Homo sapiens

Japan, Tokyo.

May 11th.

Because of the influence of the Tokyo fungus, biological research institutions around the world are conducting in-depth research on various characteristics of the fungus.

According to the information disclosed so far, Tokyo Fungi has relatively comprehensive data on various plastic products and the decomposition speed of various plastic products in different environments.

The three large companies that met in Tokyo today also got the data they wanted to know.

These three companies are: America's Tyco, France's Alcatel-Lucent, and Japan's NEC.

Perhaps many people don't know what they do, because their products rarely appear directly in daily life, but anyone who has used computers and mobile phones has indirectly used the products of these three companies.

Tyco, Alcatel-Lucent, and NEC are the three giants in the world's submarine cable engineering industry, and have almost contracted about 90% of the world's submarine optical cable and cable construction projects.

However, this pattern is based on data before Homo sapiens was officially established.

After Homo sapiens officially debuted last year, it established the Coral Submarine Cable Company, which is responsible for the construction of submarine cable projects within the territory of Homo sapiens and its affiliated areas.

Although Europe and the United States are very hostile to Homo sapiens and will basically not hand over submarine cable projects to Coral Cable, the three submarine cable giants can barely keep their base.

But this time, as soon as the Tokyo fungus assessment report came out, the top executives of Tyco, Alcatel-Lucent, and NEC hurriedly held a secret meeting in Tokyo.

Inside NEC's headquarters building.

The atmosphere in the conference room was solemn and depressing.

As the host, NEC President Nobuyoshi Takeda had a very serious expression: "Everyone, everyone has seen the results of the assessment report. Although the corrosion rate of fungi on the plastic protective layer of submarine optical cables is slower than in tropical areas, it still cannot be ignored."

At present, the plastic protective layer of submarine optical cables they often use can only last 6 to 8 years when the seabed is completely exposed.

If this were the case, Tyco, Alcatel-Lucent, and NEC would not be too nervous.

The problem is that the areas that are prone to corrosion are not in shallow seas where they are easy to replace, but on the seabed with a depth of more than 500 meters.

The reason why this situation occurs is mainly related to the laying method of submarine optical cables.

Submarine optical cables in shallow waters are usually laid buried in order to prevent the optical cable from being easily discovered or being cut off by the ship's anchor plow, and the optical cable will be covered with a layer of sediment.

It is precisely because of the existence of this layer of sediment that the rate at which submarine optical cables are corroded by fungi has dropped significantly, and it can last for about 20 to 30 years.

This time is close to the service life of the submarine optical cable, so there is no need to worry too much.

The real problem is actually the submarine optical cables that appear in the deep sea. Because the submarine optical cables in the deep sea are directly exposed to the sea water and are not buried with sand at all, fungi can use the oxygen and minerals in the sea water to build up the protective layer of plastic in the sea. reproduce in large numbers.

Thales, the president of Tyco Corporation, raised his glasses: "We have no way to use buried construction for submarine optical cables with a depth of more than 500 meters."

Even if a nuclear submarine is borrowed from the US military, the maximum working depth is only about 1,200 meters.

Some submarine optical cables need to pass through ultra-deep waters similar to the Luzon Trench, Mariana Trench, and Solomon Trench.

Unless they are willing to redesign the route and change it all to a shallow sea route.

The problem is that the consequence of this is that the cost will explode, and some areas will be unable to connect to submarine optical cables.

Takeda Nobuyoshi looked at others with a headache, hoping that they could come up with a solution, otherwise he would not be able to place orders for submarine optical cables this year.

One of the NEC executives said with some uncertainty: "I heard that Homo sapiens has developed an engineering submarine that can go deep into the seabed for construction about 3,000 meters."

"Haha, even if there is such a submarine, do you think Homo Sapien Company will sell it to us?" Thales asked with a sneer.

Suddenly the conference room was silent.

After a while, Alcatel-Lucent President Henry Perrin knocked on the table: "Can the material of the plastic protective layer be improved to achieve anti-fungal effects?"

The head of NEC's scientific research department thought for a while: "Among the currently known chemicals that can effectively inhibit the reproduction of this fungus are potassium permanganate and copper hydroxide. Potassium permanganate is soluble in water, and copper hydroxide It is easily decomposed by heat and is not suitable as an antimicrobial agent for submarine optical cables."

Thales gritted his teeth: "Damn it! This fungus appeared too suddenly."

The executives of the three companies discussed it for a long time, but still could not come up with a solution.

Engineering options either require a detour or require deep-diving engineering submarines.

As for the antibacterial plastic solution, there is currently no suitable antibacterial agent.

Now they can only watch helplessly as a group of land-based cable and optical cable manufacturers eat meat, but they can't even drink soup. This is really uncomfortable.

Originally last year, Internet giants such as Google, Microsoft, and Fei Die began to lay out their submarine optical cable business, preparing to recover through self-operation and further expand their business territory.

These Internet giants themselves do not have the ability to lay submarine optical cables, so they can only outsource bidding.

Tyco, Alcatel-Lucent, and NEC have been eyeing this piece of meat last year, and have frequently contacted Internet giants such as Google, hoping to win these submarine optical cable projects.

Unfortunately, the emergence of a Tokyo fungus directly devastated the global plastics industry.

Coupled with the sequelae of the economic crisis, Internet giants have become more cautious about the layout of submarine optical cables.

The plastic protective layer of deep-sea submarine optical cables can only last 6 to 8 years. This situation has made many companies operating submarine optical cables very anxious and very entangled.

After all, I want to repair it now, but there is no plan to extend the service life of the plastic protective layer.

If we don’t repair it, it will be even more troublesome to repair it intensively after six or seven years.

Many areas already have a solution for terrestrial cable transformation, which is to use copper hydroxide mixed with paint and then apply it on the surface of the cable. As long as special paint is applied regularly, the plastic protective layer of the cable can be replaced without replacing it. The service life is extended to about 15 to 17 years.

Especially in mid- and high-latitude areas with cold weather, the service life can be extended to about 30 years.

As for why it is not more than 30 years old, it is mainly because the plastic itself will also age. If the plastic wire sheath is used for about 30 years, it can basically be scrapped.

However, submarine optical cables are different from land cables. Various components in seawater can easily decompose copper hydroxide, causing the antibacterial coating to fail.

This situation has caused headaches for Tyco, Alcatel-Lucent, and NEC. Even though they have invested a lot of research funds, they still have not come up with a cost-effective solution.

If the fungal corrosion problem is not solved for one day, they will not be able to get projects. After all, those companies that operate submarine optical cables are not taken advantage of.

Now major submarine optical cable operating companies are holding the view that they would rather wait than continue to build additional submarine optical cables at this time.

This has resulted in Tyco, Alcatel-Lucent, and NEC not signing a project in the past six months.

As a private enterprise, they are not a giant like Homo sapiens, and there is no way to maintain it through internal circulation.

At this moment, an NEC employee hurriedly walked in and said a few words in the ear of President Nobuyoshi Takeda.

Suddenly Takeda Nobuyoshi's expression changed drastically.

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