
The 15th five-year archaeology work plan prioritizes advanced technologies like AI and remote sensing, while expanding international research partnerships across the Silk Road, Himalayan regions, and Austronesian-speaking areas.
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The 15th five-year plan outlines strategic goals for archaeological development and international cooperation.
Scientists will develop technologies such as remote sensing, ancient DNA analysis, underwater archaeology robots and artificial intelligence (AI) models for virtual restoration of excavated artefacts, according to the 15th five-year work plan for archaeology.
They will also expand international partnerships to conduct fieldwork across Asia and launch joint research in the Austronesian-speaking regions, the Himalayan area and along the Silk Road and Maritime Silk Road.
The 2026 World's Top Scientists Forum opened in Lingang, Shanghai on the 31st, focusing on "Paradigm Change: The Next Decade of Scientific Breakthroughs." The Dingke Award Ceremony was held on site, and Chinese and foreign scientists such as Ingrid Dobesi, Yuan Junying, and Wang Xiaodong won the awards.
The "Intelligent Eye" vegetation health intelligent agent developed by the Aerospace Information Innovation Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences was released in Beijing on the 31st. This agent combines AI technology and aerospace information to provide scientific and technological support for global food, biological and ecological security.

Sungkyunkwan University president Yoo Ji-beom states that the West is giving way to Asia in applied technology, driven by intense competition for global research talent in China, Japan, and South Korea.

Zhang Qiang, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said in Lanzhou on the 30th that scientific research must be oriented to the international frontier and serve national development. His team proposed the concepts of "anti-evaporation paradox" and "ultra-thick boundary layer", challenging the mainstream international views, and has long-term roots in the northwest to serve drought meteorological disaster reduction.
Scientific research teams such as the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have developed a new generation of non-invasive ultrasound brain-computer interface technology. This technology does not require craniotomy or electrode implantation, and uses ultrasound to directionally intervene in millimeter-level targets. It has been applied to clinical intervention research on patients with epilepsy, depression, and chronic disorders of consciousness and has made progress.
The China Institute of Atomic Energy, in collaboration with a number of universities, used the SG-II laser device to completely demonstrate the process of nanoflares heating the corona through magnetic reconnection in the laboratory for the first time, providing a key quantitative benchmark for solving the major problem of "coronal heating" in astronomy.