A few days later, Hua Kejing left for the Shanghai Institute of Life Sciences (hereinafter referred to as the Shanghai Academy of Biological Sciences) under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Founded in the last century, the Shanghai Academy of Biological Sciences was established by a number of life science research institutions, such as the former Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry, Shanghai Institute of Cell Biology, Shanghai Institute of Physiology, Shanghai Institute of Brain, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Shanghai Gene Research Center, Shanghai Laboratory Animal Center and Shanghai Bioengineering Research Center.

This time, Hua Kejing plans to visit several scientific experts from the Institute of Brain Research and the Institute of Physiology.

In the evening, in an experimental building of the Brain Research Institute, a man in his early forties had just finished a visit with Hua Kejing and his party.

Leaving the test building, everyone returned to the reception center.

Hua Kejing smiled, held the man's hand and said, "Thank you Director Yang for taking time out of your busy schedule to receive us." ”

Director Yang's full name is Yang Weilin, and he is a discipline leader of the Brain Research Institute, and their contact this time was also introduced by Hua Kejing through friends.

"Mr. Hua is polite." Director Yang smiled enthusiastically, and also clenched Hua Kejing's hand and said, "You are a friend of Academician Li, and you are our friend. ”

"Thank you again." Hua Kejing nodded again in thanks.

Yang Weilin smiled and waved his hand: "I heard Academician Lin say that during the Jingchu epidemic, Mr. Hua not only donated money and materials, but also personally led the engineering team to participate in the construction of the hospital, and what is even more rare is that it also helped a lot in the research of drugs for the prevention and control of epidemics. Mr. Hua's spirit is really admirable. ”

Hua Kejing also waved his hand, and said sincerely: "Director Yang has won the award, the national disaster is at the head, everyone is responsible, in this sudden epidemic, I am far from the only one who has contributed, compared to the medical workers who are fighting on the front line, our actions are really not worth mentioning." ”

"Hahaha......" Yang Weilin smiled and asked Hua Kejing to sit down on the sofa, "but this time Mr. Hua is willing to fund the research project of the Institute of Brain Sciences, which will definitely help us a lot." ”

"You are polite, help each other, and cooperate for a win-win situation."

What Hua Kejing said at the moment is not modest, and the cooperation with the Brain Research Institute of the Shanghai Academy of Biological Sciences to carry out research is indeed an important part of his plan to promote interstellar voyages.

After another exchange of pleasantries, Hua Kejing changed the topic and asked a few questions that were not related to recent research projects.

"I heard that Director Yang has done some research on low-temperature dormancy technology?"

"I can't talk about research, but I once put forward a little opinion on a popular science talk show. Why, Mr. Hua is also interested in this topic? ”

"Actually, I've always been a science fiction enthusiast, and I often wonder if we can use cryogenic dormancy technology in the process of interstellar travel with our current level of technology."

"Hahaha......"

The two looked at each other and smiled, and soon chatted again.

Lu Jieshi on the side also served tea and poured water for the two of them very obediently, and the service was in place.

According to Yang Weilin, the ideal "low-temperature human dormancy" is like an animal spending a long and cold winter, by establishing a static habitat environment that reacts to numbness, so that the metabolic process of substances in the body is slowed down, so as to achieve the purpose of almost no need to supplement external food and energy.

Of course, there are many, many technical challenges that need to be overcome in order for astronauts and other special groups of people to survive long space flight times.

After all, humans are highly evolved homeotherms.

In fact, in the field of medical research, cryogenic medicine technology has begun to be applied to the treatment of neonatal encephalopathy, brain trauma, and spinal cord injury.

Medically induced body temperature lowering is mostly used in critical surgery and key organ transplantation, reducing the human body temperature to 18°C or even lower, and using extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) cardiopulmonary bypass technology to put patients into a dormant state.

PS: When I had heart surgery last year, I went through this process.

At this time, the patient basically has no pulse, blood pressure and brain waves, and the metabolic rate of the body's tissues and organs also decreases significantly.

Although it can slow down or reduce the body's metabolism to a certain extent, the operation of the body's cells, tissues and organs still needs to consume a lot of energy to maintain.

"As far as the current technology is concerned, prolonged dormancy will inevitably lead to atrophy of the body's muscles and internal organs." Yang Weilin told Hua Kejing, "Based on various factors, the current dormancy technology is not mature enough, and it is still in the stage of science fantasy to rely on human dormancy for interstellar travel, and there is still a long way to go before it is put into practice." ”

"Excuse me, are there any specialized institutions that are conducting relevant research now?" Hua Kejing asked.

"I remember that Space Work in the United States seems to have been commissioned by NASA to carry out research on cryogenic hibernation chambers."

Yang Weilin introduced to Hua Kejing that in the project prospect of Space Work, the standard living module on the spacecraft will be replaced by a cryogenic hibernation chamber.

Similarly, the associated hypothermic state will be achieved by lowering the body's core temperature, a process that will occur slowly over several hours.

Although the astronauts are in a hypothermic state of hibernation, various sensors will be attached to them to monitor their condition.

Astronauts receive intravenous nutrition through parenteral nutrition (TPN), which contains all the nutrients necessary for the body's normal functioning.

In addition to this, the astronaut will also excrete urine through a urinary catheter.

In the absence of solid food, the digestive system and intestinal tract become inactive, so it is important to regularly use electromagnetic muscle stimulation to protect the astronaut's critical muscle groups from severe muscle atrophy due to prolonged dormancy.

"How long can an astronaut sleep at a time in such a state?" Hua Kejing asked again.

"In this induced low temperature state, astronauts can sleep for 2-4 weeks at a time."

"It's only been 2-4 weeks!" Yang Weilin's answer was obviously far from Hua Kejing's expectations, "I heard that someone in the medical field has been in a coma for 39 years!" ”

"Well, it's true, not just for 39 years, but in the near future he will continue to break the human coma record, because he may never wake up." Yang Weilin continued to explain with a cautious face, "If the dormancy lasts too long, you will fall into a coma, which is very dangerous. ”

"Sleep and coma are two different things, we have two types of sleep, REM sleep during dreams and non-REM sleep, and non-REM sleep is very important. For example, when we stay up late to watch movies and go to bed, what you want is non-REM sleep. Because non-REM sleep can replenish our body with energy. We cannot afford to lack this type of sleep for a long time, and the same goes for most animals. ”

"So, the human body must meet such a standard of sleep during dormancy?"

"So to speak."

"Thank you, Director Yang, for helping me out."

……

After chatting with Hua Kejing for a while, Yang Weilin smiled: "What, Mr. Hua is interested in the human hypothermia project?" ”

"It's a bit of an interest, indeed." Hua Kejing said bluntly, "But this project is still a bit ahead of its time, and we will talk slowly when we have a chance in the future." ”

"Okay......"

"It's not early today, so we'll take our leave."

"Okay, I look forward to Mr. Hua coming again."

Yang Weilin nodded with a smile, and Hua Kejing also got up to say goodbye.

After a few more pleasantries, Hua Kejing left the Shanghai Academy of Biological Sciences and ended today's visit.

……

The reason why the dormant technology of interstellar travel is mentioned is because it is indeed a technical problem that Huake Vision urgently needs to break through.

Not to mention the difficult task of having to fly to the core of the galaxy in order to save the master's son.

Just imagine interstellar space travel a few light years or so, it is definitely an incomparably long and boring process.

Adequate food, drinking water and oxygen are essential for astronauts to survive, and over time, the amount of waste excreted will gradually increase.

The carrying capacity of spacecraft is limited, and it is necessary to ensure that there is enough power and enough necessities, which greatly limits the process of human exploration of distant space.

If the spacecraft enters the designated orbit, the astronaut goes into deep hibernation.

As a result, the large amount of life-sustaining resources can be replaced with fuel propellants.

This will not only improve the delivery efficiency and bring the final speed of the spacecraft to a new platform, but may even significantly extend the life of the astronauts on the timeline.

PS: The sum of the life span of astronauts in the actual awakening state is likely to be shortened, so what is extended is only the life span on the time scale.

Live long + fly fast, which makes interstellar travel possible.

During this visit, although the conclusion given by Yang Weilin was far from ideal, Hua Kejing was not disappointed.

Cryogenic hibernation technology, at least in the theoretical direction, is no problem.

Even if there are still many specific problems, Huake Mirror is confident that it can be overcome one by one through the [Science Research Institute] in the exclusive virtual world.

Of course, the process of turning technology application from the unreal to the real still requires in-depth cooperation with many advanced life science research institutes and other institutions.

Predictably, this work will be as costly, laborious and time-consuming as building a space city.

But it has to be done!

Because if you can't get the dormancy technique, Hua Kejing will definitely not be able to reach the silver heart alive.

Not to mention the current speed of human space, it is not even the speed of light.

Even if it is barely close to the speed of light, it is a distance of 26,000 light years!

Even if you take the thousand-year-old king and 80,000-year-old turtle, I am afraid that I will have to die on the road.

……

I would like to pay tribute to every friend who has been with me all the way, and thank you from the bottom of my heart for your support!