Central China's Hubei Province has been accelerating its construction of a science and technology innovation center, according to its officials on Tuesday.
At a press conference in Beijing, officials from Hubei Province introduced the region's high-quality development progress.
In the first quarter of 2024, the province's GDP increased by 6.1 percent. Its emerging sectors like computing and big data have grown rapidly. While its added value of high-tech industries surpassed one trillion yuan, contributing more than 40 percent to the industrial growth.
Officials vowed that Hubei will continue facilitating industrial innovation through sci-tech innovation, and strive to be forerunner of the nation regarding transforming the economic development mode.
"Wuhan City has been speeding up its construction of a science and technology innovation center with nationwide influence. A matrix incorporating scientific and technological powers is taking shape with one national laboratory, ten provincial-level labs, eight large-scale facilities, 163 national innovation platforms and 477 new research and development institutions as the main body. Breakthroughs have been made in 29 key technologies. Techniques on flash memory chips, brain-computer interfaces and myocardial peeling are world-leading. Last year, the turnover of technical contracts grew by 59.8 percent, reaching 48.6 billion yuan (about 67.3 billion U.S. dollars) and ranking third in China," said Wang Zhonglin, governor of Hubei Province.
Hubei speeds up construction of sci-tech innovation hub: official
The Miraikan Museum in Tokyo, Japan, is hosting an aging-themed exhibition that offers young people a simulated experience of how the human body changes with age.
The exhibition, Park of Age, is split into four interactive areas where visitors can experience the changes aging brings to their visual, auditory, motor skills and brain through interactive games.
In one game, participants can experience the challenges of judging objects with vision loss as they age. Another game called Nucopol simulates the effects of cataracts on color vision, resulting in difficulties in judging colors.
A unique feature in the brain aging experience area is a self-service camera that allows participants to see how elderly people may struggle to understand expressions like anger, sadness, and fear. Through these games, visitors can grasp the mechanisms of human aging and reflect on how they interact with the elderly and envision their own future.
The Park of Age exhibition, part of Miraikan's three permanent exhibits themed Create Your Future, is one of 22 exhibitions grouped under those three main themes, with the other two being Explore the Frontiers and Discover Your Earth.
"I take him to this exhibition related to robotics today. But he's not school age yet, so hopefully he'll find something here that interests him," said a mother.
"The emphasis in school is on basic theory. Much of what is on display here is practical science that can be applied to life. It gave me inspiration on my own research as well," said a student.
According to the museum staff, nearly half of the visitors are under 18, with high school students making up 17 percent of that group. As an off-campus learning venue, Miraikan also collaborates with local schools, inviting teachers to contribute to exhibition planning to align with students' actual needs and interests.
"Through physical display and interactive experience, students can get a new scientific experience different from classroom teaching, which is the biggest feature of our Miraikan science museum exhibition," said Ito Yoichi, deputy director of the museum.
Tokyo science museum holds aging experience exhibition
