April 27th, Dr. George Smoot, Nobel Laureate in physics, was invited to our school for a lecture.

Dr. George Smoot is American astrophysicist and cosmologist and he was awarded Nobel Prize in 2006 with John C. Mather for discovering cosmic microwave background radiation and anisotropy.

“High school is a crucial turning point in life. What you learn in high school will set up a background which is necessary for your future learning and research. Now, we are living in an era when science and technology is flying, we are embracing more opportunities as well as greater challenges.” said Dr. Smoot in his brief speech. He also called upon students to be active in thinking, learning and exploring.

The question session turned out to be the most fun and heated. Among many who are eager to raise questions, six students were selected to speak out. One of the questions is “Should we be a specialist or an all-rounder in doing scientific research”. Science is broad and there is a highly-sophisticated connection among each area which makes it necessary for each researcher to be equipped with basic qualities and then carry on with their own work. In doing so, we cannot overlook the role of teamwork.

When asked about effective way in doing research, Dr. Smoot said that computation comes first and served as a foundation for hypothesis, what is left is to prove it.

Take celestial body study for example, an analogue of universe will be developed before they set out to discover and explore how the universe evolves.

Does Alien really exit?

One girl expressed her interest in extra celestial life. In answering this question, Dr. Smoot was honest about the fact that there are yet no sign of life found yet on other planets in spite that we are at the prime time of research. The more we know about life, the more we come to understand the importance of water to life. There is still a long way to go before we prove the existence of life on other planets. Many students are curious about Dr. Smoot’s life and study in MIT and asked whether there are lots of daily classes and homework and even weekly quiz. Dr. Smoot told the students that College campus may be hard to imagine for high school students. It is full of fun and challenges and varied activities such as concert, ball and etc. and you can come across many people and become friends.

In the end Dr. Smoot told students that Physics is very interesting and he was extremely happy to see enthusiasm from students. He also encouraged students to explore and tap on their potential in the hope of shouldering responsibility to carry out more universe explorations.

Dr. Smoot in sketch

While listening to this Nobel Laureate, one student sketched Dr. Smoot in his cartoon and gave it to him as a present. The whole conversation came to an end with a group photo.