At around six o'clock in the evening, a sudden voice echoed in Jiang Fan's mind.
【System】: "Congratulations, host! You have successfully completed the task and have earned the 'Overnight Capsule.' Would you like to use it?"
"Yes, use it!" Jiang Fan replied.
As his words fell, a silver light filled his mind, and a dialogue box appeared before him. He focused his consciousness and clicked it open. The screen displayed that the capsule could offset 10,000 hours of sleep deprivation, helping to prevent bodily harm from staying up late.
Jiang Fan chuckled. With this miraculous item, he would no longer need to worry about damaging his body from staying up all night!
With the task completed, there was no need to stay any longer with Qiao Yifei. He quickly found an excuse and said, "Thank you, Qiao Yifei, for showing me around Huaqing University today, but I have something else to attend to. I must be going now."
Qiao Yifei was momentarily taken aback. Just moments ago, Jiang Fan had shared so much about nanotechnology—knowledge she had never encountered before. Now, he was suddenly leaving?
What puzzled her even more was how, when it came to nanomaterials, Jiang Fan seemed to know more than her own uncle, Qiao Shan! The principles of the nanotech he had described, while she couldn't fully verify them, seemed to be correct based on her intuition.
Before Qiao Yifei could fully process her thoughts, her phone rang.
"Uncle!" she answered.
"Yifei, have you managed to handle Jiang Fan?" came Qiao Shan's voice.
"Uncle, not yet, but have you ever heard of the Nano-Optical Interference Measurement Technology?" she asked.
"Nano-optical interference measurement?" Qiao Shan repeated, intrigued.
Qiao Yifei briefly described the technology Jiang Fan had mentioned. After she finished, Qiao Shan fell into deep thought. This was the first time he had heard of such a technology, and from a theoretical standpoint, it seemed promising. If this optical interference measurement technology was feasible, it would certainly surpass the atomic force microscopy technology he was currently researching by more than one level!
Excited by the possibilities, Qiao Shan said, "Yifei, come to the Nano-Tech Lab immediately. I believe the feasibility of what you're describing is very high!"
Qiao Yifei hung up, shocked. Could Jiang Fan be correct? But how could a high school student know so much about such advanced nanotechnology?
However, she had no time to ponder this; she needed to rush to the lab. Her uncle probably wanted to conduct an experiment to verify the technology.
...
Back at the First Research Institute, Jiang Fan went to visit Zhou Huaide. Upon knocking on the door, he was hit with a cloud of smoke that nearly made him choke. Inside, Zhou Huaide was sitting on the couch, leisurely puffing on a cigarette.
Seeing the troubled expression on Zhou Huaide's face, Jiang Fan asked, "Cough, cough... Uncle Zhou, is something wrong?"
"Ah, Jiang Fan, come in and sit," Zhou Huaide said, realizing his oversight and opening the window to let the smoke escape. After Jiang Fan took a seat, Zhou Huaide poured him a glass of water and slowly explained, "We weren't able to secure the research funding, and the higher-ups have decided to pause the controlled nuclear fusion project."
"Pause?" Jiang Fan was stunned. He hadn't anticipated this. He thought the worst-case scenario would be the government denying the funding, but not only was the funding denied, the entire controlled nuclear fusion project was put on hold!
If this were the case, the controlled nuclear fusion technology that the system had rewarded him with would be impossible to achieve.
"Uncle Zhou, did you show that information to the higher-ups?" Jiang Fan asked.
"I did, and it even had signatures from the experts at yesterday's meeting. But the higher-ups said they couldn't help. This was a collective decision made by several leaders in the country's scientific funding department!" Zhou Huaide sighed.
Without funding, controlled nuclear fusion could not be developed.
"Is there really no other way?" Jiang Fan asked, unwilling to give up.
Sighing deeply, Zhou Huaide replied, "No, there isn't."
Jiang Fan fell silent, lost in thought. He couldn't give up. The breakthrough of controlled nuclear fusion was essential for the future of technology. Controlled nuclear fusion was a new form of energy, and even a small energy device could output a tremendous amount of power!
For example, modern aircraft carriers relied on conventional fuel like oil to operate, consuming vast amounts of it to power the massive ships. Yet, their kinetic energy conversion was limited.
But with controlled nuclear fusion, the output power would be immense, able to rapidly accelerate a 70,000-ton aircraft carrier to great speeds.
This was just one of the many potential applications of controlled nuclear fusion. Once the technology matured, it would revolutionize every aspect of human life!
Seeing Jiang Fan's dejected expression, Zhou Huaide's heart sank further.
"However, the higher-ups have mentioned a condition," Zhou Huaide continued, "If we can make it work, they'll reconsider my funding application. But this condition is nearly impossible to fulfill!"
Jiang Fan's eyes lit up with hope at the mention of a possible opportunity. "What condition?" he asked urgently.
"The higher-ups said we must stabilize nuclear fusion for 100 seconds within a month," Zhou Huaide explained.
"Stabilize nuclear fusion for 100 seconds?" Jiang Fan repeated, stunned.
"Yes, 100 seconds. It's impossible. Currently, we haven't even managed to stabilize fusion for a single second at our base," Zhou Huaide lamented.
"I can do it," Jiang Fan said firmly, looking Zhou Huaide in the eye.
"Really?" Zhou Huaide exclaimed, a surge of excitement flooding through him, but he quickly regained his composure.
It was hard to believe. The key to controlled nuclear fusion was maintaining the fusion reaction of deuterium and tritium nuclei at a critical point, with constant energy output. The plasma temperature had to reach 440 million degrees, and the pulse fusion output power had to exceed 16 megawatts. The technology behind controlled nuclear fusion involved keeping these variables stable. Any fluctuation in temperature could cause the reaction to fail.
Although Jiang Fan had the formula and principles for controlled nuclear fusion, it would still require billions in funding to develop. However, with the higher-ups refusing to allocate any funds, achieving the goal seemed almost impossible.
"Jiang Fan, I believe your theory is correct. But even if we only have one year to develop controlled nuclear fusion, without any funding, it's going to be incredibly hard," Zhou Huaide sighed.
"I understand, Uncle Zhou. But with just one month and with the current equipment and materials, I believe we can stabilize the fusion for 100 seconds," Jiang Fan said calmly.
Zhou Huaide paused and considered this. Indeed, they had already invested over 30 billion, and the necessary equipment and materials were still in place.
His excitement surged once again. He grabbed Jiang Fan's hand and said, "Jiang Fan, this is it. We have one last shot! Tomorrow, I'll take you to the northern base!"
YOU ARE READING
Rebirth: Controlled Nuclear Fusion
Science FictionAchieving high scores is not frightening; it is the mastery of one's scores that is truly daunting. Reborn as a young scientist, the protagonist submits partial formulas and data for controlled nuclear fusion in order to gain admission to a prestigi...