Under the explanation of the Minister of Science, Zhao Changxing gradually understood what was going on.
On the whole, this is undoubtedly a good thing, and it couldn't be better. It is also a good influence to have an impact on the overall scientific strategy of civilization.
Just like, two different manufacturing methods of heat-resistant materials merged and collided with each other, and finally a processing technology called "strong magnetic high-pressure inert gas" was born. The heat-resistant materials produced by it have excellent heat resistance. The performance, in a vacuum, directly increases from about 10,000 degrees Celsius to nearly 18,000 degrees Celsius.
This breakthrough cannot be said to be minor.
In other aspects, the existing "high-voltage coil" electromagnetic gun manufacturing process of mankind and the "high-temperature electric field exchange" electromagnetic gun manufacturing process of Storm Civilization belong to two different development directions.
Although these two development directions can produce electromagnetic guns with similar performance, they inspired each other, absorbed each other's advantages, and integrated each other, which finally allowed scientists to develop a newer type of electromagnetic gun, regardless of the rate of fire or speed. All have been greatly improved again.
This kind of thing occurs in almost every branch of the scientific system. For example, large-scale machinery manufacturing, antimatter production lines, spacecraft engines, thrusters, food technology, chemical fiber materials, etc., almost everywhere there are leaps and bounds due to the integration of science and technology.
This is only at the level of applied science. At the level of basic science, the leaps and breakthroughs caused by the collision of different ideas and thoughts are even more significant.
At present, based on the level of science and technology of mankind, it is basically certain that the most important landmark technology of the fourth-level civilization, which is higher than the current stage, that is, the third-level civilization, is the refractory propulsion technology.
The spacecraft of the fourth-level civilization will not need to carry any working fluid to achieve interstellar space propulsion. This means that their interstellar travel will be more efficient and faster. Correspondingly, its scope of activities will also greatly exceed the level three civilization.
Based on the calculation that human civilization, or the previous storm civilization, usually takes hundreds of years to sail from one star to another, the activity range of a third-level civilization is basically difficult to exceed a hundred light years.
But after entering the fourth-level civilization stage, this area will be greatly expanded, at least reaching a thousand light-year level.
As for the medium-free propulsion technology, among the two technical routes that have been determined before, namely "relying on certain oscillation characteristics of quantum vacuum to achieve thrust acquisition" and "relying on optical radiation propulsion to achieve thrust acquisition", the latter has basically been eliminated. negative.
In other words, the technology that breaks through to the fourth level of civilization needs to be found in a vacuum.
Weapons such as vacuum cannons utilize certain characteristics of vacuum. But obviously, this level of understanding is far from enough to support a civilization reaching level four.
However, the study of certain characteristics of vacuum involves the level of basic physical theory. This is an almost completely different field from applied physics.
Basic physics is the most fundamental and important foundation of a civilization.
At the level of basic physics, Storm Civilization also has a research depth that is not inferior to humans at all, and even slightly exceeds it. But if it's only slightly exceeded, it doesn't matter, it's not too important.
Because basic human physics is also progressing.
However, certain gaps in the human scientific system are the focus of research on Storm Civilization.
This is quite remarkable.
You must know that those blank spaces are not just blanks caused by scientific research strength. A considerable part of them are blanks in the way of thinking. That is, human scientists have never thought that there is something worth studying there. place.
What this brings to the human scientific system is no longer just the supplement of data, but also the collision and subversion of scientific thinking. This is huge for the advancement of human science.
It was precisely because he was aware of this and the importance of these things that the Minister of Science specially reported to Zhao Changxing this time.
Zhao Changxing could sense the hidden meaning behind the superficial report of the Minister of Science.
If human civilization wants to go further, become stronger, and one day become a fourth-level civilization, if a storm civilization, which is also a third-level civilization, can contribute so much to the scientific progress of human civilization...
There are more than a dozen complete third-level civilizations in the Iron Blood Star Cluster. Even the Moyunlitar civilization, which had contact with humans in the past, is also there. There are even several third-level civilizations that are more powerful than the Storm Civilization.
Zhao Changxing had long known about the plan of Boyaro, the former president of Storm Civilization, and what he had planned. Previously, Zhao Changxing did not have a deep feeling about Boyaro's desire to return to the Iron-Blooded Nebula after becoming stronger. Now, after hearing the report from the Minister of Science, he finally understood why Boyaro did what he did in the first place.
Now, those dozen third-level civilizations are all in the open. However, we are in the dark.
The Iron Blood Nebula is very crowded and war-torn, making it almost impossible for civilization to develop in peace. However, we can move freely between different star systems and develop freely. After a period of development, it is not impossible to pit one civilization against more than a dozen civilizations.
This was what Boyaro planned at the beginning. That being the case, why can't we plan this way?
This is the meaning behind the superficial report of the Minister of Science.
Zhao Changxing fell into silence and thinking. He didn't know how long it took before he sighed.
"This strategy is too important for me to make a decision in a short period of time. Besides, it's still early and we still have a long time before we can develop to the point where one versus more than a dozen. Let's talk about it later."
There are indeed many aspects that require Zhao Changxing to think and weigh.
For example, Zhao Changxing has always advocated peace and development, and this concept is deeply rooted in the hearts of civilizations. But now, if we invade other civilizations for the sake of better development, does this go against the foundation of civilization? Will it shake the foundation of civilization?
If human civilization has done that, then what is the difference between human civilization and storm civilization?
This can probably be regarded as another form of cocooning.
Even if this problem can be solved, how will the outcome of the war be determined? How can we be sure that the winner must be our side? What to do if you fail? Even if we win in the end, what should we do if we lose miserably? Will the casualties of so many people cause chaos within civilization?
The most important question is that although the speculation of the "Civilized Colosseum" has been denied, it is still unknown why the unknown super civilization put so many low-level civilizations into the Iron-Blooded Nebula. If we leave and come back, will it cause some unknown trouble?
Are the potential benefits enough to support human civilization to take this risk?
There are so many issues that need to be considered and weighed.
The Minister of Science does not expect to get a definite answer at this moment. At least, Zhao Changxing did not directly veto it, but said that he should think carefully. This result cannot be considered bad.
Zhao Changxing chose to deal with the matter coldly for the time being, but the matter still aroused widespread discussion among civilizations.
The reason is simple, this kind of thing cannot be hidden at all. Anyone with a certain scientific literacy, even a student or an ordinary person, can detect the changes brought about by the integration of Storm Civilization from the rapid development of science and technology.
Regarding this trend of discussion, Zhao Changxing did not take any measures to suppress it. He just watched, silent, and allowed it to develop freely.
Because even he himself has not made up his mind what he will do in the future.
Time passed quietly, and hundreds of years passed in the blink of an eye. After hundreds of years of digestion and absorption, the original technological system belonging to Storm Civilization was finally completely and thoroughly integrated into the technological system of human civilization.
And these results are truly presented to people.
The first is genetic technology. The latest and perfect genetic modification technology that can be widely used on a large scale has increased people's average life span to more than 600 years.
In fact, fundamentally speaking, the human body is not suitable for living for such a long time. The best use of this body is to reach sexual maturity in your teens, start raising offspring, and then die in your thirties. But the development of technology has abruptly changed all this.
While this has greatly improved life expectancy, it has also brought about a series of consequences. Because lifespan is so long, all kinds of weird genetic diseases that have never appeared before begin to emerge one after another. Fortunately, these diseases are still under control and cannot affect humanity as a whole.
It's just that the human medical community has to continue to be busy and continue research.
In addition to genetic technology, the most obvious improvement is the spacecraft manufacturing process. Measured in a hundred years, the spacecraft that people can build at this stage have made great leaps in terms of overall structure and various performances, such as energy consumption, thrust-to-weight ratio, etc.
But this is not enough to allow people to break through the "Venus" class spacecraft and build an "Earth" class spacecraft that is even higher. Because the basic technology has not achieved a big enough breakthrough.
The third biggest improvement occurs in the field of artificial intelligence.
The computing power and reliability of supercomputers have once again been greatly improved, and artificial intelligence has taken on more work. Unmanned factories in a broad sense—factories that only require some maintainers and do not require workers at all are beginning to appear in large numbers. The consequence is that the quality of the products produced is more stable and the output is greatly improved.
At this stage, human civilization finally achieved a comprehensive transformation from manual workers to mental workers.
