SCIENCE ON PROWL
Social media making the field popular among youngsters
When introducing the Chinese leek in a short video on his micro blog, Shi Jun says its white flower is often used in making a sauce to go with hot pot.
The 36-year-old botanist makes such videos and sometimes even livestreams them to introduce plants and flowers that he finds along roads or in markets. In May 2016, he co-founded the Corn Lab, with the aim of popularizing life sciences among children and young adults on social media. And, he isn’t alone.
More individuals and organizations in China are starting to do the same because it’s convenient and effective to promote science online and interact with the general public.
Such videos break down technical information into simple words for people to easily understand. Most are free and a few have additional charge.
“We want to make it fun but we also have a scientific approach,” Shi said.
The aim, he said, is to foster children’s interest in science and offer them different perspectives, as well as get their families involved as parents usually have the final say in what their children will view online.
While Chinese schools are more focused on passing theoretical knowledge, children in the West are trained to gather evidence for their writing projects even in primary school.
But now such gaps are becoming smaller, Shi said.
Youngsters like to discuss hot topics online and things that they can put into practice to improve their knowledge, he said. For instance, how to identify the Chinese rose from other roses.
After all, botany is closely linked with one’s life, especially food.
Some of the questions Shi has asked on his micro blog include: What kind of fillings are used in traditional five-kernel mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival? What leaves are used to wrap zongzi (glutinous rice dumplings) during the Dragon-Boat Festival?
The general public would pay close attention to such topics, he said.
While youngsters prefer short videos and articles with photos, parents like to choose audios for children so they don’t have to use their eyes all the time.
“The challenge of popularizing science online is that it’s hard for people to accept it, especially given that Chinese are concerned about saving face,” he said. “Science doesn’t conform to intuitions and conventions.”
“People tend to believe in their intuitions without thinking. That’s why a rumor can spread quickly online but a post to deny it doesn’t get as many hits,” he added.
Shi said many people use boiled water to rinse bowls and chopsticks at restaurants for sterilization but that actually doesn’t completely work.
“The general public prefers practicability and needs an answer, but a problem about science often has no standard answer because there are many factors. You can only get the most reasonable answer based on conditions at a time.”
In October 2014, the Institute of Physics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences established an official account on popular instant messaging app WeChat to spread the knowledge of physics. It has 400,000 fans, many between the ages of 20 and 30, and some are middle school students.
“The app account originally targeted only those engaged in physics but gradually extended to all those who love physics. The first group can read the original posts that use technical language. It’s the latter group that needs our readable articles,” said the institute’s assistant director Wei Hongxiang, 40, from the team in charge of the WeChat account.
Knowledge matters
Those who update the articles are no more than 30 years old, and several volunteers are the institute’s postgraduates.
“It’s our obligation and responsibility to popularize science. We hope students will choose to study physics in the future after knowing more about it, so we can recruit more talented people,” Wei said.
According to Wei, a survey last year showed that more than 70,000 of those following the app account had physics as their major subject.
The account’s articles feature formulas and models to explain simple questions in life. For example, how to cut a watermelon into pieces while avoiding the seeds.
The account has a weekly column to answer readers’ questions, and has so far answered more than 600 questions. Some are issues related to daily life such as why earphone wires easily entwine, and some are broader ones, such as the differences between physics and chemistry. Each week, 10 questions are selected and placed into three categories — easy to understand, needs basic knowledge to understand and only professionals can understand.
Readers can also vote for what they consider the most helpful answer.
“The spirit of science is about reasonable doubt ... the process matters the most,” Wei said.
“Science is ‘to know’, and you can make your life better with knowledge. You will be motivated to solve a problem rather than let it be. You will be satisfied when you concentrate on things you are interested in.”
Wei said the account has got positive feedback from people due to its understandable content, and some middle school teachers are recommending it to their students.
“Social media offers us a platform to communicate with the general public. The account is purely about hot topics in science, and we don’t post anything about our institute except development on research projects,” he said.
The account is now having posts on the Nobel Prize in physics.
Showing fieldwork
Beijing-based Chinese Felid Conservation Alliance started to promote its research projects and share the fieldwork on micro blogs and WeChat last year.
Their posts are also about observations on a wide range of topics, such as wild animals, birds and plants.
The major research project is to monitor and persevere North-Chinese leopards in the Taihang Mountains, Shanxi province. It’s the first ecological research on the subspecies that’s only native to China. Their final aim is to bring all the leopards to Beijing, where they once lived, by ecology restoration.
“It needs some basic knowledge to understand our articles. Our target readers are those who’re interested in nature and wild animals. They’re only a small group but the number is increasing steadily,” said Huang Qiaowen, 30, the nonprofit’s fundraising director.
“Social media is a vital channel to promote knowledge about wildlife in China but more needs to be done. Many are still surprised to find that China has wild North-Chinese leopards.”
Huang said the challenge is to update articles under heavy workload but the result of science popularization has been positive.
Her nonprofit raised 2.1 million yuan ($320,000) for their three projects about North-Chinese leopards this year, and about one-third from online, she said. Last year, it had only one project and raised 300,000 yuan.
During fieldwork last year, the organization’s team took photos of animal footprints, collected their excrement and gathered other photos on infrared cameras. All details and result will be shared online later, Huang said.
The nonprofit has cooperated with popular science site guokr.com to develop silver necklaces and earrings inspired by the wild cat species.
“Human beings can hardly feel connected with wild animals if they don’t know enough about them. The accessories with adorable images of leopards and tigers will get their empathy so as to raise awareness about protecting them.”
The nonprofit also works with other parties to hold forums about Beijing’s ecology, inviting experts to share their experiences every month, when many parents come with their children.