Quirky science award in Hangzhou celebrates power of curiosity

On Nov 22, the Hangzhou West Lake Cultural and Sports Center in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang province, was transformed into a science playground as it hosted the quirky 2025 Pineapple Science Award.

Since its inception in 2012, this public science promotion event has aimed to bridge science with everyday life by inspiring humor and curiosity. The event celebrates the beauty of curiosity, striving to awaken the innate inquisitiveness in everyone, proving that science is indeed playful and engaging.

This year's theme, Admiring Curiosity, highlighted the omnipresence of science, from kitchen stoves to ant societies, and from weight loss magic to global warming. The newly introduced Perseverance Award resonated with workers' Monday blues, as a Hong Kong University study revealed that anxiety and stress hormones spike on Mondays, even affecting retirees.

The Abstraction Award went to a Swiss team proposing to cool the Earth by dispersing diamond nanoparticles — a costly yet thought-provoking idea. Meanwhile, the Medical Award from Westlake University warned of unexpected hair loss from popular intermittent fasting diets.

Other intriguing winners included a chemical method for perfect soft-boiled eggs and a "cyber cockroach" rescue team. The awards, coupled with a science market from Nov 21 to 23, offered immersive experiences in cutting-edge technology, such as AR glasses and brain-machine interfaces.