"Let's go, go to the Materials Research Institute~"

Seeing this, Qin Yi knew that there was no problem with the theoretical research of the warp engine, and the next thing was the most critical material problem.

The three major difficulties of the warp engine, one is the theoretical research, this is the most basic thing, because the theory determines the direction and height, the more science develops, the more important the theory, without the support of the theory, many things are no way to continue to study.

The second is the energy problem, the warp engine is simple, its principle is actually very simple, it is nothing more than the use of powerful energy to resonate in space, so as to fold the space, and then use the powerful energy to directly open the space, form a space wormhole, through the space wormhole directly and quickly across a long distance.

How much energy does it take to make the space resonate, fold, and open the space wormhole, you know with your toes how huge the energy required is, and it is absolutely impossible to support the warp engine without strong energy.

Fortunately, controlled fusion technology has long been developed, and theoretically the energy produced by controlled fusion is second only to the energy produced during the annihilation of antimatter, which is the source of star energy, enough to meet the powerful energy needs of the warp engine.

The third problem is the material problem, the second generation of anti-gravity engine is already extremely harsh on the material, the material required by the warp engine, it is definitely not an ordinary material, it must be a theoretical degenerate material.

Degenerate materials, also known as degenerate substances, are high-density states of matter, and the pressure of degenerate substances mainly comes from Pauli's incompatibility principle, which is called degenerate pressure.

This is the degenerate material, which is a material that needs to be made from an atomic point of view.

The development of science and technology has made it possible to synthesize materials at the atomic scale, such as atomic clusters, cluster materials, linear chains, multilayer heterostructures, ultra-thin films, etc., which are characterized by low dimensionality, reduced symmetry, and significant geometric features.

But it is only possible, when it is really actually operated, it is difficult to really say that the material you need from the perspective of the atom, the unit of the atom is too small, and the current science and technology can only achieve the nanometer level at most, and the atom is much smaller than the nanometer.

First of all, we have to understand their size, nanometer is nanometer in English, abbreviated as nanometer, nanometer is a unit of length, 1 nanometer is one billionth of a meter, recorded as nm.

1 nanometer is equal to the length of 10 hydrogen atoms lined up next to each other, and because the diameter of each atom is different, 1 nanometer may be equal to the length of the arrangement of atoms of dozens of other elements.

20 nanometers is equivalent to almost 1/3000th of a hair.

What we usually call nanotechnology refers to the technology that studies the specific phenomena and functions of substances in the nanoscale (100 nanometers to 0.1 nanometers), and creates new materials by directly manipulating and arranging atoms and molecules.

The emergence of nanotechnology is first due to the invention of scanning tunneling microscope (STM), which can magnify tens of millions of times, which allows scientists to observe the microscopic world from a nano perspective.

Since the early 90s of the 20th century, nanotechnology has developed rapidly, such as nanoelectronics, nanomaterials, nanomechanics, nanobiology and other new disciplines have been emerging, nanotechnology is one of the nine sciences predicted by scientists to change human history in the future.

In fact, today's scientists are able to observe information at the atomic level through STM technology and have a certain impact on the structure of atomic arrangement.

For example, in April 1990, two scientists from IBM in North America used STM to observe the xenon atoms on the surface of nickel metal, inspired by the movement of probes and xenon atoms, and tried to use the STM tip to move the xenon atoms adsorbed on the nickel metal, and arranged 35 xenon atoms on the surface of the nickel to form an "IBM" structure with a height of 5 atoms.

Scientists from the Huaxia Academy of Sciences also used nanotechnology to create the world's smallest map of the Huaxia region by moving carbon atoms on the surface of graphite, which is less than 10 nanometers in size.

Since then, scientists have been very interested in moving atoms in various patterns, such as silicon atoms, sulfur atoms, iron atoms, carbon monoxide molecules, iron-based molecules......

From here, we can know that what scientists can achieve at present is to move some atoms a little and pose various patterns on the surface of the object, which cannot really create and construct the atomic structure in a three-dimensional sense, and at the same time, there is no way to create new materials from the atomic perspective on a large scale and quickly.

But even so, it is only possible to move some atoms and arrange some atoms on the surface, and scientists have also created a variety of complex nanomaterials, such as artificially arranging the structure of copper atoms on the surface of copper, which can also increase the strength of copper by 5 times.

We all know that diamond is diamond and graphite, coke, they are composed of the same atom, that is, carbon atoms, but the properties of these materials are very different, in terms of hardness alone, diamond is the hardest material in nature, and the hardness of graphite and coke is very low.

The reason for this difference is the structure of the carbon atoms, the atomic structure of diamond, each carbon atom forms a covalent bond with the other 4 carbon atoms in the SP3 hybrid orbital, forming a tetrahedron.

Because the C-C bond in diamond is very strong, the diamond has high hardness and extremely high melting point; And because all the valence electrons are confined to the covalent bond region and there are no free electrons, diamond does not conduct electricity.

In the graphite structure, the carbon atoms in the same layer are hybridized by sp2 to form covalent bonds, and each carbon atom is connected to three other atoms with three covalent bonds. The six carbon atoms form a regular hexagram ring on the same plane, which stretches into a lamellar structure.

Here the bond length of the C-C bond is 142pm, which is exactly in the bond length range of atomic crystals, so for the same layer, it is an atomic crystal.

The carbon atoms in the same plane each have a p orbital left, they overlap each other, and the electrons are relatively free, which is equivalent to the free electrons in the metal, so graphite can conduct heat and electricity, which is the characteristic of metal crystals.

To put it simply, the carbon atom structure of diamond is three-dimensional, and all carbon atoms directly form a tetrahedron with each other, which is a three-dimensional structure.

The structure of graphite is that the carbon atoms form a regular hexagonal ring on the same plane, forming a lamellar structure, that is, layers of carbon atoms, but there is no connection between the carbon atoms between the layers, which is a planar structure.

A three-dimensional tetrahedral structure and a planar hexagonal structure cause a huge difference in the material properties between diamond and graphite, and their value is also different.

The selling price of diamond is calculated by carats, and the price of graphite is calculated by tons, and the difference in value is hundreds of millions of times!

If you want to study the materials used in the warp engine, you need to build the material from the perspective of the atom and turn decay into magic, for example, if the atomic angle of iron is also like diamond, and turn it into a regular tetrahedral three-dimensional structure, then what kind of material will be obtained?

This science and technology is also the technology that Xinghan material scientists are most keen to research, and a variety of powerful new materials are also emerging in endlessly, but so far scientists are only able to show that a few atoms are moving to form an atomic layer on a plane, and there is no way to really carry out the atomic structure on the three-dimensional.

Now that the first two conditions are ripe, there is one last step before the warp engine becomes a reality, that is, to develop a powerful degenerate material that can support the warp engine.

Once the degenerate state material can be studied and the warp speed engine can be manufactured, although the starry sky of the universe is vast and bright, it can no longer stop the progress of the descendants of Yan and Huang.

Soon, accompanied by Liu Peiqiang, Qin Yi came to the Xinghan National Institute of Materials Science and found Ren Qing, the head of the institute, Ren Qing is an old man in the era of Galaxy Technology Group, and he was also the first material scientist to join Galaxy Technology Group.

At this time, Ren Qing, like Qin Yi, was already in her 70s, but as before, the years did not leave any traces on her body, and she was still very beautiful and beautiful.

All this is naturally because of the effect of the genetic optimization solution, she injected the genetic optimization solution relatively early, and the effect is naturally very good, and she looks the same as her 20s in her 70s.

But a scientist of her age is the pinnacle of a scientist's life by the standards of the planet.

Without genetic optimization solution, the average life expectancy of a person is about 80 years old, and the first 30 years are basically in the learning stage, and then it will take more than ten years to explore and accumulate on the road of science, and the peak stage is to reach the age of about 50 years old in their 40s.

With experience, accumulation, and foundation, people's energy can still be very abundant, the brain is agile and active, the body is good, and can fight for a long time, and once this age is passed, whether it is the body or the brain, there will be a large decline, and the value of scientists will be greatly reduced at that time.

With the injection of genetic optimization solution, the genes have been optimized, not only the life span has become longer, but more importantly, it is able to develop the brain, strengthen the body, and have a strong body and intelligent brain.

They have a long lifespan and are very healthy, which means that after a shot of genetic optimization solution, their golden period could be hundreds, millennia, or even longer.

This is of great significance to promoting the development of science and technology, and if you think about it, if an excellent scientist like Albert Einstein can live for hundreds or thousands of years, then the level of human science and technology will rise, no one can say.

But one thing is certain: a substantial increase in life expectancy is of extraordinary significance for promoting the progress of science and technology and civilization.

On the earth, the more developed countries and regions, the longer the life expectancy, and vice versa, because of the accumulation and inheritance of knowledge, it takes a time and process, the more science and technology develop, the greater its breadth and depth, the more you need to learn, and life will become the most important constraint.

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