Genius Club

Chapter 244: Temporal Particles

This novel is translated and hosted only on BcaTranslation

“I obviously know what the Guizhou Eye is,” Lin Xian said, looking at Liu Feng with a hint of exasperation. “I asked you to repeat it, not because I didn’t hear you clearly, but because I wanted to make sure you know what you’re talking about.”

He sighed internally. The Guizhou Eye, officially known as the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST), was the world’s largest radio telescope. It was well-known, especially to a science fiction enthusiast like Lin Xian. Covering over 260,000 square meters, its construction was proposed in 1993 and wasn’t completed until 2016, marking the end of a 23-year journey.

To avoid interference from city signals, large-scale telescopes are typically built in remote mountainous areas. The rugged terrain of Guizhou, with elevations often exceeding 1,000 meters, made it an ideal location.

The Guizhou Eye looked like a giant silver bowl nestled among the mountains. Traditional radio telescopes often resemble radar dishes, but this colossal bowl, with a diameter exceeding 500 meters, could not stand upright, leading to its distinctive horizontal structure. Around the edge of this massive bowl stood six nearly 100-meter-tall support towers. Each tower extended a steel cable to suspend a white “small box” above the center of the giant reflector. This 30-ton small box, known as the feed cabin, was the core component of the radio telescope.

The feed cabin, positioned at the focal point of the parabolic reflector, focused the signals collected by the reflector to achieve high-sensitivity space observation. During operation, the reflector adjusted according to the movement of celestial bodies, causing changes in the shape of the parabolic surface and the position of the focal point, necessitating the movement of the feed cabin. It was a complex system.

It’s worth noting that the principles of radio telescopes differ from those of optical telescopes. Optical telescopes gather visible light to form visual images, while radio telescopes collect and converge extremely weak long-wave electromagnetic waves from the universe. Unlike traditional telescopes, radio telescopes are sensitive to waves, vibrations, and radiation rather than forming conventional images. They have greater sensitivity and observational range than optical telescopes, making significant discoveries in astronomy, such as pulsars, quasars, cosmic microwave background radiation, and interstellar organic molecules.

Among all the radio telescopes worldwide, the Guizhou Eye was undoubtedly the most powerful.

Lin Xian bent down to pick up the pen he had thrown, placing it back on the table.

“The Guizhou Eye is a national treasure. While it is occasionally open to tourists, most of the time, it undertakes critical astronomical observation tasks, some of which involve national secrets, leading to periods of closure. Even if it were open purely for tourism, I could never buy such equipment for you.”

“It’s not about money. This is a non-saleable national asset. Even if you had the money, without the technology and national support, you couldn’t replicate a telescope like the Guizhou Eye. Even if, hypothetically, I wanted to rent it for a few days, I wouldn’t have the qualifications. Many countries worldwide queue up to borrow the Guizhou Eye for national purposes. It’s not something a small company owner like me could arrange.”

“But…” Liu Feng scratched his head, looking troubled.

“As I mentioned, if temporal particles truly exist, they would be extremely tiny and difficult to observe. Only a super radio telescope like the Guizhou Eye could capture the fluctuations and frequencies of temporal particles. Lin Xian, I know borrowing the Guizhou Eye is challenging, but it’s a crucial step in our research on temporal curvature and Universal Constants. Without finding temporal particles, we can’t calibrate the temporal clock. Without calibrating the temporal clock, we can’t detect temporal curvature, and our research would stall.”

Lin Xian tapped his fingers on the table without speaking. He had long wanted to tell Liu Feng that the Universal Constant might not be as complicated as he thought. After all, Big Cat Face’s father had figured it out with just a pen and some paper, so it might not require the world’s largest radio telescope. But after several hesitations, he decided not to.

Firstly, Liu Feng was not Big Cat Face’s father and lacked the genius level of comparison. Big Cat Face’s father was a Fields Medal-winning genius, a once-in-a-lifetime talent. In contrast, Liu Feng had not achieved any outstanding accomplishments. His most notable contribution to human history might be the inspiration he inadvertently provided to Big Cat Face’s father from a book found in Li Qi Qi’s grave.

Secondly, Lin Xian could not be 100% sure that Big Cat Face’s father’s research was correct. His confidence was based on speculation and indirect evidence, believing that if the Genius Club feared him, Big Cat Face’s father must have been right. But there was no concrete proof.

Therefore, saying anything discouraging now would only dampen Liu Feng’s enthusiasm. In his first dream, Big Cat Face’s father had been killed in a car accident at 00:42. In the second dream, he was taken away on the morning of August 28, 2624, and missed the opportunity to meet him. In the third dream, he died of radiation sickness when Big Cat Face was still young, perhaps even before completing any research. In none of the three possible futures had Lin Xian met Big Cat Face’s father.

If Lin Xian had any hope, it was to meet Big Cat Face’s father alive in a future dream, to directly ask this genius about the Universal Constant 42. But this was uncertain and unlikely.

Currently, Liu Feng was still Lin Xian’s only “lifeline” and the closest person in the world to uncovering the truth of the Universal Constant 42.

Lost in thought, Liu Feng had already brought a small blackboard over, pointing at a complex string of numbers and letters.

“I’ve calculated it. If we input these parameters into the Guizhou Eye’s program, we might find the existence of temporal particles in the universe. However, the fluctuations of these parameters are so small that even the Guizhou Eye, with its top-level sensitivity, cannot detect temporal particles beyond the moon’s orbit due to insufficient precision.”

“If the Guizhou Eye finds temporal particles, they must be within the Earth’s atmosphere. At most, they might be a few tens of thousands of kilometers away, not as far as 380,000 kilometers. So, Lin Xian, we’re very close to success!”

Liu Feng’s excitement grew as he patted the blackboard and looked at Lin Xian.

“If the Guizhou Eye’s target is close, we can capture it! Do you understand how exciting this is? We can capture a reference object from another space-time, the first temporal particle in human history!”

“Lin Xian?” Suddenly, a soft voice called from the lab door.

Lin Xian and Liu Feng turned to see a beautiful girl in a white dress, her high ponytail bouncing, her pretty face radiating youthful vitality, with a charming tear mole at the corner of her eye and a sweet smile.

“An Qing?” Lin Xian stood up, looking at Chu An Qing. “What brings you here?”

“I saw your car downstairs!” Chu An Qing giggled.

“We have a dance class next, and I was passing by when I saw the car. At first, I thought it was Zhao Ying Jun’s car because I’ve seen her in it often. But when I got closer, I saw the driver wasn’t hers, and the license plate was different. The driver told me it was your car, so I came up to say hi!”

“I didn’t expect you to buy the same car as Zhao Ying Jun. I thought you’d get a sports car since you’re so good at driving. A cool, flashy car would suit you!”

Lin Xian smiled.

“This car was provided by the company for business trips. The driver is also from the company. If I had to buy one myself, I’d probably get a high-performance one. But honestly, I’m tired of driving and prefer being driven.”

Chu An Qing tilted her head, looking at Liu Feng.

“Lin Xian, who is this?”

She initially thought he might be a teacher or professor in the lab but seemed too young. Although he appeared worn out, he didn’t look older than thirty, probably just a few years older than Lin Xian.

“This is Liu Feng, he’s a mathematician.” Lin Xian introduced.

“Not really a mathematician,” Liu Feng nodded at Chu An Qing. “I’m just an ordinary math researcher with no significant achievements.”

“A mathematician? I thought you were a physicist or astronomer!” Chu An Qing laughed. “I overheard you talking about deep stuff like the Guizhou Eye and radio telescopes. And… what’s a temporal particle?”

Lin Xian thought for a moment before smiling.

“It’s a term Liu Feng made up. It’s not something that’s been proven. We were discussing some astronomical research, and the conversation drifted into sci-fi territory.”

“Oh, I see.” Chu An Qing nodded, looking at Lin Xian with admiration.

“But you’re amazing, Lin Xian. You know astronomy, geography, arts, and science. Last time we visited the art exhibition, you explained so much scientific knowledge beyond art. I thought you just had broad interests, but you’re also well-versed in science! You’re a true all-rounder.”

“Not at all,” Lin Xian said humbly. “I just know a little bit of everything, far from being proficient.”

“Ughh…” Chu An Qing sighed lightly. “I sometimes envy talented people like you, Lin Xian, Ji Lin Xian, Tang Xin, and Ying Jun. You all have remarkable abilities. I’m just… Chu Shan He’s daughter, nothing more.”

“You shouldn’t say that.”

Lin Xian quickly responded, intending to praise Chu An Qing but found it difficult. While her dancing was good, it wasn’t exceptionally outstanding. She got to perform on many stages and received flowers and applause mainly because of her father, Chu Shan He.

She wasn’t the best dancer at Donghai University or even in Donghai City. But she got to perform solo at the Donghai City Music Festival because of her father, not her skills.

So, in some ways, she was right. She understood that without her father’s influence, she was just an ordinary girl—cute and pretty, but average in academics, sports, and other talents.

At this moment, Lin Xian didn’t know how to comfort her. Any insincere praise would feel like sarcasm.

Before he could think of something, Liu Feng stepped forward with a smile.

“You shouldn’t think like that, young lady. You’re still young. It’s too early to judge your worth. Besides, no one can predict where their life’s brightest moments will come from. If anyone can speak about being useless, it’s me.”

This novel is translated and hosted only on BcaTranslation

Liu Feng pointed at himself.

“I’ve loved math since I was a kid, spent my entire college and graduate years studying it, working on a project no one recognized, full of errors. I’ve never succeeded, always a failure. I even gave up math to earn money for my sick girlfriend, but I couldn’t save her, losing both time with her and my passion.”

“I’m 27, and I’ve achieved nothing. But after meeting Lin Xian, I realized even if I fail a thousand times, it’s okay. He told me some things might be wrong a thousand times, but that’s alright. It only needs to be right once at the crucial moment. I believe this deeply, that my life might be for that one moment. That one moment can light up my entire life.”

“So, young lady, I think your life is the same. Don’t undervalue yourself. Your time hasn’t come yet. As I said, even if you fail your whole life, one success is enough. There’s something only you can do, and when the time comes, you’ll shine.”

“There’s something in this world that’s made for you, only you can do it.”

“Besides you, no one else can!”

This novel is translated and hosted on bcatranslation