In the Netflix super-hot Korean reality show "Physical: 100 People", 100 contestants with muscular men and women, competed in various physical challenges, which sparked global interest. Their spirit of dedication to the end is convincing. At CUHK, there is a "muscle exercise professor" who not only adheres to the mission of fitness and teaching, but also develops a social enterprise with missions. From a professor to a social enterprise CEO, he fully demonstrates that a sportsman is not only "powerful", but also "brainy". He is our cover character, professor Raymond Sum, Associate Dean (Undergraduate Studies) and Associate Professor of Department of Sports Science and Physical Education, CUHK. This issue: #SportScience #Gym #PhysicalFitnessTest #AdolescentHealth #Training #Physical Literacy

Daylight dwindles as the year comes to a close. Change is inevitable, and the disruption it causes often brings both inconvenience and opportunity. Simon Ngai, alumnus of Chung Chi College of CUHK, is a businessman who sees and seizes business opportunities and chairperson of GloryReturn. He shares in this issue how businesspersons may help to steer change in the society and enrich lives with social enterprises, and how to draw life to a perfect close by funeral service with a social goal. In this issue: #FSES #SocialEnterprise #ChristianFuneralService #ServiceForTheGrassroot #Life&DeathEducation #BusinessSocialCollaboration

It’s hard to distinguish a shamrock from a clover. Consumers often have the same trouble telling good herbal products from bad ones. According to Huangdi Neijing (Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor), an ancient doctrinal Chinese medical group of texts, Chinese medicinal formulas can be categorised into soup, powder, pill, ointment and elixir. In view of the vast array of herbal products in the market today, how can we tell which is authentic? What does blockchain have to do with Chinese medicinal materials? In this Cubic Zine issue, Prof Shaw Pang Chui of the School of Life Sciences, who pioneered the use of molecular authentication of herbal products in 1990s, shares with us how he traces DNA of herbal materials even in boiling soup. Let’s hear his story. In this issue: #TMC #DNAauthentication #Blockchain #traceability #HKGenuineProducts #JoyNTearOfEducation

Hong Kong’s dazzling, densely-populated cityscape is a perfect manifestation of the city’s complicated land problems. In this seemingly claustrophobic setting, some lament its constraints while others see opportunities beyond the blocks. In this Cubic Zine issue, Thomas Chung, Associate Professor of the School of Architecture, CUHK shares with us the infinity of possibilities with space, as well as the transfer of knowledge into abandoned rural villages. Hear his story of enlivening the once derelict village of Mui Tsz Lam through co-creating an architectural experiment with over a hundred CUHKers, villagers and volunteers. In this issue: #Architecture #LivingSpace #ExperientialLearning #CrossInterdisciplinary #VillageRevitalisation #MuiTszLam #CountrysideConservation #HongKongCulture

Under the pressure of the epidemic, the trend of "e-learning" has revealed its advantages. The emergence of virtual reality teaching has further promoted the education sector to enter the era of digital learning. We can also ride the "STEM wave" and find the key to coping with changes and challenges. Professor Morris Jong, the cover story of this issue of Cubic Zine, fell in love with computers from playing computer games, and then researched the combination of games and learning, which not only satisfied the many wishes of local non-Chinese students, but also extended the teaching effect to overseas universities.

“Some people speak without communicating.” Tan Lee is a Professor in the Department of Electronic Engineering at CUHK with over 30 years of research experience in speech technology, including “Speech-to-Text” and “Text-to-Speech” technologies that we use on a daily basis. Au fait with abstruse computerese, Prof Lee is, however, mindful of making himself understood.

What’s so special about corals in Hong Kong? They are simply tough! In Hong Kong, the water temperature can go down to 13°C in winter and up to 31°C in summer. It’s quite a feat to survive such temperature difference. Corals can adapt to environmental changes, but adaptation takes time. Climate change is just coming too fast. We want to explore if corals in Hong Kong are particularly resilient to temperature changes, and if so, what is the mechanism?”

Why did the two young executives leap from their professions into research, especially in gerontology? They had even secured funding from CUHK Sustainable Knowledge Transfer Project Fund (S-KPF) to set up the social enterprise Happy Ageing Lab. How does architecture affect the health of the elderly? Can we age discerningly? What changes do Mo and Rina want to make?

As a hearing person without deaf friends or relatives, how did Felix start her academic research on the deaf and sign language in the first place ? This all began with her undergraduate studies.