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Bi Xiaotian acquired a new habit recently. Every time he opens his web browser, he checks the entry of paraxylene (PX) on Baidu Baike. As one of the participants in correcting the Baidu entry in early April, the 22-year-old chemical engineering major student from Tsinghua University is proud to be part of the team defending the purity of science. Guarding the truth is their responsibility.
近來，畢嘯天養(yǎng)成了一個新習(xí)慣：只要打開瀏覽器就會在百度百科上查看PX詞條。4月初，這名22歲的清華大學(xué)化工系學(xué)生加入“PX百度詞條保衛(wèi)戰(zhàn)”。他表示，能夠加入捍衛(wèi)科學(xué)的隊伍中，他感到很自豪。他們視捍衛(wèi)真理為己任。
Wang Runjia was the first Tsinghua University student to correct PX entry. The 20-year-old sophomore student of chemical engineering turned on his laptop as usual on April 2. As he browsed the social network, a screenshot posted by a friend caught his attention. “It showed a modification of the PX entry on Baidu Baike, in which the toxicity of PX had been changed from ‘low’ to ‘high’,” he says.
清華大學(xué)化工系大二學(xué)生王潤佳是該校首個參與修改PX詞條的學(xué)生。4月2日，20歲的他像往常一樣打開電腦。朋友在社交網(wǎng)站上發(fā)布的一張截圖引起了他的注意。“截圖中PX百度詞條被篡改了，PX的毒性程度由‘低毒’變成了‘劇毒’。”他說。
After looking at the entry’s editing history in further detail, he found that the modification had been made several times. “The discussion of PX chemical plants has been ongoing for years. In class, we also learned related knowledge. Therefore I won’t let false information spread,” he says.
在進(jìn)一步篩查此前的修改記錄后，他發(fā)現(xiàn)該詞條曾被多次篡改。“關(guān)于PX化工廠的討論已持續(xù)多年。在課上，我們也學(xué)了一些相關(guān)知識。因此，我不會讓錯誤信息傳播開來，誤導(dǎo)大眾。”他說。
Out of professional spirit, he identified himself as a student of chemical engineering at Tsinghua University, correcting the mistakes and urging Baidu to prevent malicious tampering with sensitive entries.
出于專業(yè)精神，他以清華大學(xué)化工系學(xué)生的身份，對詞條中的錯誤進(jìn)行了修改，并且呼吁百度禁止對敏感詞條的惡意篡改行為。
To his surprise, his act didn’t end the discussion. Instead, it was the beginning of an editing battle. Bi remembers that night well. He checked the entry once an hour just to ensure its correctness. In 120 hours, the entry was edited 36 times. “We took turns to safeguard the truth,” he says. “I’m glad to see that I’m not the only one doing so. Students from other departments and universities stood by our side, presenting scientific facts to the general public.”
令他頗感意外的是，他的舉動并沒有平息人們對于PX的爭議。相反，一場“編輯戰(zhàn)”才剛剛拉開序幕。畢曉天仍然清晰記得那個晚上：他每小時都會查看一下該詞條，以此來確保詞條內(nèi)容的準(zhǔn)確性。然而，在短短5天中，該詞條一共被篡改了36次。“我們只好輪流來維護(hù)真理，”他說，“我很開心，因為我并不是一個人在戰(zhàn)斗。還有一些其他院系、學(xué)校的同學(xué)支持我們，一起向大眾傳播科學(xué)真理。”
Qian Weizhong, an associate professor of chemistry at Tsinghua University, praised the students for being responsible citizens when interviewed by People’s Daily. “They are doing so not because of industrial interests, but out of their consciousness to popularize science,” he said. “Such activity informs the general public with scientific facts, facilitating rational communication.”
清華大學(xué)化學(xué)系副教授錢衛(wèi)忠（音譯）在接受《人民日報》采訪時，稱贊同學(xué)們是富有責(zé)任感的公民。“他們這么做并非出于商業(yè)目的，而是出于普及科學(xué)的意識，”他說，“這樣的活動可以讓大眾了解科學(xué)真理，促進(jìn)理性溝通。”
The students’ determination to protect the truth had a positive result. After locking the entry, Baidu Baike contacted Bi and asked him to write a introduction to PX. “For the entire afternoon on April 11, I worked on this task and sought professional assistance from my department.”
學(xué)生們捍衛(wèi)真理的決心起到了積極作用。鎖定該詞條后，百度百科相關(guān)人員聯(lián)系了畢嘯天，希望他能夠?qū)懸粋€關(guān)于PX的介紹。“4月11日的整個下午，我都在做這件事。為此，我還向系里尋求專業(yè)幫助。”
Now, the new entry on PX is a well-organized, objective reflection of reliable facts. “It’s a good opportunity for us,” Bi says. As many people don’t have enough knowledge to judge the truthfulness of online information, when false information is spread, experts must step in to deny rumors and convey the right information, he says.
現(xiàn)在，新的PX詞條條理十分清晰，客觀反映了可靠事實。“對我們來說，這是一個絕佳機會，”畢嘯天說，“很多人缺乏相關(guān)知識來判斷網(wǎng)上信息的真實性，當(dāng)錯誤信息傳播的時候，專家們就應(yīng)該站出來阻止謠言的散播，揭露事實真相。”
