Sail across the sea

Chapter 114 Research is Burning Money
"How could you have such a grand ideal."

Gao Fan considered it for a while, and finally he could only use the word "magnificent" to describe Wu Zixian's ideal.

Wu Zixian said: "Actually, I had this idea because I heard it from my high school chemistry teacher. He said that the photosynthesis of plants is to turn carbon dioxide into starch, and then people eat the starch in plants to survive.

"However, to grow food, you need land. In a place like ours in Liu'an, the whole province is full of mountains, and there are almost no flat lands, so there is no way to grow food.

"My chemistry teacher said that if we can invent a method to turn carbon dioxide directly into starch in the factory, then we will not need to grow food in the future, and we can directly produce food by industry. In this way, no one will be hungry gone."

"I understand." Gao Fan nodded.

Such an ideal can really only be born to those who have been hungry since childhood.Wu Zixian said that there is little land there, and the food they grow is not enough to eat. All the people are in a state of half-starvation, so that Wu Zixian is also thinner than other people in the dormitory.

What the chemistry teacher said was actually a brain hole, maybe just to stimulate students' interest in learning chemistry.But this idea took root in Wu Zixian's heart, and he even chose the Department of Chemistry for such a goal.

Without it, just to keep myself and my family from starving.

A childish yet lofty ideal.

"Gao Fan, do you think it's possible?" Wu Zixian looked at Gao Fan and asked.

Gao Fan thought for a while and said, "Theoretically, of course it is possible. We can artificially synthesize bovine insulin, and there is no reason why we cannot artificially synthesize starch."

"So, why not talk about it theoretically?" Wu Zixian heard Gao Fan's subtext and asked.

Gao Fan said: "In theory, this matter is very difficult, and it may take decades to make some progress. If you take this topic as your research direction, you will probably spend your whole life in it. If you can’t make a decent cost, you will end up with nothing.”

Gao Fan said this, not because he really evaluated the difficulty of artificially synthesizing starch with carbon dioxide, but because he clearly remembered that it was not until before he crossed over that Chinese scholars realized the conversion from carbon dioxide to starch for the first time in the world. de novo synthesis, but only in the laboratory.

At that point in time, there are nearly 40 years from now.

Some experts estimate that it may take decades for this technology to move from the laboratory to the factory.

Wu Zixian nodded and said: "I know it's difficult, but I want to try. I applied to the Department of Chemistry for this purpose. I have no interest in other research directions. Find a good unit to work for Making money is not of any interest to me.

"I just think that if this topic can be researched, it will have a great impact on our country."

Gao Fan said: "However, have you ever thought that the state may not support such a subject at all. The reason is very simple, that is, such research is not the most urgent for us.

"Some old professors in our department research topics that are also very valuable and can become the frontier of theory, but it is difficult to apply for funding. The topic you mentioned is too far away for the country, so at least in In 20 years, it is impossible for the country to have the money to support this project.”

"Then if I don't need state support, what can I do?" Wu Zixian asked.

Gao Fan said: "You do it yourself, how do you do it? You need to do experiments, and experiments need money. If you can't apply for funding, you have no money. How can you continue to do it?"

"This..." Wu Zixian was dumb, and a look of sadness flashed in his eyes.

"Scientific research is not enough just to have an idea, nor is it enough to just have a passion." Gao Fan persuaded.

At this moment, he seemed to be possessed by Yang Kai, and he also had a desire to explain the principles of life to his junior brother.After all, Wu Zixian is just a freshman, and he doesn't know what scientific research is all about.Gao Fan is a time traveler and has personally participated in many major scientific research projects.

In the projects that Gao Fan has participated in, the funds in the hands of academic experts are often tens of millions.Hundreds of thousands of dollars were thrown into an experiment, and no one blinked.

Entering the new century, China's scientific research has been fully exerted, and the results have been produced one after another. The number of SCI papers has even surpassed that of the United States, becoming the world's number one.Behind these achievements is strong financial resources as support.

After the new century, the country has built a large number of so-called "big scientific devices", such as spallation neutron source devices, synchrotron radiation source devices, 500-meter-aperture spherical radio telescopes, and fully superconducting tokamak nuclear fusion experimental devices. It was thrown out with money.Many of these devices cannot produce direct economic benefits, but they are an important cornerstone of the country's technological development.

After all, the country has money and can afford cutting-edge things.

At this point in 1982, China was still a poor country through and through, and its scientific research funding was a fraction of that of the United States.For example, Yang Kai intends to do research on computational quantum chemistry, but he doesn't even have a personal computer of his own, so he can only compete with others for scattered computers in the computing center. With this, how can he hit the international frontier?
The research Wu Zixian wanted to do was even more difficult. Gao Fan could imagine that it was almost a bottomless pit, and no amount of money could be filled into it.Today's China certainly cannot afford such research, which means that it is impossible for Wu Zixian to make anything, and he can only waste his youth in vain.

"Let me tell you, scientific research is burning money, do you understand burning money?" Gao Fan asked.

"Burning money...you mean paper money?" Wu Zixian asked in a daze.

"What paper money, real money, renminbi, big unity!" Gao Fan said, "burning money means throwing big unity into the fire, and throwing it in bundles. If you want to make a decent result, you have to do it like this." spend money.

"Let me give you an example. Mr. Hai is going to do research on rare earth catalysts. One kilogram of 99% pure yttrium oxide costs 230 yuan; one kilogram of 96% pure dysprosium oxide costs 600 yuan.

"These are relatively cheap. If you want to do research on ruthenium catalysts, the price of metal ruthenium is about 5 yuan per kilogram, and you need to use foreign exchange.

"If you don't have funds, are you going to use your salary to buy these chemical raw materials?"

"Then..." Wu Zixian was dumbfounded.

5 yuan per kilogram of raw materials has exceeded Wu Zixian's imagination.A few minutes ago, he was still excited about earning 10 yuan a morning, but now Gao Fan was talking to him about 5 yuan a kilogram of raw materials.

(End of this chapter)