I really just want to be a scholar

Edward Witten shrugged his shoulders and said in a joking tone: "I have studied string theory and the origin of space and time in the universe all my life, but I never thought that when I was in my seventies, I would face a catastrophe like the end of the world. To be honest , I still have an unreal feeling about the 'end of the world', although the 'Little Ice Age' has indeed appeared in front of me."

He returned to the United States in August last year for more than half a year and no longer participated in Qin Ke's research. Even in a private gathering at the International Congress of Mathematicians in November last year, he heard Qin Ke mention that more serious epidemics may occur in the future. An extreme meteorological disaster, but I never expected it to be a catastrophe of such scale, affecting the entire world, and endangering the survival of mankind.

Lao Tao, who has been doing research with Qin Ke, is much more accepting of this. After all, he has participated in the optimization of the "Global Extreme Climate Causal Analysis Model" throughout the entire process. He shook his head and smiled: "Edward, you have just arrived. Later when you see the photos of climate disasters collected from all over the world, you will find that this world really looks like it is going to perish..."

"Old Tao's words are too exaggerated. No matter how severe the snowstorms in the 'Little Ice Age' were, they were nothing more than local climate disasters." Qin Ke took over the topic:

"Even this 'super giant solar storm' is not the 'end of the world'. It is at most a world-class catastrophe. There is still a long way to go before the real 'end of the world'. Even if this time we If it fails to deal with the 'super giant solar storm', this planet will not perish immediately. I guess that even in the worst case scenario, this planet can survive for several hundred more years. Human beings will already have the ability to survive by then. Technology for space immigration.”

Edward Witten asked curiously: "Is this also the result of your research?"

Qin Ke shook his head: "No, this is just my personal speculation. At present, our prediction model can only predict 'super giant solar storms'."

Just at this time, Qin Xiaoke came over to refill coffee for everyone. Qin Ke picked up the coffee cup, raised it to Edward Witten and said with a smile: "Anyway, welcome your return Edward, while you are away, Qingjun, Lao Tao and I will I always feel like something is missing.”

Ning Qingyun, who had been silently excerpting the names of scientists surrounded by Qin Ke and Lao Tao, also pursed her lips and chuckled, raising her teacup: "Welcome Edward back."

Lao Tao and Qin Xiaoke also raised their coffee cups and said in unison: "Welcome Edward (Grandpa Witten) to return!"

Edward Witten clinked glasses with everyone one by one, took a sip of coffee and then smiled: "Thank you, you are much more optimistic than I thought. I also discussed it with Chiara on the flight to Xia Country Do you suffer from insomnia due to too much pressure? After all, you are now the core figure in this rescue operation, and most of the pressure is concentrated on you."

Qin Ke said humorously: "Now you have become a member of our team, Edward. To thank you for throwing yourself into the trap and sharing the pressure for us, I would like to toast you again."

Qin Ke's words were so funny that everyone couldn't help but smile.

"I'm happy to share the pressure with you." Edward Witten's gray eyebrows trembled and he said with a smile: "Unfortunately, I really don't feel any pressure. Not only because I have no sense of reality about the catastrophe in the future, but also because , I always feel that as long as there are monsters like you - I think this word is a compliment - it is not surprising to create any miracles, let alone build a 'planetary shield' in four years, you told me in three years We can work out a way to move to Mars, and I seem to believe it."

Everyone laughed again.

Qin Xiaoke looked at this scene with a smile, his heart full of pride, proud of his brother.

No matter how serious a person is, as long as you get along with my brother for a long time, you will always be infected with optimism and humor from him. And as Grandpa Witten said, whether it is his delicate-minded sister-in-law Ning Qingyun, who is used to walking Uncle Tao Zhexuan, who sees three steps in one step, is able to actively and confidently deal with the big crisis in the future because he believes in his brother. He believes that as long as he leads, no matter how difficult it is, he will be able to overcome it. successfully resolved.

Just as she, Qin Xiaoke, had never worried about the future catastrophe. Ever since she was little, her brother has always been an omnipotent superman in her eyes.

Thinking of this, Qin Xiaoke sighed with happiness and distress in his heart.

There are advantages and disadvantages to having such a monster brother. Of course, there is no need to mention the advantages. The disadvantage is that when compared with this brother, other boys look like they are mentally retarded. Their IQ and EQ are far behind. No matter how low you try to find a man, According to the standards of friends, there is really no way to find someone from a bunch of crooked melons and cracked dates that you can barely like, let alone be attracted to.

It doesn't matter, I have no interest in love. There are too few people in the world who can have such a happy and perfect love like my brother and sister-in-law. Just stay with art for the rest of your life.

The little girl here is thinking about her own little things. Over there, Qin Ke, Ning Qingyun, Edward Witten and Lao Tao have finished chatting and continue to select the list of top scientists who can enter the "core research team".

This time the "Planet Shield" project is too large and involves too many sub-technologies. In addition to commanding elite teams of scientists from various countries, Qin Ke also believes that it is necessary to establish a "core research team" under his direct management. Concentrate efforts to overcome the most critical and important technical difficulties.

This is similar to the previous "Global Extreme Climate Big Data Advanced Analysis Team" in the direction of mathematical analysis. It is precisely with such an elite force of mathematicians that Qin Ke, Ning Qingyun, Lao Tao and others were able to build a perfect "Global Extreme Climate Causal Analysis Model" in just about half a year. , it took more than three years to find the answer to the "source of climate change".

Now Qin Ke plans to first draw a list of candidates as candidates, and in the process of formulating the "Planet Shield" technical plan in the next few months, the performance of these candidates will determine whether they can join his "core research" "Team".

……

This "Planet Shield" technical solution seminar was finally scheduled to officially start in ten days. This is because it has to take into account the time it takes for all participants to fly from all over the world, as well as the need to hand over their work to others, etc. Condition.

Qin Ke was not idle during these ten days. He first drafted preliminary design ideas and rough plans.

The energy materials released when a solar storm breaks out mainly include enhanced electromagnetic radiation, high-energy charged particles of 10keV-1GeV, and fast plasma clouds. The main body of the plasma cloud is plasma composed of electrons and protons, and there are also small amounts such as helium. Heavy elements such as , oxygen and iron are also accompanied by a strong coronal magnetic field.

With such a complex structure, it also carries huge momentum and magnetic field. It is obviously difficult to block it all and guide and utilize it rationally. It involves electromagnetism, chemical element science, materials science, energy wave science and other major fields. Dozens of disciplines, large and small.

Fortunately, Qin Ke has god-level physics and mathematics, as well as master-level chemistry (materials science). In terms of rich knowledge, he is unparalleled in the world throughout the ages. Only he can comprehensively use so much knowledge. and ability to draft preliminary ideas and design plans. On the fifth day, Qin Ke wrote a detailed draft of his ideas. After communicating with Ning Qingyun, Lao Tao, Edward Witten, Mr. Qiu and others, he made subtle optimizations and let Wei Guang translated it into dozens of languages ​​​​from different countries and sent it via email to the more than 12200 participating scientists.

Regardless of whether these scientists have arrived in Xia Kingdom, in short, let them think and ponder in advance based on this draft idea in their respective areas of expertise, and then speak directly at the seminar five days later.

After taking care of all this, Qin Ke continued to inspect everywhere non-stop, looking for the site for the first launch tower.

The launch base tower is the transmitter of the "planetary shield". It emits energy electromagnetic waves and material light waves out of the atmosphere, forming a protective shield with a diameter ranging from one hundred kilometers to one thousand kilometers.

Qin Ke plans to build about 5000 to 7000 launch towers around the world to form a "planetary shield" covering the entire world.

Under such circumstances, the first launch base tower as a "prototype" and "pilot" is particularly important. As long as the first launch base tower can be successfully constructed and implemented, the subsequent thousands of launch base towers will only need to follow the Just build the gourd at the same time.

Therefore, Qin Ke plans to follow up the construction and implementation of the first launch tower from the beginning of site selection.

There are still many requirements for site selection. First, it must be a certain distance from residential areas to avoid interference and avoid strong signals that may affect the health of residents. Then, the airspace must be an unmanned flight area to avoid affecting navigation during the test. aircraft; thirdly, the risk of earthquakes and natural disasters must be low, and there must be enough space, because a small nuclear power plant must be attached to the launch tower to ensure energy supply.

Regarding energy considerations, Qin Ke ultimately did not use controllable nuclear fusion. Although he has S-level knowledge "The Secret of Controlled Nuclear Fusion" and LV5's special branch technology "New Energy Technology", it is not difficult in his eyes to build a demonstration reactor, but actually building it involves There are too many sub-technologies that the world currently does not have the conditions for. If he were to study them one by one, it would take two or three years even if he personally led the team.

Now there are only four years to complete the construction of the entire "Planet Shield" project. How can Qin Ke have so much time and energy to invest in the direction of controllable nuclear fusion?

And according to his preliminary calculations, the energy provided by nuclear fission is enough to operate the launch tower at full power within ten days and a half. Nuclear fission technology is now very mature, and the technology for detoxifying radioactive elements has moved from the laboratory to actual industrialization. There is no need to worry about radioactive contamination from nuclear power plants. What's more, Qin Ke's own god-level physics level is enough to easily optimize and miniaturize the nuclear reactor of the nuclear power plant to further improve energy utilization efficiency and reduce risks.

Based on all the considerations above, Qin Ke decided not to pursue "controllable nuclear fusion" yet.

After this major crisis is over, the miniaturization and perfection of nuclear fission reactor technology can further ensure the world's energy supply and avoid energy crises within decades.

As for "controllable nuclear fusion", it would be better to work it out secretly when you have time in the future, so as to avoid some countries being jealous of this ultimate energy technology and causing all kinds of unnecessary troubles and incidents.

After running around for a day, he couldn't find a particularly suitable location. Seeing that the weather was okay, Qin Ke simply decided to take his family with him for an outing. Naturally, the target location was a place with a large area and sparsely populated areas that was suitable for both outings and outings. The location where the launch tower was built.

This is called "balancing work and family" and making reasonable use of time.

Qin Ke just went ahead and mentioned the idea to Wei Feng immediately.

Now his travel is not a simple matter. Although it is not as exaggerated as "clearing the place", there are more than 200 special service personnel protecting him on the surface. Every time he leaves Qingmu University, the car he takes is no longer an ordinary small car. It is not a car, but a large off-road vehicle that is specially modified and can withstand missiles, similar to an armored vehicle.

Moreover, all traveling routes are arranged in advance to facilitate Wei Feng's security work throughout the process.

As for family outings, the escort lineup will definitely be even more exaggerated.

But Qin Ke can't go out without the baby for a long time because of such restrictions, right? So I had no choice but to trouble Wei Feng, but Qin Ke had repeatedly told him to keep everything simple and avoid causing trouble and inconvenience to the people around him.

It was spring in Xia's capital at this time, which was considered the best time of the year after autumn. Although there have been intermittent spring rains in the past few days at the end of March, people who have experienced the severe winter of the "Little Ice Age" still cherish such rare "good weather". It is also frustrating for the whole family to go out for outings. A winter's "little mythical beasts" have a chance to have some fun.

On this day, Qin Ke's family also went out together.

In addition to Qin Xiaoke and Qin Yanghui and Shen Qiuyi who came to the capital for a short stay, Edward Witten, Witten's wife Chiara, Mr. Qiu, and Lao Tao also traveled together.

However, what made Qin Ke a little speechless was that despite having mentioned it to Wei Feng in advance, when their family was traveling, they were still followed by a large number of men in black, and no suspicious persons were allowed to come within thirty meters of their family.

Edward Witten understood this very well: "Qin Ke, you have to know that your safety is no longer your alone. Your safety is directly related to the future survival of the entire human race. No one can replace you." You are at the core of this 'Planet Shield' plan. I find it a bit incredible that there is not a division of force to protect you. You must not have any accidents, but there are many world-weary extremist organizations in this world. Extremists who wish for the end of the world may target you to your detriment.”

Qin Ke: "...Edward, are you kidding? News about the 'Super Giant Solar Storm' should still be under lockdown, right?"

Wei Feng followed Qin Ke and said solemnly: "Academician Witten's words are not groundless. Although the news of the 'super giant solar storm' has not been reported by any media, there have been rumors of 'the end of the world' among the people. Legend has it that we have indeed heard rumors of similar extremist organizations, so we still have to be careful." (End of Chapter)