First of all, why take stock and review the past year? Happy families are all similar, and unhappy families have their own misfortunes. However, I am a person who has good scars and forgets the pain, my memory is particularly selective, with the loss of time, I only remember those beautiful, only remember those happy and successful moments, those depressed and failure are forgotten, maybe this is the driving force for moving forward? Maybe selective memory is an evolutionary choice? Perhaps the role of words is to resist the results of evolution a little?
Last year's inventory of 2020, I reviewed my top ten events, opening the book:
"It is said that 2020 is an extraordinary year. This year, there are too many ups and downs, up and down, back and forth, there is too much sadness, too much anger, there is too much helplessness. ”
"We never gave up, we persevered, we were always full of hope, we were always scrappy. We did what we were supposed to do, and we did a lot of things we wouldn't have done before. ”
"2020 is worth remembering for everyone. Therefore, taking stock of 2020, I put together my top ten events, put them in the circle of friends, and set up this photo. ”
These ten major events are, ten, finally moved to the office; nine, I am also wrong: the US presidential election; eighth, I am also wrong: the new crown epidemic; seven, exercise every day to work well; sixth, a new generation of entrepreneurs are mighty; fifth, the country is good and everything is good; fourth, less out of the door and more papers; third, the universe in the eyes of wisdom: this is beauty; second, satellite launches again and again; first, multi-body quantum entanglement has occurred.
This is a screenshot posted in the circle of friends on New Year's Day last year.
This year's (2021) review is related to an invitation received: "Teacher Zhang Shuangnan, I have come to invite you again, and I would like to invite you to attend an offline small party and online live broadcast event of Guohu on the evening of December 29 at the end of the year... Everyone's sharing section only takes 5-10 minutes to review their most interesting clips of the year, or interesting knowledge, the theme is mine 2021. ”
I immediately replied: "Thanks for the invitation, if there is no conflict of work tasks (the possibility of conflict at night), I will definitely participate." "So I thought about what happened this year and had an idea.
After a few days, the inviter wrote: "Can you give me a sharing theme, that is, the platform wants to put on the poster, for example, I am involved in the major progress of Chinese astronomical research." I rushed to answer: "2021 ten most". People expressed satisfaction.
Why look back at 2021 in this way? Because if I were to describe 2021 in one key word, I think it would be "unexpected." 2020 is the first year of the global outbreak of COVID-19, but we are still not particularly surprised, and we feel that it should pass soon, after all, there is SARS experience ahead. But we still underestimated the severity of the new crown virus. It's not that humans are incompetent, it's that viruses are too cunning. So a lot of what happens in 2021 is "unexpected". In this "unexpected" year, there are many situations that were not or very uncommon before. It's not that I'm anything special different in 2021, it's that 2021 is really different, and that's where my "ten most" come in.
Minimum: Less than 50,000 kilometers have been flown for the first time in the last 20 years, with only one country (domestic).
The reason is of course clear, the epidemic!
Most: For the first time in his career, he was cited in more than 1500 papers a year
The rapid rise in citations is, of course, due to the rapid rise in the academic influence of the Eye of the Eye satellite. Thanks to the efforts of the Wise Eye team!
Farthest: Participating in the South China Sea Scientific Expedition of Shanghai Jiaotong University, I sat on the furthest boat in my life, going back and forth for 10 days
The following paragraphs are directly copied from the nearly 20,000-word "Sea Bell Plan Exploration Trip - The Logbook of the Melon Eating Masses" written by me on the ship (I may find an opportunity to sort it out and publish it later).
"On June 5, 2021, Teacher Xu Donglian of Shanghai Jiaotong University sent a WeChat message asking for my courier address to send me a lychee in her hometown. After receiving it, I was extremely shocked, and there was a picture and a truth:
In the process of chatting, I suddenly raised a wish, and I didn't expect that there was really a chance to come true! I know that Mr. Xu is promoting the Hailing project, that is, placing instruments for detecting cosmic neutrinos in the deep sea of the South China Sea to carry out high-precision detection of high-energy neutrinos in the universe, and this project also has a lot to do with the various space telescopes developed by our team, so I would like to see how they do it on the ground, and also understand the difference between their approach and other projects to detect cosmic neutrinos.
In fact, I have always wanted to go to the South Pole to see the IceCube and other astronomical instruments there, but I have never had the opportunity to go. China has research stations and observatories in Antarctica, but they don't take me to play. When I was first fooled by my British and American mentors doing astrophysics and particle physics, they said that if you join us, you have a chance to travel the world. Over the years, I have almost really traveled the world, but I have not gone to Antarctica, and I have always felt that I am not addicted. Therefore, I set my sights on this project of Shanghai Jiaotong University, I can't go to the South Pole, at least I can go to the South China Sea to see it! ”
So I took part in this sea trial as a melon-eating crowd (officially, "specially invited experts"), from Xiamen to the South China Sea, and then back to Xiamen.
This is the farthest place we have ever been.
Below are a few photos, there are pictures with truth.
Fastest: Millisecond Response Award for Fruit Shells
This does not explain, the time of milliseconds is the duration of fast radio bursts, is the shortest astronomical explosion phenomenon known, I am still very proud to have such a response speed!
Slowest: Smuggle back to Beijing from Harbin legally and reasonably, depart at 5:00 a.m. and arrive home at 5:00 p.m
In mid-September, I went from Beijing to Harbin for a meeting, although according to Beijing's epidemic control policy, I fully met the conditions for entering Beijing, but I was restricted from buying plane tickets and train tickets to Beijing, and complaints everywhere were kicked (if the national football team had such a level, it would be good), had to "curve to save the country", flew from Harbin to Tianjin, and then took the slow train passing through Beijing, came down in Beijing, publicized the precise prevention and control policies of the state and Beijing along the way, persuaded all the sieges and blockades to intercept me, and finally returned to Beijing exhausted.
Most painful: three more shots (vaccine)
Usually, I will be injected from time to time, but it is a blood examination, and this year I was given three more injections and injected with vaccines. Last time, I suggested the nurse put on the music and let's relax. The nurse replied that it was too late, it was already finished, and I felt the pain.
The most beautiful: November 6-7 this winter early snow, a good snow, so beautiful Yuanmingyuan
The most surprising thing: the cover illustration of my popular science book "Minimalist Astronomy Lesson" turned out to be similar to the first high-definition version of the black hole photo released later
The cover was confirmed on February 24.
It was laid off on March 22 and put on shelves on April 1.
A high-resolution version of the black hole photo released on March 24.
Seemingly coincidental, in fact, there is a very profound question: is human aesthetic choice science, or science shapes human aesthetics?
The most helpless: the family is trapped in the United States, and the grandson has not hugged offline for one year
After the Spring Festival in 2020, my family went to the United States (because of the outbreak of the epidemic, I fled in a stream of urine), and then there was no more, and I am still trapped in the United States. The first major event reviewed last year was "Multibody Quantum Entanglement Happened": One day in November, the birth of a little boy, the state of two people on both sides of the earth changed completely at the same time, my son became a father in the United States, and I became a grandfather in China! The appearance of a baby has caused two people on both sides of the earth to completely and simultaneously change their state without prior agreement, and the largest spatial scale multibody quantum entanglement to date has occurred!
Unfortunately, only quantum entanglement can be carried out to test the non-localized nature of quantum mechanics.
Happiest: Spend the holidays with your parents and eat the best meal: exclusive secret spicy chicken fishing noodles!
Despite the repeated epidemics, the happiest time this year was when I took advantage of the opportunity of the virus to accompany my parents to the festival, and of course, I also ate the world's best meal: my family's exclusive secret spicy chicken fishing noodles! Look at the records of my circle of friends to know how delicious it is, and the priority of eating spicy chicken and fishing noodles is much higher than writing articles interpreting the Nobel Prize!
Looking back at my top ten in 2021, let's sigh again. No matter how you evaluate and comment on the past two years in the future, the new crown epidemic will never be bypassed. The epidemic in 2021 can be summarized as follows: human beings are fighting the epidemic and the virus is mutating.
The main achievement of the human fight against the epidemic in 2021 is the mass vaccination of vaccines, which has made the global epidemic situation significantly alleviated in the middle of this year, and it seems that the epidemic will soon end. However, the virus has not rested, in the sneaky various mutations, and finally two successful mutations stand out, the epidemic re-envelops the world at the end of the year, even the most successful China in the fight against the epidemic can not be ignored, especially at the end of the year The outbreak of the epidemic in Xi'an is particularly regrettable and heart-wrenching, the Spring Festival to Xi'an to accompany parents for the New Year is unlikely, alas!
It can be said that in the human poison war in 2021, humanity won the first half and the virus won the second half.
Where will the epidemic go in 2022?
I ended this year's review with the closing words of last year's review: "May the global epidemic end as soon as possible, may the relatives and families separated and isolated by the virus be reunited as soon as possible, may friends and colleagues be able to resume intimate exchanges and cooperation, may the great cause of China's rejuvenation be forged ahead, and may the progress of mankind never stop." ”
Zhang Shuangnan
December 31, 2021 in Beijing