Making a Big Bang

“Look， that guy is straight outof The Big Bang Theory.”In 2009， when Chinese nerds and nerdlovers alike were discovering and falling in love with the American TV show The Big Bang Theory， a CBS sitcom about sociallyawkward physicists， Ji Shisan， a neurobiology Ph.D. at Shanghai’s Fudan University with passion for scientific writing， began hearing the comparison frequently. After writing about science regularly for over five years and contributing articles to more than 10 different media outlets’ scientific columns， in 2008 Ji founded an association forscientific writers which attracted more than 100 members scattered all over the world. Since then， Ji and his team， “Songshuhui –Association of Science Communicators，”have been devoted to scientific research and communication in the Chinese language.

In Chinese， “songshu” means squirrel， a small animal skilled at shelling nuts. In Ji Shisan’s opinion， his team is frequently cracking nuts for science – very nutritious but hard to get. Ji and his team hope to make science more accessible to ordinary people.

Science Is Fun

Upon receiving two offers for “milliondollar-investment” from Trust Bridge Partners， a Shanghai-based private equity firm， Ji launched Guokr.com in November 2010， a website aiming to inspire passion and interest among young people from all walks of life and motivate them to learn， discuss and share information about science. In the meantime， Ji， now CEO of Guoke Media， the parent company of Guokr.com， gave up his role managing Songshuhui， which has morphed into a non-profit scientific communication project.

After three years of development， Guokr.com has grown into a popular scientific communication platform which attracts about 3 million daily page views and 12 million unique monthly visitors aged between 19 and 30.

“Guokr.com creates a shortcut for scientific communication， making otherwise heavy， dense， dry scientific information much more accessible to ordinary people，” Ji explains. “From my understanding， science should be part of mainstream culture since scientific information plays a role in business， music， performance， sci-fi work and TV programs. At the end of the day， I want people to realize that science can be fun.”

“I compare Guokr to a young， modern man，” Ji smiles. “Although he’s logical and rational， his sparkling personality is what gets people’s attention.”

Bridging Science and Public

One section of Guokr.com， liuyanbaike.com， is dedicated to providing immediate analysis and a rational response to sensational news such as “day-old tea is cancerogenic，” “smoking helps weight loss”and “intake of collagen-rich food enhances beauty” – theoretically and with the scientific method. The column has become especially popular with the public.

“Its popularity is all about the public’s desire for truth，” Ji opines. “Nowadays， public discussion has become more and more science-oriented， especially when it comes to food safety and health. However， due to insufficient scientific knowledge， it is usually hard for general public to stay calm and rational when being fed dubious claims， which can result in rumors. They can turn to Guokr.com， where they will find the exact information they need to eliminate doubt. For each specific questionable claim， we always try our best to contact industry insiders and experts in order to present a comprehensive opinion from the mainstream scientific community characterized by data and evaluations based on research.”

An opinion leader and role model in science communication for many Chinese youth， Ji Shisan reinforced that， for general public， it is crucial to have access to credible information so they can stay calm and rational when facing various media content and make judgments themselves. “For intellectuals who desire to influence others， it is an absolute must to learn science thoroughly and proactively，” Ji adds.

Next Stop： Worldcon

“Our team will make an appearance at this year’s Worldcon [World Science Fiction Convention] in London， and we hope to win a bid to host the event in the near future，” Ji reveals. The 72nd Worldcon is scheduled for August 14 to 18.

Ji and his team are also big fans of science fiction， which they believe to be not only prophetic， but also a designer and engineer of humanity’s future. Guokr Media has already begun organizing the fifth Xingyun Awards， an international awards ceremony for Chinese-language sciencefiction writers， to be held this summer in Beijing. In Ji’s opinion， the power of sci-fi inspiration is significant in terms of changing the fate of all humans.