The Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope, the world's largest single-dish radio telescope, discovered its first millisecond pulsar, a special kind of neutron star that rotates hundreds of times per second. The discovery could help scientists to detect new types of gravitational waves.

Back on Earth, China's scientists produced the world's first cloned monkey, created the first healthy mice pups born from same-sex parents, and discovered that a type of jumping spider can produce a milk-like substance to feed its young.

"We are in the best era in history for the development of science and innovation," Bai Chunli, president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said in March at a forum to celebrate the 40th anniversary of "The Spring of Science".