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Science Focus by HKUST

🌸A science magazine published by the School of Science at HKUST Science Focus is a science magazine published by the School of Science at HKUST.

Specially written and designed by HKUST science students under the guidance of School of Science faculty and staff, Science Focus is offered free-of-charge to Hong Kong secondary school students, three issues per annum. Email: [email protected]

We welcome your feedback. School of Science affiliate pages:
LIFS Human Genetics Workshop: https://www.facebook.com/humangenetics.hkust/

28/05/2026

《圖解「交通工具的科學」設計比賽 2026 — 季軍🥉》
"Science in Transportation" Visual Explainer Challenge 2026 – Second Runner-Up

🖋️ Entry submitted by Ho Tsz Yan Antonia (on IG)

14/05/2026

《圖解「交通工具的科學」設計比賽 2026 — 亞軍🥈》
"Science in Transportation" Visual Explainer Challenge 2026 – First Runner-Up

🖋️ Entry submitted by Sun Fan Wan (on IG)

30/04/2026

《圖解「交通工具的科學」設計比賽 2026 — 冠軍🏆》
"Science in Transportation" Visual Explainer Challenge 2026 – Champion

🖋️ Entry submitted by Lee Jeannie On Kiu .d (on IG)

09/04/2026

《可以把膠樽改造成雲呢拿雪糕嗎？🍦》
Can we turn plastic bottles into vanilla ice cream?

日本科學家在膠樽回收場發現了可以分解PET塑膠的細菌。

這種細菌的學名為Ideonella sakaiensis，能製造PET酶和MHET酶。前者能把PET聚合物的酯鍵水解，使其分解成單體；後者能進一步把單體水解成苯二甲酸（TPA）和乙二醇（EG）。

為了改善效能，科學家用人工智能找出最佳的突變組合，設計出能於一週內分解PET的FAST-PET酶；也有科學家透過以連接肽把PET酶和MHET酶結合以加快反應。

最終科學家更成功將TPA轉化成雲呢拿主要成分香草醛！經基因改造的大腸桿菌能表達五種酶，逐步把TPA轉化成香草醛，提供了把塑膠廢料增值的途徑。

您會想試試由膠樽製成的雲呢拿雪糕嗎？

原文〈出來吧！自然界蠶吃塑膠的生物〉刊登於第二十五期《科言》。

Japanese scientists discovered a bacterium which can degrade PET plastic (polyethylene terephthalate) from a plastic bottle recycling site.

Named Ideonella sakaiensis, the species produces two enzymes, PETase and MHETase. The former breaks PET polymer into its monomers through ester hydrolysis, while the latter further hydrolyzes the monomer into terephthalic acid (TPA) and ethylene glycol (EG).

To increase the efficiency, scientists found the best combination of mutations using artificial intelligence, to create FAST-PETase that can degrade PET within one week. Other scientists connected PETase and MHETase with a linker peptide to create a “super-enzyme” to accelerate the process.

Eventually scientists were able to convert TPA into vanillin – the main component in vanilla flavoring! Genetically engineered Escherichia coli bacteria can express five enzymes to synthesize vanillin from TPA in a step-by-step manner, upcycling the plastic waste.

Would you like to taste the vanilla ice cream made from a plastic bottle?

The original article “Unleashing Nature’s Plastic-Eating Marvels” was published in Science Focus Issue 025.

Post created by Inushi

26/03/2026

《激光去紋身的原理是？🧽》
How does laser tattoo removal work?

為甚麼紋身是永久的？

紋身過程會將墨水刺入皮膚。由於墨水分子較大的緣故，它們不易被免疫系統清除，因此能留下永久的印記。

去除紋身的方法包括使用激光、磨皮、化學腐蝕和手術切除。由於大部分方法都涉及移除皮膚表層，因此可能形成疤痕。相比之下，使用激光能減少留有疤痕的風險。

激光去紋身的原理是？

激光能加熱墨水分子，使其分解成較小的分子，再由白血球吞噬並帶走。

由於激光能聚焦於色素分子，因此能減少對皮膚不必要的傷害。

Why is a tattoo permanent?

Tattooing involves injecting inks into the skin. Due to the large size of the ink particles, they are invulnerable to removal by the immune system, making a tattoo permanent.

Tattoo removal methods include laser, dermabrasion, chemical peels and surgical excision. Most of these methods may result in scarring because they involve the removal of skin layers. In comparison, laser tattoo removal has a lower risk of scarring.

How does laser tattoo removal work?

Lasers heat up the ink particles and break them down into fragments, so that they can be engulfed and carried away by white blood cells.

These lasers are focused beam accurately targeting the pigments, minimizing unwanted damage.

Post created by Inushi

13/03/2026

第三十二期《科言》出版啦！😄

您可以在SCI/HOME領取實體版《科言》，亦可瀏覽電子版：https://ebookshelf.hkust.edu.hk/flippingbook/G23688/

《科言》是由科大理學院學生參與撰寫及設計的免費科學雜誌，每期會派送到多於140間中學，歡迎中學老師為學生訂閱。

Science Focus (Issue 032) is out! 😆

Printed copies are available at SCI/HOME at HKUST campus. E-book can be viewed at https://ebookshelf.hkust.edu.hk/flippingbook/G23688/.

Science Focus is a magazine published by the School of Science, HKUST. It is prepared by our undergraduate students and offered free of charge to everyone. We have been delivering our magazine over 140 secondary schools. Interested teachers are welcome to subscribe for your school.

26/02/2026

《甚麼決定血液顏色？🎨》
How is blood color determined?

提到血液，相信大家想到的都會是紅色液體，可是血並不一定是紅色的。

血液顏色取決於當中的呼吸色素，那是內含金屬的蛋白質，功能是協助運送呼吸氣體。最常見的呼吸色素是血紅蛋白，它使含氧血呈紅色。

色素的立體結構能吸收並反射特定波長的光，因而決定血液顏色。與氧結合能改變其立體結構，甚至是金屬離子的氧化態，因此可以引發顏色轉變。

以含氧血來說，魷魚、章魚、龍蝦和鱟等無脊椎動物含有名為血藍蛋白的呼吸色素，使血液呈藍色。此外，腕足動物和一些海洋蠕蟲擁有使血液呈紫色得蚯蚓血紅蛋白。

某些蚯蚓和水蛭的血液因含血綠蛋白而呈綠色，但有趣的是高濃度的血綠蛋白反而會呈紅色。

最獨特的血液是透明的！南極冰魚沒有任何呼吸色素，牠們發展出相對靜態的生活模式，而且比近親魚類擁有更大的血液體積。

原文〈絢爛多彩的動物血液〉刊登於第二十八期《科言》。

If you were asked to picture blood, most of us would picture a red liquid. However, blood isn’t always red.

The color depends on the respiratory pigment. A respiratory pigment is a metal-containing protein which helps transport respiratory gases. The most common respiratory pigment is hemoglobin, which makes oxygenated blood red.

The three-dimensional structure of the pigment absorbs and reflects unique wavelengths of light, defining the blood color. The binding of oxygen can alter its structure, and sometimes also the oxidation states of the metal ions, resulting in a change in color.

For oxygenated blood, invertebrates such as squid, octopus, lobster and horseshoe crab have a respiratory pigment called hemocyanin, which gives them blue blood. Moreover, lamp shells and certain marine worms have hemerythrin for their purple blood.

Some earthworms and leeches have green blood due to the presence of chlorocruorin, but interestingly a high concentration of chlorocruorin appears red.

The most unique blood color is having no color at all! Antarctic icefishes lack any respiratory pigment. They’ve adapted to a sedentary lifestyle with reduced oxygen demands and have a larger volume of blood compared to related fish species.

The original article “Nature’s Palette: The Astonishing Spectrum of Animal Blood Colors’” was published in Science Focus Issue 028.

Post created by Inushi.
Antarctic icefish illustration by (on IG).

12/02/2026

《如果實驗課上所有同學都實驗失敗？🔬》
What if all students failed their experiments in class?

1989年有兩位教授在課堂上教學生如何從血液提取抗體。當時正值HIV流行，因此他們沒有採用人類血液，而改用駱駝血液。

意外地，所有學生都未能取得預期結果。傳統抗體由兩條重鏈和兩條輕鏈組成，它們由二硫鍵連接，組成「Y」形分子。當學生嘗試以凝膠電泳分析提取到的分子時，他們發現輕鏈消失了，為甚麼呢？

當然事情可以以「實驗出錯」一句輕輕帶過，但教授們決定尋找原因。他們以新鮮駱駝血液重覆實驗，確保樣本沒有降解。

結果發現羊駝、駱駝和駱馬等駱駝科動物都會製造一種只含重鏈的特別抗體。科學家進一步簡化其結構，製造出更細小但仍然有效的「奈米抗體」，其細小體積允許它們穿透腫瘤，開創出嶄新癌症藥物和染色劑。

原文〈羊駝與奈米抗體〉刊登於第二十五期《科言》。

In 1989, two professors were teaching university students how to extract antibodies from blood. Due to the HIV crisis, they didn’t use human blood but camel blood for the class.

Unexpectedly, the results from all the students deviated from the “model answer.” A conventional antibody consists of two heavy chains and two light chains, joined by disulfide bonds to form a Y-shaped molecule. When the students analyzed the extracted antibodies by electrophoresis, they found that the light chains were gone. Why?

The results could have been brushed off as an “experimental error,” but the professors decided to analyze them further. They repeated the experiment using fresh camel blood to ensure that the sample had not been degraded.

Members of the camelid family such as alpacas, camels and ilamas turn out to produce a special type of antibody that consists of only two heavy chains. Scientists further engineered the structure to produce the even smaller but still functional “nanobodies.” Their small sizes allow them to pe*****te tumors easily, creating a new class of cancer drugs and imaging agent.

The original article “Alpacas and Nanbodies” was published in Science Focus Issue 025.

Post created by Inushi.

29/01/2026

《如何製造無咖啡因咖啡？☕️》
How Is Coffee Decaffeinated?

我們可在烘焙前去除咖啡豆所含的咖啡因。

直接法：將咖啡豆蒸煮後以溶劑沖洗，以洗去咖啡因。

間接法：先將咖啡豆浸泡於水中，再用溶劑去除水中的咖啡因。最後將不含咖啡因的咖啡水回灌至咖啡豆中，以防風味留失。

瑞士水處理法是一種不使用化學溶劑的碳過濾方法。將咖啡豆浸泡在熱水後，用碳過濾器過濾含咖啡因的溶液，過濾器能捕捉當中體積較大的咖啡因分子，所得不含咖啡因的咖啡水會用於處理下一批咖啡豆，用以洗走咖啡因。

無咖啡因咖啡是晚間想享受一杯溫暖咖啡，卻不用擔心影響睡眠的絕佳選擇。頭兩個方法能移除97%咖啡因，而瑞士水處理法能去除高達99.9%咖啡因！

Coffee beans naturally contain caffeine, which can be removed while the beans are still green and unroasted.

Direct method: Beans are steamed and rinsed with a solvent to wash out caffeine.

Indirect method: Beans are soaked in water first, before treating the water with a solvent to remove caffeine. The caffeine-free flavorful water is then reintroduced to the beans, to avoid the loss of flavor.

Swiss Water Process is another chemical-free method that uses carbon filtration. After soaking the beans in hot water, the caffeine-containing solution is passed through a special carbon filter that traps only large caffeine molecules. After that, the flavorful, caffeine-free solution is used to wash the next batch of beans.

Decaf coffee is a great choice if you'd like to enjoy a warm cup of coffee at night without worrying about losing sleep. The first two methods can remove 97% of the caffeine, whereas the Swiss Water Process can wash away 99.9% of it!

By .___ (on IG) & Audrey

15/01/2026

《飛機是如何飛行的？✈️》
How Airplanes Fly?

比空氣重的物體需要一種稱為「升力」的向上力量抵消其重量，才能保持在空中。對飛機而言，大部分升力由機翼產生。

機翼形狀又稱為「翼形」，其設計能引導氣流，使機翼下方的氣壓比機翼上方的高，為飛機提供升力。

攻角亦是提供升力的因素。機翼傾斜使空氣偏轉到機翼下方，產生的反作用力亦為飛機提供升力。

此外，飛機機翼還加裝了襟翼，以便在起飛和降落時進一步增加翼形的弧度，從而提供額外升力。這在飛機速度較低，迎面而來的氣流未強得足以提供足夠升力的情況下大為有用。

Things that are heavier than air require an upward force, called “lift,” to balance its weight to stay aloft. For airplanes, this force is mostly generated by the wings.

The shape of the wings, known as “airfoil”, is designed to shape airflow such that the pressure beneath the wing is higher than that above the wing, creating lift.

The angle of attack also contributes to lift. The tilting of the wing deflects air downward, so lift is produced by the reaction force exerted by the air.

In addition, a flap is added to airplane wings to increase lift during take-off and landing by further increasing the curvature of the airfoil. It is useful when the aircraft’s velocity is so low that the incoming airflow is not strong enough to provide sufficient lift.

By .___ (on IG) & Audrey

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