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The lighter side of serious science
By Yu Ning and Xu Wenwen |
April 11, 2012, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
SCIENCE students may have a geeky reputation, but they do create some cool stuff, judging by the winners of the Hangzhou Pineapple Science Award.
One team created a water dispenser that posts comments on weibo, while another group invented a robot that can do a dance from "Swan Lake."
The awards are sponsored by the Zhejiang Science and Technology Museum and Guokr.com. They are designed to encourage curiosity and creativity among science students.
Ji Shisan, the CEO of Guokr.com who initiated the award, says he was inspired by the Ig Nobel Prizes, an American parody of the Nobel Prizes handed out to unusual or trivial achievements in scientific research.
However, Ji says the Pineapple Science Award is different from the Ig Nobel Prizes as there is no self-ridicule involved.
"The Pineapple Science Award concentrates on providing a proper platform to encourage people's curiosity while also helping the public better understand science," Ji says.
This has been the first year the awards have been handed out. They are expected to be given annually.
Interesting and serious
Two juries - one featuring 15 scientists and another with 26 members including company directors, comedians, actors and writers - selected the nine winners in different categories including biology, mathematics, physics and invention.
Winning projects should be imaginative, interesting and thought-provoking.
"Jury A ensures the science is sound and jury B decides whether it's interesting enough," says Ji. "As a result, the winning projects should be both interesting and serious."
The biology award was presented by Barry J. Marshall, an Australian physician who won a Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 2005.
"I think it's good to get young people involved in competition or projects involving on invention and discovery," Marshall tells Shanghai Daily. "It can encourage them to learn something new, which is of great importance in one's life.
"Learning and being aware of new high-tech products is very helpful to enrich one's spare time," Marshall adds.
The Hangzhou Pineapple Science Award started after Ji read Mark Abraham's book "Foam" about the Ig Nobel Prizes.
In October, Ji decided to start a Chinese version of the Ig Nobels - minus the satire - by writing on his weibo and asking whether anyone was willing to host such an award. Li Ruihong, director of Zhejiang Science and Technology Museum, was quick to reply.
They organized the awards in four months. The idea has been well-received with nearly 200 works having been submitted, mostly by university students or teachers.
Water dispenser cute girl
Inventor: Professor Pan Gang and Dr Cheng Longbiao from the Computer Science and Technology College of Zhejiang University
"Water dispenser cute girl" is a water dispenser in a laboratory at Yuquan campus of Zhejiang University. It is connected to a microblog and can post messages online. It tells people whether the water in the dispenser is hot or not and when the water jug needs to be replaced.
The microblog's avatar features a Japanese-cartoon-like girl. It posts messages such as: "Master, I'm boiling, please drink me as soon as possible," or "Master, I am hot and ready to be embraced by your cup."
Internet of things technology has made the dispenser possible. Compared with other entries for the award, it is not so complicated. But it did capture the imagination of the mass media, making more people aware of the Internet of things technology.
Professor Pan Gang says: "The interaction between human and machine is popular, just like SIRI on the iPhone, and it's an easy technology that a high school student can accomplish with a professor's instruction."
Pan's team is working on more ideas such as allowing people to adjust the air conditioner temperature via cell phone when they are not home.
Pineapple Science Award project winners
? Psychology Prize - "Counting money relieves people"
? Mathematics Prize - "Dancing Robot"
? Physics Prize - "Monkey brain controls robot hand"
? Chemistry Prize - "Chicken soup braised in a pottery pot tastes better"
? Invention Prize - "Ancient observer"
? Biology Prize - "The secret of Cao Cao's DNA"
? Fantasy Prize - "Xiao Lingtong Touring in Future"
? Pineapple U Awards - "Effective ways to cope with college canteen price rises and "Water dispenser cute girl"
One team created a water dispenser that posts comments on weibo, while another group invented a robot that can do a dance from "Swan Lake."
The awards are sponsored by the Zhejiang Science and Technology Museum and Guokr.com. They are designed to encourage curiosity and creativity among science students.
Ji Shisan, the CEO of Guokr.com who initiated the award, says he was inspired by the Ig Nobel Prizes, an American parody of the Nobel Prizes handed out to unusual or trivial achievements in scientific research.
However, Ji says the Pineapple Science Award is different from the Ig Nobel Prizes as there is no self-ridicule involved.
"The Pineapple Science Award concentrates on providing a proper platform to encourage people's curiosity while also helping the public better understand science," Ji says.
This has been the first year the awards have been handed out. They are expected to be given annually.
Interesting and serious
Two juries - one featuring 15 scientists and another with 26 members including company directors, comedians, actors and writers - selected the nine winners in different categories including biology, mathematics, physics and invention.
Winning projects should be imaginative, interesting and thought-provoking.
"Jury A ensures the science is sound and jury B decides whether it's interesting enough," says Ji. "As a result, the winning projects should be both interesting and serious."
The biology award was presented by Barry J. Marshall, an Australian physician who won a Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 2005.
"I think it's good to get young people involved in competition or projects involving on invention and discovery," Marshall tells Shanghai Daily. "It can encourage them to learn something new, which is of great importance in one's life.
"Learning and being aware of new high-tech products is very helpful to enrich one's spare time," Marshall adds.
The Hangzhou Pineapple Science Award started after Ji read Mark Abraham's book "Foam" about the Ig Nobel Prizes.
In October, Ji decided to start a Chinese version of the Ig Nobels - minus the satire - by writing on his weibo and asking whether anyone was willing to host such an award. Li Ruihong, director of Zhejiang Science and Technology Museum, was quick to reply.
They organized the awards in four months. The idea has been well-received with nearly 200 works having been submitted, mostly by university students or teachers.
Water dispenser cute girl
Inventor: Professor Pan Gang and Dr Cheng Longbiao from the Computer Science and Technology College of Zhejiang University
"Water dispenser cute girl" is a water dispenser in a laboratory at Yuquan campus of Zhejiang University. It is connected to a microblog and can post messages online. It tells people whether the water in the dispenser is hot or not and when the water jug needs to be replaced.
The microblog's avatar features a Japanese-cartoon-like girl. It posts messages such as: "Master, I'm boiling, please drink me as soon as possible," or "Master, I am hot and ready to be embraced by your cup."
Internet of things technology has made the dispenser possible. Compared with other entries for the award, it is not so complicated. But it did capture the imagination of the mass media, making more people aware of the Internet of things technology.
Professor Pan Gang says: "The interaction between human and machine is popular, just like SIRI on the iPhone, and it's an easy technology that a high school student can accomplish with a professor's instruction."
Pan's team is working on more ideas such as allowing people to adjust the air conditioner temperature via cell phone when they are not home.
Pineapple Science Award project winners
? Psychology Prize - "Counting money relieves people"
? Mathematics Prize - "Dancing Robot"
? Physics Prize - "Monkey brain controls robot hand"
? Chemistry Prize - "Chicken soup braised in a pottery pot tastes better"
? Invention Prize - "Ancient observer"
? Biology Prize - "The secret of Cao Cao's DNA"
? Fantasy Prize - "Xiao Lingtong Touring in Future"
? Pineapple U Awards - "Effective ways to cope with college canteen price rises and "Water dispenser cute girl"
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