Chapter 343: Star Sand on Your Fingertips, the Universe in Your Palm: Li Sheng's Helium-3 Revolution and the Extraordinary Spark
After Li Xiang finished building the "Zhulong" radio telescope array, the live broadcast ended.
But the global discussion has not stopped, and many people are wondering what Li Xiang will do next?
It's impossible to spend eight hours flying up there, finish it in less than an hour, and then rush back home, right?
At least you can have a cup of coffee and look at the stars there, right?
It has to be said that there are many experts, or smart people, on the earth.
Now, a confidential meeting has been held within NASA in the United States to discuss Li Xiang’s next move.
During the meeting, a senior professor from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said: "In the permanent shadow areas at the poles of the moon, there is a large amount of solid water ice, where the concentration of helium-3 is extremely high. Combined with China's unpublished "Helium-3 Mining White Paper", it is speculated that it will build an isotope separation plant - Oh, God, he is not going to rub nuclear fusion fuel rods with his hands, is he?"
I have to say, this guy guessed it right.
Li Xiang did want to rub the three helium sticks by hand.
Of course, this is just preliminary mining. Once the minerals are brought back to Earth, Jiang Caier’s team will take over and begin research on “industrialization” and “application end”.
The reason why he came up on a business trip this time was also because he was asked by Jiang Caier to come up and dig for helium-3.
One of the main resources on the moon that has long been coveted by the world's major powers is helium-3, an isotope that has been known since 1988 to be useful for nuclear fusion.
Its biggest advantage is that it is very stable, clean and radiation-free, making it an ideal fuel for controlled nuclear fusion.
The reserves of helium-3 on Earth are extremely scarce, mainly because the Earth's magnetic field and atmosphere block most of the solar wind, and the main source of helium-3 for a planet is the solar wind.
The moon has no atmosphere and contains millions of tons of helium 3. The energy released by the fusion of 25 kilograms of helium 3 can provide the United States with electricity for a year.
If all the helium-3 on the moon were mined and used to generate electricity, it could meet humanity's electricity needs for at least 2,000 years.
Of course, helium-3 has other uses beyond just generating electricity.
But with helium-3, even without sunlight, humans on Earth can survive for at least one or two thousand years without worrying about energy.
Plants need photosynthesis to grow. Modern agriculture has already conquered the issue of replacing natural light with artificial light. This is actually a very simple theory, and has been proven to be feasible after countless practices.
In extreme environments such as space stations, artificial light is a key technology to achieve plant growth and oxygen regeneration.
The general principle is: during photosynthesis, plants absorb light to convert carbon dioxide and water into organic matter and oxygen. The absorption of light by plants is mainly concentrated in the blue light (about 450nm) and red light (about 650nm) bands, while green light (about 550nm) is relatively not absorbed.
Artificial light sources provide plants with the energy needed for photosynthesis by simulating these specific wavelengths of light.
Helium 3 is not buried deep underground, but is mainly distributed on the surface of the moon, with a depth of no more than a few meters, and is mainly enriched in the lunar soil containing ilmenite.
The surface of the ilmenite particles in the lunar soil is covered with an amorphous glass layer, with helium bubbles with a diameter of 5-25 nanometers formed inside. The helium-3 concentration is even higher in the permanent shadow areas at the lunar poles (areas where water ice coexists).
Ilmenite is a weakly magnetic mineral that can be separated from other lunar soil through magnetic screening, and then the glass layer is shattered by high-pressure shock waves or ultrasonic waves, releasing helium bubbles at room temperature; helium-3 is then captured using nanoscale gas capture membranes with a purity of up to 99.9%.
This process is a mechanical crushing method proposed by China. Its energy consumption is only 1/20 of the traditional high-temperature method and is suitable for in-situ mining on the moon.
In addition, the United States also has the Interlune plan, which is a low-temperature baking method, but it remains at the PPT stage. China has been to the moon several times, collected lunar soil samples, and conducted small-scale experiments.
Li Xiang came to the South Pole of the Moon, the Helium 3 enriched zone. He used his earth vein perception ability and closed his eyes to explore for a moment. Then, he used his earth-related ability. Countless blue light spots appeared in the surface of the lunar soil, the solar wind particle deposition layer, and the gray dust...
Tens of thousands of nanoscale spiritual power threads penetrate the lunar soil and accurately capture helium-3 atoms.
Li Xiang's mind moved, and he tried to activate "Meteoric Flowing Sand!"
A large amount of helium-3 "surged" towards his fingertips, and a few seconds later, a blue droplet as bright as a diamond appeared before his eyes.
Li Xiang stared at this beautiful "liquid diamond" in a daze. Oh my god, it really works?
You know, before he came, Jiang Caier had told him that helium-3 gas has a characteristic that no matter how low the temperature is, it will always be in gaseous state.
However, now, Li Xiang used the "Meteoric Sand" he had learned before to compress the helium-3 into a liquid. And the density is very high.
His meteorite sand can compress hundreds of tons of yellow sand into the size of sesame seeds. It is not surprising that he can compress helium-3 into liquid state by trying it out. Li Xiang even thinks that if he wants to, he can spend more time to compress helium-3 into solid crystals.
This method is absolutely beyond the current understanding of Earth's technology.
In addition, helium-3 is superfluid at extremely low temperatures and is an important research object in condensed matter physics.
With the current level of technology on Earth, it is extremely difficult and costly to mine helium-3 on the moon on a large scale, but for Li Xiang, it is within his reach.
He was in high spirits and mined a lot. It took him seven days and seven nights to collect about 36 tons of helium-3, which was compressed into liquid and did not take up much space.
The containers for holding the helium-3 liquid were made on-site using ilmenite as the raw material and titanium alloy tanks condensed using "crystal gold weapons". The shape of the containers was modeled after the tanks of oil tank trucks.
It's not a hand-rubbed fuel rod, but a hand-rubbed large can, which can be regarded as a thicker version of the rod.
He was also very thoughtful and made two discharge ports and two manual ball valves.
The manual ball valve is a purely mechanical structure with excellent airtightness. As for grinding it to a smooth seal, with Li Xiang's special ability, he can be very precise, even more precise than the parts processed by the most advanced machine tools.
The strength and means of the Saint level are incredible.
In addition to helium-3, Li Xiang then excavated many other precious resources on the moon, including ilmenite, of course, as well as rare earth elements, aluminum, magnesium, silicon, chromium, nickel, copper, etc. Irene could use all of these.
In addition, hundreds of tons of lunar soil and rocks unique to the moon (such as KREEP rock and Chang'e rock, some of which Li Xiang did not recognize) were dug up and brought back to Jiang Caier for research.
These are all unique scientific research resources. I don’t know how many articles I can publish.
Jiang Caier will certainly not hoard them to herself, but will share them with other research groups or domestic and foreign research institutions. However, as she holds the scientific research resources, she has the power to decide who to give them to, how much to give, and how to give them.
Her husband dug it up, even though he was on a business trip, but Jiang Caier had the right to speak. Besides, no one dared to challenge Li Xiang's status and position.
The strongest man on earth, who went to the moon alone, has been declassified for the previous global zero-dollar purchase, but has anyone come to ask for compensation? Before his identity was announced, there were some voices asking the Eastern Power to give an explanation and also proposed a compensation plan, but the Eastern Power ignored it at that time because there was no evidence anyway.
Now, there is evidence, everyone knows about it, but no one mentions it anymore.
The Great Beauty Country: "I have already pardoned it directly, so it has nothing to do with me, don't look at me."
Xiaobenzi: "Our frigate was scrapped only because of technical difficulties. Well, all the parts were dismantled and used for other purposes."
Third Brother: "Our temple has accumulated a lot of offerings. Why hasn't the Lord of God come to collect them for a long time?"
European countries: "We have awarded the Royal Medal to the respected Armor Warrior. He is our most friendly and respectable friend. The end of the world is approaching, and it is safer to keep our cultural relics with him than with us. He has done a great and meaningful thing."
Global netizens: "..." Damn, is this even possible? No wonder people say that the world is a huge makeshift team.
There are many other precious resources on the moon, such as uranium and thorium, and the reserves are extremely rich, but these are radioactive and deep underground on the moon, so Li Xiang was too lazy to bring them. With helium-3, who would care about these things? Uranium and thorium are just nuclear fission fuels. Although the reserves on Earth are not as high as on the moon, they are not lacking.
Li Xiang was not in a hurry to go back. He built three bases in different places on the moon. When he was a child, he liked to play house and build castles. Now that he was on the moon, he could regain the joy of his childhood.
He had a lot of fun just building these bases, which was even more fun than mining.
In one of the bases, Li Xiang also built Chinese-style pavilions and a statue of Chang'e. Sitting in one of the pavilions, facing the statue of the beauty, he took out some snacks from the other-dimensional warehouse, made a cup of cold brew coffee, and enjoyed the starry sky while sipping coffee. He felt so comfortable.
Chang'e and Yao Yao can also transform.
The cold-brewed coffee freeze-dried powder he took out is actually a kind of instant coffee. The coffee liquid is extracted through cold extraction technology, and then converted into solid coffee powder through freeze-drying technology. Its main feature is convenience.
Compared with traditional instant coffee, it retains the original flavor of the beans and is smoother with a sweet aftertaste.
After a few sips, I felt unsatisfied, so I took out another bottle of 53-proof Feitian and poured some into it. Hmm, it was authentic Maotai coffee! And the Maotai content was much higher than that sold in coffee shops.
After eating and drinking, Li Xiang was about to go back, when suddenly his eyes focused, and his "Nine Netherworlds Breaking Delusion Eyes" saw a huge meteorite flying towards the moon from afar. If nothing unexpected happened, it would most likely destroy his base.
So Li Xiang flew up and took the initiative to meet him.
This meteorite, or to be more precise, is meteorite iron, a high-density alloy that weighs at least three or four hundred tons. Li Xiang slapped it with one palm, stopping its movement.
About three days later, the meteorite turned into a grain of star sand the size of a soybean, flying and spinning around him like a stream of light. If you touch it, you will die; if you touch it, you will die.
He took a look at the base on the moon and felt that it was too risky to build it on the surface. The lunar base, especially the one on the back of the moon, should be built inside the moon.
But they are all games, so it doesn’t matter. We can rebuild them if needed in the future.
As for whether the radio telescope array will be damaged by meteorites, it depends on luck. If it is damaged, at most we can go up and replenish it with a few more, and the round trip will only take a dozen hours.
This is an array, so it doesn't matter if a few sides are damaged. The results of the observations will be shared with the world.
Li Xiang quietly returned to Earth carrying a large amount of precious lunar resources.
Seeing that Li Xiang had dug up so many treasures, the domestic scientific research community was very excited, especially Jiang Caier's Nuclear Science Research Institute.
Jiang Caier has returned to Tsinghua University to continue her studies and scientific research simultaneously.
The twin sons were also brought over, and Jiang Jianguo and his wife helped take care of them there.
Jiang Caier is a sixteenth-level extraordinary person with plenty of breast milk. She can be fed three times a day, and the rest of the time she drinks reserve milk.
She would squeeze some in during the day to store in the refrigerator for use. There are special maternal and infant equipment on the market, and it is electric, and there are matching sterile storage bags, which is very convenient. Because sometimes when she is busy, she has no time to go home to breastfeed her baby.
Every day, grandparents push the baby to play in the picturesque Tsinghua campus to relax. They both went to the Tsinghua University Affiliated Kindergarten in advance and said that their grandson will study in the kindergarten here in the future. This school is great!
It has kindergarten, primary school and middle school, providing one-stop service. However, I guess I can only go to kindergarten.
After all, when the end of the world comes, Jiang Caier will definitely bring her entire family back to the underground base in Lijia Village.
…
There are 72 underground honeycomb city clusters, each with 12 satellite cities. Among these satellite cities, some are purely industrial cities, most of which use robots and robotic arms, and have a small population.
Among them, there are about 36 satellite cities that stockpile nuclear fuel rods.
These nuclear fuel rods are enriched nuclear fission material rods, which are stockpiled for future use.
As a core member, Li Xiang naturally knew their distribution: 36 locations, located in different honeycomb underground city groups. Due to the radiation, the protection was extremely strict.
It is encapsulated in a stainless steel or copper-iron composite tank, filled with inert gas such as argon. The tank needs to pass a helium leak test to ensure that the sealing meets long-term storage requirements.
The outside of the tank is also wrapped with lead or high-density concrete, combined with a boron steel interlayer, which can shield neutron radiation and gamma rays and reduce external radiation risks.
In addition to these, there are various monitoring and environmental control measures. Every five years, the fuel pellets are inspected and the oxidation degree and mechanical properties are evaluated.
If helium-3 can be applied, these traditional nuclear fuel rods with many shortcomings can be eliminated.
But Li Xiang has just collected them, and there are still many difficulties to overcome before large-scale application. For now, these traditional nuclear fission fuel rods still have great strategic value.
Be prepared for both situations.
There is also a nuclear fuel rod warehouse in the underground city of Lijia Village, about 20 kilometers away from Lijia Village. Li Xiang went to check it out in person.
Nuclear fuel rods are not only extremely complicated to store, but also require complex processing procedures after use, and the requirements are also very high. This further demonstrates the value of helium-3.
The country made this plan just in case. In case a nuclear enrichment plant is destroyed and there is no ability or talent to rebuild it in the future, the stored nuclear fuel can be used to support it for hundreds of years. These hundreds of years will leave enough buffer time for rebuilding the nuclear plant.
Of course, if civilization suffers a severe blow, it may never be rebuilt, so use less of it.
All in all, the country is preparing for the worst outcome.
This point is also related to Li Xiang's "repeated emphasis" because, although he is a saint, has a speed of 40 Mach, a strength of 700,000 pounds, powerful earth-related abilities, and is known as the strongest man on Earth, but there are more powerful space beasts, some of which have speeds of hundreds of Mach, or even thousands of Mach, tens of thousands of Mach, and their bodies are hundreds of kilometers long. They are simply not something Li Xiang can deal with.
Moreover, although we have never seen it, we cannot rule out the possibility that planet-sized monsters exist.
Li Xiang couldn't guarantee that he could protect everyone. Moreover, he was alone, and if several powerful space monsters came at the same time, he would be tripped up and unable to rescue other places.
In short, I have to say the ugly truth first, so that everyone won't take it easy because of his presence.
Moreover, Li Xiang repeatedly stressed that he called on all countries not to use nuclear weapons unless it was absolutely necessary. Although nuclear weapons are powerful, they can only kill monsters below level 18, and cannot even seriously injure powerful monsters. Instead, they will fill the surface environment with radiation and pollute water resources. Even if they counterattack in the future, it is unknown how many years it will take to recover.
The Black Mist Star Region is extremely vast, and there are countless powerful alien beasts. Even if all the nuclear bombs are used up and the earth is blown to pieces, it will not hurt the alien beasts at all.
The alien beasts' lair is in space, and only a small part of them come to Earth.
When strange beasts absorb nuclear radiation, they will produce more unpredictable mutations and become more powerful.
In addition, nuclear bombs are Pandora's box. Once everyone starts using them, they will throw them at each other. Anyway, no one will live. If I don't live well, you can't live well either. In the name of bombing monsters, nuclear bombs are thrown everywhere. I secretly gave you a few, and you didn't know.
They were suspicious of each other, and each felt that the number of nuclear bombs on their own territory had increased, so they continued to throw them on the other's territory.
This was the case in the previous life.
This is also one of Li Xiang’s major initiatives.
He issued a statement titled: Convention on the Restriction of Nuclear Weapons in Terrestrial Security Emergencies
Bilingual in Chinese and English.
The wording is also very accurate. "Restriction" reflects the core position of "banning unless absolutely necessary". It is neither a complete ban nor a strict restriction on the conditions of use.
The "Earth Security Emergency" emphasizes that exceptions are only allowed when human survival is threatened.
Three thousand words in full bloom.
When Li Xiang's convention came out, all countries were stunned. The end of the world has come. According to your statement, space monsters are everywhere. If you are not allowed to use nuclear weapons, how can you fight them? The world was in uproar. There was a lot of discussion.
If this statement is issued by an ordinary person, even if it is issued by a major country, many people will not bother to pay attention. It should be used anyway. Who will care? It's the end of the world, who cares about you? I don't throw one for you, which is considered a kind heart.
However, this is the strongest person on Earth, a person who can reach the moon in the flesh. It is no exaggeration to say that his words are as good as gold. No one dares to ignore it. This is also one of the reasons why Li Xiang was shocked before.
Therefore, Li Xiang had to use his teacher's "On Protracted War" to fight against the monsters. He couldn't be impatient and had to take it slow.
Existing technological weapons, even nuclear bombs, cannot save the situation.
There are only two paths. One is that all the people practice cultivation and rely on extraordinary particles to become saints. As long as there are enough extraordinary people, they can counterattack and fight their way out.
The second is to work hard to develop science and technology and strive to develop more powerful weapons, but this is probably more difficult than the first path and may take longer.
After all, with existing technology, humans cannot leave the solar system, so how can they deal with alien beasts in deep space?
But practicing is possible.
When Li Xiang does things, he naturally uses both kindness and force. Neither "kindness" nor "force" will work.
He compiled "Lee's Breathing Methods and Physical Techniques", a book that contains thousands of breathing methods and physical techniques, but they are all entry-level and can be called "Volume 1".
With the assistance of Jiang Caier, versions are available in various languages around the world.
Li Xiang suggested that everyone could practice first, and become proficient to the point of muscle memory, and then when darkness falls and extraordinary particles emerge, they will be able to enter the extraordinary realm one day earlier.
When this benefit was announced, the whole world was excited.
Domestic netizens: "Li Shengtai is so selfless that he even published this secret book."
"Li Sheng's vision is truly limitless!"
Hot comments on Reddit: "Is Li Zi going to start a new era of human evolution? I practice Li's Turtle Breathing Technique on YouTube every day. My roommate says I look like a constipated sloth... But what if I can really awaken my superpowers?"
Indian Twitter trend: Under the topic #神使给法#, believers uploaded videos of practicing physical skills by the Ganges River, with the caption: "Li Sheng's physical skills are similar to Shiva's dance steps!"
Japanese 2ch forum: "これ best! (clenched fist) It's time to make anime settings come true! Chuunibyou people collectively apply to make 'Chakra training class' a compulsory course in middle schools!"
African tribal short video: A warrior holding a homemade wooden spear demonstrates a modified hunting breathing method. The soundtrack "Wakanda Forever" has been played over 100 million times. The subtitles read: "Li Sheng's gift allows us to become black panthers before the end of the world!"
Russian fighting community: A collection of videos of vodka and squats went viral, tagged #Siberian cold current breathing method#, and the top comment: "After practicing this breathing method and then going winter swimming, I feel like I can fight a polar bear alone!"
Controversy in European academic circles: Nature journal column debates: "Are there biological commonalities among thousands of breathing methods? It is recommended to set up a multinational research team and apply for funding... Oh sorry, I forgot that the end of the world is coming."
A Brazilian football forum replied: "If Neymar had practiced this earlier, he would have been able to dribble past alien beasts in the World Cup! Now we can only ask Li Sheng to open a special football training class..."
Super football? It seems like there is a way.
Antarctic Research Station Log: "My 47th attempt to use the emperor penguin breathing method to resist the cold wind. The good news is that my lung capacity has increased by 30%. The bad news is that the penguins have begun to imitate my movements... Oh my god, are the penguins mutating too?"
Then someone asked, regarding the follow-up breathing method, couldn't the entire book be released at once? In response, Li Xiang gave the following answer: When the end of the world comes, if there are people who really step into the extraordinary and lack the corresponding follow-up breathing method, they can contact the Lijiacun Underground City or the Chinese authorities, and then there will be follow-up breathing methods to provide.
If necessary, someone will come to your home to guide your practice.
There is no charge for the whole process, but there are some additional requirements. Applicants will be investigated and assessed. If there are very serious crimes, such as killing innocent people, arson, and doing evil, not only will they not get the breathing method, but they will be punished. They will be thrown into the alien beast battlefield and fight to death.
Note: Affects three generations.
As soon as this reply came out, it once again caused an uproar among netizens around the world, and netizens from all over the world were discussing it.
Da Piaoliang: "Is Li Sheng's Breathing Management Bureau the new FBI? How do they monitor the world's extraordinary people? Does the fight I had in a bar three years ago count as 'killing one's own kind'?" → Hot comment First reply: "It is recommended to refer to the anti-registration bill in "The Avengers" for the standard of evil deeds, but Li Sheng is much more ruthless than Captain America (dog head)"
India: #karmacensorship# became a trend, and an ascetic uploaded a selfie video: "The sins of the previous life are repaid in this life, Li Sheng's punishment field is the present Naraka!" The accompanying picture is an AI animation simulating the villain being thrown into a group of strange beasts, and the number of views has exceeded 50 million.
Notes: "Is this a super thing! Is the 'Survey Corps' of Lee's organization real? Please add your wish by writing 'Number of Giants Slain' on the application form!" → This gave rise to the spin-off manga 'Attack on Supernatural', in which the protagonist was disqualified from using the breathing technique for stealing rice balls from a convenience store.
The European Human Rights Organization stated: "The extraordinary qualification review is suspected of violating privacy rights. It is recommended that the International Court of Justice in The Hague establish an independent arbitration agency." → German netizens replied: "When the alien beast bites off your left leg, your right leg will vote in favor of Li Sheng's rule."
African tribal short video: The witch doctor leads the tribe to perform a trial ritual drama: "Only those who swear to the moon that they have not harmed their compatriots can obtain the blessing of the gods." The prop monsters are made of waste tires and were praised by the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Observer.
Russian military forum: "The Punishment Arena should be open to spectator betting! Bet on vodka! Let those bastards create GDP for the country before they die!" → A detailed "Commercial Development Plan for the Alien Beast Arena" appeared in the reply.
Live broadcast from Brazil's favelas: Gang leader burns "Breathing Manual" in front of camera: "I don't need Li Xiang's charity..."
The next day, the man was found dead on the street. International Internet trending search: #Holy Order surveillance has covered Rio de Janeiro# Anyone who disrespects the Holy Order will be killed.
Li Xiang: "..." In fact, he didn't do it at all. He was busy practicing and playing with his son and daughter, and didn't pay attention at all. The gang leader was probably killed in a gunfight.
Li Xiang added this additional condition because he hoped that at the critical moment of human civilization and the advent of the end of the world, humans could unite and stop killing and robbing each other. In his previous life, when the end of the world came, there was chaos, especially abroad. In this life, he just did his best. Although he couldn't stop everything, he could persuade people to be more kind.
As a result, Li Xiang's prestige became increasingly high, and many people said that he deserved the word "saint". As for the dark history of buying for zero yuan in the past, no one mentioned it anymore.
That is not a dark history, that is the path Li Xiang took. People always grow up step by step. If he really has no flaws, people will think he is hypocritical.
Having shortcomings makes people more down-to-earth, more real and more lovable.
…
No matter what, amidst heated discussions around the world, a vigorous national practice began.
However, there are no extraordinary particles now, so many people who are interested in it at first give up after a few days.
However, there are also some people with strong willpower who practice hard every day and remain immersed in it even if there is no progress.
When Li Xiang comes across these "seeds" while patrolling the world, he will mark them and then come back to investigate after a few years.
He was a saint, transcending the ordinary and leaving a small mark of spiritual power on the other person, who was completely unaware.
At the same time, the Eastern powers have a very large pattern. Adhering to the purpose of uniting all mankind and uniting more forces, they share their domestic plans and progress with the world, allowing other countries to "copy their homework". Many countries envy and complain: "You are infrastructure maniacs, and you have the help of the strongest man on earth, so naturally there is no problem. We can't do it even with the plan."
Especially for some small countries, copying this homework is really difficult and impossible.
Li Xiang had no choice but to go out again and use his earth-related abilities to help those weak countries build honeycomb underground cities. But he could only build rough nests, and he could not help with water, electricity, and soft furnishings.
The country is currently unable to take care of itself and has no ability to provide support.
We can only share simple thermal power generation, such as small power stations.
Li Xiang is already very busy building new underground bases around the world.
It’s not that I’m a saint, but that having one more ally can help me share more pressure, and the pressure at home will be less. This is a united front.
This is the time to put aside our prejudices and cooperate with each other.
Li Xiang assisted various countries in building underground cities. Wherever he went, he would naturally take time out to meet with local leaders. The meeting scenes were often reported by many media and became a global hot topic.
There is no doubt that Li Xiang is the most popular star on earth today. Many local beauties threw themselves at him, but Li Xiang thought he had enough women and stopped flirting.
Under the promotion of Li Xiang, the Global Alliance against Alien Beasts was established, and more and more countries or regions joined.
(End of this chapter)
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