Chapter 248: Experimental Tricks

Hearing Tang Mudao say he had a way, the other four naturally turned their gaze toward him.

Tang Mudao pondered, "I told you before, Zheng Fa, that for us astronomers, a major part of the work is collecting various signals from the universe—be they rays, light, or even microwave signals. Ultimately, it's all about observing electromagnetic waves. Such observations usually span many years, generating correspondingly vast records."

Zheng Fa nodded, waiting for him to continue.

"So, theoretically, many observatories should have electromagnetic signal records for each of the twenty-four solar terms. It's just that these electromagnetic waves are usually dismissed as noise."

"I'll check the public data from a few observatories; I should be able to obtain the relevant records."

Hearing him say this, Zheng Fa couldn't help but express gratitude: "Then I'll leave it to Professor Tang!"

Tang Mudao waved his hand and headed toward his room, presumably to find some data.

Bai Lao, however, asked, "There are so many observatories, receiving all kinds of signals. How do we determine which signal is the one we need?"

That was a very fair question.

Electromagnetic waves are too ubiquitous—almost endless; every observatory receives a massive quantity of electromagnetic signals at all times.

On the other hand, observatories are scattered across various regions; whether they can observe the special signal Zheng Fa expects is another matter entirely.

Of course, Bai Lao and the others didn't know, but Zheng Fa understood in his heart—

The Xuanwei Realm and the modern world are not quite the same. Although both have the concept of solar terms, their connotations may differ.

Therefore, whether such special electromagnetic waves even exist in the modern world is the more fatal problem.

This really feels like looking for a needle in a haystack.

"There is one way," Zheng Fa said.

"Assuming my hypothesis is correct, we have a deduction: on the day of a solar term, special electromagnetic waves will appear."

"And such electromagnetic wave signals will not appear on days that are not solar terms."

"If we find this special electromagnetic signal in the corresponding records, it would partially verify this hypothesis."

"If we don't find it, then the hypothesis is naturally incorrect."

This is like general relativity predicting gravitational waves; often, if a theory cannot be directly verified, some easier-to-observe deductions serve as proof.

"This workload..."

Bai Lao clicked his tongue, somewhat sighing, "It's quite large..."

"Then we'll have to see what Professor Tang does."

This verification method first requires a massive amount of data.

As for how to process the data and find the corresponding signal—that would be the next worry.

Tang Mudao's connections proved very useful; at least, finding these public records encountered no difficulties.

The difficulty lay in—how to find the small signal Zheng Fa and the others needed from this vast sea of records...

Zheng Fa couldn't help but look at Tang Lingwu.

For such a dilemma, handing it over to a computer has always been the first choice.

Tang Lingwu frowned and thought for a moment: "The technical difficulty isn't high, but it requires time and luck."

This is actually simpler than the rune diagram recognition we did back then—more like a game of spot-the-difference.

But the problem is that the data volume is too huge, and there are no specific patterns, so no special method can be found either. We can only rely on computers to run and compare.

Zheng Fa looked at the few people beside him.

Seeing that they were all at a loss, it appeared they had no good ideas either.

On the evening half a month later, Zheng Fa, along with Tang Lingwu and the others, were all in the courtyard.

Faintly audible from the room was the mainframe's wailing in the laboratory, with fans humming—this sound had been going on for about ten days.

The records Tang Mudao found were indeed numerous, and they kept increasing steadily.

There were records from both domestic and foreign sources.

But there were still no surprising discoveries; it only increased the computer's workload, for which Tang Lingwu even upgraded the machine.

Zheng Fa wasn't so anxious at this moment—mainly because he realized that this nursing home now revolved around him.

If he showed even a little impatience, Bai Lao and the others would feel the pressure.

Especially Tang Lingwu.

This research actually relied most heavily on her.

In these past few days, her workload was the heaviest, and others couldn't really help.

On the previous few nights, Zheng Fa could see the light in her room lit up even in the middle of the night.

It seemed she had been pulling all-nighters continuously.

Most importantly, there were still no results so far.

She became even more irritable.

There were even times when she would start staring blankly while eating...

Today, he simply organized an entertainment night.

Several lounge chairs were set up in the courtyard, with small tables in front of them. On the tables were fruits grown in the nursing home, juicy and fresh, all freshly picked.

A bit further away, a projector was set up, with a screen placed opposite it.

He asked Tang Lingwu, who was lying on his left: "What movie do you want to watch?"

At this moment, he felt a bit regretful that modern materials capable of making spiritual talismans had not yet been found—otherwise, he could at least let these people see what a holographic projection was.

Tang Lingwu seemed to know that Zheng Fa was roughly feeling sorry for her.

She smiled at Zheng Fa, lying on the chair, her feet swinging up and down at the edge of the chair, even the rounded tips of her toes radiating happiness.

"Anything is fine!"

Bai Lao, standing aside, curled his lip, glanced at Tian Laoshi beside him, turned his head, and looked again at Tang Mudao, who stood alone.

His expression immediately grew smug.

"Little Tian, what do you want to see?"

He spoke very loudly.

Tian Laoshi rolled her eyes at him, yet there was still a smile in her gaze; she thought for a moment and said, "How about we each state a request?"

"That's a good idea!"

Bai Lao approved.

Zheng Fa thought for a moment and said, "Something relaxing."

He still wanted everyone to relax a bit.

Tang Lingwu also pondered for a while and said, "Something that doesn't require much brainpower."

It was clear she had been truly tired these past few days.

Bai Lao laughed and said, "Domestic! I don't want to hear bird language!"

Tian Laoshi thought for a moment and said, "Then something related to cultivation for me... it would be more immersive."

Everyone turned their gaze to Tang Mudao; Tang Mudao pressed his lips together, kept a straight face, and said, "Lovers who don't die well..."

"..."

In the end, as everyone looked at the familiar Ninth Uncle on the screen, they all felt that what they had previously imagined didn't seem to be this thing.

But as they kept watching, it actually seemed quite good...

Everyone's mood relaxed.

Zheng Fa glanced at Tang Lingwu, found her watching very intently, and felt quite satisfied in his heart.

Bai Lao suddenly asked Tang Mudao, "Mudao, I inquired before and heard that you have some tricks in your experiments... your success rate is very high."

Tian Laoshi, standing aside, also nodded, her gaze toward Tang Mudao carrying a hint of envy.

Upon hearing this, Zheng Fa also turned to look at Tang Mudao.

Only after beginning research on Spirit Wood Lightning did he realize that experiments—especially agricultural experiments—relied heavily on luck; if there were any techniques, he would be willing to learn them.

Tang Mudao was slightly stunned, a hint of embarrassment appearing on his face.

It was as if he had some unspeakable difficulty.

Seeing his expression, Zheng Fa spoke: "Professor Tang, if you are unwilling to say, then forget it."

Tang Mudao shook his head and laughed: "This matter... how to put it? It's actually not really a secret, it's just... a bit embarrassing in front of you."

"Embarrassing?"

Tang Mudao explained: "My experimental trick is—him!"

Tang Mudao pointed at Ninth Uncle on the screen.

"Ah?"

"When I first went abroad, I was unfamiliar with the place and the people," Tang Mudao continued. "For a while, it was very hard; I couldn't find work and had no resources. At that time, I heard about a teacher who really liked our country's traditional culture, so I bought a set of clothes exactly like those in this movie and told him I could perform rituals! I said I could improve the experimental success rate."

"Deception and fraud?" Bai Lao understood.

Tang Mudao laughed: "Actually, no. He wasn't stupid; he just found me a bit interesting, so he gave me a chance and accepted me as a doctoral student."

"Later, as we got familiar, we joked around with each other, and this rumor spread," Tang Mudao said, shaking his head. "Sometimes, to liven up the atmosphere, I would wear these clothes and put on a pretentious performance... actually, just for fun."

He then summarized: "For those doing scientific research, all success is worn down like water dripping on stone; it cannot be rushed. What tricks are there?"

This Tang Mudao...

Zheng Fa looked at Tang Lingwu, who seemed to have gained some insight, and felt that Tang Mudao's words were probably directed at her.

It seemed she had indeed felt something in her heart.

The next day.

Zheng Fa looked at Tang Lingwu with some curiosity; the girl sat before the computer, covering her eyes, as if she dared not look at the screen.

"I searched online for scientific research tricks and learned some methods," Tang Lingwu turned her head, still deliberately avoiding the computer screen: "Some people say you can't look at the computer, otherwise it gets scared and won't give you correct data."

No, is that all you realized?

"..."

"Oh, some people kowtow to the computer... I haven't tried that yet."

"..."

Let alone Zheng Fa, even Tang Mudao standing nearby was somewhat speechless: "Little Tang, we still need to be down-to-earth..."

Not only Zheng Fa, but even Tang Mudao, standing aside, felt a bit speechless: "Little Tang, we still need to be down-to-earth..."

As he spoke, a notification sound rang out.

Tang Lingwu suddenly turned her head and looked at the screen: "There's a result!"

"Let me see, this is the special electromagnetic signal on Jingzhe Day revealed by comparison..." Tang Lingwu clicked the mouse on the computer for a while, then summarized: "This signal has only appeared on Jingzhe Day, and there are dozens of records of it across five observation stations."

"Let me see; this is the special electromagnetic signal on Jingzhe Day, compared out..." Tang Lingwu clicked the mouse on the computer for a while and summarized: "This signal has only appeared on Jingzhe Day, and there are dozens of records of it across five observation stations."

Zheng Fa and Tang Mudao were stunned for a moment and stepped forward together to look at the screen.

Finding a needle in a haystack is certainly difficult, but once you've found it, recognizing it as a needle is simple.

"So, this is the waveform of the Jingzhe Thunder?"

"The possible waveform: if there are no other special electromagnetic waves on Jingzhe Day, this is the most likely one!"

"The possible waveform; if there are no other special electromagnetic waves on Jingzhe Day, this is the most likely one!"

Tang Lingwu smiled.

Another notification sound rang out.

【121】 "What is this?"

"Didn't we study a Spirit Wood Thunder earlier? I input its waveform into these records to find something similar, and now I've found it! This is the special electromagnetic wave of the Great Heat Day!"

Tang Lingwu glanced at the computer and smiled again.

Zheng Fa's spirit lifted; he looked at the still-running computer, and a thought suddenly occurred to him—

Should I kowtow to this thing?

……