Gao Fan thought about it for a while, and finally could only use the word "magnificent" to describe Wu Zixian's ideal.
Wu Zixian said: "Actually, I came up with this idea after hearing 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 the plants to survive.
"However, to grow food, you need land. In a place like ours in Liu'an, the entire province is covered with mountains and there are few flat lands, so there is no way to grow food.
"My chemistry teacher said that if we could invent a method to directly turn carbon dioxide into starch in a factory, we would no longer need to grow food and just rely on industry to produce food. In this way, no one would go hungry.
Already."
"I understand." Gao Fan nodded.
Such an ideal can really only be born among those who have been hungry since childhood. Wu Zixian once 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 semi-starvation, so that Wu Zixian’s
He is also smaller and thinner than others in the dormitory.
What the chemistry teacher said was actually an idea, maybe just to stimulate students' interest in learning chemistry. But this idea took root in Wu Zixian's heart, and he even chose the chemistry department for such a goal.
Without it, just to prevent yourself and your family from going hungry.
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, what if we don't talk about it theoretically?" Wu Zixian heard Gao Fan's subtext and asked.
Gao Fan said: "Not theoretically speaking, this matter is very difficult, and it may take decades to make some progress. If you take this topic as your research direction, you are likely to be obsessed with it for the rest of your life.
If you can’t do it at a decent cost, you’ll achieve nothing in the end.”
What Gao Fan said was not that he had really evaluated the difficulty of artificially synthesizing starch from carbon dioxide, but that he clearly remembered that it was not until he time traveled that Chinese scholars realized the synthesis of starch from carbon dioxide for the first time in the world.
It was synthesized from scratch, and it was only realized in the laboratory.
At that point in time, they were nearly 40 years away from now.
Some experts estimate that it may take decades for this technology to move from laboratories to factories.
Wu Zixian nodded and said: "I know this is difficult, but I want to try. I applied for the Department of Chemistry just for this purpose. I have no interest in other research directions. Find a good unit to work in
Making money is of little interest to me.
"I just feel that if this topic can be researched, it will be of great benefit to our country."
Gao Fan said: "But have you ever thought about it, the country may not support such a project at all. The reason is very simple, that is, such research is not the most urgent for us.
"The topics studied by some old professors in our department are also very valuable and can become the forefront 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
Within 20 years, it is impossible for the country to have the money to support this project."
"What if I don't need state support and I do it myself?" Wu Zixian asked.
Gao Fan said: "How do you do it yourself? You need to do experiments, and experiments cost money. If you can't apply for funds, you have no money, how can you continue to do it?"
"This..." Wu Zixian was speechless, and there was a hint of sadness in his eyes.
"Scientific research is not enough just to have an idea, nor is it enough just to have a passion." Gao Fan advised.
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 was only a freshman and had no idea what scientific research was about. Gao Fan was
A time traveler who has personally participated in many major scientific research projects.
Among the projects that Gao Fan has participated in, the funds at hand of academic experts are often tens of millions. If you throw in hundreds of thousands for an experiment, no one will blink an eye.
Entering the new century, China's scientific research has been fully developed and its results have been produced one after another. The number of SCI papers has even surpassed that of the United States, ranking first in the world. Behind these achievements is the support of strong financial resources.
After the new century, the country has built a large number of so-called "big scientific facilities", such as spallation neutron source facilities, synchrotron radiation light source facilities, 500-meter-diameter spherical radio telescopes, and fully superconducting tokamak nuclear fusion experimental facilities, all using
They are made with money. Many of these devices do not produce direct economic benefits, but they are an important cornerstone of the country's scientific and technological development.
After all, when the country is rich, it can afford cutting-edge things.
At this point in 1982, China was still a completely poor country, and its scientific research funding was a fraction of that of the United States. For example, Yang Kai planned to conduct research on computational quantum chemistry, but he did not even have a personal computer of his own.
If you can compete with others for scattered computers in the computing center, how can you hit the international forefront with this?
The research that Wu Zixian wants to do is even more difficult. Gao Fan can imagine that it is almost a bottomless pit that cannot be filled no matter how much money is thrown into it. Today's China will definitely not be able to afford such research, which means that Wu Zixian cannot afford it at all.
It's impossible to make anything, it's just a waste of youth.
"I'm telling you, scientific research means burning money. Do you understand that burning money?" Gao Fan asked.
"Burning money...you mean paper money?" Wu Zixian asked confusedly.
"What about paper money, real money, RMB, Unity!" Gao Fan said, "Burning money means throwing Unity into the fire, one bundle after another. If you want to make a decent result, you have to do this.
Spend money.
"Let me give you an example. Teacher 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 ruthenium metal is almost 50,000 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 stunned.
50,000 yuan per kilogram of raw materials has exceeded Wu Zixian's imagination. A few minutes ago, he was still excited that he earned 10 yuan in the morning, but now Gao Fan is talking to him about 50,000 yuan per kilogram of raw materials.