An 80-year-old South Korean Miss Universe contestant has showed senior citizens a new way to pursue their dreams and embrace a colorful way of living in their later years, giving new hope and a new lease of life to the increasingly aging population.
In a groundbreaking move, the Miss Universe competition has shattered its age restrictions and focus on superficial beauty, opening the door for the unprecedented entrant, Choi Soon-hwa.
Beauty knows no age. That's the message at this year's Miss Universe competition, which features the event's oldest-ever competitor.
"After seeing that the Miss Universe competition has no age limit, I said I am participating in this. Then my son said, 'Mom, are you going that far? Okay, mom, go for it if you want.' So, I sent them photos yesterday, and then they said, 'Our mother is amazing, our grandmother is great.' So, I feel very happy," said Choi Soon-hwa.
Long criticized for being out of step with the times, Miss Universe organizers lifted many restrictions on age, marriage, and motherhood as of this year.
"Since many restrictions such as the age limit have been lifted, as of this year, more participants can enter the competition, and more standards for women's beauty now have been applied," said Kim Sung-shin, a Miss Universe contestant.
Promoter Yang Sun-mook, also CEO of DQ Communications, has been working with pageant organizers in South Korea to ensure the event represents the country's rapidly aging society.
"[South] Korea is having a very fashionable moment with old age. You see it in advertisements, on TV shows, fashion shows and even in international beauty competitions," Yang said.
As a mother and grandmother who is now pursuing her modeling career and who recently ran as a candidate for the National Assembly, Choi, with her action, has given a message to other seniors -- follow your dreams.
"With your talent, go to the place where you can find confidence, go outside home to anywhere as you like to participate in social activities, so that the senior society can be more active," Choi said.
80-year-old Miss Universe entrant inspires seniors to pursue dreams
China's domestically developed T1200-grade ultra-high-strength carbon fiber holds broad application prospects in strategic emerging industries, according to its developer.
The country on Wednesday unveiled SYT80, a domestically developed T1200-grade ultra-high-strength carbon fiber, marking a major breakthrough in the China's high-performance carbon fiber technology.
This new material has achieved a hundred-tonne-level annual production capacity, making China the first nation to mass-produce this caliber of fiber, according to its developer, China National Building Material Group Co., Ltd. (CNBM).
Featuring lightweight and high-strength properties, the fiber's diameter is less than one-tenth that of a human hair, and yet its tensile strength is 10 times that of ordinary steel and its density is only one-quarter of steel's.
"Compared with the previous-generation T1100, T1200 has seen its tensile strength increase by more than 14 percent. With its ultimate lightweight and high-strength characteristics, T1200 can achieve weight reduction of over 10 percent for equipment in related fields. It holds broad application prospects in strategic emerging industries such as commercial aerospace, low-altitude economy, and humanoid robots," said Chen Qiufei, head of T1200 ultra-high-strength carbon fiber research and development at Zhongfu Shenying Carbon Fiber Company, a subsidiary of China National Building Material Group.
The new material also possesses many other outstanding properties.
As the fiber undergoes carbonization at nearly 2,000 degrees Celsius during production, its chemical properties remain stable and its corrosion resistance is excellent.
This fiber material also features strong fire and flame retardant properties, offering good safety performance.
The development of this fiber material demonstrates China's fully independent and controllable capabilities across the entire industrial chain of high-performance carbon fiber, spanning technologies and equipment as well as the transition from laboratory research to mass production, said Zhou Yuxian, chairman of CNBM.
China's high-strength carbon fiber shows strong potential in strategic emerging industries
