Popular science lights years of knowledge, progress

In recent years, an increasing number of scientists in China have gone outside their work bubble to share their knowledge with the public.

They are frequently seen speaking at campuses and on television shows and short videos, while many of their books on popular science have become best-sellers.

Tan Xianjie, chief physician at Peking Union Medical College Hospital's Gynecological Cancer Center in Beijing, said he believes the purpose of popular science is to help people avoid illness and reduce the incidence of late-stage diseases.

Consultations and surgeries make up most of the 54-year-old gynecologist's work day.

But during his spare time he shares his medical knowledge of women's health issues with the public. He writes popular science books, answers patients' questions online, and shares his medical knowledge on TV programs.

Healer, educator

Uttering words such as "menstruation", "uterus" and "vagina "might make some men slightly uncomfortable in public settings, but Tan doesn't mind saying them.

He said no doctor can cure every disease, and the most skilled surgeon can only perform four or five surgeries in one day. The maximum daily number of patients a doctor can see is 100, Tan added.

"However, a good popular science book, a lecture, or a quality science video can benefit thousands of people, often in the early stages of an illness, which can prevent diseases and even save lives," said Tan.

He recently received China's top sci-tech award, the State Scientific and Technological Progress Award for his medical book Speaking of the Palace of Life.

The publication focuses on uterus health and provides essential health knowledge for women in a straightforward manner.

About 120,000 copies of the book have been sold over the last 14 years and have helped 300 million people, Tan said. "Many patients tell me that it is because of reading this book that they were able to detect and have their disease diagnosed early. Every time I hear this, I feel that my efforts are meaningful," he added.

Tan's mother died of endometrial cancer when he was 12 years old. The cancer can be cured with targeted therapies and timely intervention, but when Tan's mother experienced postmenopausal bleeding no one thought it was a big deal at the time. "If my family members had had some medical knowledge and taken her to hospital, my mother would not have passed away so early," he said.

The experience motivated him to become a gynecologist. Over the past 31 years, he has treated about 200,000 patients and performed about 10,000 surgeries. But he hopes women have no need to visit him, and instead stay healthy.

In August 2012, when he studied at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, as a visiting scholar, he saw the doctors communicate with patients in simple and understandable language.

After each consultation, they would give the patient a card with a website link to access related popular science articles.

He decided to give this method a try after returning to China. At that time, he was one of the first doctors in the country to try and popularize medical knowledge. In the hospital evaluation system, health education was not rated as highly as surgical skills and patient volume, as it did not contribute significantly to the professional reputation of doctors.

However, Tan was determined to continue. He believes health education is a doctor's duty and social responsibility.

Since then, he has published multiple award-winning books, given about 200 nonprofit lectures and appeared on a dozen TV programs. He has about 1.3 million followers on Sina Weibo and 480,000 on the short video platform Douyin.

One time, a woman entered his consulting room with a big smile on her face and holding a thank-you banner. Tan was confused because she was not his patient.

The woman told him she had watched his lecture on cervical cancer on TV in 2018 and decided to go to the hospital for a checkup. The results showed she was in the early stages of the disease. She had surgery and recovered.

In the next one to two years, Tan plans to focus on improving the health literacy of female teachers and grassroots doctors in the Xizang autonomous region, and Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan and Yunnan provinces.

Explaining black holes

Gou Lijun, a research professor at the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, has contributed to the successful detection of the rotational speed of a dozen black holes.

Over the past 10 years, he has also sparked curiosity about astronomy in a new generation of children.

Though describing himself as an introverted person, Gou's passionate lectures always arouse questions from his audience.

When asked one time whether a human would be sucked into a black hole he had to reply "yes".

"Like the Chinese mythical beast the pixiu (a lion-shaped creature with wings), black holes, with extremely huge gravity, devour everything, including light. Anything that falls into a black hole cannot escape," he said.

During more than 200 lectures, he has explained that black holes are created when a massive star undergoes a supernova explosion at the end of its life, and its core collapses. Smaller black holes can be sucked into bigger black holes, so they grow into supermassive black holes.

Gou is good at using simple ideas and analogies to explain complicated concepts. "As you get closer to a black hole, space curvature increases, and time flows slower. This is similar to the concept in Chinese mythology where one day in heaven equals a year on Earth," he explained during a talk.

"Whether a black hole is the end of all things, or a gateway to distant places such as higher-dimensional spaces, is still unknown."

In 2012, after returning home from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he worked as a postdoctoral researcher, Gou started to focus on studying and teaching high-energy astrophysics, including black holes, gravitational waves and gamma-ray bursts.

He was given the title "Pioneering science popularization worker" by the Chinese Astronomical Society, and has published about 30 articles to explain astronomical events.

An essay about why the first photo of a black hole looks vague received more than 11 million views. He has twice won China's top book prize, the Wenjin Book Award, including for his translation of The Science of Interstellar, a book that explains scientific knowledge in the film.

As an expert on the Science Fiction Film Advisory Board established by the China Film Administration and China Association for Science and Technology, he worked as a consultant on Wandering Earth II. He is also the executive editor of popular science magazine Chinese National Astronomy.

"I want to raise people's interest in astronomy, especially youth, so that they can contribute to related research in the future," he said, adding that China only has 3,000 astronomers, compared with 30,000 in the United States.

According to a survey by the science journal Nature, about 90 percent of children are interested in two things: dinosaurs and the night sky. "Curiosity about the starry skies is very natural for children; we must preserve this curiosity," he said.

Although there are estimated to be more than 100 million black holes in the galaxy, scientists have detected less than 100. It may take decades or hundreds of years to figure out their mysteries, therefore, it's vital to cultivate the next generation of astronomers, Gou said.

Seeds of knowledge

At the Wuhan Academy of Agricultural Sciences in Hubei province, there is a greenhouse where visitors can embrace giant pumpkins, pick peppers, and learn up close about soil-less plantations and LED dynamic cultivation.

Deng Zixin, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, believes for people to acquire agricultural knowledge they must see and touch objects.

At an event in June to mark the third anniversary of the opening of his agricultural science popularization studio at the Wuhan academy, Deng, whose focus is microbiology and molecular genetics, gave a lecture to students and visitors on the double helix structure of DNA.

After that, they visited an exhibition garden to learn about new varieties of corn, cucumbers and tomatoes. "By allowing the public to take these seeds for planting, whether on balconies or in their homes, awareness of environmental protection becomes increasingly prominent," he said.

The same month, primary and middle school students were invited to visit the National Germplasm Repository for Aquatic Vegetables, the only aquatic vegetable genebank in China and the largest in the world. The children saw 500 species of lotus and were amazed by how leaves sprouted from lotus seeds thousands of years old.

In 2022, the studio, together with about 30 media outlets, organized a livestream of the Yangtze finless porpoise Fujiu giving birth, which attracted about 220 million viewers.

Another livestream about the harm caused by an invasion of Canada goldenrod, a perennial plant that is native to North America, attracted about 4.3 million viewers.

The studio has about 100 members who conduct more than 100 activities including academic forums, popular science lectures, online live broadcasts, interactive interviews and consultations. The total audience coverage online and offline has so far exceeded 100 million people.

Experts from the studio give classes at campuses to inspire students' interest in agriculture, and teach farmers ways to improve planting efficiency. They also visit communities to tell residents how to select good vegetables.

Deng, who founded the studio, said, "I am the son of a farmer, well aware of farmers' thirst for agricultural technology knowledge, and willing to contribute a little to the vitalization of the countryside."

He wants to educate the public about food security, environmental protection, as well as rural development.

A better understanding of science boosts the public's acceptance of new things and helps in the application of innovative technologies, he said. The main reason as to why a large genetically modified organisms industry cannot be developed is the general public's lack of awareness about GMOs, and a misunderstanding that genetic engineering could destroy humanity.

"The actual work of popularizing science is about using genuine emotions to captivate individuals," he said.

"It is about making science more relatable to everyday life, helping people understand what is controllable and what is not controllable, while also considering social ethics and norms," the academician explained.

Deng also aims to change stereotypes about agriculture being a study major disliked by parents, and an industry where it is difficult to make big money.

"Actually, agriculture has various opportunities. It can create enormous social value and achieve sustainability, " he said.

He also runs a rural vitalization studio in Fangxian county, Hubei province, his hometown, which has matched companies and researchers with projects in villages. This has boosted the application of scientific results and local development.

In Fangxian, for example, he helped promote high-quality konjac seeds and develop more than 10 products to make Fangxian konjac a national geographical indication product.

As the country attaches more importance to the popularization of science, Deng said he will continue his quest with dedication and passion.