Interstellar Industrial Age

Let's go, go to the Materials Research Institute~

Seeing this, Qin Yi knew that there was no problem in the theoretical study of the warp engine, and the next thing was the most critical material problem.

The three major difficulties of the warp engine, one is theoretical research, this is the most basic thing, because theory determines the direction and height, the more the science develops, the more important the theory, without the support of the theory, many things are not available. Ways to continue to study.

The second is the energy issue. The warp engine says it is simple and its principle is actually very simple. It is nothing more than using powerful energy to resonate the space, thereby folding the space, and then using the powerful energy to directly open the space to form a space wormhole , through the space wormhole directly and quickly across long distances.

How much energy does it take to make the space resonate, fold, and open the space wormhole, you know with your toes, how huge the energy will be, without strong energy, it is absolutely impossible to support the warp engine of.

But fortunately, controllable nuclear fusion technology has been researched for a long time. In theory, the energy generated by controllable nuclear fusion is second only to the energy generated by antimatter annihilation. This is the source of stellar energy, enough to satisfy the warp speed engine. strong energy demands.

The third problem is the material problem. The second-generation antigravity engine is already extremely harsh on the material. The material required by the warp engine is definitely not an ordinary material, it must be a theoretical degenerate material.

Degenerate material, also known as degenerate matter, is a high-density state of matter. The pressure of degenerate matter is mainly derived from the Pauli exclusion principle, which is called degenerate pressure.

That is, this degenerate material, it is a material that needs to be created from an atomic point of view.

The development of science and technology has made it possible to synthesize materials at the atomic scale, such as atomic clusters, cluster materials, linear chains, multilayer heterostructures, ultrathin films, etc. These materials are characterized by low dimensionality and symmetry. The sex is reduced, and the geometric features are significant.

But it is only possible. When it is actually operated, it is difficult to truly create the materials you need from the perspective of atoms. The unit of atoms is really too small. At most, the current science and technology can only It can be done on the nanometer scale, and atoms are much smaller than nanometers.

First of all, we must first understand their size. The English name of nanometer is nanoter, abbreviated as nano, and nanometer is a kind of length unit. 1 nanometer is one billionth of 1 meter, which is recorded as n.

1 nanometer is equal to the length of 10 hydrogen atoms arranged in a row next to each other. Because the diameter of each type of atom is different, 1 nanometer may be equal to the length of the arrangement of dozens of atoms of other elements.

20 nanometers is about 1/3,000th of a strand of hair.

What we usually call nanotechnology refers to the study of the specific phenomena and specific functions of matter in the nanoscale (100 nanometers to 01 nanometers) range, and the technology to create new materials and materials by directly manipulating and arranging atoms and molecules. .

The emergence of nanotechnology first benefited from the invention of the scanning tunneling microscope (ST), which can magnify ten million times. The invention of the scanning tunneling microscope enables scientists to observe the microscopic world at a nanometer angle.

Since the early 1990s, nanotechnology has developed rapidly, and new disciplines such as nanoelectronics, nanomaterials, nanomechanics, nanobiology, etc. continue to emerge. Nanotechnology is the future predicted by scientists to change human beings. One of the nine sciences of history.

In fact, although today's scientists can observe the information at the atomic level through st technology, and have a certain influence on the arrangement of atoms.

For example, in April 1990, when two scientists from ib in North America used st to observe the xenon atoms on the surface of metallic nickel, they were inspired by the movement of the probe and the xenon atoms, and tried to use the st tip to move the xenon atoms adsorbed on the metallic nickel. , 35 xenon atoms are arranged on the surface of nickel to form an ib structure with a height of 5 atoms.

Scientists from the Huaxia Academy of Sciences also used nanotechnology to draw a map of the world's smallest Huaxia region by relocating carbon atoms on the surface of graphite, which is less than 10 nanometers in size.

Since then, scientists have enjoyed moving various atoms to form various patterns, silicon atoms, sulfur atoms, iron atoms, carbon monoxide molecules, iron-based molecules...

From here, we can know that what scientists can currently achieve is to move some atoms a little and place various patterns on the surface of the object. Large-scale, rapid creation of new materials at the atomic level.

But even so, it is only possible to simply move some atoms and arrange some atomic structures on the surface. Scientists have also produced various complex nanomaterials. For example, the structure of copper atoms is artificially made on the surface of copper. The arrangement can also increase the strength of copper by 5 times.

We all know that diamond is diamond, graphite, and coke. The atoms they consist of are actually the same, that is, carbon atoms, but the properties of these materials are very different. In terms of hardness alone, diamond is the hardest material in nature. , while the hardness of graphite and coke is very low.

The reason for this difference is the structure of carbon atoms. In the atomic structure of diamond, each carbon atom forms a covalent bond with another 4 carbon atoms with an s3 hybrid orbital to form a regular tetrahedron.

Due to the strong cc bond in diamond, diamond has high hardness and extremely high melting point; and because all valence electrons are confined in the covalent bond region, there are no free electrons, so diamond does not conduct electricity.

In the graphite structure, the carbon atoms in the same layer are s2 hybridized to form covalent bonds, and each carbon atom is connected to three other atoms by three covalent bonds. Six carbon atoms form a regular six-connected ring on the same plane, stretching into a lamellar structure.

The bond lengths of the cc bonds here are all 142, which just belongs to the bond length range of atomic crystals, so for the same layer, it is an atomic crystal.

Carbon atoms in the same plane still have one orbit left. They overlap each other, and the electrons are relatively free, which is equivalent to the free electrons in metals. Therefore, graphite can conduct heat and conduct electricity, which is the characteristic of metal crystals.

It is simple and easy to understand that the carbon atom structure of diamond is three-dimensional, and all carbon atoms directly form a regular tetrahedron with each other, which is a three-dimensional structure.

The structure of graphite is that the carbon atoms form a regular hexagonal ring on the same plane, forming a lamellar structure, that is, a layer of carbon atoms, but there is no connection between the carbon atoms between the layers, which is Flat structure.

A three-dimensional regular tetrahedron structure and a planar regular hexagonal structure cause the material properties between diamond and graphite to be far different, and their value is also different from cloud and mud.

The price of diamond is calculated by carat, and the price of graphite is calculated by ton. The difference in value is more than billions of times!

If you want to develop materials for warp engines, you need to build materials from the perspective of atomic three-dimensional, and turn decay into magic. For example, the atomic angle of iron is like diamond, and it becomes a three-dimensional structure of regular tetrahedron, then What kind of material will be obtained?

This science and technology is also the technology that Xinghan material scientists are most keen to study. Various powerful new materials are emerging one after another, but so far scientists have only been able to show that moving a few atoms to form an atomic layer on a plane , there is no way to actually perform three-dimensional atomic construction.

Now that the first two conditions are mature, the last step before the warp engine becomes reality is to develop a powerful degenerate material that can support the warp engine.

Once the degenerate material can be researched and the warp engine manufactured, the cosmic starry sky is vast, but it can no longer stop the progress of the descendants of Yan and Huang.

Soon, accompanied by Liu Peiqiang, Qin Yi came to the Xinghan National Institute of Materials Science and found the head of the institute, Ren Qing. Ren Qing was an old man in the age of Galaxy Technology Group, and he was the first to join the materials of Galaxy Technology Group. the scientist.

At this time, Ren Qing, like Qin Yi, is already in her 70s, but as before, the years have not left any traces on her body, and she is still very beautiful and beautiful.

All of this is naturally due to the effect of the genetic optimization solution. She injected the genetic optimization solution earlier, and the effect is naturally very good. In her 70s, she looks the same as in her 20s.

But a scientist her age, by earth standards, is at the peak of a scientist's life.

If there is no genetic optimization solution, the average life expectancy of a person is about 80 years old. The first 30 years are basically in the learning stage, and then it will take more than ten years to explore and accumulate on the road of science. The age of more than 50 years old is the peak stage.

With experience, accumulation, and foundation, people's energy can still be very abundant, the brain is quick and active, the body is good, and they can fight for a long time. Once this age is passed, whether it is a good body or a brain, it will appear. A major landslide, at that time, the value of scientists will be greatly shrunk.

After injecting the genetic optimization solution, the genes have been optimized, not only the lifespan has become longer, but more importantly, it can develop the brain, strengthen the body, and have a strong body and a smart brain.

They have a long lifespan and are very healthy, which means that after lasing the genetic optimization fluid, their golden period may be hundreds, thousands, or even longer.

This is of great significance for promoting the development of science and technology. Think about it, if an excellent scientist like Einstein can live to be hundreds or thousands of years old, to what extent will the level of human science and technology rise? , no one can say.

But one thing is certain, the substantial increase in life expectancy is of extraordinary significance for promoting the progress of science and technology and civilization.

On the earth, the more developed countries and regions, the longer the average life expectancy, and vice versa, because the accumulation and inheritance of knowledge requires time and process, the more advanced technology develops, its breadth and depth will increase The bigger it is, the more it needs to be learned, and longevity will be the most important constraint.

interstellar industrial age