Lighthouse inheritance | "Deep-diving academician" Wang Pinxian: Traveling at night to make China the master of South China Sea research

In 2018, at the age of 82, he boarded the manned submersible "Deep Sea Warrior" to dive to the depths of the South China Sea at a depth of 1,400 meters for scientific research. He completed three dives in nine days, completing more explorations for my country's "South China Sea Deep Plan" and becoming the oldest deep diver in the world. In recent years, he has joined video websites to do science popularization and has become a "net celebrity academician" sought after by young people. He and his wife donated 2 million yuan to establish a marine scholarship. He is Wang Pinxian, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the leader of the expert guidance group of the South China Sea Deep Plan.

China Media Group launched the program "My Home, My Country". Host Wang Ning exclusively interviewed Academician Wang Pinxian. Let's watch it together.

Wang Pinxian is the oldest among all the deep-sea divers in the world. When he just returned from a deep-sea dive, he took a photo with a childlike excitement in his eyes. He said, "I have waited for this opportunity for 40 years."

Wang Ning: When did you first hear about deep diving?

Wang Pinxian: It was also in Paris, at a cocktail party in Paris, France. A man next to me told me this when everyone was toasting. He was a record-breaking diver in France. He told me that going up to the sky was meaningless, and that it made my ears deaf. It was better to go into the sea, where there was no sound at all, absolutely quiet, and very peaceful. He went to the Mediterranean Sea, and he said that sea lilies can float, and that was really beautiful.

Wang Ning: How many years did it take you to do the same as him?

Wang Pinxian: It is exactly from 1978 to 2018, 40 years.

77 days of almost sleepless nights, just to popularize marine knowledge At present, what Wang Pinxian is most anxious about is to build a bridge between science and culture for the public. This bridge is popular science. During the 2020 epidemic, Mr. Wang spent 77 days almost without sleep and tried his best to "endure" a book "A Brief Introduction to the Deep Sea". In Mr. Wang's description, the entire deep sea is a mysterious world like a huge maze.

Wang Pinxian: Because of this, I got a serious illness last year and was hospitalized for the first time. I stayed in the hospital for more than 30 days. I said that I really became an academician and stayed in the hospital.

Wang Ning: Why did you feel that you should write "A Brief Account of the Deep Sea" with all your heart and soul?

Wang Pinxian: When we do this kind of work, once we get excited, we can’t stop.

Wang Ning: Why does it make you excited?

Wang Pinxian: Scientists rely on their inner curiosity and a sense of responsibility. Our generation was born and raised in times of national crisis. We all understand that national interests are the greatest and that without a country, there is no home.

Why is Mr. Wang racing against time? He said that he hopes China can become the master of South China Sea research. Compared with the rich resources on the seabed, humans know very little about it. We haven't even reached the Neolithic Age of the ocean. We need to speed up our understanding before we can use it correctly. As a latecomer in the ocean world, China needs to "race against time".

Wang Pinxian: When we were approaching the South China Sea, a pirate warning center in Malaysia issued an alert about pirates. Then he (the American professor) said that we had given up on the south because there were pirates. I said no, we had to drill this well. I went to the relevant Chinese people, and finally the Ocean Administration sent me a telegram saying that China would pay attention to that ship. The captain was relieved. When drilling began, the captain ordered the Chinese flag to be raised. This is the only deep well in the Nansha Islands.

Wang Ning: What do that deep well and that five-star red flag mean to us at this moment?

Wang Pinxian: China has taken the lead in the science of the South China Sea. In the past, deep-sea research like the South China Sea was conducted by European and American ships. They would not tell you, and there was no need to tell you. You would not know that they were here. We only knew what they had done after they published their research. Now we do it all, so I feel very proud. We are the masters. What I am proposing now is that we should turn the South China Sea into a natural laboratory for deep-sea research in the world. I am the boss of this laboratory, but I welcome everyone to participate. I have a great dream that China can make such a big move. I don’t know if I can live long enough at my age, but I hope to see that day.

"Racing against time" is Wang Pinxian's daily routine. "The ocean is a big topic, and we really can't relax." Even at the age of 85, Mr. Wang works more than 14 hours a day, all year round. In the entire building of the School of Ocean and Earth Sciences of Tongji University, the lights in his room are still the last to be turned off.

Source: CCTV News Client