Hello! My name is 蔡醒诗 or Xing Shi Cai in English.
(See here if you want to know how to say my name.)
Welcome to my new home on the Internet! (Here is my old home.)
I am a mathematician/computer scientist who is interested in probability, combinatorics,
experimental mathematics and programming.
In recent years I also got interested in applying AI to research and teaching.
Recently, I moved Kunshan, China for a position of
Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Duke Kunshan University.
Random some scribbles. Hope they will be helpful for someone.
How Not to Die
Poster of my talk about the book How Not to Die
I recently delivered a talk on the compelling case for a plant-based diet, drawing on the evidence presented in How Not to Die by Michael Greger, M.D., with Gene Stone. The argument from self-care is clear: such a diet offers substantial health benefits.
But I also made the case for such diets when we consider the wider consequences of consuming animal products. Intensive animal farming inflicts severe damage on our environment. For example, it contributes significantly to the climate change crisis. Therefore, by reducing our consumption of animal products, we help protect the planet, an act which in turn safeguards our health.
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Feeding Dogs and Cats Vegan or Vegetarian Diets
Note: This content is generated with AI. I asked ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Grok to research on this topic and used ChatGPT to merge their reports into one.
Introduction The question of whether dogs and cats can subsist on vegetarian or vegan diets and remain healthy is complex and species-dependent. Growing ethical and environmental concerns have prompted some pet owners to consider plant-based diets for companion animals (Dodd et al., 2019). Dogs and cats, however, have fundamentally different nutritional biologies. Dogs are facultative carnivores (often functioning as omnivores) with notable adaptations for digesting plant-derived nutrients, whereas cats are obligate carnivores with strict requirements for nutrients found primarily in animal tissues (Che et al., 2021; WSAVA Global Nutrition Committee, 2020). This report examines the scientific evidence on the feasibility and health implications of vegan or vegetarian diets in dogs and cats, drawing on peer-reviewed studies, clinical trials, and veterinary nutritional guidelines. Nutrient requirements, physiological adaptations, health outcome studies, and official veterinary positions are reviewed to provide a rigorous assessment. All findings are referenced to primary sources in accordance with APA style, and a summary of key nutrients is presented in tabular form (see Table 1).
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Whale Trainer Shao Ran's Redemption
I will keep sharing Huahua’s and Sophie’s stories until our country outlaws performances featuring animals. — Shao Ran/邵然
Translator’s Note: The orginal article was published on BIE on December 16, 2022. I translated it to English with Shao Ran’s permission.
At the fourth Ocean Conservation Forum held earlier this year (2022), Jincao Carnival, a public platform for biodiversity awareness, hosted a week of activities that brought frontline animal protection workers together with the general public. It was during this event that we first met Shao Ran (邵然).
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Slightly Tofu
Slightly Tofu — The only podcast on veganism in Chinese
I came across a Chinese podcast on veganism called Slightly Tofu/有点豆腐, hosted by two women who are both well-read, intelligent, and remarkably sympathetic. I particularly admire their latest episode which delves into the peculiar frustration and subtle discrimination one faces as a vegan in this meat-obsessed world. There’s something uniquely exhausting about being the lone herbivore at the carnivorous table, isn’t there? I share many of their sentiments personally, finding their conversation both inspiring and their courage rather admirable in the face of endless beef jokes and that tiresome “plants also have feelings” sophistry that seems to be the intellectual equivalent of a participation trophy. Highly recommended for anyone who’s ever sighed deeply while explaining, yet again, that yes, plants actually do not feel pain, and no, your uncle’s cousin’s neighbour did not wither away and die after becoming vegan for three weeks.
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Ringworm Treatment
Recently I asked ChatGPT to do a Deep Research on ringworm treatment for cats. Since the result might be useful for cat owners, I decided to post a simplified version of it here.
Understanding the Diagnosis The fungus seems to be on the hair. Can it still be ringworm?
Yes. Ringworm (dermatophytes) primarily infects keratinized hair shafts and hair follicles. Finding fungal infection in the hair is typical for feline ringworm.
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A Quiet Life
I came across this article, “The Power of a Quiet Life” by Lewis Richmond, recently and I quite like this quote—
There are three principles of bodhisattva life I teach: keep your mind clear, be patient, and when you see an opportunity to act, do so without hesitation. Now I am thinking about adding a fourth principle: live a quiet life. Don’t be distracted by things. When the insanities of the world become too noisy and preposterous, remain inwardly calm. If you don’t see what you can do, don’t do anything. Just wait. Things will change; they always do. Change is the Buddha’s first and best teaching. In some ways, change has never been more in the air than now. The aspiring bodhisattva rides change the way a thrown stone skips over water. Change is our best hope and strongest power.
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A Land Behind (2024)
Poster of A Land Behind
Last night I went to Suzhou to attend a special screening event. The film shown was A Land Behind (内沙), directed and written by Professor Geyi Yang from the School of Media and Communication at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. After the screening, there was a discussion between the director and the audience.
The story revolves around Mr. Tang and his assistant Xiao Yu, who are struggling to run an organic farm on a small island in the Yangtze River, facing many real-world challenges and an uncertain future.
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AI and the Humbling of Human Intellect
I often test new LLM models with the following question —
Given the following conditions, how many ways can Professor Y assign six different books to four different students?
The most expensive book must be assigned to student X. Each student must receive at least one book. The first model that could solve this problem was OpenAI’s o1 model. The second one was Google’s Gemini 2.0 Flash Thinking model. Then more thinking models came out, like DeepSeek’s R1, Anthropic’s Claude 3.7 (with extended thinking mode), all of which can solve this problem without any mistakes. (Update on 2025-07-13: Now the models that can solve the problem include: Grok, Mistral, Qwen — I have lost count of how many models can solve the problem now.)
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Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky (2024)
A robot valet wondering in doomed world
Adrian Tchaikovsky, the science fiction writer, is a master at crafting bleak, hellish future worlds. But in Service Model, a 2024 science-fiction satire telling the story of a robot valet wandering in a doomed world, he has truly outdone himself, conjuring an absurd realm where human societies have crumbled, and humanity teeters on the brink of extinction.
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What is the Meaning of My Work
A friend ask me if I find any meaning in my work. Here’s my reply.
Please forgive me for answering your question in English. I find it easier to express myself clearly in English, especially on more complex topics.
You ask if I find it “meaningful” to write papers that few people might read. The short answer is “Yes.” The long answer, as usual, is more complicated.
Will my research cure cancer, bring world peace, or entertain millions? No. Will it contribute to a technological breakthrough one day? It’s unlikely, though possible.
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