Chapter 480: Conceptual Divide

The news of the successful "Sky Net" test detonated like a heavy bomb in the international community, and the aftershocks spread rapidly to every corner of the world. Governments, media, and ordinary citizens of all countries were discussing this technological breakthrough capable of changing the world landscape.

Star-Spangled Country, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, an emergency meeting of scientists.

Professor Henderson faced a room full of top physicists and engineers, his fingers trembling as he wrote equation after equation on the blackboard, attempting to explain the "Saturated Interception" principle of Long Country.

"The key lies in this computational problem," he pointed to a set of complex differential equations, "to predict the trajectory changes of high-speed flying Missiles in real-time requires tens of thousands of complex calculations, and it must be done within seconds!"

A Computer expert shook his head: "This is technically impossible. Our most advanced UNIVAC Computer can only perform about 1900 basic operations per second. Even if we used ten of them, it would still fall far short of the speed required for real-time calculation of the 'Probability Airspace'."

"Perhaps they have some kind of computing technology we don't know about?" a young assistant professor proposed a hypothesis.

Henderson scoffed: "Impossible. We are absolutely leading in the field of Computer science. Unless..." he stopped suddenly, a flash of unease in his eyes, "unless they have adopted some completely different method."

"What method?"

Henderson paced back and forth in front of the blackboard, his facial muscles tense: "I don't know! That is the problem! We are limited by our own mental framework, unable to understand how they achieved this!"

He suddenly grabbed a blackboard eraser and angrily wiped away all the equations he had just written: "Perhaps we have been going in the wrong direction all along! Perhaps calculating the precise trajectory of a Missile is not the correct method at all!"

The room fell into a dead silence. This academic predicament was an unprecedented experience for these top scientists—they could not only explain Long Country's technology, but they could not even understand the philosophy behind it.

An elderly physicist finally broke the silence: "The problem is not our computing power, but our way of thinking. Long Country is not using the approach of single-point precision strikes, but a method of statistical probability. They accepted uncertainty and incorporated it into the system design..."

"But that is gambling, not science!" another scientist retorted excitedly.

The old physicist smiled bitterly: "However, the gambling won, and science lost. That is the reality."

At the same time, on the second basement level of the Pentagon in the Star-Spangled Country, a secret meeting codenamed "Shield" was underway.

"We must admit a cruel fact," said Graham, an Advanced advisor to the Department of Defense, in a low voice, "with our current level of technology, we cannot replicate Long Country's 'Sky Net' system in the short term."

Secretary of Defense Maxwell had a gloomy expression: "Explain in detail."

"First is the computing problem," Graham unfolded a report, "the mechanical-electronic hybrid computing system used by Long Country is completely different from our digital Computers. According to the analysis of the live broadcast footage, they seem to have adopted some kind of parallel computing architecture capable of processing multiple sets of data simultaneously."

"We can also build parallel computing systems," a general interjected.

Graham shook his head: "Theoretically yes, but in reality, our digital Computer architecture dictates that we cannot effectively achieve true large-scale parallel computing. Long Country's system looks more like... some kind of analog Computer, a special device optimized for ballistic calculation."

"Then copy their design!" Maxwell slammed the table and stood up.

"The problem is, we haven't even figured out its basic principles!" Graham's voice was full of frustration, "The design philosophy of that hybrid system is completely beyond our current Computer science scope. It's not a technical problem, but a conceptual one. We don't even know where to start!"

The meeting room fell into silence, and everyone felt an unprecedented sense of technological anxiety.

"There is also the Radar network problem," another technical expert continued, "the configuration method of Long Country's Radar Station is very special, appearing to form some kind of complementary coverage. Preliminary analysis shows that this configuration can significantly improve the detection accuracy of high-speed targets, but the specific principle..."

"Let me guess, we don't know that either?" Maxwell sneered.

The technical expert nodded awkwardly: "Yes, sir. This seems to be some kind of brand-new Radar collaborative working mode; our engineers are trying to model it, but it is difficult to have a breakthrough in the short term."

"My God!" Maxwell smashed the table hard, "A country that just crawled out of the ruins of war has actually surpassed us in so many fields? This cannot be the result of normal development!"

He looked around, his voice low and dangerous: "I want to know everything about that Li Mingyuan. Where his knowledge comes from, where his inspiration originates. At any cost, by any means, even if it means turning over every inch of Long Country's land!"

Beijixiong Guo Academy of Sciences, an unprecedented emergency meeting was underway.

"... According to our analysis, Long Country's 'Sky Net' system adopts a design philosophy completely different from our traditional thinking," rocket expert Kuznetsov stood in front of the projection screen, his voice full of frustration, "they are not pursuing precise calculation of Missile trajectories, but have established a kind of... probability model."

"This sounds like some kind of gambling." An old academician scoffed.

"But the effect is obvious," Kuznetsov retorted, "this method avoids the computational bottleneck problem. Our experts estimate that if traditional methods were used for real-time ballistic calculation, the amount of computation required would be hundreds of times that of our most powerful Computer. But Long Country has significantly simplified the computational requirements through probability analysis."

"This is terrifying," Professor Makarov, sitting in the front row, said in a low voice, "they are not only leading in technology, but have achieved a breakthrough in their way of thinking. This means that what we are facing is not just a technological gap, but a fundamental conceptual divide."

The atmosphere in the meeting room became even heavier.

"The most puzzling thing is their computing system," a Computer expert added, "that mechanical-electronic hybrid architecture... is completely beyond our design framework. It is neither a pure digital Computer nor a traditional analog computing device, but some kind of... hybrid."

He paused, a look of almost religious awe appearing on his face: "If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I would say that such a device could not exist under current technical conditions. But it is right there, and it is clearly running well. It is simply like..."

"Like what?" a general asked eagerly.

"Like technology from the future." The Computer expert whispered this unsettling conclusion.

The entire meeting room became terrifyingly quiet, and everyone was thinking about the terrifying implications of this statement.