APC News

We are about to release the finished images from our Scientist Cosplay series! Put your ingenuity to work, follow the clues, and guess the next scientist to win a prize. There is also a lucky repost prize, so do not miss it!

About the guessing event:
The finished Darwin images hide three clues about the mysterious scientist in our next cosplay. Readers who identify the scientist can win prizes w
1st prize: Find all three clues and identify the scientist correctly. Choose any two books shown in the Qzone post.

2nd prize: Find two clues and identify the scientist correctly. Choose any one book shown in the Qzone post.

3rd prize: Find one clue and identify the scientist correctly. Receive a custom sign photo.

Lucky prize: We will randomly select one reader who reposts the finished images on Qzone and send that person a random book.

“We hope to encourage more science communication in the cosplay community. The road may be difficult, but we want to take the first step and open new ground.”

We hope you will support us tomorrow!

It takes only 15 minutes to complete this paper, and it is packed with worthwhile questions. Give it a try! The highest-scoring nonmember may become a full member without taking the recruitment exam.
Note: Each person may attempt the paper only once. Once you submit and exit, you cannot reopen it. The paper also includes anti-cheating restrictions, so please take care!

This week’s problem is the “Five-Room Puzzle”:

Solving a problem earns a corresponding number of “medals,” which will play an important part in the year-end final. Union members who solve it can send their answers to Millisecond by private message.
During the monthly competition, a new problem will be posted every Saturday. Problems may be shared publicly, although posts made on behalf of an organization rather than an individual must cite the source. There is no barrier to entry, and participation is not limited to the internet; anyone can take part.
Month 9 is “Mathematics Month,” so every problem this month will be mathematical. Try these low-stakes math problems at school, and ask classmates, teachers, or experts for help if you get stuck. The number of medals awarded next month will depend on each participant’s score.
Answers to every problem posted in month 9 remain valid if submitted by 10/5, leaving plenty of time to work. The answers from one month will be announced the next month.
Try a problem in your spare time. Everyone is welcome!

Best photograph in the Mid-Autumn Festival competition:
Image source and copyright: Universe · Space

Best poem in yesterday’s Mid-Autumn Festival competition:
Daolianzi: The Moon Must Shine Bright over Home
Author: @keK
The water clock runs late,
the strings and pipes fall silent.
Wine-warmed, I lift my gaze to a cassia-colored sky.
Mid-autumn’s white silk carries a traveler’s dream;
knowing my weariness, I pour a libation to the autumn wind.

~May we live long and share the moonlight, though a thousand miles apart~

•The Mid-Autumn Festival is here again. Look up and a jade disk hangs in the clear sky, dimming all the stars around it.
Tonight, A-kun invites everyone to photograph the Mid-Autumn Moon. The Union will select the most beautiful lunar photograph, and its creator will receive a prize.
•What if the sky is cloudy? No problem. Our poets and artists can submit a Mid-Autumn poem or a work of art related to the festival. The Union’s winning selection will also receive a prize.

The second week’s problem is below:

The three organizations’ joint monthly competition begins today. Solving a problem earns a corresponding number of “medals,” which will play an important role in the year-end final.
During the monthly competition, a new problem will be posted every Saturday. Problems may be shared publicly, although posts made on behalf of an organization rather than an individual must cite the source. There is no barrier to entry, and participation is not limited to the internet; anyone can take part.
Month 9 is “Mathematics Month,” so every problem this month will be mathematical. Try these low-stakes math problems at school, and ask classmates, teachers, or experts for help if you get stuck. The number of medals awarded next month will depend on each participant’s score.
Answers to every problem posted in month 9 remain valid if submitted by the first Saturday in month 10, leaving plenty of time to work. The answers from one month will be announced the next month.
Try a problem in your spare time. Everyone is welcome!

Event period: Midnight on 8.31 to midnight on 9.1
Prizes: Choose one astronomy folder, astronomy ruler, decorative bookmark, resin ocean paperweight, or set of Union postcards.

Hello, everyone! A new school term is almost here. Are you ready? A-kun wishes you steady progress and excellent results throughout the semester!

To help you begin the term, A-kun has prepared some stationery gifts that we hope readers will find useful (๑˙v˙๑)! Starting now, A-kun will draw 2 people from the likes on this Qzone post and another 2 from its reposts, sending each a small back-to-school gift.

Finally, thank you for following A-kun all this time. We will keep communicating science and hope that more people discover and enjoy our work. We will stay true to our purpose and never turn into a clickbait content mill (ง •̀_•́)ง! We hope to make our science communication even better. Thank you!

Winners of the final may receive tickets to the “Beijing 3D Digital Space Exhibition,” a Robert Zubrin portrait T-shirt, or a set of four postcards from the Mars Society. Anyone can enter!

The preliminary round runs from 7.31 to 8.2 and will use a Wenjuanxing questionnaire.

How to get the preliminary-round exam:
QQ: The APC Science Union main group and recruitment group will post an announcement with the exam link. If you have not joined the main group, you are welcome to join the APC recruitment exam group: 1027526691.
WeChat: Follow the WeChat official account “NOVA1670” or “APC Science Union” and reply with the keyword “competition” to receive the paper for free.

The semifinal, whose date has not yet been set, will run simultaneously in groups on QQ and WeChat. It will use live-answer and question-selection formats. The top 8 contestants on each platform in the preliminary round, 16 in total, advance to the semifinal.
The final, whose date has also not been set, will use the same rules as the semifinal and take place in APC’s main QQ group. The top 8 semifinalists advance to the final.

See the relevant group files for the full competition process and prize details.

Dear readers: We have been actively preparing our “2.0” plan, which led to serious delays in recent updates. We apologize to all our readers.

The new “2.0” learning format is shown below:

APC Union, also nicknamed the A-Pike Union and referred to below as “the Union,” is a student science organization founded on 2016/7/5. Based primarily on QQ, it now consists mostly of high school and university students. We work to create a positive online community where students with shared goals can move forward together, and we are expanding into science communication. An entrance exam helps maintain a student-centered group with a strong learning environment and high-quality discussion.

[Recruitment System]
We take member selection seriously. Every spring and summer, during the winter and summer breaks, we hold recruitment exams. For example, the online exam held during the 2017 winter break offered five subjects: biology, mathematics, physics, chemistry, and astronomy. Passing any one subject qualified an applicant to become a full member of the Union.
This July, we will again hold a recruitment exam to find new talent. This year’s six subjects are mathematics, chemistry, physics, astronomy, biology, and geography. You can choose the difficulty and structure of your paper, giving you more opportunities to show what you can do!

[Join Us]
Pass the exam, join us, and help create new achievements together. We look forward to welcoming you!
Union recruitment exam QQ group: 1027526691

“May all Chinese youth rise and move forward. Let those who can act, act; let those who can speak, speak. If you have a little warmth, give a little light.”
We want to shine, even if only like fireflies. A sky full of fireflies can become a field of stars and illuminate China.
Will you become one of those lights?

Orion’s Starry-Sky Chronicles follows Orion, an apprentice star mage, as he explores the constellations. In the comic, Orion takes the role of the protagonist in each constellation’s story and experiences its legends firsthand, learning about the constellations along the way.

The series explains constellations through astronomy rather than astrology, so it covers all 88 constellations in the sky, not only those of the zodiac.

A small project that presents high school biology concepts through short comics.

Dear friends, good morning, late morning, noon, afternoon, and evening! Zhongke Union, the United Organization of Science Enthusiasts, and APC Science Union will jointly hold two Lunar New Year celebrations, “A New Year and a New State of Heart” and “Battle of the Strongest Teams,” on Lunar New Year’s Eve and the evening of Lunar New Year’s Day.
The first includes riddles, brainteasers, matching couplets, a lighthearted debate, trivia questions, guessing prices from pictures, guessing advertisements from pictures, “I Describe, You Guess,” and “Turtle Soup” lateral-thinking puzzles. Quite a list, isn’t it?
The second includes individual and team contests in a format broadly similar to the program The Brain. Its questions cover many subjects and offer an enjoyable way to improve everyone’s knowledge, and perhaps their posture too.
To maintain order and avoid disturbing friends who prefer a quiet holiday, the events will take place in a separate new group. What is its number? It appears at the end, hiahiahia.
What else is there to say? Please help keep the event group orderly. Sharing the event is the greatest support you can give us. Bring friends and family to cheer you on, and your chances of winning will be even better!
We begin at 7:00 p.m. on Lunar New Year’s Eve. See you there! Join the APC & Zhongke Union New Year Event group: 645855043.
And now for one last, very subtle advertisement. Can you guess what it is?
Join APC Science Union, group number: 575584484
Join the United Organization of Science Enthusiasts, group number: 300196854

Element Universe, or EU, Project No. 1: A Few Details About Hydrogen

H was the first element to arrive in EU. She is actually older than everyone else but looks the youngest, so she also acts younger than anyone else.
As the adult of Group IA, or at least someone no one dares call anything else, she gets along well with every member of her group (probably?). In private, however, she prefers Group VIIA and seems to know many of F’s little secrets (??).
H is so light that she can float simply by standing still, and she moves very quickly. Do not try to play tag with her.
H seems to know many things the other elements do not, especially about… the Creator (see the EU setting) and events from the distant past. She may be hiding a plan no one else knows about.
When she attacks, flames burst from her fingertips. If her target is reactive enough, H may also hydrogenate it. Beyond that, she appears to retain energy left over from the creation of EU.
(The ends of her hair turn purple when she is angry, indicating that she has entered an excited state.