The Canadian Authors Association (CAA) is a non-profit national arts service organization with a local presence devoted to promoting a flourishing community of writers across Canada. The association offers professional development opportunities to writers of all levels in all genres, with the aim of helping writers develop skills in both the craft and business of writing, and providing access to a Canada-wide network of writers, and publishing industry professionals. Over the century, some 25,000 writers have been members, including Roberts W. Service Bliss Carman and. E.J. Pratt.

In follow-up to the 101st anniversary of the Canadian Authors Association, the National Capital Region Branch invites all writers to take part in the 36th Annual National Capital Writing Contest.

The 36th Annual National Capital Writing Contest

Deadline: March 21, 2023 at 1:59 pm.

Short Story: maximum 2,500 words, unpublished, in English.

Poetry: maximum 60 lines including the title and blank lines, unpublished, in English.

Awards: Awards Night will take place on Wednesday, June 14, 2023, with cash awards for 1st, 2nd and 3rd placements ($300, $200, $100) and three honorable mentions for each category. Entry Fees: Poetry: $5 per single poem; Short Story: $15 per single story.

The contest is open to all Canadian citizens or landed immigrants living in Canada. Names or other identifiers must not appear anywhere in the story or poem as entries will be blind judged. The judges’ decisions are final. No entries will be returned. For multiple entries, each must be accompanied by its entry fee and separate cover.

Invented in the Tang Dynasty and widely adopted after the Song Dynasty in Fujian, the watertight-bulkhead (水密舱壁) technology permits the construction of ocean-going ships with watertight compartments (隔层). If one or two cabins are accidentally damaged at sea, water will not flood the other cabins and the ships will remain afloat.

The experience and working methods of watertight-bulkhead technology are transmitted orally from master to apprentices. However, the need for Chinese junks (中国式帆船) has decreased sharply as wooden ships have been replaced by steel-hulled ships, and today only three masters can claim full command of this technology. Associated building costs have also increased owing to a shortage in raw materials. Therefore, the inheritance (继承) of this heritage is decreasing, and inheritors are forced to seek alternative employment.

Zhang Guohui, a 77-year-old inheritor of the watertight-bulkhead techniques used to make Chinese junks, has been making ships for more than six decades. Coming from a poor family in a fishing town in East China’s Fujian Province, Zhang started to make a living at the age of 16 fishing on the open seas, which is where he developed a keen interest in constructing boats. As a fast learner, Zhang was later sent to shipyards in the cities of Quanzhou and Xiamen in Fujian Province, where he received training and became a master of traditional Chinese junks and gained fame because of his extremely skilled craftsmanship in the construction of these junks.

In fear that the traditional skills would die someday, Zhang started to restore old ships and make model junks for the museum with his 20 years of shipbuilding skills. “The restored ancient ships are the historical witnesses of Quanzhou as a maritime center of the East and Southeast Asia trade network,” said Zhang, adding that he finds the work meaningful since younger generations can learn from exhibitions of ancient ships that their ancestors had advanced shipbuilding technology at an early stage of development. “As long as I’m alive, I’ll keep passing on the heritage,” he said.

The Chinese new year begins on 22 January, 2023 and lasts until 9 February 2024.While most of Asia celebrates the year of the rabbit, Vietnam celebrates the year of the cat. In the Chinese zodiac (十二生肖), there are 12 animals, and the 4th animal is the rabbit; while in the Vietnamese zodiac, the 4th position is occupied by the cat. How the cat covered for the rabbit in Vietnam’s zodiac is still the subject of debate.

It was said the Jade Emperor organized a race across a river for all the animals in the world. The first 12 to reach the other side would appear in the zodiac. In the Chinese version of the story, the cat and the rat were riding across a river on an ox when the rat pushed the cat into the water. The rat won the race, turning the two animals into enemies. That is why cats have been hunting rats ever since. However, in the Vietnamese version — which did not have a rabbit — the cat could swim and ended up arriving.

One possible explanation for replacing rabbit with cat might have to do with language. In old Chinese, there is’ a word tied to the sign of the rabbit that is pronounced mao (卯). The pronunciation is similar to mèo, the Vietnamese word for cat.

Quyen Di, a lecturer at UCLA, said the custom has to do with the landscape of Vietnam. “Initially, the Chinese lived in the savanna (稀树草原) area, while the Vietnamese lived in the lowland area. The people of the savanna prefer a nomadic life, close to the wilderness, and they chose the rabbit as an animal that lived in the wild fields. In contrast, the lowland people of Vietnam consider rabbits as animals that are used for food and chose the cat because they believe cats are friends living in their house.

This year, many Vietnamese are buying new cat-themed cases for their mobile phones. And one of the top Google searches in Vietnam is “why there is no cat in the Chinese zodiac”.

A team of researchers at ETH Zurich has the perfect long-lasting solution to our fog problem. They have developed a very thin and gold-based transparent coating (涂层) that can convert sunlight into heat, which can be applied to glass and other surfaces to prevent them from fogging.

The special coating is developed using titanium oxide and gold particles. It selectively absorbs infrared radiations (红外线照射) from the sunlight and creates a heating effect that is powerful enough to keep fog away from the surface of an object. The coating basically employs heat to stop fogging. The coating absorbs a large part of the infrared radiation, which causes it to heat up-by up to 8℃.

Previously, products like anti-fogging sprays create a very thin film of water on the surface to remove fog. The problem with such surfaces is pollution. Along with water, the sprays also attract dirt, dust, oil, and various other dirty substances, and just a little dirt on the surface makes it useless. However, the new coating repels (排斥) water. Furthermore, the coating is significantly thinner, which makes it more transparent as well as flexible. It is heated passively and requires, during daytime, no additional energy source.

Gold might be expensive, but the researchers stress that their coating requires so little that the material costs remain low. Their coating is produced with standardized and readily scalable methods, all cost-effectively. However, although this product can work at very low levels of solar irradiation, it does rely on a certain amount of light.

The researchers will develop the coating further for other applications. In the process, they will examine whether other metals work just as well as gold. There is no need to fear. However, this would cause a car or a building to heat up more in the summer. The researchers have already filed a patent. Hopefully, this groundbreaking product will soon be available on the market.