BEIJING -- After one year of trial operation, China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST), the world's largest single-dish radio telescope, has identified multiple pulsars, the National Astronomical Observatories of China (NAOC) said Tuesday. It was the first time a radio telescope independently developed by Chinese scientists has found pulsars. Two of the pulsars, named J1859-01 and J1931-01, are 16,000 light years and 4,100 light years from Earth with rotation periods of 1.83 seconds and 0.59 seconds, respectively. According to Li Di, chief scientist at the radio astronomy division of the NAOC, the two pulsars were discovered on Aug 22 and 25 when FAST was drift-scanning the southern galactic plane. The discovery was later confirmed by the Parkes radio telescope in Australia in September. Li said FAST has already detected dozens of promising pulsar candidates, six of which had been confirmed by international organizations. Peng Bo, deputy director of the FAST project, said three to five years of trial operation is usually required for a radio telescope as large and complicated as FAST. "It is truly encouraging to have achieved such results within just one year," said Peng. Located in a naturally deep and round karst depression in southwest China's Guizhou Province, FAST was completed in September 2016. Its receiving area is equivalent to about 30 football fields. Astronomers are able to use FAST to survey hydrogen in the Milky Way and other galaxies, detect thousands of new pulsars and study the origin and evolution of the universe. Over 2,700 pulsars have been identified since the first one was discovered by British astronomers Jocelyn Bell Burnell and Antony Hewish on Nov 28, 1967. But almost all of them are within the scope of the Milky Way. Many scientists expect FAST to be the first telescope to capture a pulsar outside the galaxy. Technical preparations have been made for FAST to search for pulsars outside the Milky Way as early as next year. FAST is believed to be the world's most sensitive radio telescope. Engineers have said it is so sensitive it could capture the signal of a cell phone being used on the moon. Before the completion of the Square Kilometer Array (SKA) telescope, funded by a consortium of countries, FAST will remain the global leader for the next 10 to 20 years. The telescope is expected to discover twice the number of pulsars currently known and it is highly likely to make breakthroughs in the study of gravitational waves and general relativity theory, said Sun Caihong, its deputy chief technologist. FAST's other tasks include exploration of interstellar molecules and communication signals, as well as building an accurate picture of the universe. "FAST is going to become central in developing a new map of our universe that is going to be used for all sorts of science. It will probably be many decades before a better map is created," said Marko Krco, a visiting U.S. astronomer at the NAOC. wristband designdebossed wristband
CHINA DAILY Lan Honglin, head of the Lan Family Association in Zhangpu, Fujian Compiling genealogies and building ancestral temples are Chinese traditions. They connect people who have the same family roots and promote their sense of belonging. Genealogies, or family trees, are the best resources for discovering family histories, because they can answer the philosophical question of where we come from. To some extent, genealogies are like identity cards for families. They contain excellent information, including the names and deeds of each generation. One significant practical function of genealogies is to help those who have moved away from their hometowns to trace their roots. Every family establishes a temple where their ancestors are enshrined and worshipped. Traditionally, when a family member dies, a tablet that embodies his or her spirit is made and placed in the temple Most people in Zhangpu village, Nantou, Taiwan, have the Lan surname. Their ancestors were soldiers from Zhangpu, a county in Zhangzhou, Fujian province. During the Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1911), three generals - all members of the Lan family in Zhangpu - were sent by emperors successively to suppress rebellions on Taiwan. Most of the soldiers who accompanied the generals were also members of the Lan family. When the fighting ended, many stayed on the island because the land was fertile but the population was small. About 56,000 people on Taiwan are descendants of the original Lan family. They are proud of their family histories and help each other. In the 1980s, they started returning to Zhangpu and the ancestral temple. They bring their genealogies and ancestral tablets so they understand which generation they are. No matter what job they do, whether they are rich or poor, successful or not, when they visit the temple they all kneel and pray before their ancestors and they recite the family maxims that have been passed down for centuries. Lan Honglin spoke with Zhang Yi.
