【推荐1】At a hotel, surrounded by teammates, he got the email. “Dear Spencer Heslop.” it read, “you have been invited to participate in the Selection Camp for the US Men’s National Team for 2022.”

The recent graduate from University of Michigan School of Public Health, dreamed of the opportunity to play for the United States since he was seven years old. After he developed a disease that often results in damage to the spinal cord (脊髓) and nerves, Heslop’s parents pushed him to try wheelchair basketball.

By high school, Heslop played wheelchair basketball on a competitive basketball team. The experience opened his eyes to the world of adaptive sports, which became his favorite. While he was never the biggest or strongest player, Heslop had a feel for the game and a desire to take it further. Faced with many challenges, he worked tirelessly to develop chair skills and conditioning that made him more explosive.

“As I applied to graduate school, I knew I would play wherever I was planning to go,” Heslop said. “University of Michigan was near the top of my list academically. I also heard that they were trying to get an adaptive sports program going, and that helped me make my choice.” University of Michigan Adaptive Sports and Fitness was formed in 2018 to address the inequitable access to physical activity opportunities, competitive and recreational, for students with disabilities at University of Michigan.

Since Heslop joined the program in 2020, University of Michigan’s wheelchair basketball team became part of the NWBA’s Division Ⅱ. After leading the team to an 8th-place finish at the NWBA Nationals in April 2022, Heslop participated in the US Men’s National Team Selection Camp where he fought against 30 of the nation to athletes and made the final twelve-man roster. This gave the recently graduated young man a better shot at his ultimate goal: playing for his country in the Paralympic Games.

【推荐2】Eugene Newman Parker, a leading figure in heliospheric(日球层的) physics for the past half century, passed away peacefully at his home in Chicago on Mar. 15. He was 94.

Hailed(誉为) as a visionary in the field of heliophysics, Parker revolutionized our understanding of the sun and its effects on Earth and other bodies within the solar system. NASA even stated that “the field of heliophysics exists in large part because of Dr. Eugene Parker. In 2018, Parker became the first living scientist to witness the launch of a spacecraft that was named in his honor.

Parker is best known for his groundbreaking theory on the existence of a phenomenon called “solar wind”, a continuous stream of charged particles that flow off the sun. It can become violent, causing space weather that impacts the Earth. When Parker’s research was published in 1958, his theory was initially met with skepticism(怀疑) and ridicule by the scientific community. The general view at the time was that the space between planets was an absolute vacuum(真空), and was thus completely empty of any matter. But, there were no errors in his study or his calculations, and the theory was later proven to be correct in 1962, when a NASA spacecraft mission to Venus revealed the constant presence of a supersonic wind—exactly as Parker had predicted.

That experience likely led to the advice Parker often gave young researchers: “If you do something new or innovative, expect trouble. But think critically about it because if you’re wrong, you want to be the first one to know that.” Parker never co-authored a paper with his students, thus urging them to be independent.

Parker was humble, straightforward, and wise. His son Eric said, “My sister Joyce and I didn’t get a real feel for what a ‘big dog’ our dad was in the field.” They got an even better sense when a month after Parker’s death, they traveled to Lund, Sweden, to accept on his behalf the Crafoord Prize in Astronomy.

【推荐3】Melissa Sevigny, a science journalist for Arizona Public Radio, recounts the details of the 1938 river journey of Elzada Clover and Lois Jotter, who, along with their guide, Norm Nevills, and a few other crew members, traveled down the Colorado River with the goal of cataloging (登记) undiscovered plants in the area. The Colorado River was known as the most dangerous river in the world. But for Clover and Jotter, it held-a great appeal: no one had surveyed the Grand Canyon’s plants, and they were determined to be the first.

As women scientists, Clover and Jotter faced scrutiny (监督) even before their trip began. They started in Green River, Utah, and then traveled through Cataract Canyon, Glen Canyon, and the Grand Canyon before ending at Lake Mead. For Clover, the trip fit perfectly with her dream of cataloging all the Southwest’s cacti (a kind of plant), but, more than that, it was a chance to make her mark on the field of botany. As they made their way down the river, they continued to face challenges, including navigating intense rapids, losing one of their three boats, and dealing with aggressive reporters and inaccurate and imaginary news reports. When Clover and Jotter finally reached the entrance of the Grand Canyon, they felt apprehensive, but they decided they had no choice now but to brave the wild river.

Drawing information from the crew’s letters and journals, Sevigny brings us directly into the boats and introduces us to many of the plants that Clover and Jotter surveyed and collected. The author also includes a map of the route and photographic images of the crew at different points along the way. Woven (编织) throughout the narrative of Clover and Jotter is the early history of travel on the Colorado River as well as how Indigenous peoples, Europeans, and the Park Service have shaped the eco logy of the river over time.

As the author notes, women in science still face challenges and barriers; Sevigny hopes that recalling the past will lead to a fairer future.

【推荐2】Chinese diving queens Quan Hongchan and Chen Yuxi were, unsurprisingly, among the brightest stars on the platform at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou in 2023. Together, the two teenagers reached the top step of the podium (领奖台) with a nearly perfect performance in women’s double diving. Then, the two young athletes battled it out in the women’s single 10m platform, when Quan outperformed Chen to win the champion. With both Quan and Chen’s final scores exceeding 430 points, none of the other divers came close, including the bronze medalist (280.50).

Quan and Chen are both the closest of partners and toughest of rivals (对手). This seemingly complicated relationship, to themselves, however, is very simple. They are simply best friends that have grown up together. “Quan shines in so many ways and she is always energetic during training and competition.” Although Quan is always described as a talkative and funny girl by teammates, the 16-year-old is famous for giving extremely short answers to media questions.

Quan and Chen became household names in China after their performance at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, when Quan won the women’s 10m platform gold and Chen won the silver. “As athletes, we both have the desire to win. That is why we both work extremely hard and fight for the same goal.” said Chen. “She is the best encouragement to me and our true motivation.”

But in Quan’s eyes, Chen is the more hardworking one of the two. “She always tries her best at training and competition. I’m not as hardworking as she is,” Quan added. Already collecting Olympic gold and numerous world titles, Quan and Chen stand at the top of world diving. But their sporting dreams remain unfulfilled, with both targeting gold at the Paris Olympics next summer. “I hope my partner always has a champion’s heart to face future competitions and the challenges ahead.” said Chen Quan, in her typically brief way, added: “I wish her the same.”