Spark

On the second day of the meeting, the topic was still subdivided research projects in the field of nuclear fusion. Among them, what attracted Chen Nian most was the latest progress in atom probe technology and the prospect of STM and AFM technology.

At first glance, this topic is closer to the field of materials science, and it seems that it is not so suitable to be placed in this conference, but in fact, when human beings face the major problem of first-wall materials, how to find a better way to Research and development of new materials is actually an important step towards nuclear fusion.

With the help of heteroatom modification technology, human beings can "program", or combine, in the dimension of a single atom, so as to obtain the material properties they want.

This technology is actually not new, but even after 20 years of development, the whole technology is still relatively rudimentary.

At extremely low temperatures, humans can modify single or multiple heteroatoms through extremely small needle tips, and achieve strong affinity for target atoms within a certain range, thereby manipulating single atoms.

However, such "manipulation" is obviously extremely crude.

Even after 10 years, its greatest function is to use atoms to form a few shapes and characters like playing with tickets.

Therefore, this topic is more of an adjustment to the boring meeting, just like the interesting discussion arranged by the teacher in the classroom when I was in school.

Chen Nian is very interested in this. After all, in the past few years, he has invested most in the direction of materials science.

However, Sebastian on the side was a little bored.

On the one hand, he didn't understand what he heard, on the other hand, he also had something on his mind.

So after the whole report, he was drowsy, and it was not until after the end that he recovered a little bit of energy.

"What a boring report Chen, are you interested in this aspect? I noticed that you seemed to be listening very carefully just now."

Chen Nian nodded and replied:

"Atomic manipulation is a very interesting topic. Imagine if we can create new materials at the atomic scale, then we are not too far from the Creator's position."

"This is the crux of the problem, how could we get close to the Creator so quickly?"

Sebastian spread his hands and continued:

"Although I'm not an expert in this field, I also know that, just like what the old guy on the stage said just now, if we want to realize atomic manufacturing, we are at least a few steps away from the technical threshold."

"Supercomputers with huge computing power, STM with ultra-high precision, and technologies that can truly manipulate atoms."

"Look, I can't even name the technology because it doesn't exist yet."

Chen Nian nodded slightly, and replied:

"True, but one has to have an imagination, doesn't he?"

"That's true—but anyway, it's not something I can see."

"Not always."

There was a mysterious smile on Chen Nian's face, but Sebastian didn't care, he just took it as a kind comfort.

But what he didn't know was that Chen Nian was already thinking about how to plan this technology.

Of course, it will definitely not work in recent years.

Its status is the same as that of the brain-computer for two-way information transmission. It belongs to the "creator" level of technology. At the earliest, it will have to wait for the popularization of nuclear fusion and the great development of global productivity.

After the meeting, the two came to the cafe to chat again, but this time, Sebastian's colleague, Eichendorf, followed.

There was an undisguised smile on his face, and it seemed that something good had happened.

None of the three said anything, but all three knew it well.

——

Of course, the information Chen Nian learned was more complete.

According to the report, Eichendorff has already responded to EAST's invitation and officially decided to join the international cooperation sub-project of the EAST project. At this time, Huaxia has already begun to include him in the scope of assessment, and has begun to arrange a series of follow-up work.

And Eichendorf is a typical pure scholar. Apart from doing scientific research, he is not willing to intervene in other things at all. His background can be said to be a mess, and there is basically no risk of failing the review.

It can be said that the direction of the second half of his life has been determined, no matter whether he will regret it in the future, but at least for now, he is indeed satisfied.

"Old man, haven't you thought about it yet?"

"I think you should let go of those so-called 'principles'. You know, technology has no borders, especially technologies like nuclear fusion that benefit the entire human race have no borders."

"We should choose better scientific research conditions and a camp closer to the truth, which is responsible for all mankind."

Responsible for all mankind?

It was the first time Chen Nian heard such a statement.

In his memory, there are actually not too many white leftists in Germany—at least not as many as in France, especially among groups of scientific researchers, it is even rarer.

But Eichendorf's words are obviously a standard white left speech.

Good guy, let yourself meet?

But why does it feel weird?

In his view, the way to be responsible to all mankind is to join Huaxia.

Has the Lighthouse of the World changed?

Chen Nian couldn't help but feel like laughing, but Sebastian couldn't laugh.

He silently thought about Eichendorf's words in his heart, and after a long time, he opened his mouth and said:

"I still have to continue to think about it, after all, this is a completely unfamiliar country to me"

"So what? Their emphasis on scientific research and scholars is no worse than that of Germany."

"Do you remember that Isaac who was engaged in the research of metal hydrogen? It is said that he is only a marginal role in the project, but now?"

"Although no papers have been published yet, it is clear that he has been regarded by many people as the most influential superconducting material expert besides the Huaxia team."

"This is the so-called opportunity, don't hesitate any longer!"

"All right."

Sebastian finally let go.

Of course, this will definitely not be his final decision.

The reason is simple, even if he wants to leave, Max-Planck Lab will not necessarily let him go.

Unlike Eichendorff, Sebastian's tasks at Max Planck Labs are more core, and there are sub-projects in progress at the same time. As long as he is not an outrageously stupid supervisor, he will not let him leave easily.

Retention is inevitable, promotion and salary increase, and providing higher benefits are routine operations.

But can these things really compare to the temptation brought to scholars by the concept of "a step forward to the truth"?

Hard to say.

Hearing Sebastian's answer, Eichendorf immediately became happy, and he immediately began to advise the other party, wishing to immediately draw this old opponent and old friend into his camp.

Infected by his emotions, Sebastian gradually got involved, but when they were planning how to finish the project at hand as soon as possible, a voice came from the next table.

"Stupid choice."

The voice was not loud, but it was clearly aimed at the three people here.

Chen Nian, who was purely a bystander, didn't take it seriously, but Eichendorf immediately glared angrily.

And following his gaze, Chen Nian couldn't help being taken aback for a moment.

He recognized the man who spoke.

The meritorious researcher of NIF, the most advanced explorer in the world laser field, and the main leader of incoherent synthetic laser technology, John Henning.

The reason why Chen Nian remembered him was when he was working on 055 and considering getting laser weapons.

At that time, he consulted a lot of materials, including Henning's papers on incoherent combining techniques.

He still remembered a video report he had seen at the time, in which Henning criticized the coherent synthesis technology route chosen by Huaxia, and it could even be said to be worthless.

The impression this person left on him was arrogant and reckless.

There is no essential comparison of the advantages and disadvantages of the two routes. They are just different choices based on reality. As a scholar, why do you want to expose your ass so eagerly?

What's more, according to his previous life experience, the coherent synthesis route chosen by Huaxia obviously has higher potential. Under the same power condition, the energy of the laser beam far exceeds that of the non-coherent synthesis equipment.

So today, why is he crazy here?

Chen Nian did not intend to participate in this dispute, but just quietly waited for Eichendorf's response.

At this time, Eichendorff had already stood up:

"Stupid choice?"

"Yes, your choice is not stupid. Using hundreds of times the energy to ignite a small pellet with a size of one centimeter, the energy released is not even enough to boil a pot of water."

"It's really stupid. I don't know when toys used to amuse cats can be touted as the key to human progress."

Hearing this, Chen Nian couldn't help but support his forehead.

Eichendorff's mouth is really poisonous, but his words can't be true.

This map was shot, and directly killed a bunch of researchers who were engaged in inertial constraints.

In fact, inertial confinement fusion is far less waste than he said, and lasers are certainly not just toys for cats.

In 2022, NIF announced that it had achieved a net energy gain. At that time, their biggest difficulty was that, just like the tokamak, they could not achieve tritium self-sustainability.

In this direction in the last life, the United States is indeed going faster than China

Eichendorf said so, the attack power is there, but it also offended other people by the way.

Sure enough, upon hearing his words, Henning immediately seized the key point and counterattacked:

"So you're saying that everyone who does inertial confinement fusion is an idiot?"

"I didn't say that, I don't even think NIF is stupid, I just think you are."

"Maybe, but at least I won't give up the direction I firmly believe in."

Henning's face was full of sarcasm. He probably felt that his words were powerful enough to kill, but in fact, Eichendorf just snorted disdainfully, and continued:

"If you're discussing stellarator here, then I can barely argue with you."

"But lasers? Come on, how many lasers have you been using lately? 168? 192?"

"I want to know, does your poor ball have any reaction?"

In this sentence, Eichendorf used an English pun, which made Chen Nian feel a little embarrassed.

Really, swearing in a Western context is sometimes quite advanced

Henning on the opposite side flushed instantly with anger. In fact, he is almost 70 years old, and it is normal for him not to respond.

".You...ugly! Vulgar! You can only take advantage of your mouth."

"Whether you want to stay in Mapu or go to Huaxia East, I can tell you that we will definitely be faster than you."

"Yes, I admit that the tokamak is very promising, and Huaxia's metal hydrogen is very promising, but the future belongs to them, not yours!"

"But NIF is ours, just for this, you can't compare!"

As soon as these words came out, Eichendorf couldn't help being stunned for a few seconds.

It made him hit seven inches.

But what does it matter?

Therefore, he simply skipped the topic and grabbed the opponent's fusion target and attacked frantically.

Within five minutes, a group of people gathered around the two of them.

Facts have proved that it is human nature to eat melons. No matter how smart and high-end you are, when there are two people arguing with red faces in front of you, you can't help but stop and look.

Chen Nian naturally watched it with great interest. He had seen a lot of academic debates. It was the first time that two top scholars quarreled over a single sentence.

Thinking about it in another direction, it is actually quite normal for this kind of thing to happen.

What this conference brings to many researchers in this field is definitely not just opportunities.

What's more, it's stress.

It is said that technology is shared and has no national boundaries, but is it really not?

Various countries let go of their pride and rushed to invest in the EAST project. In fact, it is not because they really agree with China, but because they want to seize that illusory opportunity as much as possible, and try their best not to let themselves be left too far.

And under this kind of macro pressure, the pressure on various institutions will inevitably not be small.

Especially the direction of NIF, which was originally going hand in hand with the tokamak, Henning probably has been driven crazy by the officials.

It's understandable to vent.

"...Anyway, we will not lag behind you, just wait and see, at least in the laser field, no one can surpass us, this is our advantage!"

"Oh? Really? Not necessarily."

Eichendorf's words can be described as murderous, and Henning was silenced directly.

Yes, it seems that not long ago, the United States said that "no one can surpass us in the field of all-nitrogen energetic materials", and the result was quickly slapped in the face.

Not only was he slapped in the face, but even stronger metal hydrogen came out after a few months.

Now Huaxia is completely a black box, you never know what it will take out of your pocket.

Under such circumstances, it is really unwise to set such a flag.

After arguing to such an extent, both parties had finished venting their emotions, and after a few words to each other, they each died down.

Eichendorf said to Chen Nian and Sebastian with a "cool" expression on his face:

"I wanted to scold him a long time ago. He always regarded himself as the light of mankind. When I went to Los Angeles the year before last, I even wanted to drive him to death."

"How did he provoke you?"

Chen Nian asked curiously.

"He said that we are Nazis in academia, who only plunder other people's achievements."

"...you should be scolded."

Chen Nian nodded heavily.

This is an extremely serious insult, and I don't know how Henning's character has reached such a height.

——

In any case, the inclusiveness of the American academic circle is indeed worth learning.

"I heard that you also have the Shenguang project. I really hope that you will progress faster, just like the tokamak, and step on them hard."

Shenguang plan?

Chen Nian frowned thoughtfully.

Perhaps, in this direction, we can indeed exert our strength.

After all, fundamentally speaking, the most important thing in this direction is nothing more than laser light.

On the military side, there is also a demand for lasers.