In a groundbreaking initiative, China has installed a massive 35-meter diameter sphere detector as part of the Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (Juno) project in Jiangmen, Guangdong province. This ambitious project, which has a budget of US$376 million, aims to measure neutrinos produced by two nearby nuclear power plants. The sphere will contain 20,000 tonnes of liquid scintillator and will be suspended in 35,000 tonnes of pure water, located 700 meters underground. Neutrinos are notoriously difficult to detect due to their lack of charge and very little mass, making this project a significant step forward in particle physics research [cbdadc08].
In addition to the neutrino detection efforts, China has made significant advancements in radar technology with the development of the LARID radar system, capable of detecting plasma bubbles over vast distances. Located in Hainan, this radar can identify plasma bubbles up to 9,600km away, with notable detections occurring over the pyramids in Giza and Midway Islands almost simultaneously. The largest radar detection event took place from November 4-6, 2023. The LARID radar operates in the 8-22MHz frequency band and has seen its effective detection range improve dramatically from 3,000km to 9,600km in less than six months. Chinese scientists have proposed building additional radars for global monitoring, although it is important to note that LARID is not designed to detect military targets. However, similar technologies are utilized by the Chinese military for tracking stealth aircraft [35ddad71].
Furthermore, China has developed another advanced radar capable of tracking hypersonic missiles. This radar, created by scientists from Tsinghua University, can track 10 incoming hypersonic missiles traveling at Mach 20. The system incorporates lasers to transmit information at the speed of light, achieving an impressive error margin of only 28cm when estimating the distance of missiles traveling at nearly 7km per second. It boasts a detection range of over 600km and can accurately identify false targets. This microwave photonic radar is considered essential for the next generation of fire-control radars and can be integrated into air-defense missiles or aircraft. Successful laboratory tests have confirmed its capabilities in simulating hypersonic target movements [1d9abd25].