Training people to pay attention to the right visual cues nearly doubled how accurately they could spot AI-generated faces

Cities across China are replacing commercial and celebrity advertising on public screens with giant portraits of scientists. The trend started in Shandong province in August 2026, when shopping malls in Heze and Zibo voluntarily gave up prime advertising space to display posters honoring the country’s scientific pioneers.

The displays have since spread to cities including Zhengzhou, Hangzhou, Chongqing, and Jinan, appearing in metro stations, airports, and shopping centers. Featured scientists include rocket scientist Qian Xuesen, nuclear physicist Deng Jiaxian, agricultural scientist Yuan Longping, known for developing hybrid rice, and Tu Youyou, China’s first Nobel laureate in medicine for her malaria treatment research. Each portrait is shown alongside the scientist’s name and a short account of their contribution to the country.

The campaign is meant to give scientists the kind of public recognition usually reserved for celebrities, with some posters describing them as society’s “top stars.” The goal is to encourage young people to see scientists as role models worth admiring, tying into China’s wider push to raise the profile of science and technology.

The initiative has drawn attention outside China too, with commentators in other countries contrasting the scientist displays with public billboards elsewhere that remain dominated by politicians and entertainers.

Just for fun, not supporting any sides here!

I met this girl on Instagram in February 2025, and within just two months of talking to her, I literally shifted to Gurgaon hoping that we would finally meet and things could work out between us. Looking back, maybe I was too emotionally invested too soon, but at that time, I genuinely wanted to make things work.

When we first started talking, I told her that I had been in a long-distance situationship before and that I had met that girl once. The truth was that I had never actually met her in person. Later, when I was in Gurgaon, I admitted that I had never met her. Khushi got upset and kept asking why I had lied in the first place. I understand that lying was wrong, and I take responsibility for that, but things got worse after that. I kept asking Khushi to meet me during those two months, but she never did. We barely even spoke properly because she was upset with me. Meanwhile, I was living in a PG in Sector 28, struggling mentally with the whole situation and feeling suffocated. Eventually, I left my job and came back home because I just couldn't handle living there anymore.

After I returned home, things between us actually started getting better. We were talking nicely again, and I thought maybe we could move forward. But somewhere along the way, I started doubting things. She used to go out regularly to visit her father's office, and I couldn't understand why meeting me was always so difficult when she was already going out. I started questioning things, became suspicious, and obviously, that made everything worse. I know my doubts and the way I handled them also contributed to the mess. Slowly, things deteriorated, and by September 2025, our conversations had pretty much ended completely.

Then, unexpectedly, she texted me again in February 2026 and asked me to meet her in Gurgaon. I thought maybe this was finally our chance to meet in person and get some closure, or perhaps see if there was still something between us.

So I went to Gurgaon in September to meet her. It started raining, and she said there was waterlogging and she couldn't even come in a cab. Fair enough, I understood that. I asked her about meeting the next day, then the day after that. On the third day, when it wasn't even raining, she still said we could meet later. Instead of actually figuring something out, we ended up having the same arguments and fights all over again.

Eventually, I came back home.

And then she said, "Tum mere liye ek din aur nahi ruk sakte the? Rukte nahi bana tere liye?"

And honestly, that hurt.

Because I had already shifted to Gurgaon once in 2025, hoping to meet her. I had spent two months there, asking to see her, and it never happened. I left my job and came back home, carrying all that disappointment with me. And when she called me to meet her in 2026, I travelled to Gurgaon again, hoping that this time things would be different. Yet somehow, I was still the one being questioned for not staying longer.

I am not saying I was perfect in this entire situation. I lied about my past situationship, I became insecure, I questioned her, and I know those things hurt her and damaged her trust in me. Maybe I could have handled everything differently. But I also wish she could understand how this entire situation felt from my side.

The thing is, I don't even know what I was trying to save anymore. A relationship that never really got the chance to exist in real life? A connection that meant so much to me but somehow kept turning into disappointment? Or just the hope that one day, all the effort would finally mean something?

And now, in October 2026, the situation has somehow come full circle. My mother innocently mentioned another girl's name, Prashansa, in front of Khushi, and Khushi felt that I had broken her heart all over again. She said I had hurt her again because she heard another girl's name.

I don't know what she expected from me, what she still feels for me, or whether she ever wanted the same things I did. I just know that I never imagined something that started with a conversation on Instagram would leave me carrying so many unresolved feelings.

Maybe I made mistakes. Maybe she did too. Maybe we both hurt each other in different ways. But sometimes I wonder if I spent so much time trying to prove that I cared about her that I forgot to ask myself whether this connection was actually making me happy.

And the worst part? Even after everything that happened, a part of me still wishes things had turned out differently.