A bit of Chinese

The University of Nottingham has a pavilion at this year's World Expo in Shanghai, China.

One of the main reasons for this is that the university has a campus in nearby Ningbo.

By the way, it was there that I filmed the total solar eclipse for Sixty Symbols and Test Tube on July 22, 2009.

This is one of the films I've most enjoyed making.



But back to the World Expo.

I've been involved in making a few short films to help out.

The first was just a "teaser" to build a bit of expectation before the opening.



Once the expo was open, it was decided a couple of small videos were required to accompany some exhibits. I quickly filmed two, basically just to provide a short greeting an explanation for the local visitors.

They were recorded with two Chinese acamdemics working for the university here in Nottingham.



In-keeping with the Test Tube ethos of sharing everything that goes on behind the scenes, I've also shared the videos with our viewers - even though most seem quite baffled.

The first researcher, George Chen, is discussing supercapattery technology. The second, Yanqiu Zhu, is discussing nanotechnlogy and solar power.

Unfortunately I can't shed much more light on what they're saying as I don't speak the language either. However one of our YouTube viewers provided these translations:

GEORGE CHEN: Hello everybody, I a chemical engineering professor and university of nottingham. Today I will introduce to you a product from our research team, the name is called super electrical battery (he said a the name of battery, but I don't know how if there is a way to translate it). This product can be physically made huge or small, and the goal is to store energy. It can be big as a house, or small as a dollar, so the big ones could be industrial use and the small could be for home. For cars, calculators ...etc. The most beneficial part of this product is that its SUPER FAST. Thanks you.

YANGIU ZHU: Hello, I am university of Nottingham's research head (?), with collaboration of tsinghua university, we were be able to make this new product. By using a new type of nano material (black color), which is darker than our cloth. This product can absorb 99% of photons from the sun. Therefore by using this material, we were able to make nano solar battery. Unlike the solar panels in the desert, which is uses something like our cellphone's battery which is connected to an computer. By using this new material, you never have to worry about losing power to your cell phone...etc Thank you.

That sounds pretty similar to what we'd agreed should be said!

Thank you to YouTube user Excellentscore for those translations, which may not be precise but are better than nothing!

For just a bit more Chinese culture, here's another video I made at the Ningbo campus in 2009 showing a quirky building they've built there, nicknamed the Chinese Lantern.

It's quite a sight!



UPDATE: I have received this new translation for Yangiu Zhu's piece...

"Hello everyone! I am Zhu Yan Qiu from the University of Nottingham in Britain. We co-operate with Tsing Hua University and study the work of solar power. We use a "nano charcoal", which is a material which is black in colour, darker than our clothes. It could receive 99% of the solar power. That is to say, if we use this material, we could make a battery in a small size that could receive solar power. It is not the kind used in the desert, but used in the mobile charger. Having this kind of battery, you don't have to worry that the battery on your phone would be used up."

And in Chinese:

大家好我是英國諾定咸大學的朱仁球,與清華大學合作我們一齊從事太陽能方面的工作,利用一種精行的炭納米,是一種非常黑的材料,它比我們的衣服都黑,它能夠幾乎接收百分之九十九的太陽能,所以說,利用這種材料我們開發出了一種新行的變仔細的小行的太陽能電池,不是用於沙漠上的那種,而是用於手機充電器,變節電池電源用的,有了這樣的電池之後呢,你再也不用擔心你的電機斷電這麼的煩惱