Everyday China
Who helped write the big book of Chinese science?
Joseph Needham's famous project was built with collaborators, not one heroic discoverer.
Read the storyScience & space
History, Arts & Traditions
Can a building measure the sky?
The surviving Yuan observatory at Gaocheng was built in 1279 by the astronomer Guo Shoujing. The UNESCO–IAU astronomy heritage account explains the…
Read the story
Everyday China
What’s hard about going to the deepest ocean?
A deep-sea submersible needs to bring people down, help them work and bring them back safely.
Read the story
Everyday China
Can a satellite see through clouds?
Some Earth-observation instruments collect information that an ordinary camera cannot.
Read the story
Everyday China
How does your phone find you from space?
This is not a description of a constellation still waiting for a promised 2020 completion. The Chinese government’s January 2022 space white paper records…
Read the story
Everyday China
Inside Beijing Planetarium’s artificial sky
A 23-metre dome, optical star projection and digital theatres give Beijing Planetarium several ways to explain the real sky.
Read the story
Everyday China
What would you ask an astronaut in class?
A live lesson from China's space station gave students a chance to see experiments in orbit. The most useful part may be learning to ask a sharper question.
Read the story
Everyday China
Can a telescope listen to space?
China's FAST telescope in Guizhou studies radio signals rather than taking ordinary photographs of stars.
Read the story
Everyday China
The water ball that refused to fall
Chinese astronauts have used water experiments in live space lessons. A floating ball makes a familiar liquid behave in a way you cannot try at your kitchen table.
Read the story
Everyday China
Is two kilograms of Moon rock a lot?
Chang'e-6 returned less than two kilograms of material from the lunar far side. For scientists, a small box can hold a huge number of questions.
Read the story
Everyday China
A call to the far side of the Moon
Chang'e-6 worked on the far side of the Moon, where Earth is out of sight. A relay satellite helped the mission talk to home.
Read the story
Places & Regions
Fossils that kept more than bones
Fossils from Chengjiang in Yunnan preserve details that are usually lost, giving scientists a rare view of ancient marine animals.
Read the story
Load more
There’s more to read.
Find your next read
A story you haven’t marked as read yet, chosen just for a little change of pace.
Surprise me