Chapter 287 Top Ten Annual Scientific and Technological Progress

In the second week after New Year's Day, two big things happened.

The well-known academic journal "Science" selected last year's top ten scientific and technological breakthroughs in 2016 as usual.

As the last piece of the general relativity puzzle, the discovery of gravitational waves took the top spot without any suspense.

If electromagnetic wave telescopes are human eyes, then gravitational wave detectors are like human ears. Since then, human beings can finally listen to the sound from the universe.

The second place is Cynthia 3.0. Compared with the gravitational waves that caused a sensation in the world, most people may not even know what this thing is, but this is the closest human beings are to becoming God in the true sense.

With 473 genes, it contains the minimum number of genes necessary to maintain life activities, and at the same time, it is the simplest living body that humans can produce at present.

As for the third place, the modified PDMS film that solves lithium dendrites is on the list without controversy.

For the material science community that has not seen a "major breakthrough" for many years, this is undoubtedly a very brilliant achievement. At the same time, "the seventh row of the periodic table of chemical elements is filled" was also selected. This year's chemical community can be described as high-spirited.

Also on the list is Google's AlphaGo, the ultimate learning system built by combining the Monte Carlo decision tree algorithm with the deep neural network algorithm, making it a well-deserved master in the field of artificial intelligence.

As well as breakthroughs in space exploration technology, the seeds that humans sow into space are gradually sprouting...

These research results are ranked in no particular order, after all, the results in different fields cannot be compared horizontally.

But this is said in name, but in fact, the ranking of the list given by "Science" every year still reflects the subjective opinions of journal editors to a certain extent.

According to the list given by "Science", many people on the Internet are speculating that with this outstanding research result, Lu Zhou may become the second mathematician to win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry after John Pope. Family.

Of course, this is just a layman's point of view.

After all, the views of "Science" only represent "Science", not the entire scientific community.

The Nobel Prize has quite strict evaluation criteria for the selection of outstanding achievements in the application field. As an outstanding achievement in the field of application, the modified PDMS material is doomed to be unable to be awarded the Nobel Prize in the year after the achievement was confirmed like gravitational waves.

Whether an application technology can be called great or not needs time to test.

But just like the "Father of Artificial Life" and famous scientist Craig Venter, no one will be surprised if the Nobel Committee actually awards the Chemistry Prize to Lu Zhou one day.

After all, the problem of lithium dendrites has indeed plagued the entire material science community for decades.

As for another major event that happened at the beginning of the year, it was Trump's inaugural declaration at the White House.

But this has nothing to do with Princeton, and it is not a matter of the world with Lu Zhou, who is not interested in politics.

...

In the second week after New Year's Day, Professor Lu gave his students a long holiday.

One is to make up for the winter vacation owed to them, and the other is that until the New Year's Eve on the 27th, he will be busy and have no time to take care of them.

For this hard-won long vacation, Qin Yue said that he would go home for the New Year, while Hardy said with a happy face that he planned to travel to the Mediterranean with his girlfriend. For this ignorant student, Lu Zhou restrained the urge to show him something like "winter vacation homework", smiled and nodded to wish him a good time.

As for Vera, when Lu Zhou asked her about her vacation plans, the little girl probably didn't think about what to do, but just looked blank.

Seeing Vera like this, Lu Zhou sighed.

If it was someone else, he might suggest to go back and see the parents, reunite with the family, relax and so on.

But her words...

He could only find something meaningful for her to do.

After thinking for a while, Lu Zhou said: "Mathematics is a subject that needs inspiration. If you just spend time in library management, the final result is likely to lead yourself into the misunderstanding of thinking. This spring, the American Mathematical Society has a scene at Berkeley. To the exchange meeting for young scholars, the paper you showed me last time is not bad, I suggest you try to submit it.”

As soon as she heard that she was going to give a report on stage, the little girl was a little flustered and said nervously, "I... I haven't given a report on stage yet."

"No one is born with it, you have to learn to adapt," Lu Zhou looked into her eyes and said seriously, "If you are worried about travel expenses, you don't have to worry about it at all, registration fees, air tickets, etc. All expenses on the road , you can spend it from the project funds. But if you just don’t dare to go on stage, I hope you can overcome it. Believe me, I’m doing it for your own good.”

Among his three students, Vera has the highest talent, and Lu Zhou has the highest expectation of her.

One day she will stand on a stage like the International Congress of Mathematicians and present her research results in the form of a 45-minute or one-hour report. If she cannot go on stage just because of stage fright, then she will never be able to become a world-class scholar .

Hearing the phrase "I'm for your own good", Vera's cheeks flushed slightly, and she was a little overwhelmed.

After waiting for a long time but still not getting a reply, Lu Zhou, who didn't intend to leave her any retreat, continued to ask.

"What's your answer?"

"……Um."

Although there is some lack of momentum, it can be regarded as a big improvement.

Leaning on the office chair, Lu Zhou nodded with satisfaction, barely counting her as qualified.

"Then go prepare. There are three days left before the deadline. You don't have to come to the office for these three days. You should carefully revise your paper. I will help you with the air ticket. You just need to sign up."

Just half-forced to help her decide, Lu Zhou kicked her out of the office.

Stopping at the door of the office, Vera hesitated and turned around.

Noticing Vera's hesitant expression, Lu Zhou asked casually, "Is there anything else?"

Lowering her head slightly, the little girl smiled a little embarrassedly: "It's nothing, I just want to thank you... No one has ever cared about me so much before."

That's it?

Lu Zhou said as a matter of course: "You're welcome, after all, I am your mentor."

...

After dealing with the Princeton matter, Lu Zhou drove his Ford Explorer to Philadelphia that afternoon, and came to the office building where Starry Sky Technology's North American branch is located.

I have to admit that AM's service is really satisfying. Not only did it solve all the problems he could think of, but it even helped him solve problems that he hadn't thought of yet.

Of course, the fees are not cheap either.

Because the office is still being renovated, there is nothing to see here except for the decoration materials and cardboard boxes piled on the ground.

Turning around, Lu Zhou left the office building and returned to the car.

The purpose of visiting the company on the way here was just to satisfy his curiosity. His main purpose of coming to Philadelphia this time was not for this matter, but to meet a person, that is, the consultant contacted by AM firm.

It is said that the other party is a professor at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, and an expert with a double degree in business administration and international trade.

Although the relevant plans have been prepared, those things on paper alone are not enough, and some things still need to be discussed in person.

At the request of the expert, Lu Zhou made an appointment with her and planned to chat face to face.