 10 years of collaboration. One mission. A new view of space weather.
🚀 SMILE has passed its in-orbit commissioning review and is ready to begin scientific observations, exploring how the solar wind interacts with Earth's magnetic "protective bubble".
But SMILE is more than science and engineering — it's also a story of collaboration and trust between the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the European Space Agency.
🎬 Meet the scientists behind the mission.

#CAS #ESA #SMILEMission #SpaceWeather #SolarWind #SpaceScience #InternationalCollaboration

[Chinese Academy of Sciences @CAS__Science]

#BiosphereStories
Meet the new member of UNESCO Biosphere Reserves in China — Zhouzhi

🌏 Designated by UNESCO in 2025
📍 Located in Shaanxi Province, northwestern China
📏 About 20 times the size of Macao
🐼🦌🐒🦅 Home to the Qinling Four Treasures — giant pandas, Qinling takins, golden snub-nosed monkeys and crested ibises
🌲 Core habitat and vital ecological corridor for Qinling giant pandas
🥝 A global hotspot for wild kiwifruit genetic diversity
☯️ Where Qinling ecology and Taoist culture converge

#UNESCO #MAB #BiosphereReserve #Zhouzhi #QinlingMountain #GiantPandas #Kiwifruit

[Chinese Academy of Sciences @CAS__Science]

👏 Congratulations to Prof. WANG Ding on receiving the 2026 Wolfgang Kiessling International Prize for Species Conservation!

A distinguished aquatic biologist, Prof. WANG Ding has devoted his career to protecting the Yangtze finless porpoise and other endangered cetaceans in China. Today, his conservation strategies are also helping protect endangered river dolphins in Cambodia and Bangladesh.

Prof. WANG Ding is a researcher at the Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Secretary General of the China National Committee for UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere Programme.

The annual prize recognizes individuals advancing species conservation research and developing innovative solutions with international impact.

#WolfgangKiesslingPrize #SpeciesConservation #YangtzeFinlessPorpoise #Biodiversity #WildlifeConservation #Cetacean

[Chinese Academy of Sciences @CAS__Science]

🔭 10 Years of FAST: Keeping Our Eyes on the Universe
Ten years ago, on September 25, 2016, FAST was completed in Guizhou, China.
Since then, the world's largest single-dish radio telescope has been listening to the Universe, helping scientists explore pulsars, galaxies, interstellar matter and more. 🌌
Ten years on, the journey of discovery continues.
Happy 10th anniversary, FAST! 🎉

#FAST #RadioTelescope #RadioAstronomy #Astronomy #Space #Universe

[Chinese Academy of Sciences @CAS__Science]

🌕✨ On September 25, FAST celebrates the 10th anniversary of its completion — and this year, the milestone falls on the Mid-Autumn Festival, when families and friends gather to celebrate under the full Moon.
For the past decade, FAST has been listening to faint signals from deep space and helping scientists uncover new stories about the universe.
FAST is open to scientists worldwide, and we can’t wait to see what the next decade will bring. 🔭🌌
Happy 10th anniversary since FAST’s completion, and Happy Mid-Autumn Festival! 🌕

#FAST #RadioTelescope #Astronomy #MidAutumnFestival #HappyAnniversary

[Chinese Academy of Sciences @CAS__Science]

🌕 One Moon, Many Stories: Celebrating Mid-Autumn Festival at Science Island
We invited international researchers and students at Science Island to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival with us.
We tried traditional Chinese lantern riddles, learned more about the festival, and shared stories and traditions about the Moon and festivals from different countries.
Different cultures, shared stories, and one Moon brought us all together to celebrate. 🌕🏮

#MoonStories #CulturalExchange #ScienceIsland #CelebratingTogether

[Chinese Academy of Sciences @CAS__Science]

🌌 We've traced the journey of high-energy cosmic particles across 42 light-years.

Using joint observations from the Einstein Probe (EP) and the Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO), we’ve discovered an extraordinarily long X-ray tail near a pulsar about 4,600 light-years from Earth.

Stretching about 42 light-years, the tail aligns with ultrahigh-energy gamma-ray emission detected by LHAASO, providing new evidence that high-energy particles can travel through interstellar space along a preferred direction.

Read more: https://t.co/LjRGJFP560

#CAS #EinsteinProbe #LHAASO #CosmicParticles #XRayTail #HighEnergyPhysics

[Chinese Academy of Sciences @CAS__Science]

🤖 What if a robot could be your lab partner?
We've developed a Robotic Marine Materials Scientist Platform that can carry out experiments automatically — from material preparation to testing and characterization.
The robots handle the repetitive work, while scientists focus on the big questions. 🔬
More experiments. More data. Smarter AI.
🎥 Meet the "robotic scientists" in action!
Learn more: https://t.co/620Xiw2TRJ

#CAS #Robotics #AI #MaterialsScience #AIForScience

[Chinese Academy of Sciences @CAS__Science]

🌌 We've discovered the lowest-mass double neutron star system known to date!
Using FAST, we identified PSR J1856-0039, with a total mass of just 2.488 Suns and an orbital period of 2.36 hours.
The system offers a rare test of general relativity, showing effects including gravitational redshift, time dilation and orbital decay caused by gravitational-wave emission.
The pair is expected to merge in ~82 million years. 🔭✨

#CAS #FAST #NeutronStars #Astronomy #GeneralRelativity #GravitationalWaves

[Chinese Academy of Sciences @CAS__Science]

⚡ This isn't CGI. We actually triggered lightning — on purpose!
A rocket trails a thin metal wire into the sky, triggering an imminent natural lightning strike a fraction of a second early and guiding it to a designated location — like a thin thread pulling lightning down from the clouds.

Why do this?
Natural lightning is unpredictable and fleeting. Artificial triggering allows scientists to observe lightning up close, develop detection technologies and test lightning protection.

🎬 Hit play and watch us bring lightning down from the sky!

#CAS #IAP #AtmosphericScience #LightningResearch #Thunderstorm

[Chinese Academy of Sciences @CAS__Science]

🔭 What if AI could help run a telescope?
The StarWhisper Telescope, developed by the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (NAOC), was featured among the "Selected AI Agents 2025 in Physics, Astronomy, Chemistry and Materials Science" in Stanford HAI's AI Index Report 2026.

We're exploring how AI agents can go beyond data analysis to help plan and execute astronomical observations, while a digital simulation environment allows us to test observation strategies and optimize telescope operations—without using valuable observing time. 🤖🌌

#CAS #StarWhisperTelescope #AIForAstronomy #Astronomy #AIAgents #SpaceScience