Son of the Stars

Chapter 23 Confusion (22 for further reading)
The sky is of course the most likely source of fluctuations.In the universe, electromagnetic waves, gravitational waves, high-energy particles, and all kinds of rays are like a boiling soup that oscillates back and forth endlessly.

And the energy contained in them is also amazing.

Just take fast radio bursts as an example-after the double neutron star merger event of GW190425, a powerful fast radio burst arrived on the earth.The X-ray energy released by this fast radio burst that lasted 1.7 seconds is equal to the total energy released by the sun in five years.

Pulsars are more "stable" and more violent than the rare fast radio bursts that occur.This "blinking" celestial body is the product of a supernova explosion.It is also a neutron star, but it spins surprisingly fast.Their rotation periods range from 0.0014 seconds to 11.765 seconds.And the cycle is very stable.

Pulsars also emit fast radio bursts, but under harsher conditions.Only after a supernova explosion with sufficient mass is it possible to leave behind a rapidly rotating neutron star and an extremely dense cluster of free electrons around it.

Under the fast rotation of the pulsar, its magnetic axis will also undergo strong periodic changes accordingly.The surrounding free electrons will be transformed into projectiles ejected by the slingshot under the action of the rapidly changing magnetic axis.

The emission frequency ranges from 0.0014 seconds to 11.765 seconds, and the energy of a single emission is almost equal to the sum of the energy released by the sun in one year.This kind of celestial body called Cosmic Gatling is relatively limited even in the entire universe.

This level of celestial activity is presumably able to meet the relevant conditions of "huge disturbance".However, according to Baozi's investigation, in the records of the entire 200 years before the big crash, there was no record of "supernova explosion" or "new fast radio burst activity" that met the requirements.

There was a sign in the sky that said "This road is not going to work", so Lu Chen could only throw the realization to the ground.

If there are any disadvantages of cosmic phenomena as disturbances, distance is definitely the most important one.With the addition of a long distance, the powerful fast radio bursts will be gradually weakened—even when the particles and rays are emitted with huge energy.But as the distance extends, the energy dissipates in all directions, and the energy that can reach the earth is finally less than one ten-millionth of the original energy.

But... crustal activity is different.

It occurs right under human feet, at a depth of no more than 6371 kilometers.

According to Baozi's investigation, in the two months before the big crash, the earth's crustal activity was indeed very frequent.In two months, three earthquakes of magnitude 7.0 or above occurred on the circum-Pacific seismic belt, and as many as five earthquakes of magnitude 7.0 or higher occurred on the Asia-Europe seismic belt.

Among them, the earthquake with the largest magnitude occurred under the ocean surface about 320 kilometers east of Mat Aiti Island, and the magnitude of the earthquake was estimated to be 9.1.The resulting tsunami engulfed the entire Micronesia, Melania, and Polasinia regions.

Could it be caused by an earthquake?Lu Chen frowned, this reasoning made sense.But he himself doesn't agree with it—earthquakes are more common than stars in the sky.How could a 9.1-magnitude earthquake in the depths of the Pacific Ocean trigger a major collapse?
There are more than 3000 earthquakes on Earth every day, about 130 of which can be felt by humans.

Homo sapiens has been at the top of the food chain for at least 20 years, and earthquakes have occurred at least a trillion times.There have been about ten recorded earthquakes above magnitude [-]. Why is this one so special?

As a clinician, Lu Chen was subconsciously unwilling to accept such an "ordinary" answer.The lack of uniqueness means that the probability of this answer being wrong is extremely high-humans determine that cholera is transmitted by water through "cholera patients all drink water from the same well", rather than "cholera patients all wear clothes" so arbitrarily think that cholera is spread by contact.

If that earthquake had no unique properties, it probably wasn't the real source of the disturbance either.
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The source of the disturbance has troubled Lu Chen for a long time. It was not until he saw Watanabe pushing a motorcycle downstairs in his dormitory that Lu Chen's confusion was slightly relieved.

"Professor Yang asked me to bring you a message." Watanabe parked Lu Chen's scooter on the side of the road, then started to light a cigarette and said, "The content is as follows: 'I don't study physics!'"

After taking the message, Watanabe threw the motorcycle keys at Lu Chen, and then said, "This answer came to me after Professor Yang suffered from insomnia for two days."

Lu Chen shook his head regretfully, "I thought he would have to think about it for three days."

"It's possible. But the other experts in the same group couldn't stand it anymore, so I reminded Professor Yang a few words." Watanabe said, smoking a cigarette, "In addition, we have checked the information you asked for internally—the Comprehensive Investigation Bureau There are no unpublished records of earthquakes or supernova explosions in our database."

Watanabe looked at Lu Chen with mentally retarded eyes, wondering what was wrong with the brain of this doctor of medicine who was studying quantum mechanics, "It's a natural disaster, it's a natural phenomenon... Even if our Comprehensive Investigation Bureau and the coalition government have brains water, intending to conceal the occurrence of natural phenomena that have nothing to do with us. It is also impossible to achieve the level of 'no one can still remember'-we cannot manipulate the memory of all human beings!"

"I know." Lu Chen nodded, "I just plan to try my luck—what if you really have this ability?"

"Then you will definitely find yourself lying naked in an alley, aching all over, but you don't know what happened." Watanabe said very calmly, "If there is such a convenient tool, then our usual work will be difficult. Much easier."

"I always feel that you are hostile to me." Lu Chen looked at Watanabe and asked, "Although our first meeting was not pleasant, at least I was cooperative, right? Where did your hostility come from?"

"The gray suit you tore was a birthday present from my wife." Watanabe said very calmly, "It was also the last thing she left me—now, this gift is yours." Torn."

Before Lu Chen apologized, Watanabe said first, "The fabric has no repair value. Even if it is repaired with a synthesizer, it can't accurately simulate the degree of fading of the surrounding fabric." He blinked, looked at Lu Chen and said, "That's not bad. , at least I have a specific, hostile object."

"If it's just hostility, it's not a big problem." Lu Chen said helplessly, "You shouldn't deliberately embarrass me because of this kind of hostility, right?"

"At most, it's not nice to speak, after all, I'm a professional." Watanabe returned to the casual and lazy look. "But there is one thing I have to tell you - your experimental group may have some other tasks recently."

"Is it convenient to reveal it?" Lu Chen asked with a frown, "We still have a lot of experiments to do, and there is really no time to waste."

"You'd better cooperate—the committee wants to see you." Watanabe snorted twice and said, "Professor Yang Jianmin and Academician Tang Qinglong will also go with you."

(End of this chapter)