Chapter 514 - 503: The Future is Bright_1

"Wow, it looks like a product of the future."

Stephen Hawking maneuvered his wheelchair through the exhibition hall of Facility 507, pausing as he passed the pioneering series of space suits, and voiced his thoughts on the screen.

Not many people were beside him, and together with the personnel from the Aerospace Development Committee and from the UK, there were less than ten people. Lin Ju, who was closest to him, smiled in response,

"Our future is the future of this planet, but what you’re studying is the real future, on the cosmic scale."

Penrose: "But your future can be attained by merely standing on tiptoes, whereas our future requires the wait of the entire human civilization, and it may well end up being a mistake."

"But it is through making mistakes that we move forward."

Standing in the back of the crowd, Academician She stepped forward. Though their fields of research were unrelated, they still had much in common.

"Just like United Mining, we are facing challenges unprecedented in human history. Every step is filled with the unknown, but the entire country is striving and has invested an astronomical amount of funding.

We have a saying that goes, ’The road is winding, but the future is bright.’ Clearly, the future of humanity is closely linked to the advancement of physics. It’s just that its return on investment cycle is somewhat longer than that of space exploration, but the end reward is also greater."

Hawking: "But the path of physics is not only tortuous but also increasingly narrow. Most of the theories we create now are based on other unverified theories, and ahead it has turned into a dead end."

Hawking and Penrose also had the title of thinkers, and the latter would, a few years later, make the claim that "death is but an illusion; life is eternal." As such, the topic drifted unconsciously towards the direction of philosophy, and Lin Ju could only watch as several elderly men discussed the truth of life.

In the following day, they took Hawking to visit the Jingou Rocket Manufacturing Base, and the final item on the agenda was a trip to the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center to witness the launch of a massive rocket on September 13—two more service modules of the March had been completed and were set to launch in stages within a week, and two H2M spaceplanes had also finished preparations.

Before heading to Jiuquan, Hawking had expressed a wish to chat with Lin Ju and Academician She, and the latter, though surprised, readily agreed.

The meeting took place in a hotel booked by the UK. Lin Ju and Academician She only discovered upon their arrival that it wasn’t just Hawking there; Penrose and Rolf Heuer were present too, along with an interpreter.

Neither of them was familiar with Heuer, but after he introduced himself, they realized he was one of the key leaders of the European Large Hadron Collider, LHC, and they felt immediate respect.

The LHC, since its commencement in 1995, had consumed 21 billion euros, with over 7000 scientists and engineers from more than 80 countries participating. Untold numbers of leading physicists and over 2500 scholars from various fields advocated tirelessly for the advancement of cutting-edge physics, which finally led to the completion of the project.

As they sat down, Roger Penrose spoke astonishingly,

"We hope to build the world’s largest particle accelerator in China and can mobilize scientists from around the world to provide support."

After hearing the interpretation, Lin Ju and Academician She looked at each other, both puzzled. Although they had been trying to guess the purpose of this visit beforehand, they had not anticipated this.

UK scientists propose we build the largest accelerator?

Seeing their confused expressions, Heuer began to explain,

"Your science has developed to a world-class level, and you must no longer be satisfied with obtaining cutting-edge science from Europe and America. As you have already invested heavily in space, you must also have plans for fundamental scientific infrastructure.

FAST is a remarkable achievement; we think the next step should be a particle accelerator, which is why we’ve come to make some suggestions."

Caught off guard, Lin Ju tentatively asked, "Then why didn’t you suggest Europe or America build it?"

Penrose: "The LHC has only been in use for about a decade—it’s still in its prime—and certainly won’t be investing in a new accelerator.

But we are concerned about the future. You have a great pursuit of science and strong industrial capabilities. There is no need to repeat our accomplishments; instead, you should directly build a super accelerator capable of uncovering the most microscopic secrets."

"How large?"

Penrose: "A super accelerator that can accelerate protons to energy levels above 250 TeV, with a circumference of over 100 kilometers. It will definitely bring about a new breakthrough in physics.

If you decide to build such an accelerator, the entire scientific community will provide you with full support, including technology and funding. This is truly for all humankind."

A circumference of 100 kilometers—that’s more than three times the LHC.

The first reaction of Academician She was to shake his head. Given the domestic situation, it would probably require an investment of over 50 billion yuan, and that was purely an investment with no returns at all, not to mention the huge annual maintenance and operation costs.

But Lin Ju promptly spoke up to stop him,

"Gentlemen, I’m afraid you’ll have to convince some people first. We also have some scientists in our country who oppose building accelerators."

...

When Lin Ju and Academician She left, it was already late at night. The two got into the car prepared to return to the Aerospace Development Committee, to think over how they would report this.

"Sir She, I have the feeling that they came here just for this."

"I know, huh, urging us to go for fundamental science. I never thought..."

The status and prestige of the three scientists were considerable, and their suggestions would wield significant influence even domestically, making it a tough situation for both men.

However, Lin Ju also felt a secret thrill. After all, the base was in dire need of a particle accelerator for the preliminary research on controlled nuclear fusion technology. The answer they got from the Academy of Sciences back then was "lacking an opportunity," and now it seemed that the opportunity was emerging.

If they could secure the accelerator, then they could master weak force control technology, and controlled nuclear fusion would then be signaling to humanity.

Academician She, seeing Lin Ju’s silent contemplation, raised an eyebrow,

"Are you also thinking about the accelerator?"

"Fundamental science always needs to be done. Our future goal is definitely to lead the world, and without this thing, we’re missing a link."

Academician She: "But it’s not that we don’t have one domestically, and it’s not small either."

Lin Ju: "But didn’t they say, existing accelerators can’t break through... that bottleneck? Below that energy level is not much use. If we build, we must build the biggest, one sufficiently powerful to probe the deepest secrets."

Academician She seemed to be persuaded and didn’t say anything in rebuttal, just sighed and said,

"This matter is not under our control; we are merely messengers. Whether or not to proceed still depends on the Academy of Sciences and the higher-ups."

"No, maybe it is related."

Academician She turned curiously to Lin Ju as he said,

"It seems that the Qingshan Base has conducted research on a Moon particle accelerator. I will ask what the situation is later; if it’s feasible, we can propose it together."