On November 6, two Nobel laureates led six of the world's top scientists on the stage of the 2021 Tencent WE Conference. From black hole exploration to mind typing to soft robots swimming in the 10,000-meter deep sea, they shared with the audience the latest breakthroughs in astrophysics, brain-computer interface, deep-sea exploration and other scientific fields. This is the ninth consecutive year that the Tencent WE Conference has invited the world's top scientists to share cutting-edge breakthroughs, and it has never been interrupted during the epidemic.
In addition to demonstrating scientific breakthroughs, this year's WE Conference also achieved a breakthrough in live broadcast experience, becoming the first VR panoramic live broadcast of WeChat video number, and realizing naked-eye 360 ° panoramic visual effects. Tencent Multimedia Lab also participates in providing technical support, and Tencent Cloud Audio and Video provides live broadcast solutions, and simultaneously broadcasts live on more than 60 platforms such as video number and Tencent Video. In an immersive experience full of sci-fi, the audience "immerses" the scientists in space, deep sea and other scenes. At the same time, the conference also held offline movie viewing parties in 14 universities in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong, Sichuan, Gansu and other places, inviting teachers and students to watch the frontier of science together.
Guest speaker at Tencent 2021 WE Conference
With the theme of "Cave Heaven", the conference paid tribute to the scientific explorers who explored the truth of the world in ancient and modern China and abroad. This year's WE conference featured guests from six fields, including two 2020 Nobel Laureates in Physics, mathematical physicist Roger Penrose and astrophysicist Reinhard Genzel, flexible electronic materials expert John A. Rogers, energy storage and fuel cell technology scientist Wang Chaoyang, and brain-computer interface expert Krishna V. Shenoy), winner of the Science Exploration Prize, Li Tiefeng, a scientist of soft robotics and intelligent equipment.
Tencent's chief exploration official website is large
"Human activities have had a profound impact on the planet. We saw torrential rains, frequent floods, and wildfires spreading. In 2021, human behavior must change. Through the use of new technologies, we can improve the quality of life while maintaining the balance of natural ecology", Tencent's chief exploration official website Dawei said in the opening speech, "Human technological capabilities are becoming more and more powerful, should not be limited to their own development, but also should explore the scientific gaze, looking at the broader stars and the sea." ”
2020 Nobel Laureate in Physics, mathematical physicist Roger Penrose
"Is a black hole just a theoretical possibility, or can it form naturally in the real universe?" What was the universe before the Big Bang? One of the greatest mathematical physicists of our time, Roger Penrose, solved the problem of black hole formation through mathematical calculations and won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2020 for "Discovering that the formation of black holes is a universal prediction of general relativity." Together with Stephen Hawking, he developed the Penrose-Hawking singularity theorem, which laid the mathematical foundation for modern cosmology. In addition, based on data calculations, he also proposed a new hypothesis of cosmic origin, the "conformal circular cosmology", that is, the universe did not experience only one big bang, but continued to cycle back and forth from the big bang to death. At this WE conference, Penrose brought the application of mathematics in general relativity and black hole research to share, and also let the public understand the "past and present lives" of the universe.
2020 Nobel Laureate in Physics, astrophysicist Reinhard Genzel
If the mathematical proof of the existence of black holes is a theoretical contribution, astrophysicist Reinhard Genzell, who is also the winner of the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics, further perfected the evidence for the existence of black holes through observational means and opened up a new field of supermassive object research. He used advanced equipment to observe the center of the Milky Way for several years, and finally was the first to obtain conclusive evidence that there was a massive black hole in the center of the Milky Way. In his speech, Genzel revealed to the audience the whole process of using observational means to verify the existence of black holes.
John Rogers, a member of the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Medicine, and an expert in flexible electronic materials
"How do you make 'cold' electronic devices compatible with the human body like human tissue?" In the past 15 years, Professor John Rogers of Northwestern University, a global leader in flexible electronic technology research and known as the "father of flexible electronics", has been devoted to this topic. His related research has been selected as one of the "Top Ten Technological Breakthroughs of the Year" by MIT Technology Review for four times. This time, Rogers and the audience focused on sharing the latest achievements of "electronic skin", and the electronic skin he developed to monitor the vital signs of premature babies has been clinically applied in 23 countries on 5 continents around the world to protect infant health.
Academician of the National Academy of Inventors, Wang Chaoyang, scientist of power battery, energy storage and fuel cell technology
"Batteries and energy storage are one of the most important basic technologies in the new energy era and intelligent society, and will usher in huge innovation opportunities in the next decade." Wang Chaoyang, a distinguished professor of materials and engineering at Penn State University, is a pioneer in extremely fast charging, and his research results on all-climate battery (ACB) technology have been adopted by the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics as one of the core technologies driving Olympic electric vehicles. In his speech, Wang Chaoyang shared the breakthrough progress of technical problems such as "charging electric vehicles in 10 minutes". Achieving a 5-minute charge and making it faster than refueling is his new goal.
Krishna Shenoy, a professor at Stanford University and an expert on brain-computer interfaces
"You can write with your mind alone" has also changed from a sci-fi scene to a reality. Professor Krishna Seinoy of Stanford University led a team that for the first time deciphered the brain signals related to handwritten notes, and then converted the writing ideas in the human brain into lines and sentences on the screen, with an accuracy rate of more than 99%. In his speech, he shared the principles behind this amazing technology. The technology will also help people with "locked-in syndrome" who cannot move and speak communicate better.
Li Tiefeng, winner of the Science Exploration Award, professor of Zhejiang University, and scientist of soft robotics and intelligent equipment
Li Tiefeng, a professor at Zhejiang University after the "85s", was the youngest speaker at the conference. After winning the Science Exploration Award in 2019, he was featured on the cover of Nature Magazine, a top international journal, in March this year with the scientific research results of "10,000-meter deep-sea controlled soft robot". The first Chinese soft-bodied robotic fish to dive into the Mariana Trench at a depth of 10,900 meters is the theme he shared with the audience. "We also have a bold vision for the future, which is to apply this soft robot to planetary or space exploration."
This year's WE conference also invited creators of various video platforms to launch activities such as video number scientific knowledge punch card interaction, UP main line movie viewing meeting, Tencent University Innovation Club movie viewing and other activities. At the same time, the conference also invited young actor Yang Yang as the official promotion ambassador of the 2021 WE conference to encourage the public to bravely chase the dream of science.
Since 2013, the Tencent Science WE Conference has been held for 9 consecutive years, and nearly 80 of the world's top scientific researchers have been invited to the stage, including 13 mathematical physicists, 15 life scientists and 10 astronomers and geoscientists. Nearly 80 million people attended the conference online and offline, and more than 25 million people watched the live broadcast of the conference in 2020 alone. On the basis of holding the Science WE Conference, Tencent has successively launched a series of projects such as the Science Exploration Award, the Medical ME Conference, the Youth Science Conference, and the X-Talk in recent years, awarding breakthroughs in basic science and making it a new fashion in society to enter science and fall in love with science.
Edited by Song Yuting Proofreader Zhao Lin