Chapter 238: Half-Year Achievement

Crisis Era Year 203.

Humanity had experienced half a year of rest after the war, and the wounds inflicted by the conflict had been essentially healed.

During these six months, the greatest event for humanity was the mastering of Sophon shielding technology under the collective efforts of countless scientists.

The principle of Sophon shielding required the creation of a microscopically unstable space, and it was not necessarily needed to be stimulated by macromolecules; other methods existed, though they required the consumption of a considerably larger amount of energy.

The reasons for such a rapid breakthrough were twofold:

On one hand, it was thanks to Tyler's assistance that with his observations in Quantum Space, humans were able to quickly grasp this technology through incessant trials.

Whether it was small Sophon Shielding Rooms or large Sophon-Blocked Zones, humanity now possessed the technology to construct them.

On the other hand, countless human scientists and resources flooded into this research field. Humanity had been monitored by the Trisolarans for two centuries and knowing that shielding was possible, they didn't want to wait another day. Their passion for this research was even more urgent than for The Waterdrop.

However, large particle collider experiments could not be conducted within a Sophon-Blocked Zone, and with the current technology, humans still needed to wear charge-shielding suits when entering a Sophon Shielding Room.

In addition, the thousand-strong federal fleet planned to accompany Lin Sen on his departure was also ready to be outfitted with Sophon Shielding Rooms.

Under the joint cooperation and in-depth research of Ding Yi and many other scientists, preliminary achievements had also been made in the exploration of the Strong Interaction Material on the surface of The Waterdrop, and a primary understanding of its principles had been attained.

Some understanding had been gained of the kind of force field generator inside The Waterdrop, which was capable of negating the electromagnetic force between particles, allowing the Strong Interaction Force to overflow, thereby forming Strong Interaction Material.

The mediator particles of the electromagnetic force are photons, which have a comparatively long range of action, and the electromagnetic force is a long-range force. The mediator particles of the Strong Interaction Force are gluons, which have a shorter range of action, making it a short-range force.

These are two different types of forces. According to the unified electroweak theory, it is also possible to unify the Strong Force with the electromagnetic weak force, describing their effects through the exchange of bosons.

Just as mass and energy are unified, mass can be converted into energy according to the mass-energy equivalence formula; the energy of a nuclear bomb explosion comes from the loss of mass. Even in our study of nuclear physics, we talk not about mass loss but about the conversion of binding energy, which is essentially the same.

In the Trisolaran's Waterdrop detector, this special force field can shorten the action range of the electromagnetic force mediator particles between particles and extend the action range of the mediator particles, gluons, of the Strong Interaction Force.

However, humanity's current understanding remains superficial, requiring the support of more fundamental particle physics theories. Humanity may be only a thin layer away from this knowledge.

But the distance to truly manufacturing this type of material remains considerable, and even small-scale production in the laboratory is not yet possible.

It is like ancient people who accidentally obtained a handgun but could not understand or replicate its manufacturing process due to a lack of necessary knowledge in modern materials science and technology, mechanical principles, and the principles of gunpowder.

Yet, this "handgun" has also opened a window for humanity, most directly manifesting in the possibility to "verify" microscopic theory.

Trisolarans can interfere with human particle collider experiments, throwing all test results into complete disarray, but what's certain is that some of the data within must be correct.

There are countless possibilities for error, but there is always only one truth.

Humanity needed to discern which were interference terms and which were error terms—the remainder would be the truth.

In the original timeline, the Trisolarans gave humanity a lot of technology, even fundamental theories, but these were later proved incorrect by the Solar System Accelerator. In The Deterrence Era, humanity was able to manufacture Strong Interaction Material in small quantities in laboratories, but could not produce it in large quantities, and this was one of the reasons.

As for the propulsion system of The Waterdrop, to this date, there has been no progress, which may involve higher-level physical theories.

But the greatest advantage of current humanity actually lies in their determination to break through everything. In the original timeline, humanity conducted basic science research with the Solar System Accelerator, especially in the research of black hole projects, which eventually discovered the principle of curvature.

This pertained to the research of space, which humanity could not breakthrough in a short time and must await the completion of the Solar System Accelerator.

The current design work for humanity's Solar System Accelerator has also been essentially completed over this half year.

Next, construction of the largest project in human history, the Solar System Accelerator, will soon begin.

In the original timeline, because the Solar System Accelerator was not built with the collective force of all humanity but was led by Wade, constructed by Cao Bin, Bi Yunfeng, Gao Way (mainly in the study of micro black holes)… and others over the span of 30 years.

Actually, the real financiers were only the Star Ring Company, and they were in fact facing greater difficulties than current humanity.

Even though it is Crisis 203 years, the technology of the original Broadcast Era timeline wouldn't differ too drastically from the present.

First, while the technology appeared impressive in the original timeline, most of it was given by the Trisolarans, with a very weak foundation, and much of the fundamental theory was intentionally incorrect as given by the Trisolarans.

Second, the Trisolarans didn't want humanity to construct the Solar System Accelerator, and the corresponding technology was definitely reserved, making it increasingly difficult for humanity to conquer.

It's scarier to achieve success in the wrong way than to fail, for humanity had run too far down the wrong path at that time, taking decades to correct it.

Humanity's construction of the Solar System Accelerator now possesses an even greater advantage over that of the original timeline.

To ensure the smooth construction of the Solar System Accelerator, Lin Sen still decided to put Wade in charge of the Solar System Accelerator project.

At the same time, Lin Sen also reawakened Cao Bin and Bi Yunfeng from hibernation, as they were not only builders of the Solar System Accelerator but also researchers of the Lightspeed Spacecraft.

As for Gao Way, he was a human from The Deterrence Era, and may not have been born yet, and he researched micro black holes generated by particle colliders, contributing greatly to the research of the Lightspeed Spacecraft.

Lin Sen also intended to try to find him, regardless of whether he would still exist. In fact, it wasn't necessary for Lin Sen to do this, for the people of this time are no worse than those of the Common Era Century.

This era would surely give birth to heroes of its own time, who might be even more outstanding.

But maybe it was to amend for their regrets in another timeline, especially for Gao Way, the man who eventually jumped into the micro black hole.

Perhaps it was through his research into space that he realized the conclusion of the universe, coupled with his disappointment in humanity, that he chose that path of despair.

In that timeline, Wade bore all the pressure of human international affairs and still had to provide vast resources for the Solar System Accelerator.

This weary old man should have an easier time in this timeline!