Chinese scientists have unveiled three separate projects to investigate gravitational waves, state media said Wednesday, days after earthshaking US discoveries that confirmed Einstein's century-old predictions.
Space officials said such research would give China -- which has an ambitious, military-run, multi-billion-dollar space programme that Beijing sees as symbolising the country's progress -- an opportunity to become a "world leader" in the field.
Gravitational waves are direct evidence of ripples in the fabric of space-time, and their first-ever observation was announced by US scientists last week.
The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) rolled out a proposal for a space-based gravitational wave detection project, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
The proposed Taiji programme, named after the "supreme ultimate" of Chinese philosophy symbolised by the yin-yang sign, would send satellites of its own into orbit or share equipment with the European Space Agency's eLISA initiative.
Separately, Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou also proposed to launch satellites into space, while the Institute of High Energy Physics at CAS suggested a land-based scheme in Tibet.
All three projects have yet to obtain government approval, state media said.
But Chinese physicist Hu Wenrui told the People's Daily newspaper, the official mouthpiece of the Communist party: "If we launch our own satellites, we will have a chance to be a world leader" in gravitational wave research.
Success "depends on the decision-makers' resolution and the country's investment", he added.
On a verified social media account the Chinese Academy of Science said: "If we can participate in these sorts of extremely precise technological projects then in a short time it will give a huge boost to our country's manufacturing industries."
Last week, scientists with the US-based Large Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) said they had detected waves resulting from the collision of two black holes 1.3 billion years ago.
The executive director of the laboratory hailed the discovery as being comparable to Galileo's use of the telescope four centuries ago to open the era of modern astronomy.
GMT 10:53 2018 Tuesday ,09 January
Apple urged to shield kids from iPhone addictionGMT 10:28 2017 Saturday ,09 December
Bitcoin surges above $16,000 as concerns mountGMT 12:38 2017 Thursday ,02 November
Gulf Craft Continues to Redefine On-Water Lifestyle ExperienceGMT 09:30 2017 Wednesday ,18 October
Is facial recognition the stuff of sci-fi? Not in ChinaGMT 00:01 2017 Thursday ,05 October
This new machine will help boost skills of medic at Oman's College of Medicine and Health SciencesGMT 23:42 2017 Wednesday ,04 October
Robots under Swedish forest breathe life into ancient minesGMT 21:31 2017 Wednesday ,04 October
Russia, Saudi Arabia to set up $1 bln technology fundGMT 18:58 2017 Friday ,29 September
Lockheed Martin unveils reusable water-powered Mars landerMaintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2023 ©
Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2023 ©