Chapter 32: Five Alternatives
Facing Professor Lu Zhaoming’s judgment with no room for maneuver at all, all members of the scientific community remained silent, clearly agreeing with his judgment.
Sun Changhe’s tone was still calm yet solemn: “If hope is lost and the apocalypse arrives in ten days, with all of us certain to die… is there truly nothing we can do?
I don’t think so.
Don’t forget how we proceeded in Comrade Jiang Yang’s second and third cycles!
If not for us in the previous two lives, we couldn’t even make this judgment now!
We in this life can die, can fail, but we in the next life still have hope!
Professor Lu, at this stage, where do the key points and difficulties lie in resolving the apocalypse?”
Professor Lu Zhaoming was silent for a long time before saying: “Figure out exactly what this radiation particle is that possesses extremely strong penetration, can interact with the human body, excites atoms inside the human body to produce secondary radiation, and thereby causes death from acute radiation sickness, and through what kind of mechanism it is produced.”
Jiang Yang said: “Professor Lu, do you have any guesses?”
He closed his eyes and thought for another moment before saying: “It must possess extremely strong penetration; otherwise, it can’t explain why underground and underwater areas are not spared either. As for lethality… let’s set aside lethality for now.
Purely measuring by penetration, there are five candidates.
First, neutrino.
The attendees without a scientific background were somewhat puzzled by this term.
Professor Lu said: “A neutrino is a microscopic particle with extremely strong penetration, mainly produced from nuclear reactions; both nuclear fission and nuclear fusion produce large quantities of them.
Its penetration is so strong that on an area about the size of a thumbnail on our human body, an average of 500 million neutrinos pass through every second, yet the human body feels nothing at all.
Even using the entire Earth as a shield, neutrinos can still pass through without hindrance.
If it were neutrinos, penetrating kilometer-thick rock layers or ten-thousand-meter water bodies would be effortless.
Second, muon.
A muon can be simply compared to a large electron. Although it is charged, it is much heavier than an electron, which gives it extremely strong penetration as well, though far inferior to that of a neutrino.
If they are high-energy muons, they can also penetrate kilometer-thick rock layers or ten-thousand-meter water bodies.
Third, graviton.
The graviton is a particle hypothesized in the current scientific community, transmitting gravity just as photons transmit electromagnetic force, gluons transmit strong nuclear force, and W and Z bosons transmit weak nuclear force.
If gravitons really exist and have the properties we hypothesize, then gravitons would possess penetration far surpassing that of neutrinos.
Even if the entire observable universe were filled with matter like Earth, gravitons could still pass through almost without hindrance.
Fourth, dark matter particle.
Dark matter is likewise a substance we hypothesize, for which we have some evidence suggesting it very likely exists, but it has not yet been verified.
If dark matter really exists, then the particles composing it must also possess extremely strong penetration, even comparable to gravitons.
Fifth, unknown particle.
Among the first four, neutrinos and muons are ones we have already discovered and verified, and we understand their properties very well.
Gravitons and dark matter particles are ones our physics theories have already encompassed, with corresponding hypotheses, but they have not yet been discovered in reality.
An unknown particle… that would mean not only have we not discovered it, our physics theories don’t even have descriptions or hypotheses for it.”
Professor Lu looked at Jiang Yang and Sun Changhe: “Only these five possibilities.”
Jiang Yang frowned slightly: “Strong penetration necessarily means weak interaction between this particle and matter. If the interaction is weak, how can these particles cause our human bodies to produce secondary radiation?”
Lu Zhaoming said: “But the facts are precisely that. The apocalypses you experienced clearly occurred underground, where any radiation can be isolated, yet the cause of death was secondary radiation produced by external energy.
Aside from making this hypothesis, we have no other choice.”
Sun Changhe said solemnly: “How to determine which possibility is causing the apocalypse?”
Lu Zhaoming considered: “At the moment the apocalypse arrives, the corresponding particle must be in a state of massive eruption.
In that case… detecting which particle shows anomalies at the moment the apocalypse arrives will determine exactly which particle it is.
Among them, muon detection is relatively simple; a cloud chamber can detect it.
Neutrino detection is more difficult, but we have corresponding means; we can detect it with a neutrino telescope.
For gravitons, we have not yet confirmed their existence, but gravitational waves have been confirmed. We can detect it with a gravitational wave telescope.
There are no ways for dark matter and unknown particles.”
Sun Changhe nodded slightly: “That’s fine too; treat it as elimination.
If the final detection results eliminate muons, neutrinos, and gravitons, then it can be determined to be either dark matter particles or unknown particles; that’s not without harvest either, and it can still point the way for the next life.
“Detection focus should be on neutrinos and gravitational waves. Does our nation currently have the corresponding detection capabilities?”
Facing Jiang Yang’s question, Professor Lu Zhaoming’s expression was somewhat heavy: “Our country has one neutrino telescope already in operation, the Luohong Neutrino Detector under Luohong Mountain, and another not yet completed, the Sen Mountain Neutrino Laboratory.
Globally, there are currently five research-grade neutrino telescopes in operation, excluding ours.
For gravitational wave telescopes, there are three in operation worldwide. Our country has two under construction, not yet completed.”
Adding them up makes a total of seven neutrino telescopes and three gravitational wave telescopes.
Jiang Yang’s pupils contracted slightly: “Relying only on ours, is it enough?”
“Not enough.”
Professor Lu Zhaoming shook his head: “Even adding those from other countries, it’s not enough.
The detection time window is too short, only a mere two minutes at the moment the apocalypse arrives.
To collect sufficient data in such a short time…”
He gritted his teeth: “At least eight large research-grade neutrino telescopes and four large research-grade gravitational wave telescopes are needed.
With our country’s industrial strength, forcibly completing the one gravitational wave telescope and one neutrino telescope under construction within the short ten days to make them operational—while the hope is slim, there is still a sliver of hope.
The key is, what about the ones abroad?
These large scientific devices, veritable pillars of the nation, are the lifeblood of their countries. To get them to cooperate with us, connect to our information network, and let us temporarily manage them—how is that possible?”
Jiang Yang fell silent.
He wasn’t very knowledgeable about international relations, but he knew a bit about the current world situation and the tense international relations.
Even in a peaceful environment, achieving such major technological cooperation would be unlikely, let alone under the current situation.
That’s simply not worth thinking about; there’s zero possibility.
Unless…
