Scholar's Advanced Technological System
chapter-523

Chapter 523: Competition for the Future

The conference after the experiment continued into the evening.

Lu Zhou and the other researchers in the institute began to discuss in detail about the “liquid lithium neutron recovery” technical route.

Even though they hadn’t made a specific plan, through this meeting, they had reached conclusions regarding the feasibility and general framework of this technical route.

After that, they just had to summarize the meeting contents and compile all of the problems. They would then host another meeting or two to come up with a relatively complete plan of attack.

The next meeting was set to be in three days. As for the next three days, Lu Zhou decided to give all of the researchers in the institute a small holiday.

Firstly, over the past year, these researchers hadn’t had the chance to take a break. They needed to spend time with their family or girlfriend. Secondly, the neutron beam generated by the fusion reaction caused significant radiation damage to the first wall material. Not only was there a hole in the austenite structure material, but a layer of fluffy-looking metal scraps was formed on the surface.

This was a very interesting phenomenon.

Even though no one knew the science behind it.

Even Lu Zhou, the big-name Nobel Prize winner, couldn’t come up with a suitable theory to explain this phenomenon. His initial guess was that the material underwent thermal stress. However, perhaps only the plasma inside the stellarator knew the true reason.

Lu Zhou planned on abandoning the idea of using austenite. He didn’t want to dive deep into this research area.

In short, because the equipment had to be overhauled, they would have to wait at least another month until the next experiment.

When Lu Zhou got back home, the sky was basically pitch black.

When he opened the front door and walked inside, a small but sophisticated four-rotor drone flew by.

“Master! Welcome home!”

Lu Zhou looked at the shaky little guy hovering in the air and couldn’t help but smile.

He felt quite nostalgic. This drone was named “Little Buddy”; it was a gift from the members at the Princeton drone club, which he was a consultant for.

After he took the drone back to China, he made some simple modifications and gave it to Xiao Ai.

Xiao Ai obviously loved this flying toy. Under Xiao Ai’s request, Lu Zhou installed a speaker, changed the motors, and attached four short but dexterous motorized claws at the bottom.

Not only did Xiao Ai look after the house, but using this modified “Little Buddy” and other smart home devices like vacuum robots, Xiao Ai often helped do the chores around the house.

Of course, even though Lu Zhou gave Xiao Ai the right to control these devices, he imposed strict restrictions and code of conduct on its scope of activities.

For example, Xiao Ai could only operate within the Zhongshan International area and was forbidden to fly into other people’s yards or to move fragile items.

Xiao Ai strictly obeyed Lu Zhou’s orders. After all, no matter how smart it was, it was still a program. Its obedience was part of its core code.

“Um, Master, can you please do something for me?”

Lu Zhou put on a pair of slippers and walked toward the living room as he said, “What?”

Xiao Ai flew next to Lu Zhou and continued, “Can you add an LED display on the drone? Speaking of which, it feels weird talking in some other woman’s voice. I prefer communicating through text. Embarrassed.”

Lu Zhou: “…”

What the hell do you mean by another woman’s voice? Isn’t this just Google text to speech? You can just change it to a man’s voice, right?

Also, why is it reading out loud its emotions? Is it trying to show off its upgraded emotional capabilities?

Why do I feel like Xiao Ai is going toward a strange direction…

Lu Zhou: “I refuse.”

Xiao Ai: “Why?! About to cry.”

Lu Zhou looked at the flying thing in the air and sighed.

Do you really need to ask?

Because I can’t be bothered to do it.

Also, Lu Zhou couldn’t imagine what it would be like if there were a flying LED screen showing texts and emojis.

Basically, he wouldn’t do anything that was a burden and didn’t benefit him.

Xiao Ai: “Then can you install an arm? I can control it myself… Cry.”

When Lu Zhou heard this ridiculous request, he couldn’t help but say, “I’ll just build a robot for you. Do you want a Doraemon or a Dorami?”

Xiao Ai’s drone stopped hovering, and it went silent for a bit.

Lu Zhou guessed that it was probably searching for what “Dorami” was. It probably already downloaded a complete set of data on his server and began “searching” through the data.

Lu Zhou shook his head. He turned around and went into his bathroom to take a shower.

Lu Zhou put on his pajamas. He then walked into the kitchen and made himself a cup of coffee. He then went into the study room and sat in front of the computer as he browsed through the web.

Because his work recently had gotten so busy, he barely had the time to browse the web. He only heard from the other researchers that their thesis on Science attracted attention from all over the world, and they were on the trending page again or something.

Speaking of which, ever since he received the Nobel Prize, he had paid very little attention to what the media was saying about him, and he rarely accepted any interviews from reporters.

However, both the Chinese and Western media’s interest toward him hadn’t diminished.

Especially when he produced some kind of new research results.

Lu Zhou briefly looked at a few articles. He grabbed his cup and took a sip of the coffee.

Chinese reports regarding controllable fusion were basically all about the STAR machine and the 60-minute world-record. Zhou Chengfu hadn’t come out and said anything yet. He probably was hiding with his tail between his legs. Lu Zhou didn’t know if he didn’t have anything to say or that no one wanted to run a report on him.

Other than that, compared to Chinese media, Lu Zhou’s attention was more on the Western media.

The success of the STAR machine certainly boosted people’s confidence in the controllable nuclear fusion field. Lu Zhou wanted to see the reactions of his peers and if anyone was triggered.

Suddenly, a news headline caught his attention.

It was a CNN news video.

The United States Secretary of Energy, Perry, stood at a press conference and faced the reporter’s camera. He gave a speech on the recent development in the controllable nuclear fusion field and responded to the rumors that the US intended to withdraw from ITER.

“The United States’ stance on future energy development hasn’t changed.

“… We have invested tens of billions into fusion energy research projects. Since the 1950s, we have been at the forefront of controllable fusion technology.

“I have to reiterate here that the United States has no intention to withdraw from ITER. I haven’t seen any documents regarding this on my desk.

“We will work closely with our allies in the study of fusion energy, and we will do our best to increase our research institutes’ contribution in this area.

“If everything goes well, we will complete the construction of a controllable fusion demonstration reactor by 2030 and commercialize controllable fusion energy by 2050!

“We will complete our goal and fulfill our promise to our allies…”

Lu Zhou watched the secretary of the United States Department of Energy through his screen. He then murmured to himself while rubbing his finger on the mouse, “… Looks like the Americans are in a hurry.”

Just like the United States Department of Energy, Lu Zhou could also ask other Chinese government departments to help him.

Also, China and Russia had an advantage in controllable nuclear fusion technology. This was one of the driving factors for the Congressional Budget Office to spend money on this research area.

In Lu Zhou’s opinion, the competition for the future of controllable nuclear fusion had begun.

From now on, not only would the rocket scientists and nuclear engineers have visa application issues, but so would the controllable fusion researchers…