Short video spoiler history: The beginning of modern warfare

Chapter 138 Immune System
【The news of Chang'e 6's second moon landing has become popular again, but this time it was a hard landing. In fact, this statement has some problems, because Chang'e 6 is mainly divided into four parts, namely the orbiter, lander, ascender, and returner. 】

[The orbiter is responsible for the tasks of Earth-Moon transfer, circumlunar flight and Moon-Earth transfer; the ascender is responsible for sending samples from the lunar surface to the lunar orbit and transferring them to the returner;]

[The lander is responsible for descending from the lunar orbit to the lunar surface and collecting samples; the returner and the orbiter are responsible for bringing the collected lunar soil samples back to Earth.]

[In fact, only the lander and ascender landed on the lunar surface of Chang'e-6 this time. The orbiter and returner combination has been on standby in the lunar orbit. After the lander completes the sampling work, the ascender will send the samples to the orbiter and returner combination in the lunar orbit.]

[After completing the sample transfer, the ascender separated from the return assembly in order not to drag down the lunar soil samples back to Earth.]

[It goes without saying that the combination returned as planned. In order to maximize the value of the ascender, the lunar exploration engineers controlled it to return to the moon again. However, this was not a soft landing, but a direct collision with the lunar surface! ]

[This has two main meanings. One is to reduce space debris. If the ascender that has completed its mission continues to stay in the lunar orbit above the moon, it will become the moon's "space debris", affecting subsequent lunar exploration.]

[Secondly, by controlling the Chang'e-6 ascender to impact the lunar surface, it is possible to stir up lunar dust, collect lunar seismic data, and obtain more research data on the lunar geological structure and deep lunar soil composition, providing data and experience support for future lunar exploration missions.]

[In addition, this hard landing impact can leave traces on the lunar surface again, which will become a coordinate or memorial for our lunar exploration program. Perhaps in the future we can build a heritage park at this place.]

In front of Fengtian Hall.

"Is this the concept of modularization?" Zhu Yuanzhang and others were surprised. They always thought that Chang'e 6 was a whole, but they did not expect that it could be made into four parts, which were independent of each other and could cooperate with each other.

"Your Majesty is wise and it should be so." Hu Weiyong and others flattered him in a meaningless way.

"But the precise control of the docking of the ascender and the assembly over a distance of 38 kilometers must be controlled by wireless signals," Liu Ji said with admiration, "This method is really magical."

I learned the term wireless signal from the comments section, it is very descriptive.

Everyone nodded. The four parts had clear division of labor and a well-organized structure. It could be seen that the lunar landing team was indeed extremely well prepared.

"Controlling objects remotely? This is another novel technology." Many people's eyes lit up. In fact, from a series of knowledge and vocabulary such as triodes, telephone communication principles, analog signals, electrical signals, etc., everyone also guessed the underlying logic of this technology, which is wireless signals.

This kind of understanding comes naturally, just like once you understand addition and subtraction within 10 and 100, then understanding addition and subtraction within 1000 will be a natural progression. This is the power of analogy, which is something we are born with.

With the understanding of converting sound into electrical signals, everyone is curious about wireless signals. These are two completely different communication methods, and they also include some things, such as controlling the ascender to take off at a precise time, docking, and so on.

That is, several components of Chang'e 6 have the ability to "respond", can parse and execute commands sent from the Earth, and perform a series of sophisticated operations.

This was truly beyond the comprehension of everyone in front of the Fengtian Hall, who only knew how to convert sound into electrical signals.

[The immune system is probably one of the most sophisticated and successful biological systems in the world]

[When a virus penetrates into normal human cells, it begins to grow and replicate in large numbers, but it does not kill the cells immediately. The purpose is to disguise itself and avoid detection by the immune system.]

[But once they grow in sufficient numbers, they will break out of their shells, at which point the broken cells will release cytokines, sounding the alarm]

[The first to hear the news are macrophages, which are large and can engulf bacteria and viruses. One macrophage can eat about 1 viruses, but if there are too many viruses to eat, the macrophage will also release cytokines and call neutrophils]

[Neutrophils in the blood will rush to the battlefield immediately after receiving the signal and spray deadly chemicals on the virus, which may even damage human cells. Some may even explode directly, spreading a net of their own DNA and toxic substances to capture and kill the virus.]

[As the battle becomes more intense, the human hypothalamus will raise the body temperature by one or two degrees to reduce the activity of the virus. At the same time, the higher body temperature will make the metabolism faster, and the macrophages and neutrophils will be more agile, which will manifest as fever on a macro scale.]

[If this doesn't work, then it's time for dendritic cells to come into play. They look a lot like macrophages, but after engulfing the virus, they will immediately withdraw from the battlefield, draw a portrait of the virus, and then run to the human body's lymph nodes]

[There are hundreds of millions of special forces T cells on standby, each of them is different and has its own characteristics. Dendritic cells can engulf and decompose viruses and find corresponding T cells that restrain the virus.]

In front of Fengtian Hall.

The clerks began to copy down the relevant content while muttering the four big words "immune system".

It is obvious that this is the human body's internal reaction when bacteria and viruses invade the human body.

Everyone here is just as curious about the human body's organs, blood, brain, the childbirth process, the body's reactions when sick, etc. as they are about aerospace and electromagnetic theory.

Because this concerns the vital interests of everyone. The more you know about your own body, the more calm you will be and the more ways you will have to deal with diseases, bacteria and viruses.

And this moment is about what happens when the virus invades the human body.

This is a completely unfamiliar field to everyone. Even the understanding of human cells is still at a very superficial stage. We only know that the smallest unit of the human body is the cell, but what is inside it is still unknown.

Since the advent of the microscope, the Imperial Medical Bureau has invested a lot of energy in this area. However, due to the limitations of the microscope's magnification ability, currently only the vague shapes of the cells in the blood can be seen.

On the other hand, for plant cells, we can roughly observe their internal structure.

"The signal released by the human body is similar to a smoke signal. The first to arrive are the fearless giant cells, the vanguard, followed by the elite neutrophils, and then the dendritic cells responsible for coordinating logistics, and the T cells that specialize in suppressing viruses. If you have to make an analogy, they are somewhat like different devices."

"According to this analogy, this is too brilliant." Many people felt their scalps tingling, and looking at the process of dealing with the virus, it really seemed like there was a general in charge.

“The question is, are these cells spontaneous?”

"It's genetic material! The cells in the human body, like plant cells, divide to produce new cells! So the cells that divide must contain genetic material, or DNA." Zhang Yuanshi said with certainty. This is the result of the Imperial Hospital's research in the past few months. The result was obtained by observing the division of plant cells and cells in the blood. He guessed whether there was genetic material in it. If there was no genetic material, then the cell was completely useless.

"The behavior and characteristics of each cell may have been determined in the genetic material." Zhang Yuanshi added that although it is not known how cells are organized into various organs or skin, hair and exhibit corresponding characteristics, this statement is definitely correct. This is the gene-controlled trait that has been mentioned in Tianmu.

Except for Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Biao and a few others, everyone else was shocked. They could not believe that the Imperial Medical Service, which had been unknown for a long time, had developed so many things.

However, when combined with what Tianmu had mentioned before, everyone understood a little bit.

"That makes sense. This defense system should exist in the genetic material. When viruses and bacteria invade the human body, they just trigger the immune system." Liu Ji and others agreed with this statement.

"That explains why DNA is present after neutrophils explode. But isn't this immune system just too magical?"

"It turns out that sometimes fever is caused by virus invasion?" Many people felt their scalps tingling. Viruses are really hard to guard against. It turns out that viruses are not only like plagues, but also non-contagious ones that cause various diseases.

"How do we tell if it's a virus invasion or some other reason?" Everyone looked at Director Zhang.
Zhang Yuanshi and the others were extremely ashamed, blushing and whispering: "It is impossible to tell for the time being."

"Ahem. Why does the human body have T cells that can inhibit the virus?" Someone changed the subject, but obviously raised a more tricky question. The expressions of everyone in the Imperial Hospital became more and more embarrassed.

Although the knowledge of later generations becomes clearer and clearer with each debate, it cannot withstand the process of being torn apart layer by layer.

Zhu Yuanzhang was overwhelmed. He looked at the popular science label next to the title and knew that this popular science video would only briefly explain the process.
[The process of finding the correct T cells often takes about 3-4 days. After finding them, the T cells will replicate in large numbers and further differentiate into killer T cells and helper T cells]

[The former is responsible for fighting the virus head-on, while the latter is responsible for buffing the exhausted macrophages that were first deployed to the battlefield to help them regain their strength]

[Finally, a small number of T cells will remain in the lymph nodes to find B cells. These cells will develop special antibodies based on the current virus characteristics, and it is the B cells that ultimately determine the outcome of the war.]

[In order not to occupy human resources, B cells and T cells will selflessly commit suicide on the spot after victory, but they will still leave a small part and transform into memory T cells and memory B cells respectively]

[The next time the same virus invades, the T cells and B cells that have memorized the virus's genetic information will go directly to the battlefield and kill the virus in the cradle]

[However, there is a small bug in this whole immune system. We mentioned earlier that the process of dendritic cells following the map often takes about 3-4 days, but if a person has too few dendritic cells, this process will be infinitely prolonged.]

[The T cells of various troops cannot participate in the battle in time. When macrophages, neutrophils and infected cells can no longer support them, they will continuously release cytokines.
[At this time, the crazy neutrophils will not be able to tell where the battlefield is, and then launch an indiscriminate attack on cells throughout the body. This is a cytokine storm. Once a cytokine storm occurs, our body will be killed by our own immune system.]

[This is a bit like when there are too many cockroaches in the room to kill them all, burning the house down is also a solution.]

Tang Dynasty, Chang'an City.

Li Shimin and others were shocked by the precision of the immune system. This system's strategy for dealing with viruses is quite efficient.

"They actually saved the virus information and made plans for future encounters with similar viruses." Fang Xuanling and the others were stunned. Why does this...seem like they are holding a grudge?

"Isn't there really something directing this?" Wei Zheng was stunned. Tianmu said that these cells only knew how to execute orders and would never delay. They were more reliable than humans.

One of the generals scratched his head and chuckled, "My immune system is really amazing!"

Seeing his proud demeanor, Li Shimin was confused. He felt awkward. He admitted that humans are made up of cells, but what are my thoughts at this moment? Are they my thoughts or the thoughts of a bunch of cells? Am I still me? Or a pair of cells?
In other words, if we compare a person to a house, this house has some consciousness and can speak. Suddenly one day someone comes and tells you that you are not yourself, you are made up of a pile of bricks, tiles, pillars, and windows. The bricks, tiles, etc. here can be regarded as different cells.

It’s hard to accept just thinking about it.

Moreover, the immune system's final operation of killing a person is a show of stupidity. If all this is determined by genetic material, does it mean that when it sees that it cannot defeat the virus, the genetic material chooses to burn down the city and perish together?

Li Shimin was not the kind of person who would dwell on trivial matters, but it was obvious that he could not bear it if he dug deeper into the issue, so he simply pretended that he didn't know about the cell matter.

The civil servants looked at each other, and it was obvious that everyone had the same idea.
This is not to say that the popular science about the immune system is wrong, it's just that it really destroys one's worldview.

Immune Cells: How to AFK at 42 Degrees with a Big Tailwind [Doghead]

"So when you say a cold will heal in about a week, and when you say a runny nose will go away soon, it means help will be here soon."

"Have you ever thought about this question: Why do dendritic cells always find T cells that can suppress invading viruses? Where do these databases come from? What happens if they can't find the corresponding T cells that can suppress them?"

"Dog Head Recorded in the Yongle Encyclopedia"

"The immune system actually only cares about killing the virus but doesn't care whether it kills you at the same time."

"Strictly speaking, the antipyretic drugs you take are actually hindering your immune system"

Jinling City.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the comment section. When he saw the entry about Yongle Encyclopedia, his face suddenly twitched. This was not the first time he had seen such blatant ridicule.

Obviously, this is a mockery of Lao Si, or the so-called Lao Si fans in later generations?
Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't hold his head up because he had implicated him. He really couldn't afford to lose face by doing this.

Liu Ji and others looked at the sky. They had some questions about T cells, but unfortunately no one answered them, so they had to give up.

(End of this chapter)