Chapter 750

With increased national investment in this area, the "artificial sun" has entered the public eye, and the material research institute's popularity has surged rapidly.

Supporters view this as a major breakthrough in human-controlled nuclear fusion.

Of course, some people claim it has nothing to do with them, saying such talk about artificial suns has been going on for years without any real results.

A small number of opponents argue it’s a waste of national resources—that controlled nuclear fusion is too distant, and more attention should now be directed toward people’s livelihoods.

In short, the internet is abuzz.

Xu Qingzhou paid no attention to the online chatter; he clocked out at 5 p.m. as usual, went home to cook for Song Yao, and they had already finished eating and were resting together on the sofa.

Around nine, night fell outside the window; seated on the sofa, he could see the distant lake reflecting the orange-yellow lights along the shore.

Xu Qingzhou’s fingers glided over the girl’s delicate abdomen, his thoughts drifting away.

After the ignition experiment ended, they did not rest.

Over these days, Qiankun-1 completed inspections including infrared thermal imaging scans of the first wall and ultrasonic testing of the divertor target plate.

They also compiled and submitted the papers from the past year.

He published just one paper: “Achieving 100 Million °C Steady-State Operation for a Thousand Seconds in a Negative Triangularity Spherical Tokamak: A New Paradigm for Compact Fusion Energy.”

It had been sent to Nature a week ago.

According to feedback from the editorial office, publication was expected soon.

Besides his work at the institute, he also gave an interview with People’s Daily, providing an overview of existing technology, then vanished from media lenses.

“The next phase’s goal: 160 million °C plus dual-billion parameters.”

“And the triple product peak must be ≥3×10 keV·s/m, sustained for at least five minutes—given the current equipment’s operational capacity, this goal is easily achievable.”

“Meanwhile, conduct first-wall material irradiation resistance tests and challenge the divertor’s thermal load limits—both are currently key engineering validation priorities.”

There is still a long way to go before reaching a demonstration reactor.

Breaking the triple product is like the Wright brothers’ first flight—it proves an aircraft can leave the ground—while a demonstration reactor is like a Boeing airliner, requiring full compliance in payload, range, and safety.

For such precision equipment subjected to hundreds of millions of degrees, defects the size of dust particles can compromise operational safety.

Buzzzz~

As Xu Qingzhou was thinking, his desktop phone vibrated; he picked it up and saw a message from Group 101.

In 2021, Xu Zhengyang and the others had reached their third year of graduate studies and were about to defend their theses and continue on to doctoral programs.

In the group.

Xu Zhengyang: “Damn, Lao Xu is trending again.”

Kong Xianbo: “666+”

Zhai Ziqiang: “666+”

Xu Qingzhou: “Basic move, don’t bother.”

Xu Zhengyang: “Lao Xu, say nothing else—Friday, you’re treating us to a feast.”

Zhai Ziqiang: “Next week, next week—this week’s defense.”

Kong Xianbo: “Suggest a budget of 1000.”

Zhai Ziqiang: “Agreed.”

Xu Qingzhou: “Dream on.”

Xu Zhengyang: “We know you’re stingy—my family just opened a restaurant, come to mine?”

Kong Xianbo: “Pfft, that’s a clumsy attempt at showing off.”

Xu Zhengyang: “You in or not?”

Kong Xianbo: “In.”

Xu Zhengyang: “I still prefer your earlier defiant attitude.”

“Jiahui says they want to turn the studio into a company.”

Song Yao was typing rapidly while chatting with Ding Jiahui, occasionally updating Xu Qingzhou on the conversation.

Over the past few weeks, Song Yao had finalized investment projects with Peking University and the National University of Defense Technology; initial funding had already been transferred.

Generally, investments in sensitive industries face strict reviews and entry restrictions, but Zero Point Tech faced none of these issues—it was essentially a semi-state-owned enterprise.

Thus, it enjoyed numerous green lights in investment matters.

“The studio is flexible, but it’s not a long-term solution.”