The thick pelt that helps polar bears to survive frigid Arctic winters has inspired a warm, sturdy fiber. Inspired by the microstructure and thermal insulation function of the polar bear hair, a research team led by Professor BAI Hao with ZJU’s College of Chemical and Biological Engineering has used a freeze-spinning technique to continuously fabricate silk fibroin solution into a fiber with aligned porous microstructure.A bunny covered in fabric that mimics a polar bear's furThe ...

Credit: Asian Development BankSince the advent of the Industrial Revolution, human activities have accelerated the consumption of fossil fuels and deforestation, thereby contributing to a significant atmospheric change.Intimately related to that are global warming, rising sea levels, reduction in biodiversity and frequent occurrences of extreme climates. At present, scientists are more fully aware that climate change may well exert a potential and unpredictable impact on the ecological system th...

Just as there is no identical leaf in the world, there is no identical cell, either. Science renders it possible for us to “read” every single cell in a living creature.A research team led by Professor GUO Guoji with ZJU's Center for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine published their research findings in the February 22 issue of Cell. The team developed Microwell-seq, a high-throughput and low-cost scRNA-seq platform using simple, inexpensive devices. Using Microwell-seq, they a...

According to the World Health Organization, depression is a common illness worldwide, with more than 300 million people affected. It can cause the affected person to suffer greatly and function poorly at work, at school and in the family. At its worst, depression can lead to suicide.Professor of Neurobiology HU Hailan has been doing impactful research into how emotional and social behaviors are encoded and regulated in the brain. On February 15, her team made a new breakthrough with tw...

Jueying was the name of a fine horse belonging to an ancient Chinese warlord. It suggests that the horse ran so fast that it even left its own shadow behind. Now we have a different "Jueying", a cool robot dog made by ZJU!With the Year of the Dog close at hand, a “robot dog” from ZJU makes its debut. This quadruped robot dog, called “Jueying”, is able to clamber up a steep slope, walk on thick snow and regain its balance even after getting a heavy hit.Jueying is devised b...

The Chinese Ministry of Education has recently selected and released the first batch of 490 national-level MOOCs. Among them, nine courses are offered by Zhejiang University –  - The Basics of Game Theory by Prof. JIANG Wenhua- Chinese Modern and Contemporary History by Prof. DUAN Zhiwen- Overview of New Media by Prof. WEI Lu- Probability and Statistics by Prof. ZHANG Guofen- Classics of Tang Poems by Prof. HU Kexian- Arts of Classroom Conve...

The National Development and Reform Commission as given its seal of approval to Zhejiang University for leading the construction of Centrifugal Hyper-gravity and Interdisciplinary Experiment Facility (CHIEF) as part of China’s key sci-tech infrastructure recently. Centrifugal modeling first proposed by the French scientist E. Philips in 1869CHIEF—a comprehensive hyper-gravity and interdisciplinary experiment facility with the largest capacity and the most extensive application worldwide—is expe...

A fraction of severe cancer patients may suffer from an unbalanced immune system. As a consequence, they are subject to viral disease and thereby develop and even die of certain complications. It is evident that malignancies can compromise innate immunity, but their mechanisms remain largely obscure at present.The research team led by Prof. Zhang Long of the Life Sciences Institute, Zhejiang University, discovers that, via tumor-derived exosomes (TEXs), cancers are able to transfer the activated...

No one can ever ignore this rising disruptor in China. From automated retail stores to car vending machines, New Retail has revolutionized the structure of commerce and customer shopping habits.  The future of New Retail was the focus of a joint forum co-hosted by Zhejiang University and Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group on January 28.  A term coined in 2016 by Alibaba Founder Jack Ma, “New Retail” refers to the integration of online, offline logistics and da...

Mutations in transmembrane channel like (TMC) proteins TMC1 and TMC2 cause deafness and vestibular defects in mammals. However, their precise action modes are elusive. On January 25, Professor KANG Lijun's group published a research article entitled “TMC Proteins Modulate Egg Laying and Membrane Excitability through a Background Leak Conductance in C. elegans” in the top-tier research journal Neuron. They revealed a novel role of TMC proteins in regulating of resting membrane potentia...