Balloons give scientist high research hopes

More than any other object, balloons symbolize and epitomize fun. But more advanced versions, those not seen and popped in birthday parties, can play a vital role for humans as they soar into the atmosphere to provide scientific data.

As a post-doctoral researcher from the Institute of Atmospheric Sciences at Fudan University, Zhang Peng, 33, knows the value of such balloons.

He uses them to record atmospheric measurements.