NOVPUBChapter 99: Chapter 98 Subverting Common Sense
Chapter 99 -98 Subverting Common Sense
Beifu, Integrated Defense and Development Department.
Yu Fuchiang was conducting a special experiment.
As an expert in materials science, his daily work was dry and monotonous. It had been ages since one could easily mix a few elements and give birth to several new papers. Even in the most basic field of alloy steel, there were almost a hundred thousand with certification numbers. If one wanted to make achievements in this area, apart from a little change in the composition ratio of steel for constant experimentation, the rest was left to luck.
Yu was no exception.
He had his own laboratory and even his own team; many experiments could be left to the assistants to do, and he spent most of his time looking at reports. Many reports could be glanced at and dismissed as meaningless—while the material was indeed new, its various properties were either terribly poor or it had critical flaws. In summary, it was of no practical use and naturally could not be considered a valid research outcome.
That was until he accepted a secret mission and was transferred to Beifu for new work.
The routine days were changed.
After arriving here, Yu learned that he needed to research a kind of material like none had seen before. As for what aspects to study, it wasn’t specified—just that the more comprehensive, the better.
Such vague research requirements were a first for him.
Initially, Yu didn’t take this task too seriously. After all, creating a useful new material was difficult, but analyzing an existing one, wasn’t that a piece of cake? As for why this project was classified as top secret, it wasn’t hard to guess—it was probably some rare item, either a meteorite from outer space or a new find from a lunar satellite.
If the equipment was complete, he could generally wrap up and report back in half a month.
However, when Yu got the spectral map and component analysis report of the material, he suddenly realized that things might not be so simple.
These reports were said to be the main reason for the higher-ups’ interest.
Eventually, he finally saw a sample that belonged to him: a cube, cut to one centimeter in size. Undoubtedly, this was not the original form of the unknown material, but he could also understand that he was definitely not the only person invited to study it. With many colleagues working on it and limited supplies, the samples had to be divided up.
In the days that followed, Yu devoted himself entirely to the experiments and almost every day brought new discoveries! This shocked him and was mixed with waves of joy. For a researcher, what could be more exhilarating than a new discovery? Even writing papers became a joyous task.
He privately named the material “Yao”, signifying change.
Of course, due to the confidentiality agreement, he could not publish his papers, but what did that matter? Top-secret information would one day become classified, and classified would gradually be declassified. When the day came that it could be made public, his papers would correspond to the honor they deserved.
Now, an electrical test was underway.
Yu placed a sample slice in the testing cabinet, then had his assistant turn on the switch and record the data. This experiment was mainly to test the electrical conductivity, resistivity, and some other electromagnetism related properties of the object. Considering that some parts of this material were similar to silicon dioxide, that is, stone, the voltage was set very high from the start.
However, the assistant’s report surprised him, “Dr. Yu, the voltmeter shows no reading, but the ammeter is counting!”
A broken meter? That was Yu’s first thought.
If this had been any other alloy material, he would have definitely stopped the experiment and notified the equipment supplier for maintenance. But since Yao was new, he decided to observe a little longer. “Lower the voltage by five hundred volts and try again.”
The result was no different.
The voltmeter showed no reading, and the number on the ammeter dropped a little.
Now that was peculiar!
It implied that the sample slice wasn’t conducting electricity, so no voltage could be detected at the other end, but the current was still flowing, which meant the discharger was continuously working.
Where did the electricity go then?
This indeed defied logic—because when the circuit wasn’t conducting, the whole system was supposed to be in a state of power outage. There shouldn’t be any voltage or current at all!
“Oh, damn it…” Yu murmured, “It’s Yao! Yao is absorbing this electricity! What about the temperature reading? Any changes?” 𝔫𝖔𝖛𝖕𝖚𝔟.𝖈𝖔𝔪
“No… the test material remains at room temperature,” the assistant quickly replied.
Absorbing electricity but not increasing internal energy?
Just the first two points were enough to leave experts worldwide researching fundamental physics slack-jawed in astonishment!
“Dr. Fu… what should we do about this?” the assistant also realized the discovery could overturn everyone’s understanding and his voice was somewhat parched.
“Keep charging it, then record the electricity input. If it exceeds 100 degrees, stop.”
“Why stop at 100 degrees?”
“Assuming it’s a battery, 100 degrees of electric charge is equivalent to the energy of an electric car. If it explodes, at most it will only destroy this lab,” Fu Jiangshui said matter-of-factly, “We can’t interfere with other people’s experiments, can we?”
The assistant couldn’t help but shiver.
Yet the anticipated moment of explosion never arrived.
When the input electricity reached 27 degrees, the entire circuit was connected. The test cabinet emitted a series of beeping sounds, and the voltmeter displayed readings.
Fu Jiangshui couldn’t wait to get closer to the cabinet.
The voltage at this moment was 1000 volts, and the current was 5 amps.
This was also the discharge power set by the test cabinet.
He suddenly felt his heart pounding!
“Hey, come over here!” he called his assistant, “There’s something in the cabinet, right?”
“Eh… Do you mean the test sample?”
“Right, it should still be in the cabinet, correct?”
The assistant hesitated, unsure how to respond because anyone with eyesight could see that the sample remained in the test cabinet. However, committed to the spirit of seeking truth from facts, he confirmed, “Yes, it’s there.”
Fu Jiangshui could naturally see the sample too, but he had a sensation of being in a dreamlike illusion, fearing that what he saw might not be real.
The input parameters and readout parameters were completely consistent, indicating the sample had no impact on the circuit. In other words, it was conducting electricity without resistance.
And although the test cabinet had cooling and pressurizing functions, none of these had been activated.
A term surged into Fu Jiangshui’s mind.
Room temperature superconductivity.
The Demon, in its normal state, could not be considered an insulator, as it continuously drew energy from the circuit. Once this energy reached a certain level, it would exhibit superconductivity… without requiring any low-temperature, high-pressure conditions!
This meant that if used as an electric current carrier to make electrical devices, they will not suffer from power loss, heat generation, and other issues. Even without considering whether it had other characteristics, this point alone would let it shine brightly in application fields!
“Dr. Fu, I can’t understand… Superconductivity requires electrons to form Cooper pairs, and whether a large number of Cooper pairs can be obtained at low temperatures is measurable! This is also the theoretical guidance in the search for superconductors,” the assistant looked at the sample in the cabinet, shaking his head repeatedly as if he were looking at a Demon, “But we have already checked this point before, whether with the angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy or the Neutron Depolarization Machine, no signs indicated the presence of a large number of Cooper pairs!”
“Not understanding is just the point,” Fu Jiangshui laughed, “The universe is so vast, can we claim to understand all things within it? In fact, even for the single project of superconductivity itself, practical experience often outweighs theoretical research. If it doesn’t make sense to you, just consider it as an intrinsic property of the thing.”
What is an intrinsic property?
That is, it is naturally so, beyond your control.
The assistant was at a loss for words, but soon a look of relief crossed his face.
After all, things that are beyond understanding are the ones worth exploring.
“Don’t space out, we still have a lot of work to do! See if the Demon’s superconductivity will diminish over time, and we also need to measure the ratio between its volume and the absorbed quantity of electricity…” Fu Jiangshui spoke while picking up the lab phone, “I bet this discovery will drop their jaws. It can also get us a few more samples.”
