Siheyuan: I eat melons while doing scientific research

Chapter 1333 Junior Sister Luo's Happiness is Simple (4k)

Greed deserves to be struck by lightning! Bring on the thunder and lightning!
At this moment, the comrades from the Naval Equipment Bureau vividly demonstrated what it means to say, "Left eye twitching? Left eye twitching means good fortune! Right eye twitching? That's feudal superstition!"

Gao Zhendong, of course, was unaware of his inner thoughts, and simply said, "Actually, it's quite simple, it's still the clone technique!"

Or is it a clone technique? Then I understand, but...

"Place two passive radars at the bow and stern respectively? But wouldn't that make the system too complicated?"

Gao Zhendong shook his head: "No, even Sun Wukong's clone technique has different effects depending on the hair he creates. Our clone technique also needs to be modified!"

Well, Chief Engineer Gao must really love Journey to the West.

Gao Zhendong didn't care how much they thought they liked Journey to the West: "This time, we're really going to distribute the radar across several ships. Actually, it's not really about distributing it; the radar on each ship is the same. It's just that they can use data links and time synchronization to jointly calculate their respective data. It's triangulation, you all should understand."

In fact, the whole music station system follows this pattern: active radar + passive radar + collaborative data link.

What no one expected was that the military data link had not been fully implemented yet, and the existing tactical messaging system was still somewhat inadequate for this level of application, so no one had even considered it.

To put it bluntly, it's because we haven't developed the habit of using it, so we don't subconsciously think about it in that way.

Even if you're not a military enthusiast in the 21st century, your first thought would be to connect to the internet.

But when Gao Zhendong mentioned it, the comrades immediately realized what he meant.

"That's good. Large-scale naval operations can't be carried out by a single ship. Several ships working together makes calculating distance and position much simpler." The reason why triangulation is so useful is that, apart from the requirement for the number of positioning points, it has no other requirements.

However, what they said is not entirely correct. A single ship can travel around the world and withstand a fleet in low-intensity conditions, but the requirements for the ship are quite high. Even if our comrades are optimistic, they would never have imagined that we would have such a day.

"Yes, the distance between the two ships is always greater than the distance between antennas on the same ship, which is beneficial for triangulation."

"But we still need to set up the data link from scratch, though it shouldn't be too difficult."

Upon hearing this, Gao Zhendong interjected, "You don't need to worry about the data link. The military communications institute is working on it and is close to achieving results. You can use it. The bandwidth isn't very high, but it's definitely enough for you."

The two ships mainly exchange information that they have already processed for each other's use, rather than exchanging all the information received by the radar. This means that a large bandwidth is not required. Instead, reliability, communication range, and availability are more important.

Compared to them, the current application situation of other military branches is similar. In Gao Zhendong's view, bandwidth requirements are not high. The first thing to solve is reliability, availability and distance, which is also the focus of Juntong.

"How much communication bandwidth?" the comrade from the radar institute asked curiously.

"1Mbps, that's all we can do for now," Gao Zhendong said with a hint of regret.

The comrades gasped in shock. Clearly, they had underestimated Chief Engineer Gao's ability to make exorbitant demands in this regard. The "bandwidth not very high" that Chief Engineer Gao said was completely different from the "not high" they had imagined.

"1Mbps? That's huge?" That was the reaction of the comrades.

It's no wonder that people were surprised. Before this, they were already enjoying the speed of 1200bps to 2400bps lines. This sudden increase of hundreds or even thousands of times is astonishing to anyone.

"Yes, it's not very big, but it's enough for now."

Listening to Gao Zhendong's words, which still carried a hint of regret, the comrades felt that it wasn't that they didn't understand, but that the world was changing too fast.

Regardless, hearing this news from Chief Engineer Gao was undoubtedly highly credible, and the comrades were all excited.

"If that's the case, we can exchange much more than just this little bit of location data, hahaha~~~~~~" They weren't involved in shipborne command systems, but they still understood the basic principles.

The comrades from the Naval Equipment Bureau seemed to understand better: "If that's the case, then the comrades who are currently working on shipborne command systems would probably jump for joy."

It's not just the Naval Equipment Bureau; the three services have already reaped considerable benefits in joint operations using only the current slow and incomplete tactical messaging and communication system. Upon hearing that a tactical data link with a speed increased a thousandfold is under development and that progress is quite promising, they can't sit still any longer.

As for why they can judge the progress to be optimistic, it's mainly because the source of this information is too reliable. If Chief Engineer Gao says it's optimistic, then it must be optimistic.

Gao Zhendong smiled and said, "The Military Communications Institute will make unified arrangements for this matter. There should be a briefing before it is successful. They haven't finished yet and dare not say anything, mainly because they are afraid of disappointing our comrades. It's normal to have concerns when you first start working on this kind of thing. However, I think you can do some research on your own in secret, that is, to what extent your command system can be improved under these conditions."

While the Military Communications Institute dared not speak for itself, Gao Zhendong had no concerns. Moreover, even if the Military Communications Institute's data link research failed this time, it would eventually succeed. It was not a big deal for the Navy to conduct some preliminary research in advance; on the contrary, it was putting them ahead of the curve.

As for whether the Naval Equipment Bureau should notify the comrades working on shipborne command systems to also consider it ahead of time, that's their prerogative. They have the right and responsibility to arrange their equipment research plans, what business is it of mine, Gao?
While he could speak so shamelessly, Gao Zhendong would never act so shamelessly. He added to his colleagues at the Naval Equipment Bureau, "You can say that it was my request, that I felt it was necessary to conduct some preliminary research and make some advance considerations in the shipborne command system under these conditions."

"Great! Thank you so much, Chief Engineer Gao!" The comrades from the Naval Equipment Bureau were beaming with joy; the matter was settled!
After seeing his comrades off, Gao Zhendong was in a good mood. He was watching things progress step by step. If everything went smoothly, the combined air and sea forces could force the Americans to leave more than 600 kilometers away. That would make many things much easier.

To reiterate, when fighting against an adversary of roughly equal technological level, aircraft carriers have no advantage over shore-based air forces except for certain aspects of maneuverability. This is even more true in the case of joint naval and air operations.

After all, the loss of a ship's aircraft is a significant loss, while the loss of a land-based aircraft is not necessarily the case, especially when facing a truly powerful nation.

Gao Zhendong went home happily, while Lou Xiao'e and the other women in the laboratory were even happier than him.

"Senior Sister Lou! Senior Sister Lou! The molecular weight of our Wan-23 has been determined!" Junior Sister Luo ran up to Lou Xiao'e excitedly, waving a piece of paper.

Although Lou Xiao'e was a latecomer to the field of antibiotics, while Luo Shimei was a true professional with formal training, Lou Xiao'e's performance impressed her greatly, and she called her "Senior Sister Lou" so fluently.

"It's out? How much is it?"

"Similar to vancomycin, they don't seem to be that different." Junior Sister Luo frowned. If the molecular weights were similar, then things would be troublesome. If the molecular weights were significantly different, it would mean that the two had different molecular formulas, and this would allow for further research into their differences.

If the molecular weight difference is not significant, after considering the influence of error, it means that the molecular formulas of the two are consistent. In that case, we need to work on the structure, which is much more complicated.

Given the current environment and their own capabilities, they are somewhat struggling to study molecular structures.

Lou Xiao'e was about to say something when she suddenly remembered Gao Zhendong. Her husband had a habit of being sloppy when he needed to be, but extremely meticulous when he needed to be.

Both vancomycin and vancomycin-23 are clearly large molecules. In this case, a slight difference in the molecular weight determination results represents many possibilities, such as error or difference.

The former is useless, but the latter is not necessarily so.

"How much is it exactly?" Lou Xiao'e asked.

"After multiple tests, the molecular weight difference between Vancomycin and Van-23 has remained stable at around 1%."

1%... This number left Lou Xiao'e speechless. Considering her own capabilities and the equipment she was using, this figure seemed like an error, and a consistently stable 1% difference made it seem more like an unavoidable systematic error...

No wonder Junior Sister Luo looked somewhat dejected; this number is indeed disheartening.

wrong!

Just as Lou Xiao'e thought of this, she realized another possibility: the stable difference might be due to systematic error, but there was another possibility—the two were originally this different!

"Is this 1% difference within 1% fluctuation, or is it a fixed deviation in a certain direction?" Lou Xiao'e asked hopefully, seeking more details.

Looking at her expression, Junior Sister Luo seemed to realize something as well. In short, if Senior Sister Lou felt there was hope for this matter, then there might actually be some hope. She knew that Senior Sister Lou was much better than her in this regard.

"Let me see... Senior Sister Lou! It's a fixed 1% lower!"

Junior Sister Luo's tone became increasingly cheerful, and if it became rhythmic, there might be a problem!
"What is the molecular weight of vancomycin?" Lou Xiao'e's heart pounded.

"1450 g/mol!" Without hesitation, Luo immediately reported the molar mass of vancomycin, which is the same as its molecular weight. Vancomycin is a large molecule, so its molecular weight is naturally not small.

Lou Xiao'e's eyes lit up: "1450... This number sounds a bit strange, 1%... 1% of 1450, that's about 14... Hahahaha, I know!"

1450 is not very useful here, but 1% of 1450 is very useful.

"Senior Sister Lou, what did you find?" I still can't figure it out. Senior Sister Lou has already discovered the problem, but I still can't see anything.

"14. In terms of molecular weight, they differ by exactly one methyl group! That is to say, our Van-23 may differ from vancomycin by one methyl group! If so, then our Van-23 is a new antibiotic, homologous to vancomycin but different!"

The molecular weight of a methyl group is 15, but after deducting the hydrogen atom that is replaced by the methyl group, the molecular weight changes by exactly 14 when there is one less methyl group!

1% of 1450 is 14.5. Considering the margin of error, this 1% difference is really too coincidental!

Don't underestimate the difference that comes from just one less methyl group; it can make a big difference. After all, toluene and trinitrotoluene are only different by the nitro group.

However, in order to confirm that the two things are different, in addition to molecular weight, there is another piece of evidence.

"Junior Sister Luo, have the results of the drug efficacy test come out yet?"

"Not all of them are available, but some data has come out." Efficacy trials need to be combined with clinical trials. Vancomycin is not used as much as penicillin, so the data is naturally not as abundant.

"Never mind, let's take a look!" Lou Xiao'e said excitedly.

The two ran to the computer and started browsing the existing drug efficacy comparison data.

"It's different! It's different! To achieve a similar effect, Van-23 only requires about 80% of the amount of vancomycin!" Although the data was incomplete, it didn't stop them from finding a general pattern.

Perhaps the difference made by just one methyl group is that significant!
Lou Xiao'e became excited: "Hahaha, our comrades working on Vancomycin-23 are unaware that they're sitting on a treasure trove. What they've discovered is most likely a new vancomycin that is related to vancomycin but also has certain differences! It's similar to penicillin G and penicillin V."

Both G and V are penicillins, but penicillin G is more effective but unstable and can only be injected, while penicillin V is less effective but more stable and is mainly taken orally.

Junior Sister Luo was completely oblivious to the implications: "Senior Sister Lou, isn't that still vancomycin? Why are you so happy!"

Luo Shimei didn't understand the intricacies, but Lou Xiao'e, who had been following Gao Zhendong for a long time and had been influenced by him, knew it perfectly well.

"This means that we can have a self-developed drug with the same antibacterial spectrum as vancomycin, better efficacy, but completely avoiding the vancomycin drug patent! This is very beneficial for both our own use and export!"

Vancomycin lives up to its imposing name. Whether in Chinese or English, its name is very powerful. This stuff has remained a member of the last-line antibiotics until the 21st century.

"Senior Sister Lou, do you mean we might have discovered a new antibiotic that targets drug-resistant bacteria?" Junior Sister Luo was stunned; happiness had come too suddenly.

Lou Xiao'e smiled and shook her head, correcting, "It was our comrades who discovered a new type of antibiotic; we're just helping them to clarify its name." Lou Xiao'e was very meticulous, as she hadn't discovered Wan-23 herself.

Junior Sister Luo's happiness, however, was much simpler: "Whoever finds out, we've already done quite a bit, hehehe~~~~~"

"Junior Sister Luo, let's figure out how to make the molecular formula next!" Lou Xiao'e said with high spirits, the battle was not over yet.

(End of this chapter)