On August 6, Hou Xu, a member of the Youth Committee of the World Top Scientists Forum (WLF) and a double-appointment professor from the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering and the School of Physical Science and Technology of Xiamen University, was invited to publish a forward-looking article on the great potential of the emerging bionic nano-stream ionization in the future artificial intelligence and brain-computer interface technology in the American journal Science.
Biomimetic nanoflow ionology, that is, at the nanoscale or sub-nano scale, the use of nanofluidic technology and nanoflow devices to imitate and realize various ion transport phenomena in life activities. (See another report: WLF Young Scientists Lead Cutting-Edge Interdisciplinary Directions in Science Magazine)
To this end, we interviewed Professor Hou Xu to understand the story behind this technology.
Professor Hou Xu
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="40" > bionic: aiming for ultra-low energy consumption</h1>
"During my Ph.D., I was exposed to nanoscale bioion channels to study the regulation of ion transport, which was also the direction of my Ph.D. research. It was supposed to be around 2007. Hou Xu recalled that at first he did not know much about the field, but after consulting the relevant materials, he "thought it was very interesting, began to study, and then liked it more and more." It can also be said to be 'do a line of love and a line'. He laughed.
One of the important reasons why he found it interesting and loved the field of biomimetic materials science was because of the attention to the ultra-low energy consumption phenomenon in biological systems. "After hundreds of millions of years of evolution, nature's living organisms have completed many very complex, magical, and special functions, forming a very harmonious system." He said with emotion that human beings only need to know and learn from them to better complete the creation from 0 to 1, and can be more green and sustainable, reducing pollution and damage to the environment.
He cited the 2016 alpha go vs. Lee shi-chi. The former only consumes more than 230 kilowatts of energy from THE CPU and GPU, while the energy consumption of the human brain is only about 24 watts, a difference of nearly 10,000 times between the two.
However, bionic nanoflow ion is a very new discipline, Hou Xu stressed: "To achieve safe and stable applications in the field of brain and computer, it is necessary to complete the joint efforts of people with professional backgrounds such as chemistry, physics, materials science, engineering, informatics, and computer science." We hope to build such a team in the future. ”
In addition, his other bionic material, "Bionic Liquid Gated Film", was also featured as a popular science program in CCTV's "Hundred Tribunes". In the interview, he said that the bionic liquid gated membrane that will continue to shrink the micron (10-6 meter) scale aperture can be combined with the nano (10-9 meter) scale bionic nanoflow ion, or more new properties can be found and new applications that we cannot imagine.
Professor Hou Xu appeared on CCTV's "100 Forums"
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"It's the charm of scientific research, and you don't know where the next surprise will be." When asked when the Bionic Nano-Flow Ion Society had a milestone breakthrough, Hou Xu replied with a smile.
He gave an example of an interesting thing the team encountered a few years ago.
Traditional text or pattern printing, is to spray liquid on the solid, some solid and liquid in the printing will appear non-adhesion phenomenon, that is, easy to be washed off, resulting in unstable printing. In a project, they accidentally mixed two liquids together for printing. Originally, this was a wrong operation, but they found a more advantageous "liquid printing" - the fusion between liquids will be smoother, after controlling the fusion of two liquids, one of the liquids will be cured, making the whole printing more stable than the traditional way. This printing technology has more advantages in flexible circuits. Not only did they publish the paper, but the first author of the paper also got the job they wanted.
"There are often many important discoveries that are unexpected, including the bionic liquid gating membrane technology, which was originally based on an abnormal experimental phenomenon, but we found it interesting, so we dug deeper and formed the prototype of this technology." Hou Xu said.
However, the premise of these discoveries is that "there is a huge interest in scientific research like 'play', and on the basis of concentration, care and care, it can withstand loneliness", Hou Xu believes that this is also the quality that excellent researchers should have.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="20" > balance: research and life</h1>
"Long-term scientific research work does not bring physical tiredness, but brain tiredness and mental tiredness, and it is inevitable that there will be troubles." Hou Xu was frank, but he also had his own way to keep his energy up.
"I see the gains and losses more openly." He said that some things do pay a lot, but they don't necessarily get the desired results, and they need to adjust their mentality.
Outside of work, he will definitely find other things to "change his brain". For example, watching movies, fighting lego, and also "facing the sea of Xiamen, spring blossoms", as well as accompanying their lively and cute daughters whose brains are full of various question marks.
"Both Stargate and Terminator have inspired me to do research. The former is a bionic liquid gating film, and the latter is a device made of metal liquid, which is the research we are currently doing. Hou Xu said, "I also like to get along and chat with my daughter." During the conversation, I could feel that Hou Xu was not only a serious and diligent scientist, but also a good father who loved life and family very much.
"Her '100,000 Whys' are very basic and simple questions, such as why clouds don't fall, why people on the equator aren't thrown out of the earth, and so on." Hou Xu will give her daughter a detailed and patient answer.
Although "taking children" is not easy, in the process, he has more deeply felt the four words of "not forgetting the original heart". "It's a raw curiosity about the world. No matter how much work pressure is, in the face of such a original intention, it can be adjusted. Hou Xu sighed.