WHEN Ji Shisan experimented with white mice for his PhD in neurobiology 10 years ago, he expected to become a lab researcher or professor. Instead, he's the famous founder of China's biggest popular science online community.

His aim is to make science interesting and accessible to young people, promote rational pursuit of the truth, and to smash myths and misconceptions that abound. He has complied a book of website articles titled "Myth Smasher."

In 2008 he founded the NGO Songshuhui, or Science Squirrels, with science writers and editors. In 2010 he founded the commercial website Guokr.com ("guo ke" means "nutshell," but "ke" was taken by another organization), which became a hit.

"Science is interesting and fashionable," Ji often says.

Ji, 34, whose real name is Ji Xiaohua, says he chose the name Guoke from a line in "Hamlet" in which the prince says, "I could be bounded in a nutshell and count myself a king of infinite space." He also cites the title of a famous book by physicist Stephen Hawking, "The Universe in a Nutshell" (2001), explaining theoretical physics.

For himself, Ji chose the cyber nickname and pen name Ji Shisan because it sounds somewhat like the name of the hero in a kung fu novel.

Guokr.com now is the biggest popular science online community with daily page views of 1.5-1.6 million. On Sina Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter, Guokr has 600,000 followers, while Ji himself has 300,000 followers.

Guokr offers many discussion groups, including specialized groups for nerds, and answers questions commonly asked by young Chinese.

Scientists in many fields, physicians, engineers and science writers answer questions such as: Is lemon a natural weapon against cancer? Is a bullet still lethal when shot into water? Does handset radiation damage memory? And how are earthquakes predicted?

Before founding Guokr.com, Ji worked as science writer and a regular employee for a multinational company. He later founded the NGO Science Squirrels to promote science to the general public. It answered many questions about earthquakes and China's vulnerability since the Wenchuan earthquake in Sichuan Province in May 2008.

"I have changed my jobs but my pursuit of the secrets and rules of life and the world never change," Ji said.

Ji recently was honored at a standing-room-only crowd by his alma mater, the Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences. He also spoke to Shanghai Daily.

"If a person knows what he is going to be 10 years later, life would be dull and terrible," Ji said in his speech. "The only thing you need to know is what makes you happy."

Both Guokr and Science Squirrels swung into action during the Fukushima earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident in March 2011. They explained what happened, helped calm Chinese people's fears of radiation and explained that the panic rush to buy iodized salt was unnecessary. Common iodized salt is not an antidote to radiation affecting the thyroid gland; one would have to ingest a fatal dose of salt many times to get the needed amount of iodine, scientists said.

"Scientists from Guokr consider it their social responsibility to set the record straight when people are confused with rumors masquerading as science," said Luo Yunbo, director of the College of Food Science and Nutrition Engineering of the China Agricultural University.

Guokr contains 16 "theme stations," including Myth Smasher, Pure Rationalism, Science, Food Security, Health, and Master of Nature. Each is linked to science and technology sites featuring expert comment. Questions are also answered.

In Myth Smasher, experts explain complicated science in interesting ways, often with humor and contemporary anecdotes.

"Though there are various opinions, there is often one result in science," Ji said.

Besides serious academic debate, Guokr features sub communities on sex, love and art, which makes it popular among young people.

Aiming for profit

Ji now aims to make Guokr profitable, which will attract more registered users and make the site more influential. He declines to say how he plans to make money, but he does say it won't depend solely on online advertising.

Multimedia, "ecosystems" of knowledge-sharing and online education could be sources of revenue, according to industry officials.

At this time, Ji and his team are testing other ways to expand the website and community, such as publishing books like "Myth Smasher" and holding off-line activities such as Guokr youth parties. Get-togethers are usually held at universities or creative hubs during weekends, when young people deliver seven-minute speeches about topics that interest them.

"I don't deny the ambition to make money because it's necessary for the website to grow and share knowledge better," Ji said.

Besides Guokr, Ji is also a founder of the NGO Science Squirrels, which gather nuts and kernels of knowledge.

"We are glad to play the role of squirrels to help people find and obtain the fruits of science in the forest (the world)," Ji said.

Science Squirrels includes more than 100 science and technology writers, who pen regular columns for mainstream media and sometimes answer questions on Guokr.

At Guokr office in Chaoyang District of Beijing, Ji and his co-workers often discuss interesting or "meaningless" questions, such as whether and when a light will disappear if it is placed in a closed box full of mirrored surfaces.

To attract more people to midday discussions, Ji has hired chefs to prepare appealing lunches, according to former employee Zhu Suyuan.

Growing up

Born near the sea in Zhoushan, Zhejiang Province, Ji spent a lot of time in a library. In middle school he read about philosophy and science. He decided to get a bachelor's degree in biology and a PhD in life sciences because he wanted to "find the secrets and inner rules of life and the world."

"I have never changed my mind, although I have taken another path," Ji said, adding that promulgating science and a scientific approach is as important as academic research.

In 2004, while working on his PhD and studying mice and monkeys, Ji started to write for science magazines. He jokes that he was encouraged by a girlfriend majoring in journalism. As he published more articles, his reputation grew in science writing circles.

After briefly working for a foreign company, he decided to devote himself full-time to science, founding Science Squirrels in 2008 and putting squirrels' articles on blogs. Articles about the Sichuan earthquake let more people know about Ji and his team.

But Ji found the influence of his squirrels NGO to be limited and it lacked the funds to operate a website.

"They (government and charities) will give money to NGOs for AIDS and homeless or sick children," Ji recalled. "They didn't give us money though they always praised us." He decided to retain Science Squirrels as an NGO and make his new website Guokr.com a commercial operation. Then he poured his energy into attracting investment, building his brand and testing business models.

"I have played different roles (student, writer, employee, NGO and website founder) with different tasks," Ji said. "As I look back, I'm glad they are well-connected and served to realize my dream of promoting science."

Smashing common myths and misconceptions

A recent hot topic on Guokr.com - and an ongoing debate in China - is whether blood donations are harmful to health. They are not.

This is an issue that pits long-held concepts of traditional Chinese medicine against modern science.

In China, many people still believe that donating blood undermines health by disrupting the body's balance of qi (energy), according to traditional Chinese medicine.

For years, government and media have been trying to change attitudes and encourage regular blood donation as a normal, charitable activity. Today many blood donors are regarded as heroes and some can a few days off.

One online post expressed typical thinking:

"The decrease of red blood cells hurts the body's resistance and immunity, making people vulnerable to ailments and infection. Full recovery takes two weeks or more."

But on Guokr.com, doctors and experts try to demolish unscientific, old-fashioned thinking. The typical amount of donated blood is less than 5 percent of the body's blood and replacement of red blood cells only takes a couple of days, experts say.

Experts encourage people to drink plenty of fluids, at least a liter of water on the day of donation. But they warned against sports, sex, alcohol and smoking for around two days after donation.


Other myths:

If a man drinks Coke, his sex partner won't get pregnant. Untrue.

Condoms cannot prevent HIV transmission. Wrong. Condoms are effective if properly used. Guokr said the idea was groundless and may have arisen from incorrect translation of foreign scientists' work.