According to Beijing Municipal Bureau of Justice (BMBJ), a local forensic institute has cracked the transmission principle of AirDrop function of Apple devices, which enables mobile phone number and email address of the AirDrop content sender to be extracted from content receivers, while authorities have received more complaints from public over receiving offensive and inappropriate messages from other anonymous Apple devices.

This technical breakthrough has successfully helped the public security authorities identify a number of criminal suspects, who use the AirDrop function to spread illegal content, BMBJ said through a releases posted on its website on Monday. 

According to the BMBJ, the Beijing police have received reports from the public that their iPhones received videos with "anonymous inappropriate messages" in subway in Beijing. Following investigation, the police found that the suspects took advantage of the AirDrop function to anonymously spread these inappropriate messages including pictures, videos, audio and other files, in crowded public spaces like transport hubs, bus stops or shopping malls. 

As AirDrop function allows anonymous transmission without an internet connection, it is almost impossible to effectively regulate this behavior through conventional network monitoring means, which has become a challenge for public security organs to crack these cases, and some internet users have started to imitate this behavior. Therefore, it is necessary to quickly identify the source of the sender and determine their identity in order to avoid negative consequences, according to the release. 

A local forensic institute named "Wangshen Dongjian" was commissioned to analyze iPhone device logs. A rainbow table correlating phone numbers and email accounts was created during investigation, and has "effectively assisted the police in identifying several suspects" involved in such cases.

The breakthrough of AirDrop's anonymous traceability technology has improved the efficiency and accuracy of case detection, and prevented the further spread of inappropriate information and its potential adverse effects, the BMBJ said. 

Apple has limited the use of the AirDrop wireless file sharing function on devices in Chinese mainland in November 2022, after some anti-China forces used the function to spread inappropriate digital leaflets, according to media reports. After the updates, users can only opt in to receive files from non-contacts during a 10-minute window before it automatically shuts off.

Concerns over the AirDrop feature are global. Western nations like US, UK, and Australia also noticed the rising of "cyber flashing," where explicit and abusive images are anonymously sent to strangers through iPhones.

On May 10, 2023, the Metro branch of the Hangzhou Public Security Bureau issued a notice saying that a female passenger received an explicit picture through AirDrop on Hangzhou subway from a stranger," triggered huge amount of public attention. 

China's financial regulator on Friday disclosed fines of 10 million yuan on three banks - China Construction Bank, Bank of China and China CITIC Bank. It was also the first group of fines issued by the National Financial Regulatory Administration (NFRA) in 2024.

The Bank of China was fined 4.3 million yuan, the highest among the three banks, for nine violations, including failure to report the use and changes of important information system to regulatory authorities, the non-standard production and changes of important information system causing major emergency, poorly identifying and handling of operation risks of information system, and imprudent management of outsourcing information technology.

The China Construction Bank was fined 1.7 million yuan ($239,000) for four violations, inadequate internal audit of consolidated management, inadequate case management of overseas institutions by parent bank, failure to report on the employment of senior managers of overseas subsidiaries in a timely manner, and ineffective rectification of found problems, according to a NFRA notice published on its official website.

The China CITIC Bank was fined 4 million yuan for six violations, which are mostly related to its data center operations and management practices that fall short of regulatory requirements.

The fintech-related fines issued by the NFRA at the beginning of 2024, to a certain extent, reflects regulatory focus on strengthening supervision of information systems in the future, a securities analyst, surnamed Liu, told the Global Times on Saturday.

In November 2023, the NFRA established a new department taking care of technology supervision, covering oversight of cybersecurity, data security and critical information infrastructure.

Amateurs proved prominent during the opening round of the Mitsubishi Electric FA Golf Open in Suzhou, East China’s Jiangsu Province, on Thursday. Hong Kong SAR’s Alexander Yang and Chongqing’s Zhou Yanhan each carded a six-under 66 to share the early lead with veteran Yuan Tian.

Chinese players Jin Daxing, Huang Zijie, Luo Xuewen, Liu Enhua, Sun Yan, and Wu Di were a shot off the pace at the event taking place at Suzhou Taihu International Golf Club.

Zhou, the 15-year-old son of Tour player Zhou Xunshu, turned it on late in his round when he carded five birdies over the last seven holes to grab a share of the lead.

“I didn’t hit it solid for the whole round, but my putter was hot. I made four putts from 15 feet. I missed some putts on the front nine, but I kept my patience,” said the teenager who won last year’s Chongqing Open against a pro field.

Yang, who earlier this year became the first Hong Kong man to play in the US Open, started his round on the back nine, carding three birdies and two bogeys to make the turn at one-under.

“Today was a great start. I think I did most things pretty well,” said Yang, who is currently on leave from Stanford University. “I’m still getting used to the grass here. It’s definitely unique and different from what I’m accustomed to in the US. I made a couple of bogeys and mistakes here and there but otherwise I played really solid.”

Yuan, a 41-year-old veteran who continues to chase his first China Tour win after 18 years as a pro, carded his best round of the year on the strength of seven birdies and a lone bogey in his early morning start that began on the back nine.

The Shanghai Mingyuan Art Museum recently unveiled its inaugural exhibition, Delight in the Invisible - An "Abstract" Narrative of Momentary, to mark the opening of the new gallery. 

The exhibition is a further advancement of the "Perception Art" concept of the 2019 Shanghai Mingyuan Art Museum.

"Delight in the Invisible" is a specific issue deeply explored in the "Perception Art" concept, which has a very thoughtful relationship with art history. The intention of the term is to discuss art issues, and to examine the development of literati painting and contemporary art with "Delight in the Invisible" as the topic.

The exhibition explores the new development possibilities of contemporary Chinese art now or in the future through the works of 27 representative artists.

The Shanghai Mingyuan Art Museum was officially established in 2004. Covering an area of over 2,000 square meters, it is the first private non-profit art museum established in Shanghai and has been free to the public since its opening.

The museum adheres to the concept of development and dissemination of contemporary Chinese art. 

Through themed exhibitions, academic exchanges, art collection, public education and other activities, it provides an open platform for the public to display and exchange art, and also sets up a corresponding dialogue mechanism for the field of art research at home and abroad.

One Chinese national has been killed and another injured, the Chinese Embassy in Thailand confirmed late Tuesday night after a shooting incident which left two dead and five injured at one of the most popular shopping malls in Thailand on Tuesday afternoon.

The embassy said it activated its emergency response mechanism to verify the situation in the wake of the incident and has confirmed the identities of the victims, adding that the injured individual has received medical treatment and remained in stable condition.

Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin visited the injured Chinese national at the hospital, the embassy confirmed. Both the prime minister and Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara, the deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs, respectively made phone calls to Chinese Ambassador to Thailand Han Zhiqiang to express their condolences to the deceased Chinese national on behalf of the Thai government.

They vowed to quickly deal with the case to ensure a safe and reliable environment for the Chinese nationals in Thailand.

A chaotic scene unfolded at the Siam Paragon mall in Bangkok, Thailand on Tuesday afternoon as gunshots rang out near an upscale retail area. According to National Police Chief Torsak Sukvimol, at least two people were killed and five others injured in the shooting and the police has arrested the suspect, a 14 years old suffering from a mental illness.

On Wednesday, Thai Police filed five charges against the suspect, including intentional homicide, commission of homicide, unlawful possession of a firearm, carrying a firearm into a public place without authorization, and discharging a firearm in a public place without authorization.

Thai police said the other victim was from Myanmar and the four injured included a Laotian and three Thai people.

According to local media, the 34-year-old Chinese female surnamed Zhao was shot dead when walking through the Siam Paragon building. A Chinese netizen named “Chloe Wan” wrote on China’s Twitter-like social media platform Sina Weibo that the shooter began shooting at the female toilet on the second floor, killing her acquaintance and injuring her mother.

“Aunt Zhao is a nice person. We three families, including Zhao’s husband and twin daughters, travelled to Thailand together. I didn’t know how she was hurt. I only saw her fainted on the ground with blood flowing out of her mouth. Her five-year-old children didn’t know about this. They were staying with their dad,” wrote the netizen, as quoted by Shangyou News.

The hashtags including “A Chinese visitor shot dead in Siam Paragon” had received more than 290 million views and comments on Sina Weibo as of Wednesday morning, and some netizens have expressed safety concerns on travelling to Thailand.

In September, the Thai government announced a temporary tourist visa exemption scheme for Chinese and Kazakh travelers to boost tourism.

In the face of an escalating climate change threat, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) actively champions the spirit of green and low-carbon development, advocating for a sustainable future. 

As the recent BRI white paper released by China's State Council points out, the BRI embraces the global trend of green and low-carbon development, emphasizes respect for and protection of nature, and respects the right of all parties to pursue sustainable and eco-friendly growth.

Despite vicious campaigns launched by certain Western media outlets to smear the BRI as causing environmental damage in other countries, analysts noted that the real fact is that by making use of the expertise in renewable energy, energy conservation, environmental protection, and clean energy production, and employing Chinese technology, products, and experience, China actively promotes BRI cooperation in green development.

During visits by Global Times reporters to various BRI project sites worldwide, it became evident that Chinese enterprises prioritize environmental conservation measures when conducting operations abroad. Meanwhile, there is an increasing uptake of Chinese energy products in Belt and Road countries transported by rail and air, effectively harnessing renewable resources like wind and solar energy.

Taking the cooperation between China and Fiji as an example, in 2014, China and Fiji established the South-South cooperation to address climate change. In May 2022, the two countries signed a bilateral MOU on the Provision of Goods under the South-South Cooperation for Addressing Climate Change. 

Chinese Ambassador to Fiji Zhou Jian told the Global Times that China and Fiji are both victims of climate change, as well as allies in addressing climate change. 

Analysts pointed out that the cooperation between China and Fiji is a shining example of the green BRI. The Belt and Road Initiative Action Plan not only laid out the overarching vision and framework of the BRI but also underscored the paramount significance of environmental preservation and sustainability within BRI projects.

Furthermore, China, in conjunction with BRI participant nations, has established comprehensive frameworks for the implementation of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Guidelines for BRI projects. These guidelines have proven instrumental in ensuring that environmental considerations are integrated into the planning and execution of projects.

China has also extended its commitment to environmentally sustainable BRI initiatives through various international agreements and partnerships. This includes the signing of an MOU with the United Nations Environment Programme, aimed at fostering a green Belt and Road from 2017 to 2022. Additionally, China has entered into environmental cooperation accords with over 30 countries and international organizations. Furthermore, in collaboration with various nations, China launched the Initiative for Belt and Road Partnership on Green Development. It has also played a pivotal role in establishing the BRI International Green Development Coalition, boasting more than 150 partners from over 40 countries, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

China successfully carried out a trial test on the main engine of the Long March-10, a new carrier rocket designed for manned moon landing missions, on Saturday, as the country actively makes progress on the road to realizing its goal of landing taikonauts on the moon by the year 2030.

The test assessed all the requirements for the engine, and provided strong support for the solidification for its technical state, the establishment of the technical baseline of the product and improving reliability, the Global Times learned from the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) 6th Academy on Sunday.

The engine used in the test employs advanced liquid oxygen as fuel and can reach a thrust of 130 tons. It is an updated version of China's strongest active rocket engine, which has a thrust of 120 tons and is used in rockets including the Long March-5.

Although the thrust of the engine has only improved by 10 tons, the first stage of the Long March-10 will reportedly carry 21 engines. This will add another 210 tons of the thrust in total, Wang Yanan, chief editor of Beijing-based Aerospace Knowledge magazine, told the Global Times on Sunday.

Zhou Xianqi, a researcher from the CASC, told the Global Times that "the engine has met all the requirements in the Saturday test." He noted that the engine's startup, shutdown and running stability under high and low conditions have been tested, and all relevant parameters have been obtained.

During the development of the engine, many new materials, new processes and new technologies were applied. Researchers have overcome a number of key technical problems such as the sequence of the engine's start-up and shutdown, continuously changing the engine's thrust at scale, in addition to the engine's long life and improved reliability, laying a solid foundation for the engine's future development, the Global Times learned.

"In the second half of this year, we will conduct several high-altitude simulation tests to determine the relevant performance and parameters of this engine," Zhou added.

The new carrier rocket has mainly been developed for the purpose of sending spacecraft and moon landers into the Earth-moon transfer orbit, Rong Yi, a rocket expert with the CASC China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, was quoted as saying by the Xinhua News Agency on Saturday.

The rocket uses liquid hydrogen, liquid oxygen and kerosene as propellants. It has a total length of about 92 meters, a takeoff weight of about 2,187 tons, a takeoff thrust of about 2,678 tons, and a carrying capacity of no less than 27 tons for the Earth-moon transfer orbit, according to Xinhua.

A non-booster configuration of the new rocket is capable of conducting missions for transporting taikonauts and cargo to the space station. Its total length is about 67 meters, the takeoff weight is about 740 tons, the takeoff thrust is about 892 tons, and the low-Earth orbit carrying capacity is no less than 14 tons.

The Long March-10 serves as strategic pillar for China's aim to land taikonauts on the moon before 2030. Preparations for the maiden flight are expected to start in 2027, Rong told Xinhua.

Experts are confident that China will be able to accomplish a manned moon landing before 2030 if the Long March-10 can carry out its maiden flight in 2027, as many parts of the carrier rocket such as the engine, core module and other technical structures are upgrades from those in the Long March-5 series of carrier rockets and so have already been fully tested, according to Wang.

China revealed on July 12 that its primary plan is to carry out a manned moon landing before 2030. To achieve this goal, the country will attempt to use two launch vehicles to send a moon surface lander and manned spacecraft into lunar orbit, which will then rendezvous and dock with each other. Following this maneuver, taikonauts onboard the manned spacecraft will enter the lander.

Apart from the progress with the high-thrust engine and the Long March-10 carrier rocket, China is also actively developing spacecraft and lunar landers for the manned moon landing.

China's new-generation of manned spacecraft successfully entered orbit by Long March-5B carrier rocket and returned to Earth during tests in May 2020. Based on the new spacecraft, China is also advancing development of near-Earth spacecraft designed to accommodate four to seven crew members, building a future for space tourism.

China's lunar lander weighs about 26 tons and consists of a lunar landing module and propelling module. It can bring taikonauts down from lunar orbit to land on the moon and send them back to lunar orbit. The lunar lander is also able to conduct autonomous flight. The lunar lander will also carry scientific payloads for exploration focusing on lunar geology and lunar physics, observation, space life sciences, as well as deep drilling on the lunar surface and utilization of lunar resources, according to Xinhua.

In addition to the lunar rover, China also plans to develop a lunar mobile laboratory with large-scale mobile capability, which can realize long-term unmanned autonomous activities on the lunar surface and support taikonauts for short time stays, Xinhua said.

A new, extremely black material can turn water into steam using only sunlight, without the need to bring the water to a boil. Made of gold nanoparticles tens of billionths of a meter wide affixed to a scaffold pocked with tiny channels, or “nanopores,” the material is a deep black color because it reflects very little visible light. It is 99 percent efficient at absorbing light in the visible spectrum and parts of the infrared spectrum, researchers report April 8 in Science Advances.

Thanks to its highly porous structure, the material floats on the surface of water, allowing it to soak up the sun’s rays. When light of a certain wavelength hits a gold nanoparticle inside one of the nanopores, it stirs up the electrons on the surface, sloshing them back in forth in an oscillation known as a plasmon. These plasmons produce localized, intense heating, which vaporizes the water nearby.
The wavelength of light that excites a plasmon depends on the size of the nanoparticle. So in order to take advantage of as much of the sun’s output as possible, the group interspersed a variety of sizes of gold nanoparticles in the pores, which could therefore absorb a range of wavelengths.
It’s not the first time scientists have produced steam with plasmonic materials, but the new material improves the efficiency of the process, converting up to 90 percent of the light’s energy into steam, says materials scientist Jia Zhu of Nanjing University in China, a leader of the research group.

“They have really come out with a very intriguing solution,” says mechanical engineer Nicholas Fang of MIT, who was not involved in the research. The efficiency isn’t quite as high as scientists have achieved with certain other types of materials, like carbon nanotubes, Fang says. But the new material should be cheaper to manufacture.

Efficient steam generation could be useful for desalination, producing freshwater from salty water, says Zhu. Other potential applications range from sterilization to running steam engines. “Steam can be used for many other things,” he says. “It is a very useful form of energy.”

Animal-hair cords dating to the late 1700s contain a writing system that might generate insights into how the Inca communicated, a new study suggests.

Researchers have long wondered whether some twisted and knotted cords from the Inca Empire, which ran from 1400 to 1532, represent a kind of writing about events and people. Many scholars suspect that these textile artifacts, known as khipus, mainly recorded decimal numbers in an accounting system. Yet Spanish colonial documents say that some Inca khipus contained messages that runners carried to various destinations.
Now a new twist in this knotty mystery comes from two late 18th century khipus stored in a wooden box at San Juan de Collata, a Peruvian village located high in the Andes Mountains. A total of 95 cord combinations of different colors, animal fibers and ply directions, identified among hundreds of hanging cords on these khipus, signify specific syllables, reports Sabine Hyland. Hyland, a social anthropologist at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, describes the khipus online April 19 in Current Anthropology.

Her findings support a story told by Collata villagers that the khipus are sacred writings of two local chiefs concerning a late 18th century rebellion against Spanish authorities.

The Collata khipus display intriguing similarities to Inca khipus, including hanging cords with nearly the same proportions of two basic ply directions, Hyland says. A better understanding of Central Andean khipus from the 1700s through the 1900s will permit a reevaluation of the earlier Inca twisted cords, she suggests.

Each Collata khipu, like surviving Inca examples, consists of a horizontal cord from which a series of cords hang. One Collata specimen contains 288 hanging cords separated into nine groups by cloth ribbons tied at intervals along the top cord. The other khipu features 199 hanging cords divided by ribbons into four groups. Knots appear only at cord ends to prevent unraveling. In contrast, proposed accounting khipus contain many knots denoting numbers.

Collata khipus’ initial hanging cords are made of bundles of colored animal hairs that represent the message’s subject matter, Hyland proposes. One khipu starts with a tuft of bright red deer hair, followed by a woven, cone-shaped bundle with metallic-colored thread. The second khipu commences with a woven, tube-shaped bundle of multicolored alpaca hair atop the remains of a red tassel.
“The Collata khipus are completely unlike accounting khipus that I have been studying for over a decade,” Hyland says. Central Andean khipus generally viewed as accounting devices were often made of cotton, and they contain two main colors, between 15 and 39 cord combinations and repetitive knot sequences.

Hyland makes an “excellent case” that these cords represent syllables and probably words as well, says anthropological archaeologist Penelope Dransart of the University of Wales Trinity Saint David in Lampeter.

So far, Hyland has translated the final three cords on one khipu as the word Alluka, the name of a family lineage in Collata. She first talked to villagers and identified the lineage chief that they claimed wrote one of the khipus. Hyland then assigned the three syllables in Alluka to the trio of ending cords, assuming that the sender’s name would appear either there or at the beginning of the message. That enabled her to decipher the final cords on the second khipu as Yakapar, the name of a family lineage in a neighboring village. Heads of these lineages wrote the corded messages, Hyland suspects.

She has not yet deciphered other cords on the two khipus.

Hyland’s insights into 18th century khipus are “profoundly significant,” but won’t help to decipher Inca twisted and knotted cords, predicts Harvard University archaeologist Gary Urton. Collata villagers probably invented a phonetic form of khipu communication after the Inca civilization’s demise, when they were exposed to Spaniards’ alphabetic writing, Urton says. Inca khipus show no signs of cord combinations that corresponded to particular speech sounds, he asserts.

Thanks to the new discoveries, though, “we have hope that at least some khipus might be understood,” says archaeologist Jeffrey Splitstoser of George Washington University in Washington, D.C. Before Hyland’s report, Splitstoser thought it likely that colored threads on khipus had arbitrary meanings assigned by their makers, making them indecipherable. He studies khipus from the Wari empire, which flourished in the Peruvian Andes from around 600 to 1000 (SN: 5/10/03, p. 302).

Officials at several museums with khipu collections have classified as forgeries a few animal-hair specimens that resemble the Collata khipus, Hyland says. Those alleged fakes deserve a closer look for signs of writing, she contends.

Plate tectonics may have gotten a pretty early start in Earth’s history. Most estimates put the onset of when the large plates that make up the planet’s outer crust began shifting at around 3 billion years ago. But a new study in the Sept. 22 Science that analyzes titanium in continental rocks asserts that plate tectonics began 500 million years earlier.

Nicolas Greber, now at the University of Geneva, and colleagues suggest that previous studies got it wrong because researchers relied on chemical analyses of silicon dioxide in shales, sedimentary rocks that bear the detritus of a variety of continental rocks. These rocks’ silicon dioxide composition can give researchers an idea of when continental rocks began to diverge in makeup from oceanic rocks as a result of plate tectonics.

But weathering can wreak havoc on the chemical makeup of shales. To get around that problem, Greber’s team turned to a new tool: the ratios of two titanium isotopes, forms of the same element that have different masses. The proportion of titanium isotopes in the rocks is a useful stand-in for the difference in silicon dioxide concentration between continental and oceanic rocks, and isn’t so easily altered by weathering. Those data helped the team estimate that continental rocks — and therefore plate tectonics — were already going strong by 3.5 billion years ago.