Culture

Asia Research News monitors the latest research news in Asia. Some highlights that caught our attention this week are space bricks for Mars, a robot rat that can help in disasters, and electric chopsticks.

A team of materials researchers from India, Thailand, Malaysia, China and UK has successfully produced a fibre reinforced polymer composite material using natural fibres from the coconut stalk.

Dr Leung Chi-hin, Assistant Professor at the Department of Cultural and Creative Arts, The Education University of Hong Kong, was invited by Contemporary Musiking Hong Kong (CMHK) to be a performing artist in the Out Of Out Heads (OOOH!) mini-festival to explore a new way for intensely intimate exchanges at close proximity in May 2020. The theme of the mini-festival was social distancing in response to the current pandemic situation.

The tourism industry’s performance was hampered first by the Easter Sunday bomb explosions in 2019 and then the COVID-19 pandemic. Sri Lanka saw a decline in tourist arrivals from 1,913,702 in 2019 to 194,495 in 2021. It is estimated that revenue declined from USD 3600 million to USD 261 million during 2019-2021, reflecting a staggering 92.75% reduction due to a fall in arrivals.

At the Honorary Doctorate Conferment Ceremony today (9 December), Lingnan University (LU) in Hong Kong conferred honorary doctoral degrees upon four distinguished individuals in recognition of outstanding achievements in their respective professions and valuable contributions to the well-being of society. They were Mr Norman Chan Tak-lam（陳德霖）, a prominent financial leader who received a Doctor of Business Administration, honoris causa; Ms Sylvia Chang Ai-chia （張艾嘉）, an esteemed film director who received a Doctor of Humanities, honoris causa; Prof Deane E. Neubauer, a prolific political science scholar who received a Doctor of Social Sciences, honoris causa (in absentia); and Prof Zhong Nanshan（鍾南山）, a world-renowned respiratory disease expert who received a Doctor of Science, honoris causa (in absentia).

Lingnan University (LU) in Hong Kong will confer honorary doctoral degrees upon four distinguished individuals in recognition of their outstanding achievements in their respective professions and valuable contributions to the well-being of society.

Lingnan University (LU) has recently established an off-campus learning hub at the Jao Tsung-I Academy (JTIA) in Lai Chi Kok to enhance academic staff and students’ teaching and learning experience. An opening ceremony was held on Tuesday (9 November) and officiated by Dr Rex Auyeung Pak-kuen, Chairman of MTR Corporation Limited and former Council Chairman of LU, President of LU Prof Leonard K Cheng and Mr Mike Y W Lai, Chief Executive Officer, JTIA.

Japanese customers have higher expectations of restaurants selling traditional foods more when they display an older year of establishment.

Quick seawater test may reveal health of corals, Infectious disease caused by a new nairovirus, Converting CO2 into useful compounds and Automated COVID-19 diagnosis from chest scans all in the November Editor's Choice. Plus our latest podcast: Gender and Conflict in Myanmar.

Ghana’s high youth population suggests that evidence-based programs specifically targeting young people’s development and mental health are key to the country’s socio-economic growth. As a result, social scientists are focusing on rigorous testing of the links between these two sides of personal thriving.

The Centre for Film and Creative Industry, the University Library and the Department of Visual Studies of Lingnan University (LU) jointly launched “A History of Film Exhibition and Reception in Colonial Hong Kong (1897 to 1925)” database. The open-access database, developed under the Research Grants Committee-funded project “Screen Practices in Colonial Hong Kong: A History of Film Exhibition and Reception from 1897 to 1925”, serves as an essential resource for research on Hong Kong film history from the initial screenings of motion pictures in the late 1890s to the mid-1920s when the local film industry took shape. It provides online access to over 29,000 items of news materials, covering movie theatres, distribution companies and circuits, advertisements, and film reviews.

Miniature brains mimic critical features of Parkinson's disease, better weather forecasting with satellite data, light does the twist for quantum computing, new insights into embryonic development & elevating women leaders in Myanmar in the October Editor's Choice. Plus don't forget submissions for Asia Research News 2022!

Asia Research News features fascinating research from diverse voices. Our upcoming magazine will highlight your research with captivating articles written and visualized for a broad range of readers, produced by our professional team. Don't miss your chance to be a part of the 2022 edition.

Social media makes it easy for us to know how friends are doing recently, and even give us clues about our friends’ social networks. But in order to know the social networks of people of the past, you may have to bury yourself in countless ancient books and put in a lot of effort to figure out their actual relationships. A historian from City University of Hong Kong (CityU) who actively promotes digital humanities research uses digital tools to study the history of the Song dynasty. For example, he is drawn to the “circles of friends” from the letters written by historical figures from the Song dynasty in China. He has been sharing his experience in applying computer and information technology to the humanities in recent years. In addition to revolutionalising the humanities research model, he hopes to gather scholars from different fields to conduct joint research initiatives.

Prof. Jong-Soo Lee, DGIST, succeeded in developing green-emitting Cd-Free quantum dot synthesis technology with high color reproduction capability

Assistant Professor Mai Ishihara is the first female full-time researcher at Hokkaido University’s Center for Ainu and Indigenous Studies (CAIS) and is the first female faculty member who openly reveals her Ainu ancestry. As a quarter-Ainu, Ishihara talked about how she had been subdued by her own ignorance, and later by silence, of her Ainu ancestry. She transformed her struggle and her views on the pain faced by her Ainu (indigenous people of Hokkaido) ancestors into a book based on her long-term research.

ARN's June newsletter features research on a hands-off approach to discipline, better robot hand design, nucleosomes and marine biodiversity, plus the latest Beyond the Journal and a feature from the ARN magazine.

Many hurdles remain to achieve gender equality in Myanmar politics and society at large. Research supported by Canada’s Knowledge for Democracy Myanmar Initiative is identifying opportunities to close the gap.

In honour of International Women's Day, we are highlighting women in research. More than 50 experts across a wide range of disciplines are prepared to speak with international media about their research and women in STEM.

Lingnan University in Hong Kong (LU) has won three awards in The 22nd Qi Yue Recitation Arts Festival and National College Students Recitation Conference. LU is the only winning team from Hong Kong this year, and also the first local university to have received awards in this competition. Lee Wenxin, a second-year undergraduate student of the LEO Dr David P. Chan Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Data Science Programme of the Faculty of Business, won the “Young Talent Special Award” with her work “Jia Wen”; Dr Zhou Bo, Senior Lecturer of the Chinese Language Education and Assessment Centre (CLEAC) received the “Teaching Excellence Award”. LU also won the “Outstanding Organisation Award”.

The December 2020 issue of the Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences Research (JHSSR) is now live at the journal’s webpage.

Organised by the Academy of Film (AF) at Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU), the Global University Film Awards (GUFA) 2020 concluded tonight (6 November) with the award presentation ceremony. The Gold Award went to the entry from the Korea National University of Arts in South Korea, while the Best Documentary prize went to the film entry from INSAS in Belgium.

South Korea's Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) has unveiled the second residency project, dedicated to blending art and science, has been conducted at the Science Cabin 215 of UNIST.

South Korea's Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) has unveiled the first residency project, dedicated to blending art and science, has been conducted at the Science Cabin 215 of UNIST.

A design team, affiliated with South Korea's Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) honored with 2020 iF Design Awards in the communication design category.

The Academy of Film (AF) at Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) will present the Global University Film Awards (GUFA) 2020 on 4 to 6 November (Wednesday to Friday).

Researchers uncovered ancient Buddhist paintings possibly dating back to over 1,300 years ago kept hidden in plain sight on soot-covered temple columns.

Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) held the online international symposium “COVID-19 and Beyond, Culturally Speaking” on 15 and 16 September, and over 1300 participants from all over the world gathered to examine and reflect on the COVID-19 pandemic from a cultural perspective.

The International Network for Government Science Advice Asia is organising an essay contest on “How is science advice used for the government in your country?”. The deadline is 31st of August 2020.

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