Deep Space Wandering Fleet
Chapter 409 - 407: A Major Earthquake

Chapter 409: Chapter 407: A Major Earthquake

"Yes, it indeed is troublesome," the expert in mechanical engineering discussed, "Many technological advancements are essentially advancements in material science."

"If we lack rare earth elements, it’s difficult to make progress in material science, naturally making it impossible to develop powerful engines. Even some composite ceramics require rare earth elements."

How important are rare earth elements?

In material science, they are as essential as oil!

Take engines for example: In the era of turbojet engines, the gap between the turbine blades and the casing was wide, and the temperature in front of the turbine was lower, keeping the amount of deformation of the turbine blades within controllable limits—conventional materials could suffice.

However, in the era of turbofan engines, the temperature in front of the high-pressure turbines was even higher, and the tip clearance was narrower, making the issue of turbine blade deformation particularly prominent. The main element that resolved this issue was the Reel Element. Adding the Reel Element to nickel alloys could significantly improve the creep strength of the alloy, allowing it to resist deformation well even under extended periods of operation.

Without such an element, the Taipu people wouldn’t have been able to progress beyond turbojet engines, no matter how clever they were—after all, it’s hard to cook a meal without rice.

Most of the rare earth elements used in cell phones are lighter rare earths and their reserves are somewhat adequate, but heavier rare earths like the Reel Element are exceedingly rare.

"The total amount of mineable Reel Element resources on Earth is only about 2,500 tons. This planet may have even less, maybe only... 100 tons? For such a big planet, it’s practically useless," Zhang Yuan couldn’t help but ask, "Our current material technologies widely utilize composite ceramics and nanomaterials, right? Many materials don’t contain the Reel Element, is it possible for them to leapfrog in technology?"

"No chance—many materials still require rare earth elements. Besides, we’ve been developing for hundreds... no, thousands of years. Captain, we are a Third-level Civilization," the scientist said, "We must eat bite by bite, walk step by step. Without the achievements of the past, there would be no funding to research subsequent developments."

"If we couldn’t even research ordinary propeller aircraft or jet engines, how could we possibly achieve a giant leap and develop our ramjet engines?"

This is also one of the main reasons why the Taipu Civilization has so far not developed airborne vehicles. It’s not just due to insufficient funds; material scarcity is a significant factor.

Of course, the Taipu Civilization also faces a fourth difficulty—the atmosphere is too thick, making rocket launches problematic.

The friction coefficient of the atmosphere is directly proportional to air density. Rockets flying at high speeds face greater resistance, and at the same time, the high temperatures on the rocket’s surface pose more demands on material science.

"If this civilization wants to launch rockets, it must possess higher-performance materials. However, this difficulty is the simplest to overcome, it can be done with some difficulty," Zhang Yuan furrowed his brows, "Compared to humans, the Taipu people really are a very unlucky civilization... So, if I were the leader of the Taipu Civilization, leveraging human help to launch some satellites would indeed be a very cost-effective affair."

Li Zhendong took over the conversation, "As for whether or not there’ll be a new batch of satellites after these ones become obsolete in a few decades, it doesn’t really matter. By then, I won’t be in office anymore, I’ll likely be retired, and people will only remember me fondly."

"You do have a strong sense of political awareness."

So, suppose the Enlightener Civilization truly came to this planet 150,000 years ago, after inspecting the entire planet, they too would have foreseen these difficulties. How could they lend a hand? Especially since such help might only become necessary tens of thousands of years later.

This question is complicated, as the Enlightener Civilization has always been averse to direct donation.

"If it were humans, it would be really hard to help without directly giving them technology. Especially since, 150,000 years ago, they were still a bunch of primitive people... With high gravity, high air pressure, and a lack of rare earth elements, how could they solve it? Speaking of things like rare earth to primitive people, they wouldn’t understand,"

The excited expert said, "So, we followed the train of thought of archaeology to study what major events had happened 150,000 years ago, whether they were natural disasters or man-made calamities. If such an event was influential enough, there must be some traces in history."

"And indeed, there were!"

"150,000 years ago, a super earthquake erupted from the ocean!"

"At a conservative estimate, the magnitude reached at least 13."

A 13-magnitude earthquake!

With each magnitude difference of 1.0, the energy differs by about 32 times. That is to say, a 6-magnitude earthquake is equivalent to 32 magnitude-5 earthquakes, while a 7-magnitude earthquake is equivalent to about 1,000 magnitude-5 earthquakes.

Thus, a 13-magnitude earthquake is equivalent to 32,000 magnitude-10 earthquakes!

Such an extremely powerful earthquake could cause the movement of the Earth’s crustal plates.

In that instant, a huge tsunami was created!

Many volcanoes erupted simultaneously, and a blanket of ash obscured the global sunlight. Then, due to a substantial drop in temperature, there came a period of intense precipitation, and a small Ice Age triggered by the earthquake was thus born.

This mini Ice Age did not last very long, about over two years. The massive precipitation caused the dust in the skies to settle, revealing the bright sunlight once more.

Two years were not enough to cause mass extinction in species.

However, the Taipu people have not yet fully investigated the specific cause of this earthquake and can only vaguely attribute it to the movement of the crustal plates.

Zhang Yuan couldn’t help but ask, "So, is this earthquake related to the Enlightener Civilization? Could it be that the rare earth elements appeared in large quantities during the volcanic eruptions and earthquakes? That’s a bit possible... But such a method seems too crude... An explosion?"

This was the intuitive thought of many, causing a brief period of stunned surprise, rendering them almost speechless.

The scientist on stage couldn’t help but give a wry smile before saying, "We first examined the area where the earthquake originated. That place is now a deep-sea area, with the deepest part reaching 30,000 meters. I imagine that even if the deep-sea area contains vast mineral resources, the Taipu Civilization would not be able to exploit them."

"30,000 meters of seawater is beyond even our capability to exploit."

The ocean is indeed a vast treasure trove. Manganese nodules on the deep-sea floor are well-known deep-sea minerals, containing over 20 elements including manganese, iron, nickel, cobalt, etc., of great economic value. However, these minerals would naturally occur even without earthquakes.

Most undersea mining bases are established in the shallower parts of the ocean. Human deep-water drilling generally refers to offshore operations in waters deeper than 900 meters, and extreme water depths refer to those greater than 1,500 meters.

The deeper the water, the greater the difficulty. In a deep-water area of 30,000 meters, even human’s submersibles struggle, let alone large-scale development.

"For now, we cannot confirm whether the earthquake had an impact on the quantity of global seabed minerals. According to computer simulations, after the great earthquake, there is a certain probability that, due to underwater volcanic eruptions, the global seabed mineral resources increased... As for the specific numbers, we have no way to measure them."

"However, this earthquake also brought a series of subsequent chain reactions..."