China's record 1900g-tonne hypergravity machine compresses space, time

China has set a new benchmark in hypergravity research with the completion of CHIEF1900, the world’s most powerful centrifuge, capable of simulating 1900 g-tonnes—significantly surpassing its predecessor, CHIEF1300, which was launched just months earlier. Built by Shanghai Electric Nuclear Power Group for Zhejiang University’s Centrifugal Hypergravity and Interdisciplinary Experiment Facility (CHIEF), CHIEF1900 enables scientists to study the effects of gravitational forces far stronger than Earth’s on materials and biological structures. The facility, located 15 meters underground to reduce vibrations, represents a major investment of 2 billion yuan (US$285 million) and invites global researchers to utilize its capabilities. The primary purpose of CHIEF1900 extends beyond space travel research; it compresses space and time by applying intense centrifugal forces to scaled-down models, allowing the simulation of real-world stresses and phenomena that would otherwise take decades or span vast distances. For example, spinning a small dam