BEIJING, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) — The following is a summary of published science and technology news of China.

MASS OF MILKY WAY

A research team made up of Chinese and foreign scientists has accurately measured the mass of the Milky Way revealing it to be about 550 billion times the mass of the Sun.

The results were published recently in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

The newly measured mass of the Milky Way is nearly half the average value measured by other research teams, which was about 1 trillion times the mass of the Sun.

PEA GENOMES

Chinese scientists have accurately mapped the reference genome and pan-genome of peas, providing a reference for its evolution and cultivation, according to the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS).

As a typical plant for genetic research, the pea has been widely studied. However, its genome is large and complicated to assemble, meaning that its genome sequence had never been mapped with a high degree of accuracy.

A research team from the Institute of Crop Sciences under the CAAS sequenced ZW6, the main pea variety planted in China, and provided improved high-quality fine physical maps and annotations of the pea based on advanced sequencing technologies.

SMART POSTAL INDUSTRY

The ever-growing express delivery market has called for higher capacity and efficiency in handling parcels, prompting Chinese courier companies to embrace a series of advanced technologies and equipment.

For instance, robots have assisted workers in sorting goods. Big data tools help optimize transport routes and various types of vehicles such as cars, airplanes and high-speed trains have been utilized to shorten transport time.

Consumers have also found parcel pickup more convenient and interesting with tech-savvy products such as unmanned vehicles, drones, and contactless parcel delivery lockers constantly coming to the fore.