Mystery Paradise: Wishing Power Demon

Chapter 119: Chapter 118: The Direction of the Future

Chapter 119 -118: The Direction of the Future

While everyone was whispering to each other, the third expert, Professor Shi, took the stage.

“Good day, everyone. My research focuses on superconductor energy storage, with applications in new energy sources, as well as Tokamak devices.”

Unlike the previous two experts, he did not start a PowerPoint; instead, he had an assistant bring up a square box. “I am extremely grateful for Professor Fu’s discovery. The moment I learned that room-temperature superconducting materials truly exist, my research leaped from struggling to find a glimmer of light to marching down a wide avenue. The progress we’ve made in the past few days exceeds that of the last twenty years.”

The audience burst into a friendly laughter.

“I’m not exaggerating. This model before us is the proof,” Professor Shi said, as he removed the black cloth covering the model.

An exclamation of amazement rose unanimously from the crowd.

The model itself didn’t have any especially remarkable features; it was a metal frame in the shape of a square, with an oval sphere fixed inside it. The sphere was also encased in metal, though it was embedded with black glass windows on all sides. Through these windows, people could see a bright light shimmering inside!

It was a ring of light flow, spinning at high speed around the axis at the center of the sphere. It was clearly light, yet it seemed solid in its density! The black glass on the windows appeared to be for dimming the brilliance of the light flow. Nonetheless, its brightness was still rather dazzling, and staring at it for too long would cause discomfort to the eyes.

Fu Jiangshui realized that this effect couldn’t be achieved using LED light strips, because the light’s flow was consistent in direction but irregular in trajectory.

“Are the outer glasses polarized lenses?” someone with a raised hand asked.

“Yes, and they are specially made polarized lenses. This allows people to observe the flow of electricity in the superconducting coils with the naked eye.”

“Can electricity be seen?” Gao Wei asked confusedly. “I thought it had no form.”

“Under normal circumstances, it cannot, but if there is something else inside the sphere, such as inert gas, then we can see the fluorescence emitted when it gets ionized by electricity,” explained Fu Jiangshui before raising his own hand.

“Professor Fu, please, go ahead,” the other responded courteously with a nod.

“How much electricity can this model store?”

He already sensed that the answer would be astonishing.

Yet, the response from the expert still far exceeded his expectations.

“At present, it’s only three thousand degrees of electricity. Charging it also takes time, but based on my experimental results, this value could potentially increase by a factor of ten thousand.”

Ten thousand times? Fu Jiangshui sharply inhaled, taking a long time to nod and respond, “I see… thank you.”

“Professor Fu, couldn’t other superconducting materials achieve this?” Gao Wei quickly sought clarification.

“Need you ask? Not only can others not achieve this, they can’t even catch the tail end of it…” he abruptly recalled that the other party wasn’t into scientific research and promptly corrected himself saying, “You know about MRI machines, right? The core component is also a superconducting energy storage device, typically using niobium-titanium alloy, with liquid helium as the cooling medium, with a full charge of around fifty degrees of electricity. This is an attribute of the material itself and cannot be improved through technology.”

As an expert in materials research, he was well aware of how astonishing Professor Shi’s conclusion was. Since superconductors have zero electrical resistance, the current can flow indefinitely without attenuation in the superconducting coils, but the amount of electricity that can be injected has an upper limit called the critical current of the superconductor.

In fact, ordinary superconductors are affected not only by low temperature and pressure but also by the strength of current and magnetic fields. Once it exceeds the critical point, the superconductor loses its superconductivity. Therefore, if another room-temperature superconducting material were discovered that had a very low critical current, it would also struggle to be of practical value.

Seeing that Director Gao was still somewhat puzzled, Fu Jiangshui decided to elaborate, “Three thousand times ten thousand equals thirty million degrees of electricity and the Three Gorges Power Plant produces over two hundred million degrees of electricity a day. This means that ten such devices could store the entire daily power generation of the Three Gorges! Similarly, just one sphere could power a modern city, it’s truly a revolutionary concept!”

“Carry such a large amount of energy on the go?” Gao Wei was equally stunned. “Wouldn’t that be like carrying a small nuclear bomb?”

“Carrying it around may not quite work; I can’t imagine the magnitude of the magnetic field it would generate.” Fu Jiangshui shook his head. The square metal frame on the outside of the oval sphere was probably to dampen the magnetic field, preventing it from becoming a portable MRI machine that would attract all the iron-based objects nearby. But a superconducting energy storage sphere with thirty million degrees of electricity? He didn’t think a few simple shielding devices would still be effective.

“If my proposal gets approved, then my team will start with large-scale superconducting energy storage devices, providing a magnetic core component for the new Tokamak that far exceeds past performance,” said Professor Shi, who clearly agreed with him. “If used merely as a mobile energy source, it would undoubtedly be a waste of Yaoshi’s potential. Compared with past superconducting coils, the new ones don’t need a cooling medium, and with a significantly higher critical current, the intensity of the magnetic field they create will also increase exponentially. This is obviously a huge step forward for controlled nuclear fusion projects.”

He concluded by saying, “We are currently facing a severe energy challenge. We rely on imported oil and natural gas. If nuclear fusion can achieve a breakthrough, then we will welcome an era of immense energy.”

Enthusiastic applause erupted from the audience once more.

There was no suspense, Fu Jiangshui thought to himself.

The energy revolution has always been a perpetual theme in the successive industrial revolutions. Furthermore, the project suggested by the other party is highly compatible with the environment in which Yaoshi is used—nuclear power plants can only be national projects while also being highly confidential, eliminating concerns about leaking superconducting materials. Should it succeed, the economic benefits are immeasurable.

In terms of feasibility, the prospect is quite hopeful. Domestic research on magnetic confinement fusion has always been at the forefront internationally, with at least one Tokamak test reactor built. Replacing them with Yaoshi superconductors would essentially be like swapping a bird gun for a cannon; there is no reason why substantial progress couldn’t be made. Additionally, the amount of Yaoshi required for such a project is not substantial, and in the event of experimental failure, it would not consume the superconducting coils, making it a much better option than the other two proposals.

A space elevator, unrestricted by lift capability, is equally attractive. After all, mankind’s aspiration to venture into space is eternally romantic. However, despite the romance, Fu Jiangshui agreed with a certain academician from his country that while there are so many areas on Earth not suitable for living yet to be fully explored, it seemed somewhat misguided to eagerly develop space.

The voting process was swift.

The ballots were signed and could include multiple choices. If they felt like it, voters could also write personal reasons and suggestions.

In less than thirty minutes, the host had tallied the results—the three project proposals had received 15, 9, and 31 votes, respectively.

The direction of superconductor energy storage research achieved an overwhelming victory.

This meant that from this day on, the researchers gathered at the Integrated Control Center had a new goal.