Tag: National Central University

A Taiwan-developed fiber-optic gyroscope (FOG), a critical navigation sensor for satellites and spacecraft, has successfully completed its first in-orbit demonstration aboard the 3U CubeSat KOYO-1, marking a milestone for the country’s growing space technology capabilities.

The satellite was developed through a collaboration led by National Central University (NCU), together with Taiwanese startup Aegiverse and Indian space startup HEX20. After establishing communications in orbit, the mission confirmed that the domestically developed fiber-optic gyroscope operates reliably in the space environment.

Fiber-optic gyroscopes are widely used for attitude determination and navigation in aircraft, launch vehicles, and satellites. Because they require highly precise optical sensing and signal processing, space-qualified systems remain dominated by a handful of countries. The successful flight demonstration represents Taiwan’s first in-orbit validation of an indigenous fiber-optic gyroscope.

The achievement is the culmination of a 16-year research effort at NCU. Development began in 2009, followed by a successful suborbital rocket test of the core photonic integrated optical circuits in 2014. The project later expanded through collaborations between researchers in photonics and space science, eventually leading to the establishment of Aegiverse to commercialize the technology and develop satellite payloads.

Beyond testing the gyroscope, KOYO-1 will monitor subtle disturbances in low Earth orbit caused by variations in ionospheric plasma density. The observations are expected to improve understanding of ionospheric dynamics and contribute to space weather research.

Measuring just 30 centimeters in length, the CubeSat overall incorporates more than 50% Taiwan-developed technologies. The mission demonstrates not only the readiness of Taiwan’s indigenous photonic sensing technology for space, but also the country’s growing capability to develop advanced satellite systems through academia–industry collaboration. 

Marine heatwaves in the northwestern Pacific can persist for four to five years, making them among the world’s longest-lasting ocean warming events. A new study led by researchers at National Central University (NCU) identifies the atmospheric mechanism that sustains these prolonged extremes, challenging the long-held view that they are driven mainly by local ocean and weather conditions.

The study, led by Jin-Yi Yu, Chair Professor in NCU’s Department of Atmospheric Sciences, and Yu Zhao, a doctoral researcher at the University of California, Irvine, appears in Science Advances.

The researchers found that these long-lived marine heatwaves are closely linked to the Circumglobal Wave (CGW), a large-scale atmospheric wave pattern that circles the Northern Hemisphere through Europe, Asia, the North Pacific and the North Atlantic. Rather than isolated regional events, the study suggests that northwestern Pacific marine heatwaves are part of a cross-basin climate phenomenon connected by atmospheric teleconnections.

Drawing on more than 150 years of observations, simulations from 43 climate models and atmospheric model experiments, the team also identified a self-reinforcing feedback that helps marine heatwaves persist. Since the 1970s, stronger summertime Circumglobal Wave activity has intensified interactions between ocean basins, extending the duration of these warming events.

The findings provide a new framework for understanding persistent marine heatwaves and could improve seasonal climate predictions by enabling scientists to better forecast how long these events will last. Better prediction of prolonged ocean warming could support fisheries management, marine ecosystem conservation and climate adaptation in a warming world.

The magnitude 8.8 earthquake that struck off Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula on July 29, 2025, triggered a trans-Pacific tsunami and left detectable disturbances hundreds of kilometers above Earth in the ionosphere. A research team led by National Central University (NCU), including Ph.D. student Tien-Chi Liu, Professor Jann-Yenq Liu, Yushan Scholar Prof. Kenji Satake and Dr. Chun-Yen Huang of Kyoto University, successfully detected ionospheric disturbances generated by the earthquake and tsunami using data from more than 1,400 Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers across Japan and Taiwan. Their findings have been published in Geophysical Research Letters.

The study represents a significant breakthrough in far-field observations. Despite the observation network being located more than 2,000 kilometers from the earthquake epicenter, the researchers successfully identified weak ionospheric signals by integrating large-scale GNSS observations with standardized data processing, ray-tracing analysis, and beamforming techniques. These methods enabled the team to reconstruct the tsunami source from subtle disturbances in the upper atmosphere.

The analysis revealed three distinct types of ionospheric waves. The first, traveling at approximately 3.6 kilometers per second, was generated directly by the seismic waves. The other two propagated at approximately 273 and 215 meters per second—velocities consistent with tsunami propagation in the ocean—confirming that tsunami-driven atmospheric waves can travel upward and produce measurable perturbations in the ionosphere detectable by GNSS observations.

The tsunami source inferred from the first ionospheric disturbance differed by only about 90 kilometers from the principal seafloor slip region independently derived from DART (Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis) pressure-gauge data by Prof. Kenji Satake and collaborators. This close agreement demonstrates that ionospheric observations can accurately identify the location of major submarine rupture and tsunami generation.

According to Prof. Jann-Yenq Liu, the ionosphere functions as a vast natural sensing network above Earth. Rapidly determining tsunami source locations and propagation directions through ionospheric observations could strengthen tsunami early-warning capabilities and improve disaster preparedness throughout the Pacific region.

As global temperatures continue to rise, scientists at National Central University (NCU) have uncovered a key molecular mechanism that enables plants to survive heat stress. A research team led by Professor Shaw-Jye Wu and Dr. Jia-Rong Wu from NCU’s Department of Life Sciences discovered that the nuclear E3 ubiquitin ligase PUB49 works together with the heat tolerance protein HIT4 to regulate heat-induced chromatin remodeling, a process essential for plant thermotolerance. Their findings were published in the international journal Journal of Experimental Botany.

Unlike previous studies that focused mainly on heat shock proteins (HSPs), the NCU team screened more than 100,000 Arabidopsis thaliana seeds using a forward genetics approach to identify genes responsible for heat tolerance. The study revealed that PUB49 physically interacts with HIT4 and is indispensable for the chromatin reorganization required to activate plant heat responses.

The research marks the first demonstration that PUB49, a nuclear U-box E3 ubiquitin ligase, directly participates in heat-induced chromocenter decondensation. By establishing a molecular link between ubiquitination, chromatin remodeling, and thermotolerance, the study opens a new avenue for understanding how plants adapt to extreme temperatures.

Professor Wu said that as climate change intensifies, heat stress has become a major threat to agricultural productivity and global food security. The discovery not only advances fundamental knowledge of plant heat adaptation but also provides a promising molecular target for developing heat-tolerant crops, helping strengthen agricultural resilience in a warming world.

As global temperatures continue to rise, scientists at National Central University (NCU) have uncovered a key molecular mechanism that enables plants to survive heat stress. A research team led by Professor Shaw-Jye Wu and Dr. Jia-Rong Wu from NCU’s Department of Life Sciences discovered that the nuclear E3 ubiquitin ligase PUB49 works together with the heat tolerance protein HIT4 to regulate heat-induced chromatin remodeling, a process essential for plant thermotolerance. Their findings were published in the international journal Journal of Experimental Botany.

Unlike previous studies that focused mainly on heat shock proteins (HSPs), the NCU team screened more than 100,000 Arabidopsis thaliana seeds using a forward genetics approach to identify genes responsible for heat tolerance. The study revealed that PUB49 physically interacts with HIT4 and is indispensable for the chromatin reorganization required to activate plant heat responses.

The research marks the first demonstration that PUB49, a nuclear U-box E3 ubiquitin ligase, directly participates in heat-induced chromocenter decondensation. By establishing a molecular link between ubiquitination, chromatin remodeling, and thermotolerance, the study opens a new avenue for understanding how plants adapt to extreme temperatures.

Professor Wu said that as climate change intensifies, heat stress has become a major threat to agricultural productivity and global food security. The discovery not only advances fundamental knowledge of plant heat adaptation but also provides a promising molecular target for developing heat-tolerant crops, helping strengthen agricultural resilience in a warming world.