The opening of the Beijing—Zhangjiakou high-speed railway took place in December, 2019. The railway is a milestone in China’s railway development because it has used the latest technologies in railway building.

The railway is 174 kilometers long, with 10 stations. The stations are managed by one control center, which is described by China Railway Beijing Group — also known as CR Bejing — as an “intelligent (智能的) brain”. The center collects and shares the stations’ real-time information. “With the information, the workers in the center can control the stations’ lighting and temperature, monitor (监测) trains’ operation and deal with emergencies(紧急情况).” said Zhu Dianping, from CR Beiing.

Zhu said some trains on the Bejing—Zhangjiakou line are “smart” as they provide 5G signals and wireless charging (无线充电) for passengers, as well as intelligent lighting. These trains can start and stop, open and close doors, and deal with emergencies themselves.

All the ten stations provide e-ticket services. Travelers who have bought tickets online can use their ID cards instead of waiting in line for paper tickets.

At Qinghe Railway Station in Beijing, China’s first visual remote ticket vending machine (远程可视售票机) has been installed (安装) to help passengers who are not able to afford tickets online. Passengers keep in touch with the conductor through the machine and buy tickets according to video instructions.

In addition, the Badaling Great Wall Station, the deepest underground railway station in China, is another great example of the country’s achievements in railway building.

A computer can get very hot when it works on a lot of programs. It can cost a lot to cool the computer. So some scientists want to know what would happen when if the heat from the computer could be used.

Large Internet companies such as Google and Microsoft have thousands of computers. As these computers deal with information, they produce lots of heat, so they need huge cooling systems. These systems send the heat into the air.

A company in the Netherlands thinks paying to make the computers work and then paying again to cool them are a waste of energy. So the company developed a special device—the e-Radiator.

Boaz Leupe, head of the company, says that e-Radiator works as a heating system and saves money. He explains that the energy is used twice—once to heat the home and once to cool the computer and that the users don't have to pay to cool their computers.

Five homeowners in the Netherlands are testing the heating system in their homes.

"We pay for the computer usage, so in that way, homeowners get heating for free." Boaz says.

Jan Visser is one of the homeowners. "If you use the computer more, the e-Radiator produces more heat," he says. "It cannot provide enough heat if you don't use your computer often." But he is ready to try it. It's a great help to his family.

The company says e-Radiators produce heat temperature of up to 55℃. It says the system could save its users about $ 440 a year.