Vietnamese scientists listed among Asia’s top 100 (Photo: Asian Scientist)
They are Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tran Thi Thu Ha of Thai Nguyen University, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Vuong Thi Ngoc Lan from the University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Ho Chi Minh City, and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Le Thi Quynh Mai from the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE).
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pham Tien Son of Da Lat University and Dr. Nguyen Truong Thanh Hieu from Ton Duc Thang University also make onto the list.
This year’s list features the achievements of the researchers, innovators and leaders tackling the world’s most pressing issues from climate change to COVID-19.
To qualify for the list, honorees must have won a national or international prize in 2020. Alternatively, they must have a significant accomplishment in scientific discovery or leadership that benefits academia or industry.
Hai Van Pass named among world's most beautiful drives
Hai Van Pass, located between Thua Thien-Hue province and Da Nang city in the central region, has been named among the 10 most beautiful drives in the world by renowned US magazine Travel Leisure, said the Vietnam News Agency.
Hai Van Pass (Photo: truyenhinhdulic.vn)
The Pentagon Motor Group (PMG)’s Instagram data analysis was used to compile the list.
PMG analysed more than 7 million Instagram hashtags to find the world’s most stunning routes and divided the number of images of selected routes by their length.
With a length of 20 kilometres and 2,686 pictures per km, Hai Van Pass came fourth in the list, behind the Great Ocean Road (Australia), Big Sur (California), and Jebel Hafeet (United Arab Emirates).
Jonathan Lingham, marketing director at Pentagon Motor Group, told the magazine: "Despite the looming question over international travel, road trips are still on cards, thanks to the luxury and convenience of our wheels."
"As there are so many driving holiday destinations around the globe, we were curious to find out which route is officially the most beautiful. It's great to see so many bucket-list-worthy road trips cropping up from all around the world — from the UK to Australia, and Norway to the USA — it proves that everyone can jump in their car and embark on an epic adventure,” he added.
According to Travel Leisure, Hai Van Pass was once dubbed “one of the best coast roads in the world” by Jeremy Clarkson, former host of UK motoring television programme Top Gear.
The website also recommended those travelling along the route slow their speed when weather conditions become foggy.
PMG’s search noted that the pass has become one of the most popular destinations for visitors to snap photographs on, with more than 55,000 photos taken at the site uploaded to Instagram.
The pass is approximately 20km long and 500m above sea level.
It is on National Highway 1A, some 80km from the heart of Hue to the south and more than 20km from the centre of Da Nang to the north, running across Bach Ma mountain which stretches from the Truong Son range to the sea, creating a natural boundary between Thua Thien-Hue province and Da Nang city.
The pass has lush jungle on one side and the sea on the other. The crooked road winding along the mountainside has been compared to a ribbon crossing heaven and earth.
Vietnamese poetry reaches out to the world
Book “Su bat dau cua nuoc” by Vietnamese poet Tran Le Khanh has been now available in the US book market under the name of “The beginning of water”, according to the Vietnam News Agency.
The bilingual Vietnamese - English book is a collection of Khanh’s short poems. It was translated into English by US poet Bruce Weigl, who has strong links with Vietnamese authors, and is considered a bridge between Vietnamese and US literature.
“The beginning of water” poem collection by Tran Le Khanh (Photo: nongnghiep.vn)
The poems were issued in the US by White Pine, an independent literary publisher that has been publishing quality poetry and prose since 1974.
Khanh, born in 1971 in the northern province of Hoa Binh, currently lives and works in Ho Chi Minh City. Since 2016, he has published five books, and some of his poems have been adopted for music by composer Quoc Bao.
Before engaging in literature and art, he started the career as a financial analyst certificated by the Chartered Financial Analyst Institute (US) and the HCM City Economy University.
He focuses on two genres of poetry, free style and luc bat (six-eight-word distich metre, a traditional verse form in Vietnamese poetry).
According to Chairman of the Vietnam Writers’ AssociationNguyen Quang Thieu, he found fresh things and a different spirit in Khanh’s poetry.
Khanh follows minimalism with short sentences,Thieu said, adding his single words are like seeds growing in the souls of readers, small seeds that will turn into a big green tree.
Khanh’s poems are precise, giving clear images and messages with truthful emotion. And there is always a philosophy inside those words, said Thieu.
Khanh breathes a fresh air into Vietnamese literature, and his “su bat dau cua nuoc” fascinates readers in the US a lot. Earlier, most of the Vietnamese poems published in the US were about wars, and they were written by war veterans as a way to heal sorrows caused by conflicts between the two nations./.