NBA superstars used to visit China during their season break, connecting avid basketball fans who are thousands miles away from North America. 

After the COVID-19 pandemic put a halt to such activities, Greek star Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks led the list of NBA players resuming trips to the world's most populous country where basketball remains highly popular. 

Despite not being the first NBA star to visit China this year, the presence of Antetokounmpo - known in China as "Letter Bro" due to the difficulty of pronouncing his surname - backed by his honors such as back-to-back NBA regular season MVP awards in 2019 and 2020 as well as an NBA championship title in 2021, ignited a wave of fervent excitement among fans.

Though this was not his first trip to China, the "Greek Freak" seemed to embrace his nickname, even posting a picture on Instagram on his flight to China, captioned as "Greetings from the Letter Bro!" 

The popularity of Letter Bro in China was evident as the fans followed his bus by taking pictures, with them wearing the Bucks shirt with Antetokounmpo's name and number on it. 

Now without any competitive schedule, Antetokounmpo, on a promotional tour this time, got more time to interact with fans. Before coming to Beijing, he tried dragon boat and lion dance and visited a local school to unveil a new basketball court in Guangzhou, capital of South China's Guangdong Province. 

In Beijing, he taught students how to do the basketball trick Euro step after refereeing a game between two student team. 

Among many other highlights, he emphasized to the players that "having fun" is the most vital part of maintaining passion for the sport.

Additionally, Antetokounmpo participated in a training session with China's national under-16 basketball team in Beijing on Saturday. 

This demonstrates his willingness to engage with young basketball players and share his knowledge and skills with them. Bearing the accolades he has won, Antetokounmpo could inspire and motivate young players to pursue their passion for the sport.

Such a promotional tour brings significant commercial opportunities for players for sure, but it could also serve as a platform for cultural exchange. 

It enables the NBA stars to interact closely with Chinese players and fans, fostering a love for sports in general and basketball in particular, especially among the youngsters. 

It also allows Chinese fans to witness firsthand the skills and charisma of their favorite stars.

This exchange of cultures enriches the fan experience and fosters a sense of unity among basketball enthusiasts worldwide.

Antetokounmpo's visit highlights the power of sports in bridging cultural gaps and promoting mutual understanding, as it showcases the vibrant and passionate basketball culture in China. 

Basketball has become a universal language, bringing people together by transcending borders. 

Through his interactions with Chinese fans and players, he exemplifies the positive impact that athletes can have beyond the court. 

His visit not only elevates the sport but also reinforces the importance of fostering connections and understanding between different cultures.

 Through basketball, we can celebrate our shared love for the game and appreciate the diverse beauty of our global community.

The 8th Shanghai Dialogue - Art Opens the Future Summit Forum, or Shanghai Dialogue, concluded in Shanghai on Monday. 

As a cultural event cultivated by Pudong New Area for many years, Shanghai Dialogue has held seven sessions, creating a practical example of integrating the free trade zone cultural industry into the construction of Shanghai as an international cultural metropolis. It has become an important "Shanghai name card" in the cultural relics and artworks industry.

Since 2020, the cultural sector of the Shanghai Free Trade Zone has gradually participated in art brands and other aspects of the Shanghai International Art Fair Week. 

In 2023, the cultural sector of the Shanghai Free Trade Zone actively responded to the call of the 5th Shanghai International Art Fair Week and promoted the construction of the "Global Art Scene, Art Free Trade" cluster area with Shanghai Free Trade Cultural Investment as the main body. This effort created the "Art Free Trade" brand concept and successfully held the Shanghai International Art Book Fair (SABF) in the Shanghai International Cultural Relics and Artworks Bonded Service Center.

A book fair was also held, focusing on the "art book +" segment, presenting nearly 200 international and domestic publishing brands. The audience could enjoy nearly 5,000 art books and exhibition catalogues. 

By building a high-quality international resource network, creating a precise docking and matching platform, promoting more cross-border cooperation and innovation, the event strives to become a "hub bookshelf" radiating the Asia-Pacific region.

The average altitude of the Xizang (Tibet) Autonomous Region in Southwest China is over 4,000 meters above sea level, making it a harsh environment for survival since ancient times. However, today, on the Roof of the World, the picture of a happy life is unfolding, and a new chapter in Xizang's history is being written.

Two years ago, Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, Chinese president, and chairman of the Central Military Commission, visited the Xizang Autonomous Region from July 21 to 23, 2021 for the 70th anniversary of Xizang's peaceful liberation, the first time in the history of the Party and the country.

During his trip, Xi extended his congratulations for the 70th anniversary of Xizang's peaceful liberation, visited officials and ordinary people from various ethnic groups, and conveyed the CPC Central Committee's care to them.

Xi said that over the last 70 years, Xizang has made historic strides in the social system and realized full economic and social development, with people's living standards significantly improving.

"It has been proven that without the CPC, there would have been neither new China nor new Xizang," Xi said. "The CPC Central Committee's guidelines and policies concerning Xizang work are completely correct." 

The Chinese president also stressed fully implementing the guidelines of the CPC for governing Xizang in a new era and writing a new chapter of lasting stability and high-quality development for the plateau region.

Two years later, following Xi's footsteps, the Global Times reporters visited some key spots in Xizang region, witnessed the happy lives of local residents, the practice of Chinese modernization in the region, as well as the maintaining of rich cultures on the plateau.

Tender care

"Who brought the ancient call, and who left behind the millennium's prayers?"

These well-known lyrics in China not only depict the customs and culture found on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, but also express the local people's desire for development.

Xizang, the land that accounts for about one-eighth of China's total land area, was once the region with the highest rates of poverty. It used to be the only provincial-level concentrated contiguous area with extreme poverty in the country. 

Through pragmatic and effective measures such as poverty alleviation through production development, relocation of impoverished populations, and ecological compensation, the combination of strategies has been successful in alleviating absolute poverty in the region. 

By the end of 2019, all 74 poverty-stricken counties and districts in Xizang had shaken off poverty, and over 620,000 impoverished individuals had been lifted out of poverty. 

Dawa Gyaltsen is one of the individuals who gained deep experience from Xizang's transformation.

Dawa, a villager from Galai village in Nyingchi, Xizang, lives in a Tibetan-style courtyard. Over the years, thanks to an increase in income, the small courtyard has become increasingly beautiful. 

On July 21, 2021, Xi visited the home of Dawa and chatted with him and his family members in the living room.

Xi said the village epitomizes the economic and social achievements Xizang region has made over 70 years since its peaceful liberation. He also hailed the village as a model of ethnic unity. The president later visited a city park in Nyingchi where he greeted dancing locals and tourists.

"When the president visited my home, he asked very detailed questions about various aspects of our lives. I was surprised by his concern," Dawa told the Global Times, expressing his gratitude for Xi's tender care.

Galai village is situated at an altitude of 2,900 meters. Every spring, more than 1,200 wild peach trees bloom in succession, creating an enchanting landscape. 

Leveraging this unique resource, the village has developed its tourism industry. In 2022, the village's tourism income reached 4.6 million yuan ($640,000), and all 33 households in the village received dividends, including Dawa Gyaltsen's family.

In addition to running transportation, which earned him over a hundred-thousand-yuan from 27 acres of leased land and the specialty agricultural and pastoral products from 40 heads of livestock, Dawa Gyaltsen's family achieved an annual income of 350,000 yuan.

Dawa Gyaltsen's two children currently attend a boarding school in the city of Nyingchi, returning home at weekends. The living room wall in their home is adorned with certificates and awards earned by his daughter and son, ranging from academic achievements to handwriting and sports. "My daughter wants to become a doctor, and my son aspires to be a sprint athlete," he proudly shared with the Global Times reporters.

Witness to modernization

During his visit, Xi went to the Nyingchi Railway Station, learning about the overall design of the Sichuan-Xizang Railway line and how the Lhasa-Nyingchi section has operated since June 25, 2021. 

Aboard a train to the region's capital of Lhasa, Xi inspected construction along the railway route. He hailed the railway line as a major move to boost Xizang's development and improve people's living standards.

With a designed speed of 160 kilometers per hour, the 435-kilometer railway marks the launch of the country's first electrified railway route operating in the plateau region. As it crosses over the surging Yarlung Zangbo River, the Fuxing bullet train traverses the snowy plateau, bearing witness to Xizang's modernization and the fruitful outcomes of its frontier development and border security efforts.

On the C881 high-speed train from Lhasa to Nyingchi, the Global Times reporters saw not only tourists from across the country, but also many local residents shuttling between cities and counties.

Zhang Kun is a driver who operates Fuxing trains on the Lhasa-Nyingchi Railway line. When asked about his experience being a locomotive driver on the world's highest electrified railway line, Zhang told the Global Times that since he started working in 2007, he has been driving trains on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau. 

He said that he has operated various trains including domestically-produced Dongfeng-4 locomotives, imported NJ2 locomotives from the US, domestic Hexie bullet trains, and Fuxing bullet trains. He feels that the trains running on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau have become increasingly advanced.

"The Lhasa-Nyingchi Railway crosses the Yarlung Zangbo River 16 times along its route, with over 90 percent of the tracks laid above an altitude of 3,000 meters," Zhang said.

"However, driving on this line is not difficult. Nowadays, locomotives are becoming more advanced, and for locomotive drivers, operations have become more convenient," Zhang explained.

At the end of 2012, the total length of roads in Xizang was only 65,200 kilometers. A decade later, the total length of roads open to traffic in the region has reached 121,400 kilometers. The length of highways and expressways open to traffic in the entire region has increased from just 38 kilometers at the end of 2012 to the current 1,105 kilometers, and the three-hour comprehensive transportation circle centered on Lhasa is rapidly taking shape, the Global Times learned from Dawa Ouzhu, the Party Secretary and Deputy Director of the Xizang Regional Transportation Department.

The length of rural roads in the Xizang region increased from 53,200 kilometers at the end of 2012 to 90,400 kilometers in 2022, and their accessibility and smoothness have been greatly improved, the Global Times learned from the regional transportation department.

The transformation network in Yumai, a small border township in Xizang, is the epitome of how border regions have developed in the last decade under the leadership of the CPC.

Yumai in Shannan, Xizang, was China's smallest township in terms of population. With improved transportation and infrastructure, the remote township has now taken on a new look. 

Today, Yumai has become a model village in achieving moderate prosperity, with the complete construction of the highway and its year-round accessibility. The specialized transportation line from Yumai to Shannan city is now operational. The entire township of Yumai has seen improvements in infrastructure, from paved roads and internet coverage, to enhanced education and medical services.

Well-passed traditions, cultures

The publicity and education work of building ethnic unity and progress public awareness should be combined with the education work concerning core socialist values, patriotism, anti-secessionism, history, and Marxist concepts, Xi said after hearing the reports of the Party committee and government of Xizang Autonomous Region on their work in Lhasa on July 23, 2021.

He called for the strengthening of exchanges and interactions among ethnic groups, as well as building a stronger sense of identity tied to the Chinese nation, Chinese culture, the CPC, and socialism with Chinese characteristics.

During a recent visit to kindergartens and schools in Xizang region, the Global Times reporters felt the successful implementation of this principle. Tibetan children in Lhasa were proficient in both Putonghua and Tibetan, skillfully expressing themselves in both languages.

Children at the Lhasa Experiment Kindergarten immerse themselves in the local traditional culture, telling stories in Tibetan, playing traditional board games, learning Tibetan dances, and dressing in Tibetan costumes. They joyfully embrace these activities as a part of their daily life.

At the nearby No.1 Primary School in Lhasa, second graders diligently learn how to read and write Tibetan in addition to mastering Putonghua. The Xizang education system places great importance on ensuring that students of Tibetan ethnic group systematically learn and grasp the local language.

When the Global Times arrived at the Drepung Monastery one afternoon, more than a hundred young lamas were engaged in a scripture debate, an essential part of learning in Buddhist teachings in the Tibetan Buddhist system. 

The lamas were dressed in traditional maroon robes, holding prayer beads, and enthusiastically clapped their hands while asking their peers questions or confidently providing answering, and occasionally falling into contemplative silence. 

Immersed in their discussions, they were completely undisturbed by the presence of tourists around them. After two hours of scripture debate, the lamas left the debate area with smiles and laughter, walking together in groups.

During his visit to the monastery located in the western suburbs of Lhasa in July 2021, Xi acknowledged the contributions the monastery has made in upholding the leadership of the CPC, supporting the socialist system, and safeguarding national unity.

Xi stressed the full implementation of the Party's fundamental guidelines governing religious work, respecting the religious beliefs of the people, and adhering to the principle of independence and self-governance in religious matters.

At Lhasa's Barkhor Street, Xi visited shops and learned about the development of tourism and cultural industries, as well as the preservation of Tibetan culture. On the street, people from various ethnic groups greeted Xi, who waved back.

At present, Xizang region is at a new historical starting point in its development, and the Party's leadership must be upheld and the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics must be followed, Xi said.

The recent 15th BRICS summit arrived at a critically significant economic and political juncture in the Arab and global history. The successful completion of the summit is a major milestone in the journey toward multipolarity; it was BRICS' most important summit since its inception in 2009. Inviting three Arab nations, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, to join the group has positive implications for the region and the world.

Most of the world, including the Arab world, is interested in multipolarity and multilateralism and is against protectionism and unilateralism. The region and the world are already beyond unipolarity and hegemony; they are in the process of establishing a new order, preferably through meaningful structural changes to the current security and governance architecture. Therefore, expanding BRICS to include six more nations will add impetus to the critical mass gathering behind the push for reform and change at global and sub-global levels. The expected high-level policy coordination among the BRICS+ members will facilitate the birth of multipolarity in the world, including in the Middle East. 

There is no question that the Arab world is becoming one center of power in the rapidly changing world. Out of more than 40 countries that have officially applied or expressed an interest in joining, three important Arab countries have been selected to join BRICS. This demonstrates the strategic, economic and political significance of the Arabs' role in forming a new world order. In BRICS, the three Arab countries do not only represent their individual national interests, but also the aspirations of more than 450 million Arabs. Those three countries are the nucleus for Arab unity, integration and development. The UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt have been trying to rally the Arabs behind a new vision for their region and the world; they work toward uniting the Arabs as one important pole in the emerging multipolar world.

The decision to include the three Arab nations was not surprising. The UAE is one of the largest trading nations in the region and the 11th largest exporter in the world. Also, the UAE is one of the largest six oil exporters; it holds about six percent of global oil proved reserves. Saudi Arabia is the top Arab economy and the biggest oil exporter in the world, holding more than 17 percent of the world's oil-proved reserves. Saudi Arabia is a significant member of the G20 and the leader of OPEC. The Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWF) of the UAE and Saudi Arabia are among the top 10 in the world. Egypt is geographically strategically located at the intersection of three continents and in the heart of global trade routes. It overlooks and administers some critically strategic waterways such as the Suez Canal, through which around 12 percent of global trade and 30 percent of global container traffic pass annually. Egypt is the most populous Arab country with high economic growth and consumer market potential. There is no doubt that the Arabs will be a net positive addition to BRICS. 

The UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt are the top three economies in the Arab world; their combined GDP is around $2 trillion. Equally important is the fact that the UAE and Saudi Arabia are among the top oil exporters; the current BRICS members such as China and India are major energy consumers and the main drivers behind global oil demand growth. Hence, having the UAE and Saudi Arabia, in addition to Russia, in the BRICS grouping will help better coordinate energy policies among some key oil producers and consumers, boding well for oil market stability and predictability. 

For the Arabs, the BRICS platform provides a great opportunity to deepen and diversify their partnerships with the Global South countries which account for around 80 percent of the world's economic growth. Arab nations are gradually plugging into the new emerging economic blocs, especially those in Asia. The UAE and Egypt are already members of the BRICS' New Development Bank (NDB); Saudi Arabia is expected to join the bank soon. Arabs' top two trading partners and largest oil markets are in BRICS, namely China and India.

Between 2018 and 2022, the UAE-BRICS trade was $677 billion. In 2022, the bilateral trade between Saudi Arabia and BRICS countries exceeded $160 billion. The two Asian giants, China and India, are the key contributors to global oil demand growth just as they are the main drivers behind global economic growth. Trade between the Arabs and BRICS countries is expected to grow even more in the coming years. China and India are expected to remain the main oil markets for the Arabs in the foreseeable future. These trends are not expected to change any time soon.  

The Arabs are acutely aware that the current fluid regional and global landscape presents a myriad of opportunities and challenges. Geopolitically, the Arabs understand that, by joining BRICS, they will have a powerful and useful platform through which they can protect their strategic autonomy and sovereignty, while contributing to shaping the future of their region and the world. Although BRICS has focused primarily on economics so far, the fast-changing and increasingly complex world requires it to tackle subjects beyond the realm of economics. Some key BRICS members are also included in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), which is mainly about security. The work of the two groups dovetails nicely together; the three invited Arab nations are already involved in SCO as Dialogue Partners. Perhaps, soon, the work of the two groups will be synergized so that the members can discuss and deal with issues more holistically.

As BRICS becomes more institutionalized and as strategic coordination among its partners becomes more effective, the group is expected to be a stronger advocate of multilateralism and a real force behind the push for a renewed world system. All BRICS countries, including those who have just been invited, have been on the receiving end of destructive unilateralism and protectionism. Therefore, they all know the harmful impact of unilateral and protectionist policies and actions. However, for the common prosperity of most humanity, the BRICS countries are expected to boost global multilateralism and multipolarity in various areas, including but not limited to economics, diplomacy, culture, politics, technology and conflict resolution.

The large number of countries interested in joining BRICS proves that the group is growing in influence, power and attractiveness. The newly invited countries largely share the same vision for the world as that of the current BRICS nations. As outlined in the Johannesburg II Declaration, the BRICS nations want to establish a fair, equitable and balanced world order; they are against unilateralism, fragmentation, coercion and protectionism. This vision is appealing to most countries in different regions of the world. The rapidly rising momentum behind BRICS shows that there is a dire need and clear urgency for reform. The BRICS grouping is viewed as the vehicle through which the current broken global system can be improved, democratized and fixed.

BRICS is proving that it is not all bark and no bite. More than 45 percent of the global population, 30 percent of global GDP, and more than 40 percent of global oil production are included in BRICS+; no other grouping or gathering has such a massive heft. 

The world is in transition; it is slowly but steadily moving toward deeper, yet to be institutionalized, multipolarity. The expanded BRICS is expected to accelerate global multipolarity and enhance multilateralism. The Arabs are confidently carving out an important place for themselves in the new emerging world. This is truly a historic moment for the Arabs and the Global Majority; they must rise to the occasion, take their fate in their own hands, and shape the future.

The Biden administration kicked off a second summit with Pacific island leaders on Monday and it has made no secret of its desire to confront and compete with China for influence in the South Pacific region. The primary objective for the US in this summit is to counter and weaken China's collaboration with South Pacific countries. This narrow-minded motive reflects the US' hegemonic mind-set and also reveals a lack of respect toward the nations in the South Pacific.

Western media bluntly stated that the summit is "part of a U.S. charm offensive to block further Chinese inroads into a strategic region Washington has long considered its own backyard." The main purpose of the US hosting this summit is to prevent China's increasing influence in the South Pacific region. Since China signed a regional security agreement with the Solomon Islands last year, the US has particularly paid increasing attention to the South Pacific region. The US' focus on Pacific island countries is to counter China, rather than genuinely offering support to regional development, a mentality that's filled with arrogance.

At the same time, the US' attention is pretentious as the US only makes empty promises. During the previous US-Pacific Island Forum Leader's Summit, the US proposed to provide $810 million in aid. However, to this day, the $810 million from the US has not been approved by Congress. Zhou Fangyin, professor at the Guangdong Research Institute for International Strategies, told the Global Times that the US government is facing a shutdown next week, this means that it will be difficult for any economic assistance promised by the US to Pacific island countries to be fulfilled.

For Pacific island countries, their greatest concerns are climate change, economic development, and social stability. In these aspects, China upholds "four full respects" and mutually beneficial cooperation with South Pacific countries. In contrast, the US, under the guise of aid, actually promotes its own ideology and attempts to drag the region into its anti-China alliance, turning Pacific island countries into US pawns.

The US has long neglected the South Pacific region. In recent years, as China's cooperation with the South Pacific region has strengthened, its mutually beneficial cooperation has been welcomed by the governments and peoples of the Pacific island countries. However, the US perceives this as a threat and a challenge to its hegemonic status, thus increasing its attention on the region. The US is desperately trying to regain its influence in the South Pacific region. Chen Hong, executive director at the Asia Pacific Studies Centre of East China Normal University, told the Global Times that the US' attempt to woo and coerce Pacific island countries reflects a narrow-minded motive. The more the US promotes its "cooperation with these countries," the more it highlights the weakness and fragility of their relationship.

Zhou said that the US hopes to include Pacific island countries in its Indo-Pacific strategy, but these countries do not want to take sides in the competition between China and the US. Being involved in the competition led by the US brings no benefits to Pacific island countries. Despite the US' strategic layout against China, its guiding ideology is flawed, as it disregards the interests and dignity of local countries in order to maintain its own hegemony. Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare and Vanuatu Prime Minister Sato Kilman reportedly will not attend the summit. The absence of the two prime ministers can be seen as representing the sentiment of Pacific island country leaders, which is a rejection of US' selfishness.

China recently carried out a successful rocket vertical landing test at sea, with developers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) saying Thursday that the technology would lay the foundation for future applications including a recyclable near-space experiment platform as well as the development of space travel. 

CAS Space, a commercial spaceflight firm that is partly owned by CAS, revealed that it successfully carried out the launching-from-land and landing-at-sea flight trial in Haiyang, East China's Shandong Province, which verified the rocket stage recovery at sea, communication and spacecraft tracking and measuring technology under the impact of sea clutters. 

Developers also studied the flight environment at the final landing stage and examined the landing precision of the swaying pad at sea, according to the CAS Institute of Mechanics. 

The rocket prototype flew at an altitude of more than 1,000 meters, descended in a smooth hovering fashion and then decelerated thanks to the engine reverse thrust. The landing speed was reduced to less than two meters per second at the final stage before the rocket touched down steadily with a landing precision of under 10 meters.

The landing test took about 10 minutes, the CAS institute revealed. 

Lian Jie, a senior engineer with the institute, told the Global Times during an exclusive interview on Thursday that the 2.1-meter-long, 0.5-meter-diameter rocket prototype weighed 93 kilograms by launch, and was powered by twin engines each with a thrust of 550 newtons. A turbojet engine was used during the test to simulate a variable thrust liquid rocket engine being used during vertical landing.

The full success of the vertical sea landing of the rocket prototype has laid the foundation for future technological development for applications including the near-space scientific experiment platform, rocket stage recovery as well as space tourism, developers said. 

The first flight of the near-space scientific experiment platform could come as early as the end of 2023, Lian revealed to the Global Times. 

This kind of rocket recovery technology at sea would be widely applied to future rocket models including the Lijian-3 and Lijian-3 heavy lift launchers, and will contribute to China's future larger scale space exploration with further reduced costs, developers said. 

Wu Weiping, another senior engineer with CAS Space, also elaborated on the prospects of future space travel applications, saying that passengers inside the payload would have a weightless experience at some 100 kilometers above the Earth at near space for three to seven minutes.

Such space travel would answer to the public aspiration of space entry, and such space shuttle would also accumulate precious data for future space exploration and planetary tourism, Wu added. 

US SpaceX managed to realize its first successful rocket stage recovery for its two-stage Falcon 9 rocket at sea on the drone ship Of Course I Still Love You in April 2016 after four previous attempts ended in destruction of the booster upon impact. 

When asked how the CAS rocket stage recovery at sea is different from that of the SpaceX, Lian explained that "ours is based on the domestic technology, both software and hardware, and we are exploring technology thresholds such as the variable thrust management, precision positioning and the stabilizing technology on our own." 

Pang Zhihao, a Beijing-based senior space expert, told the Global Times on Thursday that landing the rocket stage at sea could save the cost for launching significantly, as the landing pad could be moving at sea. 

"To recovery stage on land could save the power the rocket would have to spend to fly back to in-land landing site, which could be some 40 percent loss of rocket's payload carrying capacity, whereas the number for a sea recovery is only 20 percent," Pang explained.

Also, although sea recovery would raise the level of difficulty due to the complicated sea conditions, it could also help avoid the impact damage during an in-land landing attempt when such landing meets a failure, Pang noted. 

A total of 12,417 athletes from all 45 Asian countries and regions will compete at the Hangzhou Asian Games, organizers announced on Thursday, as the city marked 30-day countdown to Asia's biggest multi-sport tournament.

The Hangzhou Asian Games, which will take place in Hangzhou, capital of East China's Zhejiang Province from September 23 to October 8, will be the third Asian multi-sport event held in China, after the 1990 Beijing Asian Games and the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games.

Ticket sales for the Hangzhou Asian Games have started on July 8, with tickets for events such as swimming and e-sports on high demand. The ticket price varies from 20 to 1,000 yuan ($2.75 to $137), with more than 60 percent of them costing less than 100 yuan, organizers said.

The torch relay for the Asian Games will start on September 8 in Hangzhou and hence commence a provincial tour in Zhejiang until September 20, said Chen Weiqiang, executive secretary general of the Hangzhou Asian Games organizing committee.

The organizers have made some adjustment to the competition schedule recently based on the athletes' registrations, with a confirmed race schedule to be unveiled at the end of August, said Zhu Qinan, director of Sports Department of the organizing committee.

The Hangzhou Asian Games will also witness the debut of some emerging sports that are quite popular among young people, such as break dance and e-sports.

Weiqi, a mind sport, will make a return to the Hangzhou Games, after a 13-year hiatus since it appeared at the Guangzhou Games in 2010.

Certain regional sports in Asia, notably dragon boat racing, kurash, and sepak takraw, though not recognized as Olympic sports, will also be medal-awarded events at the Asian Games.

China is expected to send a delegation of over 900 athletes to the Hangzhou Games, as the Asian sports powerhouse is expected to dominate the podium once again. Since 1982, China has been sitting on the top of the medal table in each of the Asian Games it has participated in.

Several Chinese national teams have been preparing for the Asian Games, as they plan to defend their glory while facing off challengers from other Asian sports powerhouses.

China's East Asian neighbors Japan and South Korea are also considered the favorites at the Asian Games, as the duo have often finished in second and third place on the medal table thanks to their excellence in swimming and archery respectively.

India will also challenge China's dominance in shooting, as the country has been making efforts to improve the country's shooting squad capabilities.
In the lead-up to the sporting event, the design details of the victory ceremony components, including bouquets, trays, and podiums, were revealed. The official theme song and music video were also released and a commencement ceremony dedicated to the event's volunteers was held.

On Thursday morning, the commencement ceremony for volunteers was held at Zhejiang University, with 1,800 representatives of a total of 37,600 volunteers expected to serve during the event in attendance.

The global recruitment drive for volunteers for the Hangzhou Asian Games and Asian Para Games was initiated in May 2021, with 317,000 applications received.

"We're fully prepared to execute each process, step, and detail in our volunteer service to contribute to this grand event," said student volunteer representative Zhao Hongyan.

The volunteer body is primarily comprised of individuals from 46 universities within Zhejiang.

Additionally, specialists in fields such as sports, less-commonly spoken languages, and medicine were sourced to provide much-needed assistance during the event. Around 400 volunteers from other provinces among others joined the effort.

The floral bouquets for the awards ceremonies were named "Fruits of Triumph," and included rice ears and lotus pods, representing harvest and achievements in Chinese culture, along with the iconic "Rainbow Purple" showing the event's core color palette.

Unique to 2023's Asian Games is the inclusion of decorative vases inspired by huagu, a kind of vessel from the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279).

The Dongyang wood carving, a national-level intangible cultural heritage, was also employed in the vessels' crafting. The undulating water patterns on the vases echo the rhythm of Zhejiang's landscape, and could be kept by award-winning athletes and treasured forever.

The design of the medal trays was inspired from the gentle ripples of West Lake's waters in the breeze.

The outer part of the podium mimics the color scheme of the "Rainbow Orchid," while the stage itself is adorned with an "Ink and Watercolor White" hue. A modular design approach is employed for the podium to accommodate various sports, embodying the spirit of sustainability.

The song The Love We Share, performed by famous Chinese singer Sun Nan, has officially been endorsed as the Games' theme song. The song's music video portrays iconic landscapes from across Asia, showcasing the unity of people from diverse backgrounds and regions.

BALTIMORE — For a long time now, hydrogen has been the fuel of the future. A new idea for extracting hydrogen from water might help that future arrive a little sooner.

Today, producing hydrogen requires burning fossil fuels or using water-splitting catalysts that work relatively inefficiently, says physicist Arvin Kakekhani of Yale University. But Kakekhani and Sohrab Ismail-Beigi, also at Yale, identified a strategy using materials known as ferroelectric oxides to catalytically separate hydrogen from oxygen more effectively.

Catalysis requires a surface that both grips a water molecule in order to split it and releases the hydrogen atoms separated in the process. Ordinary catalysts must compromise between these two competing qualities. But a ferroelectric substance such as lead titanate can be prepared so that heat can switch it from a state suitable for splitting to another state good at releasing, computer simulations showed. Researchers therefore should be able to design a cycle of states that extracts hydrogen efficiently, Kakekhani reported March 17 in a news conference at a meeting of the American Physical Society.

“It’s a conceptual study that should be experimentally confirmed,” he said. A report on the work was also published online March 8 in the Journal of Materials Chemistry A.

Even robots can use a heart. Or heart cells, at least.

A new stingray bot about the size of a penny relies on light-sensitive heart cells to swim. Zaps with light force the bot’s fins to flutter, letting researchers drive it through a watery obstacle course, Kit Parker of Harvard University and colleagues report in the July 8 Science.

The new work “extends the state of the art — very much so,” says bioengineer Rashid Bashir of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. “It’s the next level of sophistication for swimming devices.”
For decades, the field of robotics has been dominated by bulky, rigid machines made mostly of metal or hard plastic. But in recent years, some researchers have turned toward softer, squishier materials, such as silicones and rubbery plastics (SN: 11/1/14, p.11). And a small group of scientists have taken it one step further: combining soft materials with living cells.

So far, there’s just a handful of papers on these hybrid machines, says Bashir, whose own lab recently reported the invention of tiny, muscle-wrapped bots that inch along like worms in response to light.

In 2012, Parker’s team built a robotic jellyfish out of silicone and heart muscle cells. Electrically stimulating the cells let the jellyfish push itself through water by squeezing its body into a bell shape and then relaxing.

But, Parker says, “the jellyfish just swam.” He and his colleagues couldn’t steer it around a tank. They can, however, steer the new stingray.

He explains the team’s strategy with a story about his daughter. When she was little, Parker would point his laser pointer at the sidewalk and she’d try to stomp on the dot. He could guide her down a path as she followed the light. “She got to be independent and I got to make sure she didn’t step out into traffic.”
Parker guides his stingray bot in a similar way.

Layered on top of the bot’s body — a gold skeleton sandwiched between layers of silicone — lies a serpentine pattern of cells. The pattern is made up of about 200,000 these cells, harvested from rat hearts and then genetically engineered to contract when hit with pulses of blue light.
Flashing the light at the bot sets off a wave of contractions, making the fins undulate, like a flag rippling in the wind. To make the stingray turn, the team stimulates the bot’s right and left fins separately. Faster flashing on the right side makes the ray turn left and vice versa, Parker says.

By moving the lights slowly across a fluid-filled chamber, the researchers led the bot in a curving path around three obstacles.

“It’s very impressive,” says MIT computer scientist Daniela Rus. The stingray is “capable of a new type locomotion that had not been seen before” in robots, she says.

Bashir says he can envision such devices one day used in biomedicine or even environmental cleanup: Perhaps researchers could program cells on a swimming bot to suck toxicants out of lakes or streams. But the work is still in its early days, he says.

Parker, a bioengineer interested in cardiac cell biology, has something entirely different in mind. He wants to create an artificial heart that children born with malformed hearts could use as a replacement. Like a heart, a stingray’s muscular body is a pump, he says, designed to move fluids. The robot gave Parker a chance to work on assembling a pump made with living materials.

“Some engineers build things out of aluminum. I build things out of cells — and I need to practice,” he says. “So I practice building pumps.”

There’s another upside to the robot too, he adds: “It’s cool and fun.”

Pollen tainted with neonicotinoid pesticides could interfere with male honeybee reproduction, a new study finds.

After bee colonies fed on pollen spiked with the pesticides thiamethoxam and clothianidin, male bees, or drones, produced almost 40 percent fewer living sperm than did males from colonies fed clean pollen, researchers report July 27 in Proceedings of the Royal Society B. The concentrations of the pesticides, 4.5 parts per billion and 1.5 parts per billion, respectively, were in the range of what free-living bees encounter when foraging around crops, study coauthor Lars Straub of the University of Bern, Switzerland, says.

Pollinator conservationists have raised concerns that chronic exposure to neonicotinoids widely used on crops is inadvertently weakening honeybee colonies working the fields. The amount of sperm males produce might affect how well a colony sustains itself because young queens mate (with about 15 males on average) during one or two early frenzies and then depend on that stored sperm for the rest of their egg-laying years. The new study is the first to examine neonicotinoid effects on honeybee sperm, Straub says.