Science News Corner

Science News Corner of the Hong Kong Science Museum is an information centre for exhibiting scientific research projects of local universities, new discoveries and the latest technologies. It helps to keep the public informed of the latest science news.

Current Topic - Soybean Homecoming (13-04-2013 to 31-07-2013)

Soybean was first domesticated in China about 3,000 years ago. After being introduced to the United States in the 18th Century, it has been developed into an important cash crop worldwide due to its high nutritional and health value. Nonetheless, it also becomes one of the "food crises" in its homeland, China. Owing to insufficient self-supply, China spends tens of billions of US dollars each year to import soybean (more than half of total global export). To expedite soybean research and breeding in China, scientists in Hong Kong, in collaboration with researchers in Shenzhen, have launched a large-scale soybean genomic project. They use the advanced deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sequencing technology to demonstrate the biodiversity in wild soybeans and uncover useful genomic information therein. The ultimate goal is to strengthen the research on and sustainable cultivation of soybean in its "home", China.

Previous Topics

Painless Vaccination (Nov 2012 - Mar 2013)

Computer Transformation - Transform Smartphones or Notebook Computers into Robots (May 2012 – Oct 2012)
(Information provided by Department of Computer Science of The University of Hong Kong)

Technologies Enhancing Patient Care (Sep 2011 - Apr 2012)
(Information provided by The Chinese University of Hong Kong)

"CardioSentinal": A 24-hour health care and monitoring system (Apr 2011 – Oct 2011)
(Information provided by HKUST Computer Science and Engineering Department & Fok Ying Tung Graduate School)

Nanotechnology (Jun 2011 – Aug 2011)
(Information provided by The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology)

Life in the Universe (Aug 2010 - Mar 2011)
(Information provided by Astrobiology Group, Faculty of Science, The University of Hong Kong)

Transgenic Fish for Rapid Monitoring Estrogenic Pollution (Mar 2010 - Aug 2010)
(Information provided by Department of Biology and Chemistry of City University of Hong Kong)

Bio-hydrogen Production from Wastewater (Sept 2009 - Feb 2010)
(Information provided by Department of Civil Engineering of The University of Hong Kong)

Science of Human Locomotion (May 2009 - Sept 2009)
(Information provided by Department of Rehabilitation Sciences of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University)

Unlocking the Mysteries of the Brain (Dec 2008 - May 2009)
(Information provided by Department of Biochemistry of The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology)

Artificial Intelligence and Railway Engineering Works Scheduling (Jun 2008 - Dec 2008)
(Information provided by the Department of Computer Science of City University of Hong Kong)

Palmprint Identification system (Jan 2008 - Jun 2008)
(Information provided by the Biometric Research Centre of The Polytechnic University of Hong Kong)

Cochlear implants - offering a hearing world for the hearing-impaired (Aug 2007 - Jan 2008)
(Information provided by Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery of The Chinese University of Hong Kong)

Discoveries on Reproduction, Development and Growth: From Gamete to Adult (Apr 2007 - Aug 2007)
(Information provided by Centre for Reproduction, Development and Growth of The University of Hong Kong)

Grapefruit Forms Bone? (Sept 2006 - Mar 2007)
(Information provided by the Faculty of Dentistry of The University of Hong Kong)

DNA Technologies for Chinese Herbs Authentication (Apr 2006 - Sept 2006)
(Information provided by the Institute of Chinese Medicine of The Chinese University of Hong Kong)

Health Benefits of Tea (Dec 2005 - Apr 2006)
(Information provided by the Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong)

Ozone Application (Jul 2005 - Dec 2005)
(Information provided by the Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University)

Virtual Aquarium (Dec 2004 - Jun 2005)
(Information provided by the Department of Automation and Computer-Aided Engineering of The Chinese University of Hong Kong)

Climate and Sea-level Changes in Hong Kong During the Past 500,000 Years (Jul 2004 - Dec 2004)
(Information provided by the Department of Earth Sciences of The University of Hong Kong)

Photocatalytic Technology for Air and Water Purification (Mar 2004 - Jul 2004)
(Information provided by the Department of Chemistry of The Chinese University of Hong Kong)

Extremes of the Universe (Nov 2003 - Feb 2004)
(Information provided by the Department of Physics of The University of Hong Kong)

Fruit Fly - Drosophila (Jun 2003 - Oct 2003)
(Information provided by the Department of Biochemistry of The Chinese University of Hong Kong)

Automatic Face Image and Sketch Recognition (Jan 2003 - May 2003)
(Information provided by the Department of Information Engineering of The Chinese University of Hong Kong)

Plant and Fungal Biotechnology (Oct 2002 - Dec 2002)
(Information provided by The UGC AoE Plant and Fungal Biotechnology Centre of the Department of Biology of The Chinese University of Hong Kong )

Nanotechnology (Jun 2002 - Sept 2002)
(Information provided by the Institute of Nano Science and Technology (INST) of The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology)