Rebirth 07: Start adding points from elementary school students

Chapter 547 Please tell me in a way I can understand
Li Yankai went berserk.

Inside the scientific research think tank, a place representing China's top scientific talents, Li Yan is making his presence felt with his legendary performance.

Starting from the first working day after the National Day, it took Li Yan just over a month to go from being a learner who didn't participate much in core projects to the protagonist of the internal meme "Please invite Li Yan to come out of retirement".

The scientific research think tank is not a formal organization, but the names recognized by it are all pillars of the country.

Most of them are the main force in national scientific research projects.

Compared with many societies and teams, this group of people is much purer. It can be understood that regardless of qualifications or management, they only care about scientific research capabilities.

If the team of academicians is the Senate with the double buff of accumulated honors and social status, then the members of the think tank are definitely the active war gods with the top combat power.

Li Yan's most outstanding achievements in front of this group of people were developing a photolithography machine and finding the optimal solution to the wall-chasing game.

Being able to make money is something from another dimension; being omnipotent is also an aspect that people don’t pay much attention to.

So his presence was not very strong at the beginning.

There is no way. Others cannot understand how easily it is for Li Yan to solve the wall-chasing game.

They also tend to regard the achievements of future technology in scientific research - in life sciences, artificial intelligence, software engineering, etc. - as the result of the collective efforts of the entire company, rather than thinking that they come from Li Yan alone.

Think tank members generally have multiple identities. In certain social identities, they respect Li Yan very much, but when it comes to their own research fields, they don’t really place Li Yan in a high position.

For example, there are several projects that sound awesome, such as controlled nuclear fusion, room-temperature superconductivity, quantum computers, etc.

Although there has not been any breakthrough progress for the time being, being entrusted as the main force in a historical breakthrough-level project, the depth of research in the relevant field is naturally among the best.

This group of people are probably the least interested in Li Yan. Since Li Yan was recommended to join, they have rarely communicated with Li Yan.

Perhaps they all feel that their development directions are different from Li Yan's. They believe that Li Yan is a pragmatist, pursuing things that can be used at the moment. It is indeed remarkable that he has solved the problem of lithography, but after all, it is an industrial achievement of mankind. If it is reproduced, its practical value is far greater than its historical value.

All the changes began with exchanges at an academic conference.

The topic of the meeting was no longer important. The protagonist was the young project leader of a famous electrochemical research laboratory in the central region.

She is a fairly pretty woman with long hair and a white coat, and looks like the type of female scientific researcher that the Sakura Country likes very much.

She is an extrovert, and when she started chatting at the table, a group of people came over to chat, both men and women, obviously a small circle.

As the person who invented the solid-state battery, Li Yan sat in the C position, but few people came up to chat with him——

Similarly, they do not think that this level of industrial achievement is the result of Li Yan’s efforts alone, and may even think that it is inappropriate for Li Yan to sit in the C position.

"I recently verified once again that electrochemical experiments are very weird." The female team leader talked freely, "I led a PhD student to study solid electrolytes and followed the methods in existing literature. I didn't expect to come up with something good."

"What?" a man asked.

"The material has the property of solid-liquid conversion at low temperature. After the conversion, the contact resistance decreases by several orders of magnitude. According to this property and trend, I think it can be published in major journals after optimization. The conversion temperature is 60 degrees! The ones published by major journals require 300 degrees. Think about the industrial value of this."

"60 degrees, that's amazing. If we can do it stably, maybe we can have a big idea for optimizing current batteries."

"That's the problem. We've been working on it for two months and we've been failing."

Everyone showed a relieved expression.

Who hasn’t had this experience when doing experiments?

The female team leader didn't even need to explain that their experiment must have kept the conditions highly consistent, including the order of adding materials, container, stirring method, stirring time, heating method, heating time, room temperature, humidity, weather...

We took everything into consideration, replicated them one by one, and even built a small room with a constant temperature in order to restore the original conditions, but still failed to do it.

This is normal. When humans conduct experiments, it is actually a matter of luck, so it is normal to have some metaphysics involved.

It's normal to give up at this point.

"I just changed the conditions and the performance of this thing reappeared!" The female team leader's voice rose eight degrees. "This made me anxious. I tried it again the next day, but it still didn't work. It failed for several months and I didn't want to continue. But I changed the conditions and it worked again!"

"Have the experimental details been recorded?" someone asked.

"I recorded it. I couldn't have recorded it any more carefully. It's a one-to-one replica." The female team leader shook her head. "I was so superstitious that I even copied the steps of the successful experiment, but I just couldn't do it."

"No results in the end?"

"No. I've been working on it for almost a year, but I just can't figure out how to do it. My PhD student has wasted a year, and I can't let him waste any more. Maybe he can figure it out by working hard, but it's too cruel to let a PhD student spend his student life working hard."

"There's really nothing we can do about it."

The female team leader laughed bitterly. "Fuck it, if I were given a chance to travel through time someday, I wouldn't want to go back to some ancient or historical event. I'd want to go back to a year ago. I'd record all the details in every possible way to see what the hell caused the change."

"It's such a pity," a man sighed, "Your research is quite valuable. I suggest you restart it. If you can succeed, you may be able to make a powerful optimization for the current solid-state batteries."

When talking about solid-state batteries, everyone inevitably looks at Li Yan who is playing with her mobile phone.

The female team leader suddenly laughed and said, "Well, what do you think of this story, Mr. Li?"

"I love hearing you tell this story. Tell it more. It's very inspiring."

What kind of inspiration can this provide?
"If you're asking about the experiment itself..." Li Yan said, "If it's convenient, please show me your experimental records."

No one expected him to say that.

Even the parties involved expressed helplessness in this experiment, so what can we learn from the records?

For those who originally thought that Li Yan was not of the same kind as them, the stereotype was now even more reinforced in their minds.

Sure enough, the way people think is different when it comes to making money. Perhaps it is because of the powerful resources that make him think that “data analysis can solve everything”?
But no matter how they actually view Li Yan, they have to give her face on the surface - they can have a thousand thoughts in their minds, but there is no reason to stand against Li Yan.

So the female team leader actually retrieved the ready-made records from the computer and sat directly next to Li Yan.

At this point the discussion at the table had ended, but the meeting host, seeing a group of people gathered around Li Yan to discuss something, tacitly agreed to extend the break.

In fact, there were only other people discussing this. Li Yan didn't say anything, but just flipped through the pages quickly.

Before the question of "what can I see by turning it this way" sprouted from her heart, the female team leader was dizzy by Li Yan's words:

"The photo of the great man on the blackboard has a serious reflective surface. The angle of sunlight is just right. There is a step in your experiment that requires high photosensitivity. This should be the reason."

There was total silence.

When Li Yan first mentioned "photos of great men", the female team leader and a group of researchers thought he was joking.

"Photosensitivity? Could it be related to this?"

"It's highly likely that you can see that the experiments you reconstruct are always difficult to get stuck at the same time point."

"Of course, I also chose to start at the same time, but it is impossible for me to perform a certain step at the same time every time."

"That's right. Judging from these on-site photos, when you first conducted the experiment, the skylight did form a relatively strong reflection on the photos. Under the influence of various factors, this state will not last long. Therefore, if your experimental operation does not complete the steps requiring high photosensitivity within a few minutes, it will not be reproducible."

The female team leader was stunned.

"But it's not eye-catching..." She almost said something vulgar.

The light intensity is not about whether it is glaring or not...

"In fact, I have also done the idea of ​​your experiment. I discovered the photosensitivity problem at that time and successfully achieved large-scale output in an environment with controlled light intensity."

Li Yan's words completely broke the female team leader's defense.

"Hmm? Mr. Li, what does this mean? Have you already done it? Low-temperature solid-liquid conversion?" "Yes, but it doesn't make sense. We have a better and more stable direction."

Before the female team leader could digest this wave of attacks, Li Yan gave her another blow:
"I also have the light intensity data. If you really want to reproduce it, I can give you the data so that you don't have to travel back. Controlling the variables can always verify it."

Since this incident, Li Yan's prestige within the scientific research think tank has been rapidly established, and everyone generally believes that the scientific research strength of the "Li Yan team" far exceeds their expectations.

Behind the results seen by the public, Li Yan has a very strong scientific research foundation.

It was only because of mass production, cost, stability, etc. that we ultimately chose a conservative expression.

The strength he showed could never be his actual peak.

If we understand this point, we will have a lot of room for imagination about what Li Yan has actually discovered.

With room for imagination, my mentality towards Li Yan naturally changed.

Until the end of the meeting, the female team leader was still in shock: “The thing I’ve been struggling with for a year turned out to be the result you gave up.”

Soon, some research teams who heard the news came to consult Li Yan about the "unsolved experimental case".

It was as if Li Yan was treated as a special doctor.

You know, when you do experiments... the variables are amazing.

Many times you think you have controlled all variables, but you don’t realize that the changes that happen right under your nose but cannot be observed are the majority of the variables.

Many experimental groups have individual legendary furnaces, which are passed down from one generation to another for ten generations, and the furnace is still there even after the teacher retires.

There are some experiments that cannot be carried out with new furnaces, advanced furnaces or clean furnaces, and can only be carried out with an old furnace with patina.

It's so dirty and full of impurities, and I don't dare to clean it up. Maybe the secret to success lies there...

No one thought he would be able to answer it.

But he really can.

"The acetaldehyde you used was not sealed properly, so it oxidized and produced a small amount of acetic acid, which was a successful catalyst."

"Ah? So simple! Holy crap, another experiment where a mistake led to success. Have you done this experiment before?"

"No, I'm just analyzing it. In your description, the acetaldehyde you used the first time was 'left over'. There's a high probability that there is a problem."

"I'll go back and verify it."

"3%, about this amount."

The above is a conversation between an anxious doctor and Li Yan, and the result was quickly and accurately verified.

So Li Yan gained a crazy fan.

He can even tell you what is actually working in the pile of impurities in an old stove based on the lab report alone.

Similar incidents occurred frequently within a month, and Li Yan became a detective of unsolved scientific experiment cases.

In fact, it is not that outrageous. Li Yan's knowledge reserves are very exaggerated, and his analytical ability is beyond ordinary people. Just like the matter of acetic acid as a catalyst, Li Yan actually knew the answer first - the moment he saw this experiment, he thought of many similar experiments, including some experiments that have never been published and have not achieved any results. Therefore, "acetic acid is a catalyst for this type of experiment" is a conclusion that he can directly deduce.

Knowing this, it is not difficult to infer that acetaldehyde was oxidized due to storage problems.

After paying enough attention to Li Yan, the top geniuses of the scientific research think tank finally understood how terrifying the combat power Li Yan possessed as an individual.

Professor Shen, one of the leaders of the quantum computer project, frequently mentioned Li Yan when bragging to old friends.

"Old Shen, I'm in administration. I don't understand the professional terms you're talking about. Please tell me in a way that I can understand how awesome this Li Yan is."

Professor Shen pondered for a long time, "Do you understand? Mathematics? We recently discussed some math problems with him."

"I don't understand. Computer, mathematics, physics, I don't understand those terms."

"In just one month, just by discussing with us, he produced 12 papers that could be published in top journals, including computer science, mathematics, physics, chemistry, and life sciences."

"I don't have a very strong concept. This kind of achievement... It's not like solving an eternal mystery."

"It is very difficult for these disciplines to produce earth-shaking results today, including the Nobel Prize, which is not something that changes the world..."

"I don't understand. I don't understand."

Professor Shen showed a helpless expression, "You old man, how can I brag about this? Got it."

He suddenly clapped his hands.

"how?"

"Young people like to explain to others how awesome Li Yan is."

As he spoke, Professor Shen took out a piece of paper with densely written symbols and numbers from his pocket, "I won't tell you what this is. Come, take a look. Can you understand it?"

"I can understand nothing, you are slandering me again."

"What do you think this thing looks like?"

"Book of Heaven."

"What about this?" Professor Shen said as he picked up a pen and wrote "2X2=?".

"Thank you for not writing 1+1 equals to what, 2X2 equals to 4, elementary school level, kindergarten level."

"Well, in our eyes, the heavenly book you just mentioned is roughly equal to 2X2=4."

"……Row."

"Young people like to say that there are four levels of difficulty in research: simple, abstract, crazy, and God's whisper. Simple ones are like 2X2=4, which are basically doable. When it comes to abstract problems, it becomes difficult. Crazy ones are those that make us frown. As for God's whisper, they are those problems that even we cannot understand, or we cannot find a way to solve."

"I'm afraid your research is just a bunch of nonsense. So what?"

"To Li Yan, these God's whispers are at best abstractions." Professor Shen showed a satisfied expression, "Do you understand? The heavenly book in your eyes is simple in our eyes. And the heavenly book in our eyes is simple in his eyes."

"Are you exaggerating?"

"Maybe a little bit, but considering the speed at which he completes his thoughts... I don't think it's that exaggerated."

"You have to find a way to bring this kind of talent into the project team!"

"I've found a way, brother," Professor Shen shook his head. "Now he's needed for every project. It's not just a matter of whether I want him or not. Besides, I have some concerns."

"What's the concern? Stealing your limelight?"

"I'm an old man, and I wish someone could steal my limelight. But Li Yan is too good. His thinking dimension is different from ours. When he does anything, his first reaction is to overturn the existing system... This is very dangerous."

"……Um?"

"Can you imagine that Lei Yuan, who is in charge of controlled nuclear fusion, tried to win him over, but he immediately decided to deny the Tokamak device?"

"Can't understand."

Professor Shen raised his eyebrows, "Well, just pretend I didn't say anything."

(End of this chapter)