Deep Space Fleet

The Gliese people have indeed known the existence of electricity. With some small revelations given by the "Enlightener Civilization", they have the possibility of jumping directly from the Stone Age to the Electric Age.

Unfortunately, this step is very, very difficult.

For a whole hundred thousand years, countless capable men and wise men launched attacks again and again, but no one took this crucial step.

Just because there is no oxygen...

When I saw this, the discussion in the conference room suddenly increased. Some were skeptical, some were curious, and some even questioned the correctness and reliability of this report.

"No technology was born? It took them so long and still no real technology was born?"

"Could it be that the real technology was given to them by the second batch of aliens!"

The professor on the stage smiled meaningfully, as if he expected the reaction of everyone present: "Everyone, I have a question. If human beings are faced with this dilemma, without oxygen, but with a certain amount of scientific thinking Under the circumstances, can we jump directly from the Stone Age to the Electric Age?"

Everyone gradually fell silent and began to think seriously.

"...It's very difficult, unbelievably big." Captain Zhao, who was sitting in front, shook his head lightly.

The absence of oxygen means that there is no natural combustion phenomenon, making the development of science extremely difficult. In this case, it is almost impossible to smelt copper or iron on a large scale.

For human beings, the simplest method of smelting copper and iron is the carbon reduction method. At a relatively high temperature, carbon is used as a reducing agent to perform oxidation-reduction reactions on metal minerals to smelt metal elements.

But this method requires a very high temperature. For the Gliese people who have no burning phenomenon, it is undoubtedly difficult to reach a high temperature of thousands of degrees...

Unless a natural active volcano can be found and the temperature of the volcano can be used, there is only a slight possibility.

But when the Gliese encountered a volcano, it was too late to escape. How could they risk their lives to smelt iron? They don't even know the so-called chemical reaction equation!

So, besides the carbon reduction method, is there any other way? Of course there is: electrolysis! Most metals can be smelted by electrolysis, but electrolysis requires electricity first!

In other words, without the phenomenon of combustion, it is impossible to enter the Bronze Age or the Black Iron Age. Their technological progress can only stay in the Stone Age, and it is difficult to increase productivity.

The development of science is gradual. Even if they already have a relatively good scientific thinking, they still need experiments to support the viewpoints put forward.

Science is a methodology. After putting forward a point of view, if it conforms to the experimental results, then the point of view can be considered correct for the time being.

If it is not true, this view will undoubtedly be discarded.

But the question is, how to experiment?

To give a simple example, if you want to study biological cells, you must first have a microscope, right? If you want to own a microscope, you have to learn how to burn glass and make lenses, right? But there is no fire, how to burn glass?

Inventing new experimental tools is as important to scientific research as proposing new theories.

There are too many similar difficulties, even if the Gliese people, under the guidance of the enlightener civilization, already know that the magical natural phenomenon of "electricity" exists and can be converted into huge power. But there is no iron, no copper, and no conductors. How can we study electricity?

The scholar sitting in front of Zhang Yuan turned his head and discussed: "In this case, I can think of two ways. The first is to know exactly what electricity is. Just like the group of us , I have already mastered this knowledge, if I suddenly go to the Stone Age, I can directly skip technology, skip bronze and black iron."

Zhang Yuan shook his head: "No, for some reason, the enlightener civilization only told them about the existence of electricity, but didn't tell them about the nature of electricity, let alone about phenomena like electromagnetic induction, so they can only live in the mist. groping blindly."

"Then, the second plan is to use the power of the whole country to put the priority of electric power research first, and rely on a large number of talents to break through these bottlenecks. Their planet has low oxygen content, and iron, copper, and magnets are found in nature. There are also simple substances... relying on these natural materials, there is still a little bit of possibility."

"Professor, your statement is too difficult, too idealistic..." Another expert questioned: "It can only be a dictatorship government... Only a dictator who is crazy will issue such an order. There is no such thing as a democratic government. It is possible that the people have been driven out of power long ago.”

Listening to these discussions, Zhang Yuan sighed: "That is to say, human beings are likely to get stuck in that situation, and there is no excuse. How can they try to study what kind of wires, Magnets, electromagnetic induction?"

"Continue to deduce, in the universe, is it difficult to develop real technology on a planet without oxygen? This is really... very strange."

"I thought of another way, bio-smelting! The changes of life are infinite. On the earth, some bacteria can accumulate soluble metals well under high temperature conditions. Maybe the creatures on some planets can What about smelting metals by yourself?"

"It's not impossible, but it's very low. It's impossible for you to ask the creatures on those oxygen-free planets to evolve the ability of bio-smelting..."

When reaching this conclusion, Zhang Yuan had to lament the good luck of mankind.

This condition is indeed a bit harsh. There must be a small number of planets with a lot of oxygen. Oxygen is produced by plant photosynthesis and cannot be born out of thin air. The reactive nature of oxygen means that if it cannot be produced continuously, it will quickly react with other substances and be consumed.

An oxygen-free planet is the majority.

Because of this, the productivity of the Gliese civilization has always been in the Stone Age. There is no way to separate natural elements chemically, and there is no way to study electrical energy physically.

When it rains and winds, it will produce lightning, which is the only natural phenomenon related to electricity that they can observe. Various physical models were proposed one after another, and some people even gave their lives to touch lightning!

However, what is the point of all this when the production tools are still stone and wood?

This kind of tragedy and degree of difficulty is really hard for outsiders to understand...

"I don't know, I don't know anything... We don't know anything about this world. It seems that a layer of darkness covers our eyes and blocks our way forward. We know that electricity exists and that it can exert magical powers. "

"But all the attempts were in vain..."

This wise man studied from youth to middle age, and then to old age. He exhausted all his efforts, but achieved nothing. He wrote sadly in his diary: "Damn electricity, what exactly is it?!"

At this time, it has been... 30,000 years since the enlightener civilization left.

The moment he saw this passage, something seemed to hit Zhang Yuan's heartstrings. As a scientific researcher, why doesn't he often express such emotion?

The universe is so ruthless that a civilization is stuck, and only a small catalyst needs to be missing.

Simply because there is no oxygen.

There is no sense of mockery. Compared with the Gliese civilization, human beings are just a little bit more lucky. At least they have developed their own technology and penetrated the sporadic truth of the universe.

"Hey... The technology of the earth's civilization has been stuck for a long time. Is there something missing that we don't know?"

"Lack of some thinking, or reasons unknown to us... or something else..."

The evolution of history is still going on, not diverted by the will of any life...

Under the condition of long-term fruitless exploration, science has gradually lost its momentum of advancement, and physics, chemistry, biology, and medicine are all in a state of stagnation, and no one is willing to study these things anymore.

Mathematics is thriving. Because mathematics does not require experimental verification, it is not limited to productivity, as long as it is logical.

Year after year, ten thousand years after ten thousand years...

The technology tree of Gliese civilization began to have serious deviations, mathematics took the lead, and other subjects were in a mess!

A ridiculous thing happened, and its mathematical level has even surpassed that of human beings! However, the tools used are still the most primitive tools such as stone and wood!