I ask you to build tractors, but you build rockets?

"Wow, it looks like something from the future."

Stephen Hawking controlled his wheelchair while walking in the exhibition hall of Institute 507. When he passed by the pioneering series of space suits, he stopped and expressed his emotions on the screen.

There were not many people next to him, including less than ten people from the Aviation Development Commission and the People's Liberation Army. Lin Ju, who was nearest to him, smiled and responded:

"Our future is the future on this planet, but what you study is the real future on a cosmic scale."

Penrose: "But your future can be obtained by just tiptoeing. Our future requires the entire human civilization to wait, and perhaps what we wait for in the end is just a mistake."

"But we just kept making mistakes one after another."

Academician She, who was at the back of the crowd, stepped forward. Although their research fields were unrelated, they still had many similarities.

“Just like United Mining, we are facing an unprecedented problem for mankind. Every step is full of unknowns, but the entire country is working hard and investing huge amounts of money.

We have a saying that the road is tortuous, but the future is bright. Obviously, the future of mankind is closely related to the development of physics, but its payback period is longer than that of aerospace, but the final harvest is also greater. "

Hawking: "But the road of physics is not only tortuous, but also gradually narrowing. Most of the theories we create now are based on other unproven theories, and the road ahead has become a dead end."

Hawking and Penrose also have the title of thinker, and the latter would make the inference a few years later that "death is just an illusion and life is eternal", so the topic involuntarily shifted more and more towards philosophy. , Lin Ju could only watch a few old men discussing the truth of life.

On the next day, they also took Hawking to visit the Jingu Rocket Manufacturing Base. The final agenda was to go to the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Site to watch the launch of the giant rocket on September 13 - there were two more service modules for the Qianjin. Once manufactured, they will be launched one after another within a week, and the two H2M space shuttles are also ready.

Before going to Jiuquan, Hawking made a request to chat with Academicians Lin Ju and She. Although the latter were a little surprised, they agreed obediently.

The meeting place was in the hotel under the belt. When Lin Ju and Academician She went in, they found that not only Hawking was there, but Penrose and Rolf Hull were also there, as well as a translator.

Both of them were a little unfamiliar with Hull, but when the other party took the initiative to introduce himself, they realized that he was one of the main leaders of the European Hadron Collider LHC, and they immediately felt admiration.

The LHC has cost 21 billion euros since its construction in 1995. More than 7,000 scientists and engineers from more than 80 countries participated. For the development of cutting-edge physics, countless cutting-edge physicists and more than 2,500 scholars from all walks of life worked hard to finally complete it. .

The two of them had just entered and sat down when Roger Penrose said something shocking:

"We hope to build the largest particle accelerator in mankind in China and mobilize scientists from all over the world to provide support."

After listening to the translation, Lin Ju and Academician She looked at each other. Although they were thinking about the purpose before coming, they really did not think of this level.

Chinese scientists suggest that we build the largest accelerator?

Seeing the confused looks of the two people, Hull 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. Since you have invested heavily in aerospace, you must have also prepared a basic science construction plan.

FAST is an amazing achievement, and we think the next step should be a particle accelerator, so here are some suggestions. "

Unprepared, Lin Ju could only ask tentatively: "Then why don't you suggest Europe and America to build it?"

Penrose: “The LHC has only been in operation for about ten years, so it is still in its prime, and it will definitely not invest in new accelerators.

But we are worried about the future. You have great pursuit of science and strong industrial capabilities. There is no need to repeat our results. Instead, you should directly build a super accelerator that can reveal the most microscopic secrets. "

"How big is it?"

Penrose: “A super accelerator that can accelerate protons to an energy level above 250 Tev and with a circumference of more than 100 kilometers will definitely bring about new breakthroughs in physics.

If you decide to build such an accelerator, the entire scientific community will provide you with all technical and financial support. This is truly for all mankind. "

The circumference is 100 kilometers, which is more than three times that of the LHC.

Academician She's first reaction was to shake his head. Based on the current situation in the country, it would probably require an investment of more than 50 billion yuan. Moreover, this is really a pure investment with no return at all. The annual maintenance and use costs in the future will be mind-numbing. .

But Lin Ju spoke up in time to stop his actions:

"Three gentlemen, I'm afraid you have to convince some people. There are also some scientists in our country who are opposed to building an accelerator."

…

It was already late at night when Lin Ju and Academician She left. The two were sitting in the car preparing to return to the Aviation Development Committee first to think about how to report.

"Mr. She, I feel like they came here just for this matter."

"I know it too. Hehe, he advised us to engage in basic science. I really didn't expect it."

The status and reputation of the three scientists are quite high, and their proposals will have great impact even in the country, which makes both of them feel a little troublesome.

But at the same time, Lin Ju felt a little happy. After all, the base also urgently needed a particle accelerator to conduct pre-technical research on controllable nuclear fusion. At that time, the answer he received from the Academy of Sciences was that "there is no opportunity." But now it seems that this opportunity It's about to appear.

Once the accelerator is solved, the weak force control technology is solved, and controllable nuclear fusion is beckoning to mankind.

Academician She looked at Lin Ju who was silent and raised his eyebrows:

"Are you also thinking about getting an accelerator?"

"Basic science always needs to be done. Our goal in the future is definitely to lead the world. Without this, there is a missing link."

Academician She: “But it’s not that it doesn’t exist in China, and it’s not small anymore.”

Lin Ju: "But didn't they say that existing accelerators can't break through...whatever bottlenecks there are. It's useless if the energy level is lower than that. If you want to build one, you have to build one that is the largest and can penetrate the deepest secrets."

Academician She seemed to be convinced, and in the end he did not say anything to refute, but just sighed:

"This matter is not our responsibility. We are just messengers. Whether we really want to do it depends on the wishes of the Academy of Sciences and the higher authorities."

"No, maybe it's related."

Academician She turned his head curiously and listened to Lin Ju say:

"There seems to be research on a lunar particle accelerator at Qingshan Base. I will ask about the situation later and report it together if possible."