After the report, Chen Nian became familiar with the man.
He knew that this man's name was Sebastian, who worked at the Max Planck Laboratory in Germany, and was engaged in the direction of stellarators.
What he is working on is the famous W7-X project.
In the previous life, around 15 years ago, this stellarator was able to generate very precise magnetic fields and made a major breakthrough in the field of plasma control.
In some indicators, it has surpassed the tokamak device. If it were not for the inherent flaws of the stellarator, this device might even have jumped from the fringe to the mainstream.
And obviously, Sebastian played an important role in it.
In fact, he is not a nobody, but a technical master with great potential.
——
Having said that, who can sit here and not have some unique skills?
Probably only Chen Nian, who has no papers and no influence, seems to be just here to make soy sauce.
However, even after figuring out Chen Nian's "background", Sebastian did not look too disappointed. After all, he was not talking to Chen Nian for the so-called "academic social interaction", but purely to kill the boring conversation. Just reporting time.
When the final question session was over, Sebastian enthusiastically invited Chen Nian to have a cup of coffee. After hesitating for a moment, Chen Nian agreed.
It’s not that I want to recruit Sasbastian, but I simply want to get in touch with some cutting-edge research information to see if I can get some inspiration from their ideas.
So, the two walked out of the venue together and sat down in the coffee shop next to them.
Chen Nian ordered a cup of ice cream boldly, while Sebastian ordered black coffee meticulously.
"Sure enough, young people like sweets - when I was your age, I drank Coke and ate candies every day."
"But now that I'm old, my body can't bear the burden of such high sugar levels."
"But you have to be careful - diabetes is not easy to live with."
Sebastian said slightly teasingly.
In his understanding, Chen Nian was a young man who had just studied for a Ph.D. and came to meet with his tutor - this kind of operation was not uncommon in the academic circle, and he had done it a lot when he was young.
From Chen Nian's body, he could find some memories of his youth.
After hearing his words, Chen Nian smiled and replied:
"I usually eat very little, but now that I'm out, I might as well indulge."
"Indeed - after all, for children of your age, participating in such a meeting is more like a trip, right?"
"I still remember that when I went to Los Angeles for a meeting with my mentor, I was not interested in the report at all. My mind was full of strip bars at night, and shopping malls, casinos and beaches on weekends."
"Thinking about it now, it's such a waste of time. However, wasted time is the best time, isn't it?"
"Indeed."
Chen Nianshen nodded in agreement.
In fact, even though he has lived another life, what he misses most is the carefree college days in his previous life.
Blank, nothingness, but precious time.
Seemingly seeing the fascination in Chen Nian's eyes, Sebastian couldn't help but laugh.
"But you obviously haven't reached the time to miss the past yet. You still have to work hard!"
"I just heard you say that you are engaged in research in the direction of tokamak? Why did you choose this direction?"
He was very careful not to discuss technical aspects, for the simple reason that this was within China.
Although nuclear fusion is a topic shared by mankind and an achievement shared by mankind, technical barriers between countries cannot be completely eliminated.
The closer it is to its birth, the stronger the barriers will become until a certain country breaks through first and finally forms a monopoly.
Therefore, confidentiality measures existed in fact, and he did not want to cause trouble for himself.
“Tokamak is the most mainstream research direction at present, isn’t it?”
Chen Nian replied with a relaxed expression.
"Yes, but not necessarily the most promising."
"In my opinion, stellarators, a magnetic confinement device that can naturally operate continuously for a long time, are most likely to become the basis for future nuclear fusion technology."
There was a certain piety in Sebastian's eyes. It was obvious that he was extremely confident in the direction he had chosen, and could even be said to be fanatical.
The birth of most new technologies is precisely because of the efforts of these enthusiasts.
Chen Nian respected this, but did not doubt his choice.
——
Nonsense, the tokamak device is the most favorable solution selected by the system, which is equivalent to some kind of a priori "history".
No matter how promising it seems now that stellarators have a bright future after the birth of room temperature superconducting materials, after all, its naturally high engineering difficulty will also bring about various problems.
Before both types of technologies mature, it is still unknown who is better and who is worse.
However, Chen Nian did not intend to argue with him on academic matters, so he said:
"Yes, judging from the current situation, the stellarator device is likely to have a long spring."
"However, we still chose the tokamak device. Obviously, the researchers and policymakers have their own considerations."
"Yes, I think they should have considered the parts that pure technicians like us cannot consider."
Sebastian agreed calmly.
This answer surprised Chen Nian.
I have seen too many white people who either think highly of themselves and are arrogant, or are as stubborn as a dead cow. The performance of the other party is simply too much.
Could this brother know his identity and come to get close to him on purpose? ——
Fortunately, Chen Nian's worry only flashed for a second, and Sebastian continued:
“In fact, the EAST project also invited me. From the project overview description they wrote, I can see that they are very confident in their technology, but at the same time they are ready to give up the pursuit of perfection. "
"This is a project built by a group of extreme utilitarians who cannot possibly fail to consider the bigger picture."
I see.
Before this, Chen Nian already knew that the EAST project was recruiting talents from various countries, but he did not expect that a tokamak device would send invitation letters to research institutes engaged in stellarator research.
"Utilitarianism. It doesn't sound like a good word, but when you say it, it sounds like a compliment."
Chen Nian said.
"It is indeed a compliment. In the past few years, the heights China has reached are obvious to everyone around the world."
“In 2001, when the EAST project had just completed a small-scale renovation, I was invited to visit.”
"China at that time was not what it is now - of course, there were many new things, but those new things were very crude."
"Ugly buildings, ugly cars, ugly roads."
"Frankly, I despise you."
"I think humans don't necessarily have to pursue perfection, but they should at least do as well as possible."
"But at that time, you seemed to have only one creed: just enough."
"This idea. In Europe, perhaps only farmers in the Middle Ages would believe in it."
Having said this, Sebastian paused, and then said self-deprecatingly:
"But now, we all know what happened."
"I have thought about it many times, and only recently did I realize that it was not the Chinese who chose this creed, but the era in which China lived."
"You were born in the mire, so it is impossible for you to pursue purity."
"Bite the muddy reeds with your teeth, step on the toads buried under the mud with your feet, run through the rotten and smelly swamps with your body, and swallow the sewage that chokes your mouth. Only in this way can you climb out of the mire and go to the world. Pursue the so-called 'respectability' of those who are otherwise outside the quagmire."
"Lucky you guys did it."
"At this point, my respect is sincere."
Chen Nian was deeply touched by Sebastian's words, but at the same time he was also confused, where did this brother's thoughts come from?
It sounded as if he had actually seen a story about a country that did not struggle out of the mire and eventually drowned in the mud.
A white man's country. Have you ever had this experience?
He asked his question curiously, and Sebastian's answer surprised him.
"Of course I haven't seen - you know, there was a country in history, but its choice was to kill its neighbors and use their bodies to stand on."
"My grandfather once participated in this incident, which was a shame to our family, so I can feel your strength even more."
It’s clear.
Chen Nian didn't ask any further, but in his heart, he secretly gave the man opposite him a score that was above the passing line.
At least he still knew the shame.
Unfortunately, he may not be able to enter the EAST project.
After all, according to his understanding, this thing also needs to be reviewed, and family background can sometimes be an obstacle.
The two chatted until lunch time. No matter how cautious they were, the topic would inevitably involve some technical details.
Sebastian was greatly surprised by Chen Nian's professionalism and familiarity with cutting-edge fields.
"Unbelievable. Are you really just a PhD student?"
"I can see that you don't know much about certain technical details, especially when it comes to relatively complex theory."
"However, your overall control and macro-level understanding have reached a very high level."
"How is this done? Has China's higher education advanced to this level?"
Chen Nian smiled slightly and did not answer immediately.
Where did you get all this knowledge and information about yourself?
That is the technical crystallization of dozens or hundreds of top scholars!
If you still act like a novice at this level, then you really need to check your brain.
"Probably some kind of talent."
he replied casually.
Sebastian looked at him deeply and nodded silently.
During lunch time, each country's team had its own arrangements, so Sebastian did not invite Chen Nian to join him.
When he returned to the team, everyone was a little curious about his whereabouts.
To these questions, he just answered unanimously:
"I met an interesting kid and had a cup of coffee with him."
"Interesting kid? Are you here for the meeting?"
Someone on the side asked curiously.
"Yes, young, but smart."
"But it's a pity that he is working in the direction of tokamak. Otherwise, I would like to absorb him into my own team."
As soon as he finished saying this, Sebastian suddenly reacted:
Although he can be regarded as an elite in the field, compared with China's current scientific research strength and resource investment, the Max Planck Laboratory is still not enough.
Why should people give up their promising future and come to work for you instead?
The flow of talent has already changed.
Sure enough, everyone around him laughed, and some made fun of the impracticality of his idea.
However, Sebastian didn't take it seriously. He just finished his lunch in silence, thinking about several issues he had mentioned in his previous exchange with Chen Nian.
On the one hand, the biggest advantage of stellarators, that is, the stability advantage of magnetic fields, has been continuously reduced due to the emergence of room-temperature superconducting materials.
On the one hand, China has invested a huge amount of resources and plans to give it a try on tokamak, and it has also given a common opportunity to all scholars in the same field.
What they need most right now is talents in the field of plasma confinement.
Should you consider changing directions?
After all, whether your research topic is placed on a stellarator or a tokamak, the effectiveness will not differ much.
This is really a difficult question to decide.
However, just after lunch, something happened that caught him off guard.
Eichendorf, his old rival who also studied asymmetry breaking theory, found him and asked the same question as him.
Moreover, judging from Eichendorf's performance, it seems that he really intends to join the EAST project.
".I think you should understand that the EAST project has many restrictions on cooperative scholars, and if you want to participate in core areas, you need to go through multiple reviews."
"It's very likely that in the end, you will also exist as a marginal researcher and witness."
"Is it really worth it? I mean, the progress of the stellarator is very slow, and the cake is small, but it can be divided among each of us."
After hearing his words, Eichendorf shook his head.
He did not answer directly, but asked:
"How old are you, old man?"
".55 years old."
"Can you survive until the stellarator is born?"
These words directly stunned Sebastian.
Yes, can I live until that time?
Which scientific research practitioner can resist the temptation to witness and personally participate in human evolution?
Maybe, I should be selfish for once?
After a long silence, Sebastian finally replied:
"I'll think about it carefully."
"What about you? Have you made your decision?"
"Yes."
Eichendorf nodded solemnly and then said:
"I hope to see you there."
"I heard that the Science Island where EAST is located has countless delicious river seafood. I think we should try it."
Eichendorff is not the only scholar to make this choice.
And this is just the first day of the nuclear fusion conference.
It was obvious that the direction of the wind had completely changed. From this change, Chen Nian seemed to be able to vaguely see the shadow of a long-gone era.
(End of chapter)
