近日，由中國科學院、中國工程院主辦，中國科學院學部工作局、中國工程院辦公廳、中國科學報社承辦，中國科學院院士和中國工程院院士投票評選的2021年中國十大科技進展新聞（the top 10 news stories of scientific and technological progress）於2022年1月18日在京揭曉。
此項年度評選活動至今已舉辦了28次。評選結果經新聞媒體廣泛報道後，在社會上產生了強烈反響，使公眾進一步瞭解國內外科技發展的動態，對普及科學技術起到了積極作用。
此次評出的2021年中國十大科技進展新聞分別是：
1我國首次火星探測任務取得圓滿成功
6月11日，中國國家航天局公佈了“祝融”號火星車拍攝的首批火星影象，標誌著中國的火星任務取得圓滿成功。三張照片是由“祝融”號的相機拍攝的，包括著陸點全景、火星地形地貌、“中國印跡”（即著陸平臺）影像圖。另一張是由祝融釋放出車底部的分離相機拍攝的“著巡合影”圖，為火星車與著陸平臺的合影。
著陸點全景圖 圖源：國家航天局
火星地形地貌圖 圖源：國家航天局
“中國印跡”圖 圖源：國家航天局
On June 11, the China National Space Administration unveiled the first batch of Mars images taken by the Zhurong Mars rover, marking the success of the country’s Mars mission. Three pictures taken by Zhurong displayed a panoramic view of the landing site, the surrounding terrain and the landing platform. Another photo shot by a second camera deployed by Zhurong on Martian soil, showed the rover and the landing platform together.
天問一號於2020年7月23日由長征五號重型運載火箭從最南端海南省的文昌航天發射中心發射，啟動了中國首次火星任務。
Tianwen 1 was launched by a Long March 5 heavy-lift carrier rocket on July 23 in 2020 from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province, kick-starting China's first mission to Mars.
2中國空間站開啟有人長期駐留時代
天和核心艙 圖源：中國科學報 航天科技集團五院供圖
6月17日，神舟十二號載人飛船發射升空，與中國空間站核心艙天和成功對接。3名航天員進駐核心艙，進行了為期3個月的駐留，開展了一系列空間科學實驗和技術試驗，在軌驗證了航天員長期駐留、再生生保、空間物資補給、出艙活動、艙外操作、在軌維修等空間站建造和運營關鍵技術。
On June 17, the Shenzhou XII manned spacecraft successfully docked with China’s space station core module Tianhe, carrying three astronauts for a three-month stay. During the flight, the astronauts performed two spacewalks, tested Shenzhou XII’s mechanical arm and conducted a number of extravehicular activities. The 3-month residency tested key aspects of the mission including long-term residence in space, recycling of resources and life support mechanisms.
圖源：中國載人航天官方微信公眾號
10月16日，神舟十三號發射升空，將另外三名宇航員送往天宮空間站，開啟為期6個月的在軌駐留，期間將開展一系列科學實驗，進一步驗證在軌長期居住的情況，中國空間站有人長期駐留時代到來。
On Oct 16, Shenzhou XIII carried another three astronauts to the Tiangong Space Station. The astronauts will stay for six months, carrying out a series of scientific experiments and further testing the effects of long-term stays in space, marking the beginning of a long-term manned space station mission.
3我國實現二氧化碳到澱粉的從頭合成
科研人員觀察試管中的人工合成澱粉 圖源：中國科學報 中科院天津工業生物技術研究所供圖
澱粉是“粥飯”中最主要的碳水化合物，是麵粉、大米、玉米等糧食的主要成分，也是重要的工業原料。其主要合成方式是由綠色植物透過光合作用固定二氧化碳來進行。長期以來，科研人員一直在努力改進光合作用這一生命過程，希望提高二氧化碳的轉化速率和光能的利用效率，最終提升澱粉的生產效率。
Starch is the main carbohydrate in porridge and is a major component of flour and grains like rice and maize, as well as an important industrial raw material. It is synthesized by plants through photosynthesis. Researchers have been working for a long time to improve photosynthesis in the hopes of increasing the efficiency of carbon dioxide conversion and absorption of light to increase starch production.
中國科學院天津工業生物技術研究所研究人員提出了一種顛覆性的澱粉製備方法，不依賴植物光合作用，以二氧化碳、電解產生的氫氣為原料，成功生產出澱粉，在國際上首次實現了二氧化碳到澱粉的從頭合成，使澱粉生產從傳統農業種植模式向工業車間生產模式轉變成為可能，取得原創性突破。相關研究成果9月24日線上發表於《科學》雜誌。
Chinese scientists from the Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, which is part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, have developed a new method to create starch from scratch using carbon dioxide, hydrogen and electricity, rather than photosynthesis. The study was published in the journal Sciencein September. This technique may revolutionize the production of starch, bringing it from the farm to the factory.
4我國團隊憑打破“量子霸權”的超算應用摘得2021年度“戈登貝爾獎”
獲獎現場 圖源：中國科學報 之江實驗室、國家超算無錫中心供圖
11月18日於美國密蘇里州聖路易斯舉行的全球超級計算大會（SC21）上，國際計算機協會（ACM）將2021年度“戈登貝爾獎”授予中國超算應用團隊。這支由之江實驗室、國家超算無錫中心等單位研究人員組成的聯合科研團隊，基於新一代神威超級計算機的應用“超大規模量子隨機電路實時模擬”（SWQSIM）獲此殊榮。
The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) gave the 2021 Gordon Bell Prize, an annual award for outstanding achievement in high-performance computing, to a Chinese supercomputing team at the Supercomputing Conference (SC21) held in St. Louis on Nov 18, for their project entitled “Closing the ‘Quantum Supremacy’ Gap: Achieving Real-Time Simulation of a Random Quantum Circuit Using a New Sunway Supercomputer.”
量子優越性，或稱量子優勢，指的是一個量子裝置可以在任何可行的時間內解決任何經典計算機無法解決的問題。谷歌和中國科技大學的研究人員都曾聲稱他們已經開發出了達到量子優勢的裝置。
Quantum supremacy, or quantum advantage, refers to a device capable of solving problems standard computers cannot in a feasible amount of time. Researchers at Google and the University of Science and Technology of China have both claimed to have developed devices that achieve quantum supremacy.
確定一個裝置是否在給定任務下實現量子優勢，首先要對隨機量子電路（RQC）中不同量子位元的相互作用進行取樣。由於隨機量子電路中的量子位元之間可能存在大量的相互作用，對其相互作用進行建模只能由高效能計算機解決。
Determining whether a device achieves quantum dominance in a given task starts with sampling the interactions between quantum bits in a random quantum circuit (RQC). Due to the large number of interactions possible, modeling the interactions of the quantum bits can only be carried out by high-performance computers.
在這項工作中，中國研究人員介紹了一個設計過程，涵蓋了模擬所需的演算法、並行化和架構。使用新一代神威超級計算機，他們有效地模擬了10x10x（1+40+1）的隨機量子電路，這也被認為是模擬RQC的一個新的里程碑，遠遠超過了谷歌“頂點”超級計算機的表現。
In their prizewinning project, Chinese researchers introduced a design process encompassing algorithms and parallelization as well as the architecture required for the simulation. Using the new-generation Sunway Supercomputer, they effectively simulated a 10x10x (1+40+1) random quantum circuit, which is considered a new milestone for simulation of RQC, far outpacing the most recent achievements of Google’s Summit supercomputer.
51400萬億電子伏特 我國科學家觀測到迄今最高能量光子
2021年7月，LHAASO全陣列建成並投入執行 圖源：中國科學報 中科院高能物理研究所供圖
中國科學院高能物理研究所牽頭的國際合作組依託國家重大科技基礎設施“高海拔宇宙線觀測站（LHAASO）”，在銀河系內發現12個超高能宇宙線加速器，並記錄到能量達1.4拍電子伏（PeV，拍=千萬億）的伽馬射線光子，這是迄今為止能量最高的光。
Using the Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO), an international research team led by the Institute of High Energy Physics, which is part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences detected a dozen ultra-high-energy cosmic accelerators within the Milky Way, and discovered gamma ray photons registering at up to 1.4 petaelectronvolts (PeV), the highest energy light ever registered.
研究成果突破了人類對銀河系粒子加速的傳統認知，揭示了銀河系內普遍存在能夠把粒子加速到超過1PeV的宇宙線加速器，開啟了“超高能伽馬天文”觀測時代。相關成果5月17日發表於《自然》。
The findings overturn the traditional understanding of the Milky Way by proving the existence of cosmic accelerators capable of accelerating charged particles to more than 1 PeV, and open up an era of ultra-high-energy gamma astronomy. The study was published in the journal Naturein May.
6嫦娥五號樣品重要研究成果先後出爐
掃描電子顯微鏡下進行成分分析 圖源：中國科學報 中科院地質與地球物理研究所供圖
10月19日，中國科學院地質與地球物理研究所和國家天文臺主導，聯合多家研究機構釋出了圍繞月球演化重要科學問題取得的突破性進展。相關研究成果發表在《自然》。
On Oct 19, scientists from the Institute of Geology and Geophysics and the National Astronomical Observatories, which are both part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, released groundbreaking findings on the evolution of the moon based on studies of the lunar samples brought back by the Chang’e 5 mission. The results were published in the journal Nature.
科研人員利用超高空間解析度鈾 — 鉛（U-Pb）定年技術，對嫦娥五號月球樣品玄武岩岩屑中50餘顆富鈾礦物（斜鋯石、鈣鈦鋯石、靜海石）進行分析，確定玄武岩形成年齡為20億年，表明月球直到20億年前仍存在岩漿活動，比以往月球樣品限定的岩漿活動延長了約8億年。
Using dating techniques, researchers analyzed more than 50 uranium-rich minerals in the basaltic rock samples and determined they were over 2 billion years old, indicating that lunar volcanism was still occurring about 800 million years later than previously thought.
研究顯示，嫦娥五號月球樣品玄武岩初始熔融時並沒有捲入富集鉀、稀土元素、磷的“克里普物質”——生熱元素，嫦娥五號月球樣品富集這些生熱元素的特徵，是由於岩漿後期經過大量礦物結晶固化後，殘餘部分富集而來。這一結果排除了嫦娥五號著陸區岩石的初始岩漿熔融熱源來自放射性生熱元素的主流假說。
The study also showed that the high content of heat-producing elements in the samples — potassium, rare earths and phosphorus — did not originate in the moon’s mantle where lava would ordinarily have formed, but came from the remnants of crystallized magma. This finding ruled out the hypothesis that the heat responsible for the initial rock melt at the Chang’e 5 landing site was generated by radioactive heat-generating elements.
7異源四倍體野生稻快速從頭馴化獲得新突破
異源四倍體野生稻與二倍體栽培稻的植株表型 圖源：中國科學報 中科院種子創新研究院/遺傳與發育生物學研究所供圖
隨著世界人口的快速增長，至2050年糧食產量或將增加50%才能完全滿足需求。與此同時，近年來世界氣候變化加劇，全球氣候變暖、極端天氣頻發等都為糧食安全帶來了巨大挑戰。在此背景下，如何進一步提高作物單產成為亟待解決的嚴峻問題。
With the rapid growth of the world’s population, it is believed that food production may have to increase 50 percent by 2050 to meet demand. At the same time, climate change, global warming and frequent instances of extreme weather pose additional challenges to food security. In this context, increasing crop yields has become a serious issue that needs to be addressed.
中國科學院遺傳與發育生物學研究所李家洋院士團隊首次提出了異源四倍體野生稻快速從頭馴化的新策略，旨在最終培育出新型多倍體水稻作物，這是一種一直令科學家渴望培育出的水稻品種，其活力和環境穩健性有助於大幅提高糧食產量並增加作物環境變化適應性。本項研究為未來應對糧食危機提出了一種新的可行策略，相關研究成果2月4日發表於《細胞》。
Scientists led by academician Li Jiayang from the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology of Chinese Academy of Sciences proposed a route to de novo domestication of wild allotetraploid rice, a strategy aimed ultimately at producing polyploid rice, a variety coveted for its vigor and robustness that can help significantly increase yields and adaptability to environmental change. The study, published in the journal Cellin February, proposed a new approach to dealing with future food crises.
8我國研發成功-271℃超流氦大型低溫製冷裝備
液氦到超流氦溫區大型低溫製冷系統（模型） 圖源：中國科學報 中科院理化技術研究所供圖
4月15日，由中國科學院理化技術研究所承擔的國家重大科研裝備研製專案 “液氦到超流氦溫區大型低溫製冷系統研製 ”透過驗收及成果鑑定，標誌著我國具備了研製液氦溫度（零下269攝氏度）千瓦級和超流氦溫度（零下271攝氏度）百瓦級大型低溫製冷裝備的能力。液氦到超流氦溫區大型低溫製冷系統可滿足航空航天工業、氫能儲運、氦資源開發等領域的迫切需要。
A major scientific research project undertaken by the Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry at the Chinese Academy of Sciences to develop a large-scale cryogenic refrigeration system in the liquid and superfluid helium temperature ranges, passed appraisal in April, demonstrating that China is capable of developing large-scale cryogenic refrigeration equipment that work at a liquid helium temperature of -269 C kilowatt level and a superfluid helium temperature of -271 C kilowatt level. Large-scale liquid and superfluid helium temperature range cryogenic refrigeration equipment is indispensable to the aerospace industry, hydrogen energy storage and transportation, the development of helium resources and other fields.
9植物到動物的功能基因轉移首獲證實
Cell論文機理圖 圖源：中國科學報 張友軍團隊供圖
中國農業科學院蔬菜花卉研究所張友軍團隊經過20年追蹤研究，發現被聯合國糧農組織（FAO）認定的迄今唯一“超級害蟲”煙粉蝨，從寄主植物那裡獲得了防禦性基因。這是現代生物學誕生100多年來，首次研究證實植物和動物之間存在功能性基因水平轉移現象。
A team of scientists led by Zhang Youjun of the Institute of Vegetables and Flowers at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, found that a common pest known as whitefly (Bemisia tabaci) has acquired a gene from one of the plants it feeds on. The gene, which originally helped the plant produce a toxin to repel pests, now protects the bug. The finding is the first report of horizontal gene transfer between a plant and an animal in more than a century of modern biology.
這是我國農業害蟲研究領域在《細胞》雜誌的首篇論文，揭示了昆蟲如何利用水平轉移基因來克服宿主的防禦，為探索昆蟲適應性進化規律開闢了新的視角，也為新一代基因導向的害蟲防控技術研發提供全新思路。
The results were published in the journal Cellin March and appeared as the journal’s cover article on April 1. This is the first paper in the field of agricultural pest research from China to be published in the journal. It reveals how insects use horizontal gene transfer to overcome host defense, providing new perspectives for exploring the evolutionary laws of insect adaptation as well as new ideas for the development of gene-related pest prevention and control technologies.
10稀土離子實現多模式量子中繼及1小時光儲存
稀土離子摻雜晶體在低溫環境下工作的實拍照片 圖源：中國科學報 中國科學技術大學供圖
光纖中的光子損耗阻礙了量子資訊在地面的長距離傳播。量子中繼器是一種解決方案，但由於量子中繼器方案的系統複雜性，到目前為止，通訊距離仍然有限。另一種解決方案包括可運輸的量子儲存器和裝有量子儲存器的衛星，其中長壽命的光量子儲存器是實現全球量子通訊的關鍵部件。然而，迄今為止的光儲存器的最長儲存時間約為1分鐘。
Photon loss in optical fibers prevents long-distance distribution of quantum information on the ground. Quantum repeaters have been proposed as a means of overcoming the problem, but communication distance is still limited because of the complexity of the system. Alternative solutions include transportable quantum memory and quantum-memory-equipped satellites, where long-lived optical quantum memories are key components in realizing global quantum communication. Until recently however, it had not been possible to store optical memories demonstrated for longer than a minute.
中國科技大學郭光燦院士領導的研究團隊開發了基於稀土離子摻雜晶體的高效能固體量子儲存器，成功將光的儲存時間提高至1小時，為未來基於長壽命固體量子儲存器的大規模量子通訊提供了方案。該成果分別於4月22日和6月2日發表於《自然通訊》和《自然》。
A research team led by academician Guo Guangcan of the University of Science and Technology of China, has developed high-performance solid quantum memory based on rare-earth ion-doped crystals that successfully increased the coherent storage of light to an hour, paving way for future large-scale quantum communication based on long-lived solid quantum memories. The results were published in the journals Nature CommunicationsandNatureon April 22 and June 2, respectively.
記者：張洋菲
編輯：陳月華
實習生：申樂
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