"yes, it's a hassle." The expert in mechanics discusses: "Many advances in science and technology are essentially advances in materials science. ”

"If there is a lack of rare earths, it will be difficult to make progress in materials science, and naturally there will be no powerful engine. Even some composite ceramics need rare earths. ”

How important are rare earths?

In materials science, it is as important as oil!

Take the engine as an example: in the era of turbojet engines, the gap between the turbine blades and the casing was wide, the temperature before the turbine was low, the deformation of the turbine blades during operation was within a controllable range, and conventional materials could still be used.

In the era of turbofan engines, the temperature before the turbine of high-pressure turbines is higher, and the blade tip gap is smaller, and the problem of turbine blade deformation is particularly prominent. The main element to solve this problem is rhenium, adding rhenium to the nickel alloy can significantly improve the creep strength of the alloy, and it can also resist deformation well under long-term work.

If this element is lacking, then the Tepu people will not be able to develop the turbojet engine anymore, and no matter how smart they are, it will be difficult for a clever woman to cook without rice.

Most of the light rare earths that can be used on mobile phones are so-so, and the reserves are so-so, but there are very few heavy rare earths like rhenium.

"With only 2,500 tonnes of mineable rhenium on Earth, there may be even fewer on the planet, perhaps only ...... 100 tons? It's such a big planet, it's useless at all. ”

Zhang Yuan couldn't help asking: "Our current material technology has widely used composite ceramics and nanomaterials, right?" Many materials do not have rhenium in them, so is it possible for them to jump technology? ”

"It's not possible, there are many materials that still have to use rare earth elements. All the more so because we have been developing for hundreds of years...... No, thousands of years. Your Excellency, we are already a third-level civilization. The scientist said: "The meal should be eaten one bite at a time, and the road should be walked step by step." Without the previous results, there would be no funding to study the subsequent results. ”

"If we can't even study ordinary propeller planes and jet engines, how can we get our ramjet engines in one step?"

This is also one of the important reasons why the Taipu civilization has not yet developed an aerial vehicle. Not only because of the lack of money, but also the lack of materials.

Of course, the Tepu civilization also faces a fourth difficulty, that is, the atmosphere is too thick, and it is difficult to launch rockets.

The friction coefficient of the atmosphere is directly proportional to the density of the air, and the rocket flying at high speed will be subject to greater resistance, and at the same time, the high temperature of the rocket surface also puts forward more requirements for materials science.

"If this civilization wants to launch rockets, it needs higher performance materials. However, this difficulty is the simplest, and it can still be overcome sublubly. ”

"The above is the objective environment that Taipu people are currently facing, all of which are difficult points."

Hearing this, Zhang Yuan frowned, "Compared to humans, the Taipu people are really a very unlucky civilization...... So, if I'm the leader of the Tepu civilization, with the help of human hands, it's really a pretty good deal to launch some satellites. ”

Li Zhendong continued: "As for the next few decades, this batch of satellites will be scrapped, and it doesn't matter whether there is the next batch of satellites. Anyway, I'm no longer in office, and there is a high probability that I will retire, and the people will only read me well. ”

"You're very politically conscious."

So, assuming that the Enlightener civilization really came to this planet 150,000 years ago, and after they have inspected the entire planet, they should also be able to foresee these difficulties, so how can they help them? In particular, this help, which may happen hundreds of thousands of years later.

The issue is complicated, and the Enlightener civilization has always disliked direct gifts.

"If you're a human being, it's really hard to help without giving technology directly. In particular, the other party was still a group of primitive people 150,000 years ago...... High gravity, high air pressure, lack of rare earth elements, how to solve it? Talking to primitive people about rare earths and the like, they don't understand either. ”

The expert excitedly said: "...... So we follow the idea of archaeology to study what happened 150,000 years ago, whether it was a natural disaster or a **. If this event has enough influence, some clues can be found in history. ”

"Sure enough!"

"150,000 years ago, a super earthquake erupted from the ocean!"

"A conservative estimate puts the magnitude of at least 13."

A magnitude 13 earthquake!

For every 1.0 magnitude difference, the energy difference is about 32 times. In other words, a magnitude 6 earthquake is equivalent to 32 magnitude 5 earthquakes, and 1 magnitude 7 earthquake is equivalent to about 1,000 magnitude 5 earthquakes.

Well, an earthquake of magnitude 13 is equivalent to an earthquake of magnitude!

Such a super earthquake can already cause the displacement of the earth's crustal plates.

At that moment, a huge tsunami was generated!

A large number of volcanoes erupted at the same time, and the overwhelming dust blocked the global sunlight. Then, because of the sharp drop in temperature, it brought heavy precipitation around the world, and a Xiaoice Age caused by earthquakes was born.

This Xiaoice Age did not last too long, probably lasting more than 2 years, and a large amount of precipitation caused the dust in the sky to fall again, revealing bright sunshine.

Two years will not allow species to go extinct.

However, the Taipu people have not yet investigated the specific cause of this earthquake, and can only vaguely attribute it to the movement of tectonic plates.

Zhang Yuan couldn't help asking: "So, is this earthquake related to the Enlightener civilization?" Could it be that rare earth elements are abundant in volcanic eruptions and earthquakes? It's a possibility...... But this method is also a bit too crude...... Explosion? ”

This is the intuitive thinking of many people, so much so that everyone will be a little speechless in surprise for a while.

The scientists on the stage couldn't help but smile bitterly, and then said: "We first investigated the area where the earthquake occurred, which is already a deep sea area, and the deepest trench can reach 30,000 meters. I think that even if the deep sea area contains huge mineral resources, the Taipu civilization will not be able to develop them. ”

"With 30,000 people of seawater, even we can't develop it."

The ocean is indeed a huge treasure trove, and the deep seabed manganese nodule is a famous deep-sea mineral, containing more than 20 elements such as manganese, iron, nickel, and cobalt, and has great economic value. However, these mineral sources, even if there are no earthquakes, will naturally occur.

Most of the seabed mineral mining bases are located in shallow waters. Human deep-water drilling generally refers to offshore operations with a water depth of more than 900 meters, and extreme water depth refers to a water depth of more than 1,500 meters.

The deeper the water, the greater the difficulties, and at a depth of 30,000 meters, even human submarines are a little difficult, let alone large-scale development.

"It is not possible to confirm whether the earthquake has had an impact on the amount of minerals in the global seabed. According to computer simulations, after a major earthquake, there is a certain probability that there will be more mineral resources on the seabed in the world because of the eruption of submarine volcanoes...... We have no way of measuring the exact numbers. ”

"However, this earthquake also brought a series of subsequent chain reactions......