Category: Uncategorised

关于香港桂冠论坛

新年快乐！欢迎大家来到香港桂冠论坛2022年1月份通讯。

香港桂冠论坛先后在9至11月期间举办了首届论坛前奏活动的第一和第二个主题活动。而在12月，香港桂冠论坛亦展开了第三个主题活动 – 「探索新视野」。桂冠论坛联同香港本地科学家/研究团队，为香港高年级中学生安排了参观他们的实验室以及进行对谈会。这次活动旨在透过学生亲身体验和提问，从而了解科学家们的现实生活和工作环境、香港最新的科研设施、实验室的运作和科学家们研究过程中经历的起跌等，也借此提升中学生对科研的兴趣。参与的学生和老师对于能够参观香港本地的实验室感到十分高兴，对本地的科研发展状况也了解更多。

1月份时，香港的新冠疫情反覆，我们很遗憾需取消或延迟部分的参观和对谈会，但香港桂冠论坛十分感谢各位学生和老师把握着机会积极参与，亦十分感谢一众本地科学家/研究团队，继续支持香港桂冠论坛的活动。他们包括香港科技大学生命科学部副教授张晓东教授、香港浸会大学数学系助理教授韩汝星博士、香港都会大学科技学院副教授史东甫博士及香港中文大学病理解剖及细胞学系助理教授邓铭权博士。

第一至第三个主题活动的精华片段已经上载至我们的网站和YouTube 频道给大家重温。

除此之外，香港桂冠论坛原定于2022年2月11至14日在香港西九文化区戏曲中心中庭举行一个聚焦女性科学家的展览以及配合「国际妇女节」于2022年3月8日举行的首届桂冠论坛前奏活动第四个主题活动「科学界女强人」，亦因为新冠疫情的发展而需要延期。

我们将会透过网站和社交媒体公布更多有关香港桂冠论坛活动的安排，大家记得留意！

最后，虎年将至，香港桂冠论坛祝您虎年大吉，虎气冲天！

二战以来香港天文台历史

在香港桂冠论坛 2021年7月份通讯中一篇有关“香港天文台早期历史”的文章中，我们介绍了天文台自开台前后至二战前的历史。现在我们介绍天文台自二战以来的历史与发展。

战争的考验

香港在1941年12月8日早上遭到日军侵袭，并最终于1941年12月25日沦陷。香港天文台所有运作被迫停止。在1941年至1945年香港被占领期间，天文台总部的主要用途是操作两门高射炮。从寻回的记录显示，当时日本气象队士兵曾驻守在天文台总部作气象观测。虽然天文台建筑物仅遭受表面损坏，但几乎所有设备都被日军拆除。

日占香港时期，时任台长伊云士先生（Mr B D Evans）被禁锢于赤柱拘留营，而时任助理台长希活先生和同事史他白先生则被关押在深水埗战俘营。虽然当时环境恶劣和十分艰难，伊云士仍凭借人手及简单仪器，在赤柱拘留营内断断续续地维持部分的天气观测工作，并把收集到的气象数据笔录在帐簿、信纸、香烟包和罐装饼干内附送的动物卡之上。

作者︰
香港天文台台长郑楚明博士
香港天文台前台长岑智明先生
香港天文台高级科学主任李子祥博士

2022年1月

孪生质数猜想与博学者计划

有些数学问题是常人完全不能理解的，譬如黎曼猜想（Riemann hypothesis）需要用到不少高等数学知识才能解释；可是也有些问题是十岁小孩也能明白的。著名的孪生质数猜想（Twin Prime Conjecture）绝对能被归类为后者。它由Alphonse de Polignac 在19世纪提出，指世界上存在着无限多对相减之差为二的质数，而这些质数因此被称为「孪生」质数（twin primes），例如3和5是一对孪生质数，71和73也是。当数字越来越大，质数出现的频率越来越低。即使如此，我们也能找到一些大得惊人的孪生质数，现时纪录是一对在十进制下有着388,342位的质数2996863034895 × 2^1290000 – 1和2996863034895 × 2^1290000 + 1。这不禁让人猜想数字里面可能包括无限对孪生质数，即是无论我们找到的孪生质数有多大，都总有一对会比它们大。

这猜想本身其实也没什么好说的，但是比较有趣的是近年在这个问题上作出突破所用的方法。大家对数学研究的印象可能是一位数学家坐在房间里独自与问题搏斗，一直把自己锁在房间里直至找到解决方法为止。对孪生质数提出突破性理论的两位数学家 — 张益唐和James MAYNARD的确都是分别独自进行研究，可是另一方面的突破则来自一个公开的大型合作计划 — 博学者计划（Polymath Project）。

作者︰
蔡茜珩
《科言》学生编辑
香港科技大学

设计︰
曾卓希
《科言》学生设计师
香港科技大学

2022年1月

關於香港桂冠論壇

新年快樂！歡迎大家來到香港桂冠論壇2022年1月份通訊。

香港桂冠論壇先後在9至11月期間舉辦了首屆論壇前奏活動的第一和第二個主題活動。而在12月，香港桂冠論壇亦展開了第三個主題活動 – 「探索新視野」。桂冠論壇聯同香港本地科學家/研究團隊，為香港高年級中學生安排了參觀他們的實驗室以及進行對談會。這次活動旨在透過學生親身體驗和提問，從而了解科學家們的現實生活和工作環境、香港最新的科研設施、實驗室的運作和科學家們研究過程中經歷的起跌等，也藉此提升中學生對科研的興趣。參與的學生和老師對於能夠參觀香港本地的實驗室感到十分高興，對本地的科研發展狀況也了解更多。

1月份時，香港的新冠疫情反覆，我們很遺憾需取消或延遲部分的參觀和對談會，但香港桂冠論壇十分感謝各位學生和老師把握著機會積極參與，亦十分感謝一眾本地科學家/研究團隊，繼續支持香港桂冠論壇的活動。他們包括香港科技大學生命科學部副教授張曉東教授、香港浸會大學數學系助理教授韓汝星博士、香港都會大學科技學院副教授史東甫博士及香港中文大學病理解剖及細胞學系助理教授鄧銘權博士。

第一至第三個主題活動的精華片段已經上載至我們的網站和YouTube 頻道給大家重溫。

除此之外，香港桂冠論壇原定於2022年2月11至14日在香港西九文化區戲曲中心中庭舉行一個聚焦女性科學家的展覽以及配合「國際婦女節」於2022年3月8日舉行的首屆桂冠論壇前奏活動第四個主題活動「科學界女強人」，亦因為新冠疫情的發展而需要延期。

我們將會透過網站和社交媒體公佈更多有關香港桂冠論壇活動的安排，大家記得留意！

最後，虎年將至，香港桂冠論壇祝您虎年大吉，虎氣沖天！

二戰以來香港天文台歷史

在香港桂冠論壇 2021年7月份通訊中一篇有關“香港天文台早期歷史”的文章中，我們介紹了天文台自開台前後至二戰前的歷史。現在我們介紹天文台自二戰以來的歷史與發展。

戰爭的考驗

香港在1941年12月8日早上遭到日軍侵襲，並最終於1941年12月25日淪陷。香港天文台所有運作被迫停止。在1941年至1945年香港被佔領期間，天文台總部的主要用途是操作兩門高射炮。從尋回的記錄顯示，當時日本氣象隊士兵曾駐守在天文台總部作氣象觀測。雖然天文台建築物僅遭受表面損壞，但幾乎所有設備都被日軍拆除。

日佔香港時期，時任台長伊雲士先生（Mr B D Evans）被禁錮於赤柱拘留營，而時任助理台長希活先生和同事史他白先生則被關押在深水埗戰俘營。雖然當時環境惡劣和十分艱難，伊雲士仍憑藉人手及簡單儀器，在赤柱拘留營內斷斷續續地維持部分的天氣觀測工作，並把收集到的氣象數據筆錄在帳簿、信紙、香煙包和罐裝餅乾內附送的動物卡之上。

作者︰
香港天文台台長鄭楚明博士
香港天文台前台長岑智明先生
香港天文台高級科學主任李子祥博士

2022年1月

孿生質數猜想與博學者計劃

有些數學問題是常人完全不能理解的，譬如黎曼猜想（Riemann hypothesis）需要用到不少高等數學知識才能解釋；可是也有些問題是十歲小孩也能明白的。著名的孿生質數猜想（Twin Prime Conjecture）絕對能被歸類為後者。它由Alphonse de Polignac 在19世紀提出，指世界上存在著無限多對相減之差為二的質數，而這些質數因此被稱為「孿生」質數（twin primes），例如3和5是一對孿生質數，71和73也是。當數字越來越大，質數出現的頻率越來越低。即使如此，我們也能找到一些大得驚人的孿生質數，現時紀錄是一對在十進制下有著388,342位的質數2996863034895 × 2^1290000 – 1和2996863034895 × 2^1290000 + 1。這不禁讓人猜想數字裡面可能包括無限對孿生質數，即是無論我們找到的孿生質數有多大，都總有一對會比它們大。

這猜想本身其實也沒什麼好說的，但是比較有趣的是近年在這個問題上作出突破所用的方法。大家對數學研究的印象可能是一位數學家坐在房間裡獨自與問題搏鬥，一直把自己鎖在房間裡直至找到解決方法為止。對孿生質數提出突破性理論的兩位數學家 — 張益唐和James MAYNARD的確都是分別獨自進行研究，可是另一方面的突破則來自一個公開的大型合作計劃 — 博學者計劃（Polymath Project）。

作者︰
蔡蒨珩
《科言》學生編輯
香港科技大學

設計︰
曾卓希
《科言》學生設計師
香港科技大學

2022年1月

About the Hong Kong Laureate Forum

Welcome to the January 2022 issue of the newsletter of the Hong Kong Laureate Forum!

The HKLF has successfully held the first and second chapters of the “Prelude to the Inaugural Forum” series (the Prelude series) from September to November. In December, the third chapter of the series, “EXPLORING NEW HORIZONS” also started. The HKLF, together with local scientists / research teams in Hong Kong, arranged for high school students to visit laboratories and have dialogue sessions with them. The event aims to let students learn more about scientists’ real life and working environment, latest research facilities in Hong Kong, real laboratory operation and the ups and downs that scientists have gone through in their research journey through in-person experience sharing and Q&A session and hence to spark their interest in scientific research. The participating students and teachers were all delighted to be able to visit local laboratories and learn more about the scientific research development situation in Hong Kong.

In January, the COVID pandemic development in Hong Kong became unstable, we regrettably had to cancel or postpone some of the visits and dialogue sessions. However, the HKLF is very grateful to the students and teachers who took part in the event. Also, a huge thanks to the local scientists / research teams for their continuous support to the HKLF. They include Prof Tom CHEUNG, Associate Professor of Division of Life Science of The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Dr Sean HON, Assistant Professor of Department of Mathematics of Hong Kong Baptist University, Dr Eric SZE, Associate Professor of School of Science and Technology of Hong Kong Metropolitan University and Dr Patrick TANG, Assistant Professor of Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology of The Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Event highlights from the first three chapters of the Prelude series have been uploaded to our website and YouTube channel.

In addition, an exhibition featuring “Women in Science” at the Atrium of Xiqu Centre, West Kowloon Cultural District in Hong Kong scheduled on 11-14 February 2022 and the fourth chapter of the Prelude series, “WONDER WOMEN IN SCIENCE”, scheduled on 8 March 2022 to dovetail with the “International Women’s Day” will also be deferred due to the recent development of COVID pandemic.

Latest arrangement about the HKLF’s events will be shared on our website and social media, stay tuned!

Last but not least, the Year of the Tiger is approaching, the HKLF wishes you good fortune and have a great year ahead!

History of the Hong Kong Observatory from World War II

In the article on “Early History of the Hong Kong Observatory” published in the July 2021 issue of the HKLF Newsletter, we introduced the history of the Observatory from the time around the establishment of the Observatory to World War II. We now introduce the history and development of the Observatory since World War II.

Test of The War

Hong Kong came under the attack of the Japanese army on the morning of 8 December 1941 and was occupied by the Japanese on 25 December 1941. The Observatory was forced to suspend its service. During the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong from 1941 to 1945, the Observatory Headquarters was mainly used for operating two anti-aircraft guns. According to recovered records, weather observations were conducted by Japanese weather corps soldiers stationed at the Observatory Headquarters. Although the Observatory buildings suffered only superficial damages, almost all the equipment was removed.

During the Japanese occupation period, the then Director, Mr B D EVANS, was interned at the Stanley Internment Camp. The then Assistant Director, Mr G S P HEYWOOD and his colleague, Mr L STARBUCK, were imprisoned at the Sham Shui Po Prisoner-of-War Camp. Despite the harsh environment, Mr Evans continued to maintain intermittent weather observations manually or by using simple equipment. These wartime meteorological data were recorded on ledger sheet, letter paper, wrapper of cigarettes pack, and back of animal cards that came with canned biscuits.

Author:
Dr CHENG Cho-ming, Director of the Hong Kong Observatory
Mr SHUN Chi-ming, Former Director of the Hong Kong Observatory
Dr LEE Tsz-cheung, Senior Scientific Officer, Hong Kong Observatory

January 2022

The Twin Prime Conjecture and the Polymath Project

There are math problems that are thoroughly incomprehensible to the layman – the Riemann hypothesis needs a fair amount of sophisticated math to explain, for example. And then there are those that even a ten-year-old could understand. The famous Twin Prime Conjecture is definitely in the latter category – conjectured by Alphonse de Polignac in the 19th century, it states that there are infinitely many pairs of prime numbers that differ by two – hence the name “twin” prime. For example, 3 and 5 are twin primes, and so are 71 and 73. As we get to larger numbers, prime numbers show up less frequently. However, we have also found ridiculously big twin primes – the current record being 2996863034895 × 2^1290000 – 1 and 2996863034895 × 2^1290000 + 1, with 388,342 decimal digits – which leads us to believe that there might be an infinite number of twin primes; no matter how large you go, you might always expect a pair of twin primes ahead.

There isn’t very much to say about the problem, but more interesting is how progress has been made in recent years. People might think of math research as a solitary affair, imagining a mathematician locking himself / herself up in a room until he / she find a solution. And certainly there are two remarkable people involved in this story – Yitang ZHANG and James MAYNARD – but at the heart of a lot of progress sits a huge collaborative project called the Polymath Project.

Author:
Sonia Choy
Student Editor, Science Focus
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

Design:
Tsang Cheuk Hei
Graphic Designer, Science Focus
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

January 2022

About the Hong Kong Laureate Forum

Welcome to the March 2022 issue of the newsletter of the Hong Kong Laureate Forum!

In the past year, organising in-person events had become more difficult in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, with tremendous support from organisations and friends in academic, scientific and educational sectors, we had successfully held a number of science-related events and promotional activities. These include the prelude to the inaugural Forum series, “Science Exposition”, “Masterminds, Masterclasses” and “Exploring New Horizons” as well as a series of short videos we coined “Meeting with Inspirational Minds”. Highlight video of 2021, “Meeting with Inspirational Minds” series and interviews with local Hong Kong scientists are now available on our website , social media platforms and YouTube channel. We will continue to connect and collaborate with different sectors so as to achieve our missions: to foster exchanges among scientists of different generations, cultures and disciplines; to support youth development in Hong Kong and the international community; to promote understanding and interests of the young generation in Hong Kong in various disciplines in science and technology; and to promote education and exchanges in various disciplines in science and technology in Hong Kong.

The first-tier review of applications for the inaugural Hong Kong Laureate Forum was completed in last March and the second-tier review had also been successfully held in February this year. The Scientific Review Board selected 229 applicants, out of a total of 315, to participate in the inaugural Hong Kong Laureate Forum. The Secretariat has notified all applicants of the results via email and will provide further information in due course.

Earth Day falls on 22 April every year. This is a worldwide annual event to for us to show support for environmental protection. It aims to promote and to put to practice the idea of environmental protection through wide range of events. Science and meteorological data have proven beyond doubt that climate change really exists. The past ten years were the warmest decade on record. Global warming is more significant in recent years and the impact of climate change is far-reaching on our planet, it is imperative for us to take actions to mitigate the impacts of climate change. To support Earth Day and to raise awareness and concern about climate change, the HKLF has produced a series of videos on climate change and related topics. These videos will be available on our website and social media platforms starting from 22 April 2022. Besides videos, articles on environmental protection, climate change, scientific data and related topics will also be published on our website and newsletter. Stay tuned!

Nobel Laureate in Physics – Professor Charles Kuen KAO

The publication of the 12th issue of this newsletter in November last year, coincided with the Chinese Nobel Laureate in Physics Professor YANG Chen-Ning’s 100th birthday. To celebrate this important occasion, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) held a large-scale special exhibition as part of the celebratory activities. For that edition, we also published an article titled “A Century of Physics – A Public Lecture in Honour of Professor Yang Chen-Ning at One Hundred”, written by Professor Kenneth YOUNG of the Department of Physics, CUHK, not only to introduce Professor YANG’s outstanding academic achievements, but also recount the close relationship he has established with Hong Kong over the years.

In fact, although Hong Kong is geographically small, it is a place where some Nobel Laureates in Physics resided and were educated when they were young!

In this issue, we are going to introduce another Nobel Laureate in Physics – Professor Charles KAO, who is known as the “Father of Fibre Optics”, about his great achievement in engineering and physics as well as his remarkable contribution to the development of higher education in Hong Kong.

Father of Fibre Optics

Crowned as the “Father of Fibre Optics”, “Father of Fibre Optic Communication” and “Godfather of Broadband”, the 2009 Nobel Laureate in Physics, Charles Kuen KAO is generally regarded as one of the most significant and influential contributors to engineering in modern times. His “groundbreaking achievements concerning the transmission of light in fibres for optical communication” was instrumental to the explosive development of the age of the Internet.

Dark Matter

If you have done star-gazing, you probably would have enjoyed and admired the majestic arrangements of stars into galaxies (Fig. 1). Our Sun is a typical star in the Milky Way, our home galaxy, a typical galaxy in the universe. The hundreds of billions of galaxies in the observable universe group into galaxy clusters, forming even larger structures (Fig. 2). Other than stars, what constitutes a galaxy? How did galaxies and galaxy clusters form? How did these structures emerge from the almost perfectly uniform distribution in the early universe? These are just some of the questions that scientists want to answer. It turns out that a mysterious form of matter, called dark matter, plays a crucial role in all these questions.

In the 1930s, Astronomers Zwicky and Smith tried to measure the mass of the Coma and Virgo Clusters, two relatively nearby galaxy clusters. Their reasoning goes like this: the mass of a galaxy cluster is proportional to its gravitational pull on the galaxies, which the orbital speeds would reveal. After carefully measuring the motions of galaxies, Zwicky and Smith were surprised to find that Coma and Virgo Clusters should be much more massive than the visible matter (stars and gas). In other words, there must be a lot of ‘Dunkle Materie’, or dark matter, which gravitates but doesn’t emit light. Applying the same idea, Vera Rubin measured the rotation curves of galaxies – the orbital speeds of stars and gas at different distances from the galactic center (Fig. 3). She found that the rotation curves of most galaxies do not decrease even at large distances, indicating that the gravity at the outskirt of a galaxy is not weakening, even though almost no visible matter can be observed there. This observation strongly suggests that a much larger dark matter halo engulfs the visible matter. For example, the dark matter halo of the Milky Way extends to at least 4-5 times the radius of its luminous disk, containing a total mass 5-10 times that of visible matter.

Author:

Prof Ming-chung CHU, Department of Physics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Ageing: an Inevitable Consequence of All Life?

The concept of ageing is a mysterious process and raises many questions. Why do organisms age? Why do we die at different ages? What are the mechanisms that underlie ageing? This is especially intriguing when scientists observe varying lifespans of one laboratory mice strain, consisting of genetically identical individuals. With ageing comes the prospect of increased cellular dysfunction, affecting normal tissue functions leading to the development of age-related diseases, such as cancer, neurodegenerative disorders, and cardiovascular diseases (CVD). The average life expectancy of humans has improved massively worldwide, partly due to better improvements in medical treatments, diagnosis, and the healthcare system. With humans living longer, this brings an increased burden on the healthcare system to take care of the elderly, who may be suffering age-associated deficits / problems, as well as the prospect of having an older working population, whose productivity may be lower. A common feature of the elderly is increased frailty and the development of dementia as they approach their eighties. Why is ageing associated with these deficits, and are there ways to circumvent these shortcomings and potentially live forever?

Most of our current understanding of ageing has relied upon studies performed in animal and single-cell models, such as laboratory mice, the nematode worm, Caenorhabditis elegans (C.elegans), and the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae (S.cerevisiae). Despite the huge number of ageing studies, our understanding of ageing is limited since these models only simulate some aspects of ageing features. Hence, we are still unable to answer the questions posed above. I wish to direct the reader to the concepts of “chronological” versus “biological” ageing. The former refers to the amount of time passed from birth to a given date, while the latter occurs when the organism gradually accrues irreversible damage (to macromolecules, such as DNA, proteins, lipids) within their cells. Here we will discuss biological ageing, in terms of some of the ageing traits and what we might do to slow the effects of ageing to live a long and fruitful life.

Author profile

Prof Tom Cheung is currently the S H Ho Associate Professor of Life Science in the Division of Life Science at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). He received his PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Colorado, United States of America. He specialises in the field of stem cells and the biology of ageing using murine muscle stem cells to identify the key molecular pathways that underlie stem cell quiescence and tissue regeneration. Prof Cheung is also a recipient of the Croucher Innovation Award in 2015 for the study of “Molecular regulation of stem cell ageing” and has published more than 30 scientific papers in high impact journals. Furthermore, Prof Cheung is Director of the HKUST-Nan Fung Life Sciences Joint Laboratory, Associate Director of the Biosciences Central Research Facility at HKUST, Director of the HKUST-BGI Joint Research Center, and Associate Director of the HKUST-Shanghai Sixth People’s Hospital Joint Research Center for Brain Science, as well as being a key member of the Hong Kong Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (HKCeND) at the Hong Kong Science Park.

Dr Erin Tse received her PhD in Biomedical Sciences from Aston University, United Kingdom, studying Alzheimer’s disease under the supervision of Dr Eric Hill. To further her personal growth, Erin moved to Hong Kong working in microbiology, followed by some time in a virology group using human stem-cell-derived enteroids to study the host interactome of human norovirus structural proteins. Through her experiences, she specialises in the study of cell biology. Currently, Dr Tse is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Cheung Laboratory, where she continues to further stem cell research. Dr Tse is also an active member of the HKUST-Nan Fung Joint Sciences Laboratory, largely responsible for manageing the joint lab activities and mentorship of trainees.

關於香港桂冠論壇

歡迎大家來到香港桂冠論壇2022年3月份通訊。

在過去的一年，雖然在新冠病毒疫情的陰霾下令舉辦實體活動的難度有所增加，但我們很高興得到很多學術界、科學界和教育界等機構和人士的鼎力支持，先後成功舉行了多個與科學有關的項目和宣傳活動。當中包括首屆桂冠論壇前奏的主題活動「科學解密」、「智者‧智講」和「探索新視野」以及名為「與智者對談」的短片系列。大家可以到我們的網站、社交媒體平台和YouTube頻道觀看過去一年的精華片段、「與智者對談」短片系列以及一些與香港本地科學家訪問的片段。我們會繼續與各界人士聯繫，貫徹香港桂冠論壇的使命︰促進不同世代、文化和領域的科學家互相交流；支援香港和國際社會的青年發展；提升香港年輕一代對不同科技領域的認識和興趣；以及推動香港科學和科技各個領域的教育和交流。

首屆香港桂冠論壇申請的首輪評審已於去年3月完成，而第二輪評審也於剛過去的2月成功舉行。科學評審大會在315位申請者中，揀選出229位參加首屆香港桂冠論壇。秘書處已經透過電郵通知各位申請者有關申請結果，也會陸續公佈有關首屆桂冠論壇的其他安排。

每年的4月22日是世界地球日（Earth Day），這是一項展示對環境保護支持的世界性年度活動，目的是透過不同的方式宣傳和實踐環境保護的觀念。科學和數據證明氣候變化是確實存在的，最近十年是有記錄以來最暖的十年期。近幾年的暖化情況尤其明顯，世界氣候變化影響十分深遠，緩解氣候變化影響的工作刻不容緩。為響應世界地球日以及提升大家對氣候變化的認識和關注，香港桂冠論壇在早前拍攝了一系列與氣候變化有關的短片，這些短片將會在4月22日開始，在我們的網站和社交媒體平台陸續推出與大家分享。除了短片以外，我們亦會透過網站和通訊發佈一些與環境保護、氣候變化、科學數據或相關議題有關的文章，大家記得留意！

諾貝爾物理學獎得獎者—高錕教授

去年十一月，本刊第十二期通訊刊出時，適值華裔諾貝爾物理學獎得主楊振寧教授百歲生辰，香港中文大學（中大）特別舉辦了大型專題展覽。我們亦刊登了由中大物理系楊綱凱教授撰寫，名為《百年物理 – 賀楊振寧教授 – 百歳生辰》的文章，除介紹楊振寧教授的卓越學術成就外，亦講述了他與香港多年來所有建立的密切關係。

其實，香港雖然是彈丸之地，卻是幾位獲諾貝爾物理學獎得獎者年青時居住及受教育的地方！

今期，就讓我們介紹有「光纖之父」稱謂的諾貝爾物理學獎得獎者—高錕教授在工程和物理學上的卓越成就和對香港高等教育的重大貢獻。

光纖之父

高錕被譽為「光纖之父」、「光纖通訊之父」、「寬帶教父」及為2009諾貝爾物理學獎得獎者，說他是現代最重要和最有影響力的工程家之一，絕對是無容置疑的。他在「光傳輸於纖維的光學通信領域突破性成就（for groundbreaking achievements concerning the transmission of light in fibers for optical communication）」，更造就了互聯網時代的的爆炸性發展。

暗物質

如果您喜歡觀星，您可能看過壯麗的星系，並讚嘆這些由千億個恆星組成的雄偉結構（圖一）。太陽是我們的家鄉星系銀河系中的典型恆星，而銀河系亦是宇宙中的典型星系。星系組合成星系團，形成更大的結構（圖二）。星系內除了恆星，還有什麼物質？星系和星系團是如何形成的？這些結構是如何從早期宇宙中幾乎完全均勻的物質分佈中出現的？這些只是科學家想要解答的問題的一部份。事實證明，一種稱為暗物質的神秘物質在所有這些問題中都有著關鍵角色。

在 1930 年代，天文學家茲威基（Zwicky）和 史密斯（Smith）測量后髮座星系團和室女座星系團的質量。他們的方法是這樣的：星系團的質量與其對星系的重力成正比，而星系繞着星系團運行的速度則與其感受的重力直接相關。經過仔細測量了星系的速度之後，茲威基和史密斯驚訝地發現，這兩個星系團的質量應該比可見物質（恆星和氣體）大得多。換句話說，星系團內一定有很多「暗物質」（”Dunkle Materie”）–不發光但衍生重力的物質。應用同樣的想法，維拉魯賓（Vera Rubin）測量了星系的旋轉曲線——恆星和氣體在離星系中心不同距離的軌道速度（圖 三）。她發現大多數星系的自轉曲線即使在距離中心很遠的地方也不會下降。這表明在幾乎沒有可見物質存在的星系外圍，重力仍然不會減弱，顯示星系中可見物質藏在一個大很多的暗物質暈（dark matter halo）中。例如，銀河系的暗物質暈至少延伸到其發光盤半徑的 4-5 倍，其質量是可見物質的 5-10 倍。

作者：
香港中文大學物理系朱明中教授

老化 – 所有生命的必然結局？

「老化」是個神秘的過程，而且引發了我們許多疑問。為何生物會老化？為何我們死亡的年齡又各有不同？老化背後又蘊藏著什麼機制？科學家觀察到，一組實驗室小鼠即使基因相同，每隻壽命卻各有不同，令人嘖嘖稱奇。當生物老化時，細胞功能失常的情況會增加，影響正常組織功能，導致與年齡相關的疾病形成，如癌症、神經退化性疾病、心血管疾病 (CVD)。全球人類平均預期壽命大幅提高，部分原因來自治療、診斷和醫療體系的進步。隨著人類壽命延長，對老年人的照顧亦加重了醫療體系的負擔，皆因老化會伴隨著很多與年齡相關的缺陷或問題；另外，勞動人口老化亦導致生產力降低的問題。老年人的共同特徵是越接近八十歲，衰弱會越變得明顯，以及容易罹患腦退化症。為何老化會離不開這些缺陷？人類有沒有辦法跨越這些缺陷，甚至邁向長生不老？

我們目前對老化的大部分理解都來自對動物及單細胞模型所作過的研究，例如實驗室小鼠、線蟲（即秀麗隱桿線蟲，學名Caenorhabditis elegans，簡稱C.elegans)及酵母（即釀酒酵母，學名Saccharomyces cerevisiae，簡稱S.cerevisiae)。儘管已有大量對老化的研究，但我們對此的理解仍然有限，因為這些動物模型只模擬了老化某些方面的特徵，所以我們對上述問題仍然是無從入手。希望本文能引領讀者了解「時間上」的老化與「生物上」的老化概念有何不同︰前者是指由出生至某個日期所經過的時間長度；後者是指生物體的細胞逐漸累積不可逆轉的損傷（例如 DNA、蛋白質、脂質等大分子）。本文會從某些老化的特徵探討生物老化，以及我們可以透過什麼途徑減慢衰老，從而活出長壽而豐富的人生。

作者簡介

張曉東教授現為香港科技大學（HKUST）生命科學部的何善衡生命科學副教授。張教授在美國科羅拉多大學獲得生物化學博士學位。他的研究專長是幹細胞及老化生物學，曾利用實驗室老鼠的肌肉幹細胞發現幹細胞靜止及組織再生的關鍵分子路徑。張教授亦因「幹細胞衰老過程中的分子控制」研究獲得 2015 年裘槎前瞻科研大獎，並曾在著名期刊發表超過三十篇科學論文。此外，張教授亦擔任香港科技大學 – 南豐集團聯合實驗室主任、生物科學實驗中心副主任、香港科技大學-華大基因聯合研究中心主任、香港科技大學-上海第六人民醫院腦科學聯合研究中心副主任，以及位於香港科學園的香港神經退行性疾病中心 (HKCeND) 的主要成員。

Erin Tse博士在英國阿斯頓大學獲得生物醫學科學博士學位，在 Eric Hill 博士的指導下研究阿茲海默症。謝博士為求有更高發展而移居香港，從事微生物學研究，隨後加入病毒學小組一段時間，利用由人類幹細胞衍生的類腸道組織研究人類諾沃克病毒結構蛋白的宿主互作。謝博士憑藉其學術經驗，專門從事細胞生物學的研究。謝博士目前是張教授實驗室的博士後研究員，並將在此繼續其幹細胞研究。謝博士亦是香港科技大學 – 南豐集團聯合實驗室的活躍成員，主要負責管理聯合實驗室的活動及指導學員。

关于香港桂冠论坛

欢迎大家来到香港桂冠论坛2022年3月份通讯。

在过去的一年，虽然在新冠病毒疫情的阴霾下令举办实体活动的难度有所增加，但我们很高兴得到很多学术界、科学界和教育界等机构和人士的鼎力支持，先后成功举行了多个与科学有关的项目和宣传活动。当中包括首届桂冠论坛前奏的主题活动「科学解密」、「智者‧智讲」和「探索新视野」以及名为「与智者对谈」的短片系列。大家可以到我们的网站、社交媒体平台和YouTube频道观看过去一年的精华片段、「与智者对谈」短片系列以及一些与香港本地科学家访问的片段。我们会继续与各界人士联系，贯彻香港桂冠论坛的使命︰促进不同世代、文化和领域的科学家互相交流；支援香港和国际社会的青年发展；提升香港年轻一代对不同科技领域的认识和兴趣；以及推动香港科学和科技各个领域的教育和交流。

首届香港桂冠论坛申请的首轮评审已于去年3月完成，而第二轮评审也于刚过去的2月成功举行。科学评审大会在315位申请者中，拣选出229位参加首届香港桂冠论坛。秘书处已经透过电邮通知各位申请者有关申请结果，也会陆续公布有关首届桂冠论坛的其他安排。

每年的4月22日是世界地球日（Earth Day），这是一项展示对环境保护支持的世界性年度活动，目的是透过不同的方式宣传和实践环境保护的观念。科学和数据证明气候变化是确实存在的，最近十年是有记录以来最暖的十年期。近几年的暖化情况尤其明显，世界气候变化影响十分深远，缓解气候变化影响的工作刻不容缓。为响应世界地球日以及提升大家对气候变化的认识和关注，香港桂冠论坛在早前拍摄了一系列与气候变化有关的短片，这些短片将会在4月22日开始，在我们的网站和社交媒体平台陆续推出与大家分享。除了短片以外，我们亦会透过网站和通讯发布一些与环境保护、气候变化、科学数据或相关议题有关的文章，大家记得留意！

诺贝尔物理学奖得奖者—高锟教授

去年十一月，本刊第十二期通讯刊出时，适值华裔诺贝尔物理学奖得主杨振宁教授百岁生辰，香港中文大学（中大）特别举办了大型专题展览。我们亦刊登了由中大物理系杨纲凯教授撰写，名为《百年物理 – 贺杨振宁教授 – 百歳生辰》的文章，除介绍杨振宁教授的卓越学术成就外，亦讲述了他与香港多年来所有建立的密切关系。

其实，香港虽然是弹丸之地，却是几位获诺贝尔物理学奖得奖者年青时居住及受教育的地方！

今期，就让我们介绍有「光纤之父」称谓的诺贝尔物理学奖得奖者—高锟教授在工程和物理学上的卓越成就和对香港高等教育的重大贡献。

光纤之父

高锟被誉为「光纤之父」、「光纤通讯之父」、「宽带教父」及为2009诺贝尔物理学奖得奖者，说他是现代最重要和最有影响力的工程家之一，绝对是无容置疑的。他在「光传输于纤维的光学通信领域突破性成就（for groundbreaking achievements concerning the transmission of light in fibers for optical communication）」，更造就了互联网时代的的爆炸性发展。

暗物质

如果您喜欢观星，您可能看过壮丽的星系，并赞叹这些由千亿个恒星组成的雄伟结构（图一）。太阳是我们的家乡星系银河系中的典型恒星，而银河系亦是宇宙中的典型星系。星系组合成星系团，形成更大的结构（图二）。星系内除了恒星，还有什么物质？星系和星系团是如何形成的？这些结构是如何从早期宇宙中几乎完全均匀的物质分布中出现的？这些只是科学家想要解答的问题的一部份。事实证明，一种称为暗物质的神秘物质在所有这些问题中都有著关键角色。

在 1930 年代，天文学家兹威基（Zwicky）和 史密斯（Smith）测量后发座星系团和室女座星系团的质量。他们的方法是这样的：星系团的质量与其对星系的重力成正比，而星系绕着星系团运行的速度则与其感受的重力直接相关。经过仔细测量了星系的速度之后，兹威基和史密斯惊讶地发现，这两个星系团的质量应该比可见物质（恒星和气体）大得多。换句话说，星系团内一定有很多「暗物质」（”Dunkle Materie”）–不发光但衍生重力的物质。应用同样的想法，维拉鲁宾（Vera Rubin）测量了星系的旋转曲线——恒星和气体在离星系中心不同距离的轨道速度（图 三）。她发现大多数星系的自转曲线即使在距离中心很远的地方也不会下降。这表明在几乎没有可见物质存在的星系外围，重力仍然不会减弱，显示星系中可见物质藏在一个大很多的暗物质晕（dark matter halo）中。例如，银河系的暗物质晕至少延伸到其发光盘半径的 4-5 倍，其质量是可见物质的 5-10 倍。

作者︰
香港中文大学物理系朱明中教授

老化 – 所有生命的必然结局？

「老化」是个神秘的过程，而且引发了我们许多疑问。为何生物会老化？为何我们死亡的年龄又各有不同？老化背后又蕴藏著什么机制？科学家观察到，一组实验室小鼠即使基因相同，每只寿命却各有不同，令人啧啧称奇。当生物老化时，细胞功能失常的情况会增加，影响正常组织功能，导致与年龄相关的疾病形成，如癌症、神经退化性疾病、心血管疾病 (CVD)。全球人类平均预期寿命大幅提高，部分原因来自治疗、诊断和医疗体系的进步。随著人类寿命延长，对老年人的照顾亦加重了医疗体系的负担，皆因老化会伴随著很多与年龄相关的缺陷或问题；另外，劳动人口老化亦导致生产力降低的问题。老年人的共同特征是越接近八十岁，衰弱会越变得明显，以及容易罹患脑退化症。为何老化会离不开这些缺陷？人类有没有办法跨越这些缺陷，甚至迈向长生不老？

我们目前对老化的大部分理解都来自对动物及单细胞模型所作过的研究，例如实验室小鼠、线虫（即秀丽隐杆线虫，学名Caenorhabditis elegans，简称C.elegans)及酵母（即酿酒酵母，学名Saccharomyces cerevisiae，简称S.cerevisiae)。尽管已有大量对老化的研究，但我们对此的理解仍然有限，因为这些动物模型只模拟了老化某些方面的特征，所以我们对上述问题仍然是无从入手。希望本文能引领读者了解「时间上」的老化与「生物上」的老化概念有何不同︰前者是指由出生至某个日期所经过的时间长度；后者是指生物体的细胞逐渐累积不可逆转的损伤（例如 DNA、蛋白质、脂质等大分子）。本文会从某些老化的特征探讨生物老化，以及我们可以透过什么途径减慢衰老，从而活出长寿而丰富的人生。

作者简介

张晓东教授现为香港科技大学（HKUST）生命科学部的何善衡生命科学副教授。张教授在美国科罗拉多大学获得生物化学博士学位。他的研究专长是干细胞及老化生物学，曾利用实验室老鼠的肌肉干细胞发现干细胞静止及组织再生的关键分子路径。张教授亦因「干细胞衰老过程中的分子控制」研究获得 2015 年裘槎前瞻科研大奖，并曾在著名期刊发表超过三十篇科学论文。此外，张教授亦担任香港科技大学 – 南丰集团联合实验室主任、生物科学实验中心副主任、香港科技大学-华大基因联合研究中心主任、香港科技大学-上海第六人民医院脑科学联合研究中心副主任，以及位于香港科学园的香港神经退行性疾病中心 (HKCeND) 的主要成员。

Erin Tse博士在英国阿斯顿大学获得生物医学科学博士学位，在 Eric Hill 博士的指导下研究阿兹海默症。谢博士为求有更高发展而移居香港，从事微生物学研究，随后加入病毒学小组一段时间，利用由人类干细胞衍生的类肠道组织研究人类诺沃克病毒结构蛋白的宿主互作。谢博士凭借其学术经验，专门从事细胞生物学的研究。谢博士目前是张教授实验室的博士后研究员，并将在此继续其干细胞研究。谢博士亦是香港科技大学 – 南丰集团联合实验室的活跃成员，主要负责管理联合实验室的活动及指导学员。

About the Hong Kong Laureate Forum

Welcome to the May 2022 issue of the newsletter of the Hong Kong Laureate Forum!

Having carefully considered the local and global pandemic situations and the possibility of unimpeded international travel by visitors to Hong Kong in the latter part of the year, the Board of the Council of the Hong Kong Laureate Forum Limited (the HKLF) has made the difficult decision to further postpone the inaugural Hong Kong Laureate Forum (the Forum) to the second half of 2023.

The Secretariat of the HKLF had contacted all stakeholders including Shaw Laureates and young scientists as well as our local and non-local academic partners individually on the deferment. Upon setting the schedule of the Forum next year, we will make an announcement.

Meanwhile, to keep the momentum of the Forum, the Secretariat has started devising new programmes as well as planning a series of online events to further strengthen the promotion of science in the community. More science-related videos and online games will be launched to arouse and enhance public interest in science and technology in a lively and unconventional manner. One of the events is a digital photo competition called “A Photo A Day Challenge” to be held in mid-June. Besides, the hybrid event gathering both renowned local and international female scientists and researchers, “Wonder Women in Science – Inspiring and Empowering the Next Generation”, will be relaunched in tandem with the lifting of the COVID-19 preventive measures. Stay tuned to our website and social media platform for more event information.

To support Earth Day on 22 April and to raise awareness and concern about climate change, the first five episodes of “Call of Climate” video series have been disseminated through our website and social media platform. Another five videos of the same series will be launched in due course. In addition, we are happy to have the support from CarbonCare InnoLab, which will contribute articles on climate change to our newsletter. The first article has indeed been published in the current issue of this newsletter. CarbonCare InnoLab is an NGO dedicated to nurture and expand the active communities, focusing on the youth and students in Hong Kong, and encouraging them to mitigate climate change and develop sustainable low-carbon lifestyle through innovation, education and action.

The winners in the three prize categories of the Shaw Prize 2022 have just been announced on 24 May. Congratulations to the six Shaw Laureates! Special congratulations also go to Sweden and Ireland, Prof Lennart Lindegren and Prof Michael Perryman are the first Shaw Laureates whose research work is based in Sweden and Ireland respectively at the time of the award. You may visit the Shaw Prize website for details.

Last but not least, the HKLF has just celebrated its 3rd anniversary on 14 May 2022. We would like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude for the tremendous support from people and organisations in various sectors as well as participants of our events. We look forward to continuing the journey of discovering science in partnership with them!

Green Must be the Colour of Post-Pandemic Economic Recovery in Hong Kong

Both COVID-19 and climate change have exposed the human society to global, systemic and complex crises that are disrupting all aspects of our life, prompting us to carry out relevant scientific research, take effective actions to mitigate and respond to the disturbances as well as the serious impacts on vulnerable groups. As COVID-19 was wreaking havoc around the globe, greenhouse gas emissions experienced a significant drop, revealing an opportunity for us to fix such intricate system – increasing our resilience to both the pandemic and climate change, which could only be achieved with green recovery measures .

Since the beginning of 2020, COVID-19 has been spreading around the world. While the risks to public health, in particular in densely populated areas, was most disconcerting, the pandemic also disrupted global manufacturing and logistics, but at the same time leading to reduced air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Some researchers have followed hundreds of peer-reviewed literatures published since 2020 and tried to link air pollution or carbon emission levels with human health and the ecological system under the pandemic. However, they opine that it is no easy task to conclude whether the pandemic had a mitigating effect on air pollution and climate change. Such a connection would require studies not only on the infectivity and the virulence of the virus, the atmosphere and the climate system itself, but also emission technologies, meteorological conditions, economic trends, social system and governance effectiveness.

Extended Observation still Needed for Scientific Research amidst COVID-19 before Reaching a Conclusion

Understandably, the drop of air pollutants, as a result of reduced transportation and logistical activities, social distancing restrictions, and lockdowns enforced by governments during the outbreak of COVID-19, directly contributed to a fall of global carbon emissions in 2020 by 5.2% compared to 2019. Some academics have consolidated data on the electricity market, health, and transportation and logistics, and suggested a close correlation between reduction in electricity consumption and the number of COVID-19 cases, social distancing measures and levels of business activity in the United States . Even taking that into account, the relevant scientific research so far has only dealt with environmental, human and technical aspects, with less emphasis on political system and policies, such as the impact of lockdowns, which are more difficult to quantify. Similar to many studies on the effects of COVID-19 and air pollution on health, many literatures link weather and climate factors to the spread of COVID-19, yet without considering relevant non-environmental factors, including policies, social systems and technological innovations, etc.

In addition, relevant scientific studies should take into account both short-term and long-term factors that evolve over time. Ever since the outbreak, the pandemic trend varies on a weekly basis as the infection rate changes and policies are adjusted. It also shifted institutional and policy responses, including measures to mitigate, accommodate and assess feedback on climate change which has in turn affected carbon emissions and the climate. Many people focus on quantifying short-term impacts with very little quantitative data on social responses. Moreover, most such analyses are forward-looking. As a result, the potential for long-term data collection and analyses will be enormous as the pandemic and its impact lingers on.

Carbon emissions have also been reverted back to the increasing trend after the lifting of lockdown and social distancing measures across the globe. By 2021, global carbon emissions had already risen to pre-pandemic levels . It is clear that the reduction in carbon emissions in 2020 is far from making a long-term impact on the global climate. Even in the midst of the pandemic, the effect of climate change never ceases, with disasters like raging wildfires and floods occurring around the globe. Furthermore, the spread of the virus was also affected by the weather, temperature and human behaviour. We believe scientific research is playing a more significant role than just technological innovation. That is to say there is a need to investigate the symbiotic interaction between climate change and carbon emissions in the midst of a pandemic. Nevertheless, we could not wait until there is a general conclusion on the matter before taking effective policy responses.

Author:
Mr Kevin LI, Researcher of the CarbonCare InnoLab

Giant Black Holes Devouring Stars: Extreme Cosmic Events Illuminating Black Hole Spacetimes

Recent discovery by astronomers reveals that in the centre of every big galaxy there exists a giant black hole which is about one million to one billion times heavier than our Sun. Stars orbit around the black hole being pulled by gravity. Scientists want to gather information about these black holes, such as their mass and spin (indicating how fast they rotate), in order to study astrophysics and cosmology of black holes. However, these massive black holes are usually dormant, which makes it hard to observe them or gather information about them.

In the very central region of the galaxies, the gravitational interaction between stars can sometimes scatter them, resulting in the deviation from their original orbits. They can then end up getting very close to the massive black hole. If a star gets too close, the tidal force caused by the gravity of the black hole can become so large that the star is torn apart. This is called a tidal disruption event. The star is then stretched into a narrow, long stream of debris, and about half of the debris falls into the black hole. During this process a very luminous flare is emitted, sometimes in the form of optical emissions (visible light), and sometimes in X-rays. Astronomers can catch such signals using large telescopes which scans the sky night after night. It is important to study these signals, since they can give us a lot of information about massive black holes.

Author:
Dr Jane Lixin Dai, Assistant Professor, Department of Physics, The University of Hong Kong

HINCare: An Intelligent Community Support and Timebanking System

Background

In Hong Kong, the number of elderly citizens is estimated to rise to one third of the population, or around 2.37 million, by year 2037. As they age and become frailer, the demand for formal support services (e.g., providing domestic or elderly escort services) will increase significantly in the coming years. However, there is a severe lack of manpower to meet these needs. Some elderly-care homes reported a 70% shortage of employees. There is thus a strong need of voluntary or part-time helpers for taking care of the elderly. The need for mutual-help culture and social capital development has been growing sharply in the past few years. For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, voluntary delivery services of medicine, grocery or meals to affected homes are vital to our society.

The “Social Technology and Research Laboratory” (STAR Lab; https://star.hku.hk) is a team from the University of Hong Kong (HKU) that aims to develop novel IT technologies for serving the society. We are interested in “Data Science for Social Good”, researching on data-driven approaches that can benefit the public, NGOs, and the government. The STAR Lab is now working with over 20 NGOs on family- and elderly-related community projects.

HINCare and Intelligent Timebanking

One of the main endeavours of the STAR Lab in the past three years is to develop HINCare, a mobile app that encourages mutual-help in the community. HINCare adopts the concept of “timebanking”, where each user has his / her own account to store the amount of time (“time credits”) that he / she has provided services. The user can use time credits to purchase other services through our user-friendly mobile app

Author:
Prof Reynold Cheng, Department of Computer Science, The University of Hong Kong

關於香港桂冠論壇

歡迎大家來到香港桂冠論壇2022年5月份通訊。

在謹慎考慮本地和全球的2019冠狀病毒病疫情狀況，以及本年下半年國際旅客能否在暢通無阻的情況下訪港後，香港桂冠論壇委員會（簡稱「論壇委員會」）作出了一個艱難的決定 — 將首屆香港桂冠論壇（簡稱「桂冠論壇」）再延期至2023年下半年舉行。

論壇委員會秘書處已就桂冠論壇延期事宜，與所有持份者聯絡，包括邵逸夫獎得獎者、青年科學家，以及本地和非本地學術伙伴，並逐一通知他們上述的延期決定。當確定明年論壇舉辦日期後，我們將會再作公告。

與此同時，為保持論壇的發展動力，秘書處已著手規劃一些新活動，並且籌備一系列線上活動，以便進一步在社區內加強推廣科學。秘書處將推出更多與科學相關的視頻和線上遊戲，以生動和非傳統的方式激發和提升公眾對科學與科技的興趣。其中一個線上遊戲是將在6月中旬舉辦的「A Photo A Day Challenge」，這是一個與科學有關的數碼攝影活動。另外，匯聚本地和國際知名女性科學家和研究人員的線上線下活動 – 「科學界女強人 – 激發下一代力量」也將隨著2019冠狀病毒病相關防疫措施的放寬而重新啟動。有關活動的安排，請留意我們的網站和社交媒體。

為響應4月22日的世界地球日以及提升大家對氣候變化的認識和關注，我們製作了一系列名為「氣候的呼喚」的短片，首5集已經在我們的網站和社交媒體發佈，其他5集亦即將會與大家分享。此外，我們很高興得到低碳想創坊的支持，為我們撰寫有關氣候變化的文章，首篇文章亦在今期通訊內與大家分享。低碳想創坊是一間獨立非政府組織，致力培育及發展活躍的社群，並以香港的年青人和學生為重點，鼓勵他們通過創意、教育和行動來應對氣候變化和發展可持續的低碳生活。

2022年度邵逸夫獎三個獎項的得獎者名單已經於5月24日公佈，恭喜六位得獎者！特別恭喜瑞典和愛爾蘭，萊納特‧林德格倫教授和邁克爾‧佩里曼教授是首位在獲獎時分別在瑞典和愛爾蘭進行研究工作的邵逸夫獎得獎者。得獎者名單可參閱 邵逸夫獎網站。

最後，2022年5月14日是論壇委員會成立三周年的日子，藉著這個機會我們感謝一直以來給予我們很多支持的各界人士和機構以及參與我們活動的參加者。我們期待繼續與各界一起參與探索科學的旅程！

香港新冠疫情後的經濟復甦必須是綠色的

全球新冠疫情與氣候變化，同樣顯露了人類社會全球性、系統性而複雜的危機，都需要我們進行相關科學研究，並同時採取行動減緩和適應其對社會各環節的干擾，以及對脆弱群體造成的嚴重影響。新冠疫情造成全球危機之際，溫室氣體排放一度下跌正好給我們啟示和契機，就是只有以綠色復甦的措施修復這個複雜的體系，才有機會提高我們對疫症和氣候變化兩者的韌性[1]。

2020年初開始，新冠疫情在全球各地爆發，尤其是對人口稠密的地區造成重大的公共衛生風險，也一度擾亂了全球生產和物流系統，並降低了空氣污染和溫室氣體排放水平。有科研人員監測了自2020年以來發表的數以百計經過同行評審的文獻[2]，都是試圖在新冠疫情下將空氣污染或碳排放水平與人體健康、生態環境的關係聯繫起來。然而，他們認為，要判斷新冠疫情是否減緩空氣污染和氣候變化的影響並非易事，這不僅涉及病毒的傳染力和毒性、大氣和氣候系統本身，還涉及排放技術、氣象條件，經濟趨勢變化、社會體制及治理水平的因素。

新冠疫情下科學研究仍需長期觀察 未有定論

固然，在新冠疫情下，空氣污染排放受到運輸物流減少、社交距離限制以及政府強制封城的影響，直接使2020年的全球碳排放比2019年下跌了5.2%。部份學者整合了電力市場、健康和運輸物流的數據，指出了美國電力消耗的減少與新冠肺炎案例、社交距離和商業活動水平之間的密切相關[3]。不過，即使如此，到目前為止，相關科學研究只是處理了環境、人類和技術方面的問題，對於較難量化的體制和政策卻沒有那麼關注，例如實施封城的影響。就像不少研究新冠肺炎和空氣污染對健康的影響一樣，不少文獻將天氣和氣候因素與新冠肺炎傳播聯繫起來，卻沒有考慮相關的非環境因素，包括政策、社會體制和技術創新等。

此外，相關科學研究需要考慮到隨時間而變化的短期和長期因素。自從新冠疫情自爆發以來，隨著感染率的變化和政策的調整，每週的趨勢都在變化；新冠疫情還同時改變了體制和政策應對措施，包括與氣候變化有關的減緩、適應和反饋措施，反過來影響碳排放和氣候。許多人把重點放在量化短期影響上。量化社會回應的數據還很少，而且大多數分析都是前瞻性的。因此，隨著新冠疫情及其影響將會持續，長期數據收集和分析的潛力很大。

隨著全球各地封鎖和社交距離措施的解除，碳排放已再次增加。到2021年，全球碳排放已回升至疫情前的排放水平[4]。顯然，2020年碳排放減少還不足以對全球氣候產生長遠的影響。即使仍在疫情期間，氣候變化的影響從沒有間斷，全球依然發生山火和洪水等災害，而病毒流行也存在氣候、溫度和人類行為的影響。筆者認為，科學研究的角色已經超過技術的創新，而是要研究增進了疫情下氣候變化和碳排放兩個系統的相互作用，但不能等到有概括性結論便要採取有效的政策行動回應。

作者︰
低碳想創坊研究員李育成先生

大質量黑洞吞噬恆星：照亮黑洞的劇烈爆發天體現象

現今天文學家們發現每個星系的中心都有一個質量約為一百萬到十億個太陽質量的巨大黑洞。星系中的恆星因引力作用圍繞著黑洞旋轉。我們想要更多的了解這些大質量黑洞，比如測量它們的質量及自旋參數是如何，這些信息可以幫助我們研究黑洞的天體物理學以及宇宙學等等。然而這些大質量黑洞通常處於休眠狀態，以致我們難以觀測到它們或得到關於它們的信息。

在星系最中心的部位，恆星之間的相互引力作用有時會改變他們的原有軌道，甚至令到一些恆星被散射到離黑洞很近的位置。當恆星離黑洞過近時，黑洞重力產生的潮汐力可以強烈到撕破恆星，而產生“潮汐力瓦解恆星事件”。此時恆星被拉扯成一個狹長的星屑氣體帶，有一半的星屑會墜落入黑洞中。在這個過程中，星系中心會發出明亮的閃光輻射，有時在可見光波段，有時在X射線波段。天文學家建造了大型的巡天望遠鏡來捕捉這些信號，並通過分析它們來推斷出很多關於大質量黑洞的信息。

作者︰
香港大學物理系助理教授戴麗心博士

HINCare : 智能社區資源及時間銀行系統

背景

到2037年，香港長者人數估計將會佔1/3人口，達二百三十七萬人。隨著年齡和身體機能減弱，這些長者對個人支援服務（例如家居護理和外出接送等）需求，也會隨之顯著增加，但相關社會服務所需配套的人力資源，卻是一大問題。有些長者院舍甚至預示，他們將會面對70%的人手短缺，逼切需要義務工作者或兼職員工的幫助，來舒緩長者照顧服務的需求。過去幾年，社區互助文化的培育和社區資本發展的需求不斷增加。例如，在 COVID-19肆虐危機期間，向受影響家庭派送藥物、雜貨或膳食的義工服務，對我們的社會至關重要。

「社會科技與研究實驗室」（STAR Lab; https://star.hku.hk）是香港大學的一個團隊，旨在開發新的資訊科技，以服務社會。我們以發展“讓社會裨益的數據科學”為目標，用數據為基礎作研究，盼望可使公眾、非政府組織和政府受益。 STAR Lab 目前正與 20 多間非政府組織合作，發展與家庭和老年人相關的社區項目。

HINCare和智能時間銀行

STAR Lab過去三年的主要工作之一，是開發HINCare。這是一個鼓勵社區互助的移動應用程式。我們採用時間銀行的概念 — 每個用戶都有個人賬戶，用以儲存他 / 她曾提供義工服務的時分（“時間積分”），而用戶可以使用這些時間積分，作日後購買其他服務之用

作者︰
香港大學 計算機科學系 鄭振剛教授