The Digital Agriculture Forum 2020 was co-hosted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and Zhejiang University on December 5-6. Aiming to foster an enabling ecosystem to accelerate the digital transformation of agri-food systems, it was composed of three main events: the Global Agrilnno Pitch Event, the Digital Agriculture and Rural Development Forum, and the Digital Agriculture Dialogue.More than 300 people out of 900 registered from over 80 countries participated...

On December 9, the 12th “Challenge Cup” National College Student Business Plan Competition was concluded at Northeast Forestry University. Zhejiang University clinched an all-time high eight gold medals and won the highest accolade of the competition—the Challenge Cup—thanks to the highest total score and the largest number of gold medals.The competition made its debut in 1999, and as of 2000, it has been held every two years. It is currently one of the most popular national innovation an...

On the evening of December 4, the Law Artificial Intelligence Challenge, China’s first AI-mankind competition on contract review, made its debut in the Zhejiang University Law School Auditorium. It was co-hosted by Zhejiang University Guanghua Law School, the Language Technology Lab at the Alibaba DAMO Academy and Zhejiang University College of Computer Science and Technology.There were 5 teams in the contest: 2 human teams, 1 AI team and 2 human-AI hybrid teams. According to the rules, contest...

On Dec. 8, WU Zhaohui, president of Zhejiang University, met with a delegation led by His Excellency Mr. Laurent BILI, French Ambassador to China. The ambassador was accompanied by Mr. Benoît GUIDEE, French Consul General in Shanghai as well as the attachés for politics, education and economy.Also present at the meeting were HE Lianzhen, vice president of Zhejiang University, LI Min, director of the Office of Global Engagement, and SHENG Weimin, vice dean of the School of Mathematical Sciences....

Methane is the second most abundant greenhouse gas which can be found in natural habitats such as wetlands and oceans as well as in artificial systems such as rice paddies and anaerobic digesters. Methane is also an effective biological carbon source and energy which can sustain microbial growth and metabolism, drive biogeochemical cycles of such elements as carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur, and promote the evolution and development of the biosphere.Recently, scholars from Zhejiang University, the C...

[Message from the Editor: The COVID-19 pandemic is reshaping the way people live, work and learn. Faced with the immense uncertainty of the world, what adaptations should universities consider to ensure their long-term resilience? How do we envision the new strategic landscape for universities? At the invitation of International Association of Universities (IAU), President Wu Zhaohui shared his view in the article entitled “New Paradigms for Higher Education in a Post-coronavirus World" pu...

The exhibition themed on “Metropolitan Life in Chang’an: Spectacles from the Capital of the Tang Dynasty” kicked off in Zhejiang University Museum of Art and Archeology on December 1. A selection of 167 artefacts intimately related to the daily life of Chang’an residents were on display, unfolding a scroll of their lively and dynamic life. The audience is thus ushered into the ancient capital of the Tang Dynasty to relive the daily life of the ancient China at its zenith.“Zhejiang Universit...

At the 2020 RoboCup China Competition, two teams from Zhejiang University—ZJUNlict and ZJUDancer—clinched first place in the Small Size League and the Humanoid KidSize League respectively.The Small Size League is one of the oldest RoboCup Soccer leagues. It focuses on the problem of intelligent multi-robot/agent cooperation and control in a highly dynamic environment with a hybrid centralized/distributed system. Due to their small size, robots can move as fast as 4m/s and the ball speed can amou...

On November 28, Zhejiang University College of Agriculture and Biotechnology (CAB) celebrated the 110th anniversary of its founding on Zijingang Campus. Over the past 110 years, CAB has developed in sync with the times. It established China’s first horticulture and entomology, set up the first isotope laboratory in China’s agricultural system and published China’s first research article in agricultural sciences in the journal of Science. It boasts two national “first-class discipli...

Why are some mammals born monogamous? Why do mothers hold an intense affection for their kids? How do spouses maintain a stable relationship as lovers?This is intimately bound up with oxytocin which is released into the bloodstream as a hormone in response to love and in labor. Recent studies reveal that it not only helps with birth and milk production but also plays a critical role in social bonding, such as monogamy, deep maternal love, a strong sense of intimacy between parents and children. ...