Rebel Demon King

Chapter 482 All Souls Academy (3)

The Oxford University Museum of Natural History is a three-storey Victorian-style building with a gray roof and khaki-yellow walls. It stands under the blue sky and white clouds. Know that it has many stories to tell.

At this moment, some people were sitting in twos and threes on the lawn in front of the museum, basking in the cool afternoon air in Oxford. Feng Zhenzhen led Yan Funing towards the gate of the museum. The gate made of white jade was very much like YSL architecture. This YSL style The pointed arch is not only reflected in the gate, but also in other opening methods.

As soon as the two of them entered the door, a super big brown bear biological specimen came oncoming. Behind it was a Gothic dome, arches, columns, carved beams and painted buildings. An empty feeling with a sense of religious ceremony.

Under the beautiful metal, marble and glass roofs are countless white skeletons and various stacked fossils. When Yan Funing looked up, he saw a huge New Zealand ichthyosaur skeleton hanging in mid-air, like a swimmer. Dragging in the shallow sea with sunshine, under it is a huge Tyrannosaurus rex fossil, but Yan Funing can no longer tell whether it is a Tyrannosaurus rex or an Allosaurus
If Cheng Mo and Xie Minyun walked through Oxford all the way and arrived at the museum, they would definitely say that there is no trace of the Renaissance in the city of Oxford. All buildings stick to the Gothic style, and the Natural History Museum of Oxford University The interior of the building is even more exaggerated with the Gothic support beam roof, which is actually not in line with the spirit of the times when it was built.

It is rare for a university that symbolizes the cutting-edge of the times to gather the brightest people in the world.We must know that the mainstream styles in Britain during this period should be Georgian style and Adam style, and American architecture was deeply influenced.

Because Renaissance architects and artists generally believed that Gothic architecture was a symbol of Christian theocracy, while ancient Greek and Roman architecture was non-Christian.They believe that the architectural styles of ancient Greece and ancient Rome, especially the classical column composition, are harmonious and rational, and have similarities with the beauty of the human body. These are in line with the humanistic concept of the Renaissance movement, so the architecture of the Renaissance They have abandoned the characteristics of Gothic architecture as much as possible, and used a large number of ancient Greek and Roman style features.

Therefore, in the era of the Renaissance, in a university that was at the forefront of human cognition in the world at that time, it was against the trend to build such a Gothic building, which meant that Oxford University at that time was a kind of support for "retro" , and also symbolized Oxforders' aversion to drastic change."

However, Yan Funing and Feng Zhenzhen are not Cheng Mo and Xie Minyun. Both of them have no research on architecture, and they cannot understand what kind of mental state Oxford is in in the historical trend.

But Feng Zhenzhen is from Oxford after all, and she still knows some allusions about this museum, so she explained to Yan Funing in a low voice: "At the beginning, I said that the founding curator was called John Phillips, he was a geologist at the time. One of the main skeptics of Darwin's theory of evolution. In 1860, this was the site of the Great Debate on Oxford's theory of evolution. Now this museum belongs to the Department of Chemistry, Zoology and Mathematics of our university. At that time, it was understandable to doubt the theory of evolution If you still doubt the theory of evolution, you are doomed to have nothing to do with the word 'science'."

Feng Zhenzhen naturally put the Department of Mathematics, which is the most dear to her, at the end, and paused involuntarily. Yan Funing heard and saw this kind of love for the house, but he didn't show any abnormality.

Yan Funing deeply understands that in order to maintain the favorability of the opposite sex, one must maintain distance and a sense of mystery. Obedience to the opposite sex will definitely consume the favorability quickly, so he must give Feng Zhenzhen hope, but he cannot let her really get it. What, so he just said lightly: "It can't be said that, the theory of evolution is currently the theory that can explain the evolution of biological groups most reasonably, at least there is no theory that can explain the phenomenon of inheritance more widely than the theory of evolution, but life The theory of origin and evolution cannot explain it, and this is also because the theory of evolution does not study this. The theory of the origin of life is the theory of the origin of life, which has nothing to do with "The Origin of Species". As for the origin of human beings, it is not studied by the theory of evolution. Research."

At this time, the two people have passed the giant brown bear specimen and came to the bottom of the Tyrannosaurus rex fossil. It is surrounded by animal specimens and fossils, which is very spectacular. The two people are standing under the huge fossil with a height of two and a half floors.
Feng Zhenzhen didn't know why Yan Funing suddenly became interested in the theory of evolution, genes and dinosaurs, but this did not prevent her from communicating with Yan Funing. It's just a pity that Feng Zhenzhen studied "economics and management" and not biology or archaeology. With limited knowledge, he couldn't collide with Yan Funing too much.

In addition, Feng Zhenzhen has no faith in herself, so she is naturally a staunch supporter of evolution theory, and Yan Funing, who is not a natural candidate for mathematical thinking, is not on the same channel, so the discussion between the two is actually very lacklustre.

However, it is still very eye-catching for two handsome men and beautiful women from Asians to stand under a huge Tyrannosaurus rex fossil to discuss academic issues.

So the discussion between the two attracted the attention of others, and at some point, there stood a sub-fusc wearing an Oxford uniform, a more serious suit style, and a white beard wearing a black gown The attention of the wrinkled old man, obviously the old man can understand Chinese, quietly listening to the two discussing the theory of evolution.

When the two were expressing their opinions, but neither could come up with a decisive opinion to persuade the other, the old man spoke, still speaking in a standard Beijing accent, he turned his head to look at Yan Funing and Feng Zhenzhen and said, "Are you students from Oxford?"

Feng Zhenzhen looked at the old man, and immediately noticed that the robes of the other party were wide and long, which indicated that the other party had a high status in Oxford. Generally speaking, the black robes worn by students would be very narrow and small. The better the grades, the higher the degrees. The wider and longer the robe, it was obvious that the other party was at least a Doctorate.

Feng Zhenzhen hurriedly bent over a little, nodded respectfully and said, "I am, but my friend is from Imperial College of Technology."

The old man glanced at Yan Funing, and did not comment on Yan Funing's coming from Imperial College, but his expression revealed a sense of enigmatic superiority. Everyone in a prestigious school feels this way. Except for his own school, people from other schools are just Generally speaking, he looked at Yan Funing and said lightly: "Actually, if you want to refute the theory of evolution, you have missed the point. You have to start from four aspects. One is 'epigenetics', which simply means that the DNA sequence has not changed. , but it is inherited. For example, smoking can be directly inherited to the next generation, and this process is not selected. Obesity can also be passed directly to the next generation. Epigenetics is the biggest challenge to Darwin's theory of evolution. To a certain extent, even It can confirm Lamarck's thought."

"Secondly, Shisei Kimura's theory of neutral evolution also conflicts with the theory of evolution. Darwin's theory of evolution is survival of the fittest. However, neutral evolution finds that the changes in genes brought about by many base pair changes are neutral: After the base substitution, the codon does not change the corresponding protein code or the amino acid in the protein code changes without affecting its biological function. Generally speaking, it is a harmless change”

"Thirdly, meiosis drive refers to the distribution of genes that do not follow the genetic law when meiosis forms reproductive gametes. For example, the gene R2D2 is inherited by forcing itself to expand its advantages. Its appearance It's bad for the organism as a whole, but good for itself.
"Finally, how did the jumping evolution in humans or other species occur? Is it just an incredible coincidence, or is it a touch of gold."

The old man saw that the two people didn't seem to understand very well, so he asked with some doubts: "You don't study zoology, do you?"

"No, I major in economics and management, and my friend has a double master's degree in mathematics and physics," Feng Zhenzhen quickly explained.

Hearing Feng Zhenzhen's introduction, the old man looked Yan Funing up and down, and said, "It's not bad to be able to get a double master's degree from Imperial College at such a young age. Don't get too entangled in the theory of evolution. If you don't go deep into it, you won't be able to go into it." Talking about such a profound topic, just like we only now understand that kelp is actually like paramecium and toxoplasma. It is not a plant, but a unequal flagellate in the cystic insect kingdom. Knowing is extremely limited, let alone the universe.”

"But fortunately, our understanding of the earth and ourselves is improving every day. If you are interested in zoology, you can also come to our Oxford to study." There are too many people who study mathematics and physics, and no one is interested in these. It is a pity that there are so many precious things waiting to be discovered and protected, but no one is doing it. In fact, many fossils here are dug from Huaguo. It's not plundering, but protection, until now Huaguo still uses keel as medicine, it's really sad."

The old man thought for a while and used the word "sad". It seems that he really had a hard time finding the right words to describe his mood. From his expression, he didn't see contempt, but sadness. It is sincerely sad to use "leopard bone" or even fossilized "keel bone" as medicinal materials.

This attitude is compassionate and worthy of respect.

Yan Funing nodded, and said with a humble attitude: "It is true that the mentality of us Chinese people is generally more impetuous now, because we used to be too poor, but now everything is centered on economic construction, and many people do everything for profit. But there are still many insightful people who are working hard to change all this.”

But Yan Funing didn't think so in his heart at all, he was very consistent with Cheng Mo on this point, if it wasn't for helplessness, he wouldn't be willing to do these dangerous things.

The old man obviously had a better understanding of the situation in Huaguo, so he smiled noncommittally, "I hope!"

Yan Funing didn't want to continue discussing this topic, but changed the subject, pretending to be curious and asked: "Sir, I think you should know more about animals and genes, I want to ask, are we humans really Can dinosaurs be resurrected?"

The old man shook his head, nodded again and said, "Can and can't."

Yan Funing asked, "Why is that?"

The old man replied: "Technically, there is no difficulty for us humans. In fact, there are still many ways for humans to resurrect dinosaurs, but in practice, it is impossible. For example, in "Jurassic Park", humans sucked dinosaurs through mosquitoes." The blood of dinosaurs was sealed in amber, and then humans obtained the complete DNA of dinosaurs. Let’s not discuss whether mosquitoes suck blood and be sealed in amber. Can DNA be preserved? Even if it is possible, humans have copied dinosaur embryos, but no suitable The mother's body as a surrogate is the first method."

"The second method is genetic engineering. By analyzing the DNA of dinosaurs and modifying the DNA of its close relatives, it becomes the species we want. This is how we transform the band-tailed pigeon into a passenger pigeon, making it extinct. The passenger pigeon has reappeared. Unfortunately, the dinosaur DNA we currently have is really limited, and we can’t find a closely related species to transform it.”

"The third method is reverse breeding, which is ancestral activation. But this premise is also that we use genetic technology to change the eggs of closely related species, and screen them over and over again to make them return to the species we want. It’s a pity that the species closest to dinosaurs is probably chickens. Theoretically, the descendants of dinosaurs fill the dining table of our Homo sapiens, but in fact we eat chickens and we eat dinosaurs.”

At the end the old man laughed, and then he shrugged his shoulders, "But soon we will be able to see the revived mammoth. Perhaps, one day we can really find the DNA of the dinosaurs, and the resurrected dinosaurs will be just around the corner."

Yan Funing nodded thoughtfully, "Thank you for clarifying my doubts, may I ask your name? If I am lucky, I hope to listen to your lecture."

The old man nodded with great satisfaction, "Of course, my name is Paul Barrett, and I teach in the Zoology Department of Christ Church College. If you are interested, you can go to the Zoology Department of Christ Church College every Wednesday to listen to my lectures."

Yan Funing quickly said, "Thank you."

"No, you're welcome. If you are interested in this field, I'm very happy. After all, I lived in Huaguo for a long time, and I still hope that Huaguo has more talents in this field."

"Your spirit is worthy of our study and respect!"

Paul Barrett smiled: "If you really respect me, come and listen to my lecture!"

Yan Funing nodded, "Definitely."

Paul Barrett looked at Yan Funing and Feng Zhenzhen, blinked and said, "Then I, an old man, will not disturb you young people and continue to visit."

Yan Funing and Feng Zhenzhen thanked again, and then watched the old man wander around the museum with his hands behind his back.

The two discussed Paul Barrett in a low voice, and then searched Paul Barrett's Wikipedia on their mobile phones, and found that this person is a great man, a researcher at the Oxford Institute of Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, mainly engaged in Mesozoic dinosaur fossils And related stratigraphy research work, the main research direction is the morphology, taxonomy and phylogeny of theropod dinosaurs, the origin of birds, etc., which belongs to the master of doctoral supervisor level.

Feng Zhenzhen asked Yan Funing again if he really wanted to attend the lecture, Yan Funing nodded, Feng Zhenzhen was in a very happy mood, and then the two browsed countless specimens, as well as butterfly walls and mask walls, and many incredible things before leaving Natural History museum.

When leaving, Yan Funing also bought two dodo dolls for Yan Yitong, as well as an English version of the book about the dodo, because the dodo is a symbol of the Oxford Museum of Natural History, which has the most complete collection of dodos in the world. A dodo specimen, and even the logo is a stick figure of a dodo. Naturally, Yan Funing knew that his sister liked animals very much, so he bought a souvenir for Yan Yitong.

Feng Zhenzhen watched Yan Funing put the two fluffy dodo dolls into the bag, and said with a smile: "You are still so kind to Tongtong, and you never forget to buy things for her wherever you go."

"Well! Save her going back and quarreling with me." Yan Funing pretended to be indifferent to the answer. In fact, he posted on Moments, other than pretending to be himself, the more reason was to let Yan Yitong see himself often, even though Yan Yitong was in the bottom He never responded to messages.

"Hey! I had a very good relationship with Sissy when we were young, and we talked about everything, but now that we've grown up, we don't know why." Feng Zhenzhen sighed.

Yan Funing knew part of the reason, but he wouldn't say it, he just said lightly: "Actually, Tongtong and I are the same, we have grown up, and we have more thoughts, this is normal, sometimes we are brothers and sisters, we can do It's just a lot of blessings"

"Yeah! That's right. By the way, I still want to buy a formal suit with you. I have to wear a formal suit to eat our school's formal dinner."

Yan Funing nodded and said yes, Feng Zhenzhen looked at the watch on her wrist and said, "It's definitely too late for the handmade ones, we can only buy ready-made clothes, we have to hurry up."

—————————————————————

An hour later, Yan Funing, who had already changed into a formal suit, and Feng Zhenzhen, who was wearing a small black dress, walked towards the main entrance of All Souls College. Before Yan Funing reached the main entrance of Holy Spirit College, he felt a kind of solemnity and tranquility.

He looked up at the towering Gothic-style Twin Clock Towers, and he couldn't help feeling an indescribable awe, and only he knew why All Souls College wanted to build the Twin Clock Towers. metaphor.

Feng Zhenzhen held Yan Funing's arm and whispered: "At that time, the assessment scene in an episode of Harry Potter was taken from here. In fact, All Souls College is the prototype of Hogwarts College."

(End of this chapter)