Focus Interview: Exploring a Better Future with Thick Plant Science Soil

CCTV News: In recent days, the 2023 National Science Popularization Day event is currently underway. This year is the 20th Science Popularization Day, with the theme of "enhancing the scientific literacy of the whole population and promoting technological self-reliance and self-improvement", which has once again sparked a nationwide science popularization fever in various regions. A series of high-precision and cutting-edge technological achievements have been showcased, and a colorful science popularization carnival is underway. How has China's science popularization work innovated and upgraded in recent years? What changes have occurred in the public's attention to science popularization? Let's go to the Science Popularization Day event site today to take a look.

On September 17th, 2023, the main event of the National Science Popularization Day kicked off at the Shougang Park in Beijing. When the heavy industry site collided with hardcore technology, it radiated a different vitality. Want to know what it feels like for astronauts to take the return capsule home? No problem, arrange it!

Elementary school student Xiao Pinyi said, "We felt like we lost our center of gravity when we got in and out of the cabin. It was quite thrilling. The astronauts bravely went up and safely returned, which was indeed quite brave."

What would it be like to have a manned moon landing in the future and drive a lunar rover on the moon? Here, you can give it a try. Watching the moon up close, VR enters the Tianhe core module, delves into the interior of the Earth below 10000 meters, simulates flying a C919 aircraft, interacts with artificial intelligence, and hands-on experiments experience the beauty of physics and mathematics, understanding how to protect information security... Here, you can experience China's powerful technological strength firsthand, and also experience the convenience of life brought by technological changes.

The Science Popularization Day event, aimed at enhancing the scientific literacy of the entire population and promoting technological self-reliance and self-improvement, has not only sparked a science popularization fever in Beijing, but also across the country. At a community science and technology museum in Xiangjiang New Area, Hunan, children transform into craftsmen, using high-precision and cutting-edge technologies such as 3D printing and laser carving, unleashing their imagination and creativity to design their own exclusive works. The science popularization caravan in Luohe, Henan entered the elementary school and brought over 20 magical science popularization experiments and exhibits, which opened children's eyes.

Pang Xiaodong, Deputy Minister of the Science Popularization Department of the Chinese Association for Science and Technology, said, "Through this Science Popularization Day activity, we focus on technological self-reliance and self-improvement, improving the scientific literacy of the whole population, especially young people, inspiring their patriotism, pride, and confidence, and cultivating an interest in science from a young age, as well as the idea and concept of science serving the country."

Since the establishment of National Science Popularization Day in 2004, the concept of respecting creativity and advocating science has gradually taken root in people's hearts.

Pang Xiaodong said, "Since the 18th National Congress, the Party and the state have issued a series of policy plans to improve the top-level design of science popularization, and to continuously increase the enthusiasm of the whole society to participate in science popularization work. The methods and carriers of science popularization are also constantly enriched."

On September 21st, the day after tomorrow, the most unique popular science course - "Tiangong Classroom" will resume classes. Ten years ago, many people should still remember the first space lecture. When Wang Yaping asked questions and received answers from his classmates on the Tiangong-1 spacecraft, China's first space lecture on the interaction between heaven and earth began. More than 60 million middle school students and television viewers across the country witnessed for the first time through live broadcasts the infinite tension of water film in space, the single pendulum in circular motion, and the spinning top in the air... These unprecedented wonders made all viewers exclaim with excitement.

Astronaut Wang Yaping said, "After the commander hung in mid air meditation, I used one finger and a powerful divine skill to push the commander out. At that time, I heard thunderous applause and children's surprised laughter on the ground for the first time, and I was particularly excited. Displaying scientific experiments in a weightless space environment has very high requirements for both the country's technological level and the astronauts themselves. Space teaching is an inevitable result of the development of the country's technological level to a certain stage, and our country also wants to show more magical phenomena in space to children through space teaching."

It can be said that this is the highest standard and widest coverage science popularization course at the national level. With the continuous breakthroughs in China's aerospace technology, the frequency of space lectures is increasing, and it has become a reserved project for long-term manned space stations. The fifth lecture will be held in December 2021, March 2022, October 2022, and September 21, 2023.

Wang Yaping said, "At first, the principle of space teaching was to make children interested, broaden their horizons, and broaden their knowledge. The audience of space teaching was also targeted at primary and secondary school students. This decade has been a period of rapid improvement in public scientific literacy, especially for children who are no longer satisfied with simple phenomena. They have many better design ideas and hope to achieve them in space stations. Therefore, now the audience is gradually positioning themselves towards higher grades, towards more complex phenomena and deeper theories, and is getting closer to our lives. The direction of exploration is also becoming more and more profound. Science popularization education and technological innovation, as the two wings of innovative development, resonate and work together to bring us more and more surprises."

Every space classroom has planted scientific seeds in the hearts of a group of children, some of which have already begun to take root and sprout. Zhang Yu'er, who is currently in his sophomore year of high school, still remembers the magical space experiment class he saw ten years ago.

Zhang Yu'er, a student at Beijing Yuying School, said, "What impressed me the most was when astronauts injected bubbles into water with a syringe, creating a visual effect similar to a magnifying glass. Seeing this feeling was very fresh and sci-fi. At first, it was driven by curiosity, but later on, I began to understand this aspect."

Curiosity drove Zhang Yuer's interest in studying physics. After continuous efforts, he was selected to join the "Talent Program" specifically designed for high school students by the Chinese Association for Science and Technology and the Ministry of Education at the beginning of this year. This is an important reserve talent training program in China's science popularization plan, aimed at selecting a group of high school students with excellent character and academic ability to enter universities and participate in scientific research practice under the guidance of mentors in natural sciences and basic disciplines. After a two-way selection, Zhang Yuer became a member of Professor Lv Guanghong's research team at Beihang University, and participated in project research in his spare time for one year.

Here, Zhang Yuer and three other high school students from the same class can listen to the latest lectures from their mentors, use cutting-edge experimental equipment, and participate in the most significant project topics. Wang Yonghao from Beijing Guangqumen Middle School has chosen the preparation of aerogel from liquid metal as his research direction, which is one of the most advanced topics in the field of functional materials.

Now, the implementation of the "Talent Plan" has entered its tenth year, cultivating more than 7000 outstanding middle school students with disciplinary expertise and innovative potential nationwide, and providing a batch of scientific research reserve forces for higher education institutions. While national policies provide strong support for science popularization work, more and more science and technology workers are also investing in the science popularization cause.

Wu Yuren, a 74 year old physics professor at Tongji University, although his hair is gray, his energy and spirit are not inferior to those of young people. In recent years, she has become a well-known online celebrity. She has done interesting experiments and popular science physics knowledge on the Internet, and is affectionately known as "scientific grandma". Using the most practical experimental props and decoding the cutting-edge scientific hotspots, Wu Laolao's "Don't Brush Questions Club" has attracted over 10 million fans.

Wu Yuren, a retired professor at Tongji University, said, "Nowadays, more and more people are doing science popularization. Whether it's high school teachers or university teachers, they will all think about making something small on their own. It's an interesting phenomenon to show everyone that everyone values science popularization activities, which is a good phenomenon."

More than 1.8 million science popularization professionals, along with technology envoys, technology volunteers, and science popularization teachers rooted in rural areas, have contributed their efforts to improving public scientific literacy.

The results of the 12th sampling survey of scientific literacy among Chinese citizens in 2022 showed that the proportion of Chinese citizens possessing scientific literacy reached 12.93%, an increase of 9.66 percentage points from 2010.

Pang Xiaodong said, "We have planted a soil of scientific and technological innovation in our country. There are currently approximately 114 million people in our country who possess scientific literacy, making it the largest group in the world. Among this group, there are 107 million people aged 10 to 49, accounting for over 90%. This is a very solid foundation for the future development of our country."

The comments from the audience at the science popularization exhibition are sincere expressions of their passion for science and their pride in the self-reliance and self-improvement of our country's technology. In the era of knowledge economy, the innovation level of a country increasingly depends on the general improvement of the scientific literacy of the entire population. Only when the foundation of citizens' scientific literacy is firmly established can the building of science and technology be built high. One of the key factors in promoting the improvement of the scientific literacy of the whole population, enhancing the country's independent innovation ability and cultural soft power is science popularization. Science popularization work should be done well, not only with high quality and richness, but also with popularity; Not only do we need knowledge tutoring, but we also need value guidance. While popularizing scientific knowledge, it is also necessary to promote the spirit of science, disseminate scientific ideas, and advocate scientific methods, creating an atmosphere of reverence for science and love for exploration in the whole society. This will also enable more young people to have scientific dreams and move towards the future.