China just built the world's most powerful hypergravity machine
China has delivered the CHIEF1900, a massive centrifuge that can spin up to 1,900 g-tonnes of force—think extreme gravity on demand.
Delivered to Zhejiang University in December 2024, this $285 million setup is all about recreating wild conditions for science experiments, with three huge centrifuges and 18 in-flight devices spread across six experimental cabins.
Why does this matter?
The CHIEF1900 isn't just big—it's buried deep underground to stay super steady and can fast-forward nature's slowest processes.
For example, it can shrink a century-long event (like pollution spreading) into less than four days.
It beats out its earlier version and even top US facilities in sheer power.
Once fully operational, it'll let researchers safely simulate disasters like earthquakes or dam failures in the lab—helping us figure out how to prevent real-world catastrophes before they happen.