First clear image of a working J-10C with WS-10 engines/ Source: Chinese social media As with so much in China’s air force, much of the J-10’s history is shrouded in mystery. It is understood that the J-10 fighter originated in the 1980s, the prototype was the J-9, a delta wing fighter that was abandoned in the 1980s. It is also believed that the J-10 enjoyed benefit from Israel’s Lavi fighter program. The J-10 fighter was considered a state secret until January 2007, when the media revealed that it had entered service with the PLAAF. A few months later, in May 2007, the Russian arms agency Rosoboronexport announced a $300 million deal to sell 100 Saturn AL-31 engines to China’s J-10 fleet. Then, at the end of 2008, the J-10A made its public debut at the Airshow China exhibition in Zhuhai. Since that time, the AL-31 has been the key engine for all variants of the J-10, from the original J-10A to the more advanced J-10C. Challenges related to the development of the domestic Shenyang WS-10 Taihang engine forced the J-10 to stick with the Russian engine longer than planned. Finally, in early May, a J-10C in a combat unit equipped with a WS-10 engine was discovered by the public. However, there is no official statement yet. Instead, a clear photo of a flying J-10C with a WS-10 engine appeared on social media. Andreas Rupprecht, author of China’s Modern Fighter, was one of the first observers to comment on this. “This is a real milestone not only for the J-10, but even more so for the WS-10 program as it marks the end of China’s dependence on the Russian AL-31 engine for the AL-31. with all three of the PLAAF’s main fighters, namely the J-10C, J-16 and J-20,” he said. He noted that a decade has passed since the J-10B first flew with the WS-10 and that the engine was tested on the J-10A even earlier. Finally, after years of improvement, it seems the WS-10 is reliable and safe enough to power a single-engine fighter. Mounted inside the J-10, the WS-10 can be identified by several characteristics. One is that the petals of the posterior burner are significantly wider than those of the AL-31. The WS-10 also has a structural ring inside the nozzle that is not present on the AL-31. The J-10A used by the Chinese aerobatic team can be distinguished from later variants by its rectangular intake that is not horizontal to the fuselage. This variant was in production until the end of 2014, when production switched to the J-10B. However, the J-10A has been modernized, including the ability to carry the PL-10 infrared-guided missile. However, to evaluate the success of the WS-10 engine requires one thing: Time. Only through use can we know if they are really good, really replacing the Russian AL-31 engines.

The creator of Ethereum claims that the ‘Elon effect’ will gradually lose influence on cryptocurrencies Vitalik Buterin, the “father” of Ethereum recently gave an exclusive interview with CNN about the recent volatility of the cryptocurrency market. The 27-year-old billionaire said that “the crypto market is in a bubble” and “it is very difficult to predict” when this bubble will burst. According to him, the “golden age” of digital currencies has passed and this crisis can last for several months. Earlier, on the morning of May 19, Coinbase recorded that Ethereum, Buterin’s “pet”, fell more than 40%, to below $ 1,900. By the morning of May 20, this coin had recovered to $ 2,700, however, this is still a low number compared to the record milestone of $ 4,384 that Ether achieved on May 11. The ups and downs of the Ether coin have made Buterin “father” pay a significant price when he is holding an asset worth about $ 1.1 billion, now reduced to only about $ 870 million. At the age of 27, Vitalik Buterin, a Russian-Canadian programmer, is already considered a veteran founder in the tech world having seen multiple cryptocurrency boom cycles over the past few years. “We’ve seen at least three crypto bubbles burst. Usually the reason bubbles end is because something happened. This shows that the technology of cryptocurrencies is still there. not ready,” Buterin said. Since late 2013, when preparing for the launch of Ethereum two years later, Buterin has expressed his vision for cryptocurrencies. According to Buterin: “Cryptocurrency has become more than just a toy. It is almost ready to become mainstream.” In the process of developing “pet” Ethereum, Buterin is also not afraid to assert that there is a possibility that Ethereum will eventually catch up and surpass Bitcoin in market value. However, the programmer also said that the cryptocurrency market tends to be “vulnerable” to disruptive events, before they can “build an immune system over time”. Typical is the influence of some billionaires who are treating cryptocurrency as a toy. Mr. Buterin isn’t shy about mentioning Elon Musk’s name: “Mr Musk’s tweets are something the crypto space has only been getting into for the first time in recent months, literally. I think it’s appropriate. It’s reasonable to expect a bit of madness. Because the market will learn a lot from that and will be immune to the Elon Musk effect.” In addition, Mr. Buterin also asserted that governments cannot completely ban but have the ability to block or restrict access. Therefore, the development of cryptocurrencies also needs to listen to regulations from regulatory agencies to avoid getting into legal troubles. Faced with the crisis of digital currency, the “father” of Ethereum thinks that this is a “quiet” for digital currencies to renew themselves. On the Ether side, Mr. Buterin said the coin’s transaction costs will soon be cut. A major technical overhaul is underway that will allow Ether transactions to quickly scale, while cutting the amount of electricity consumed by mining by 1,000 to 10,000 times. “We’re going to go from consuming energy similar to a medium-sized country to just consuming energy like a village,” Buterin said confidently. According to Buterin, if Ether’s competitors don’t reform technically, Ether will soon outstrip them, such as Bitcoin.

The three BLACKPINK members are “muse” of luxury jewelry brands. In less than a year, the three BLACKPINK members become the “muses” of three luxury jewelry brands that have never happened in K-Pop. These brands all affirm that they choose BLACKPINK because of their outstanding temperament, beautiful appearance, and top reputation. Lisa is the ambassador for Bvlgari. However, netizens believe that the real reason lies in the attraction of BLACKPINK on social networks and thus helps the brand’s reputation soar. According to NetBase Quid, a data analysis company, Cartier and Bvlgari have the leading media index of luxury jewelry brands in 2020. The Cartier media index spiked thanks to Jisoo. NetBase Quid calculated that Bvlgari is the most-known jewelry brand on social networks with 2.05 million mentions, more than 20 billion impressions. Cartier is also sticking to the button with 2.03 million name reminders and 17.8 million impressions. These numbers are many times higher than rival brands. Most importantly, all posts related to Bvlgari or Cartier are attached hashtag #lisa, #jisoo and #blackpink. Rosé also helps the Tiffany & Co. brand. better known. The attraction from BLACKPINK has helped Bvlgari or Cartier attract millions of interested people. The image of Jisoo or Lisa wearing the company’s jewelry flooded on social networks also shows that brands benefit greatly when they invite BLACKPINK to be their representative faces. Now, definitely Tiffany & Co. there will be similar success when shaking hands with Rosé.