Soccer

Beyond Astrophysics, I enjoy playing and watching all kinds of sports, especially soccer. I was a member of my high school’s soccer team and played intramural soccer throughout my time at Columbia. I can play any position on the field, from goalkeeper to striker.
I am a die-hard fan of Beijing Guoan FC, a soccer team from my hometown Beijing, China.

A Message that is Designed to Last for 10,000 Years

How does a civilization create a message that can last for 10,000 years?

In Summer 2020, Ms. Madeline Sunley, an artist and oil painter, asked me this question. Our goal was to artistically render a message that will be placed at the radioactive waste storage site at New Mexico to warn people against the everlasting radioactive harm, which can last up to 10,000 years. This is officially known as the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) project.

The most long-lasting and predictable coordinate system visible on Earth is the constellation patterns on the sky, which we used to designate the position of the waste storage site and convey the passage of time on the scale of 10,000 years. To account for the change in linguistics over time, Ms.Sunley suggesting translating the warning message into Oracle Bone Chinese, a hieroglyphic language that is over 3,000 years old. I helped her translate the original message to modern Chinese, then to Oracle Bone Chinese.

This unique art project ended up connecting my interest in astronomy and my cultural heritage in amazing ways. For images and blog posts about this project, click here.