Deep Space Wandering Fleet
Chapter 490 - 288: Curvature Technology!

Chapter 490: Chapter 288: Curvature Technology!

"Ladies and gentlemen, is it really necessary to keep this message a secret?" Captain Ke’s mood was also gradually lifting, and he said with a smile, "Otherwise, our scientists who are itching to study this kind of thing... wouldn’t have to do any other work at all! They would all be researching the motion of running particles."

"No, no, no." Another scientist hurriedly objected, "This is just a hypothesis, after all. Everyone knows the difficulty involved and won’t take it as their ultimate belief... But having a direction to strive for is also good."

"I also think there’s no need to hide it." A professor from the Information Security Department said, "The difficulty is right there, frankly speaking. They always say that only a Level 6 Civilization, which has achieved light-speed thinking, is qualified to challenge this problem."

"Third-level civilizations, with neuron speeds of one hundred meters per second, and not too bright brains, might as well wash up and go to sleep— their thought speed can’t even keep up with the speed of the particles."

Everyone burst into hearty laughter. Sometimes, self-deprecating humor is not a sign of inferiority but a way to relieve stress.

"By the way, we were thinking about selling New Civilization History to the Huantai Civilization... Ah, it would be good to sell it. If a civilization could rise by relying on it, that would be great. We would also gain a handsome amount of AmiBa Points."

The discussion on this aspect became even more lively.

After a while, Zhang Yuan suddenly remembered a question and said, "The things we just discussed do not need to be kept secret. But the next piece of news does need to be kept from all the citizens, as we are now in the trading market. If the news leaks out, the risk is enormous!"

"Oh? What other news is there?"

"Regarding... curvature engine technology."

At the mention of these words, everyone was stunned, and over a hundred pairs of eyes sharply turned to look this way.

The number of surprises had been so many that everyone felt almost numb.

Curvature engines!

Zhang Yuan didn’t play coy and spoke directly, "According to the information disclosed by the Hicks Civilization’s Artificial Intelligence ’Sigma’, the secrets related to curvature technology are hidden within—"

"...the core of a neutron star, or the core of a quark star located at a critical black hole interface. The other party indicated that if we could slice open the core of a neutron star, we could obtain a large amount of data and perfect the model. There would be no need for something like the Solar System Ring Accelerator."

"Are you serious!"

This message was given unanimous attention by everyone—compared to the elusive predictability of mathematics, everyone immediately focused on the heart of a Fourth-level Civilization— "Curvature Technology"!

"Of course, while I was in that superdimensional perceptual state and super thinking state, I also developed a series of ideas on the subject and wrote two papers."

Very quickly, a series of relevant experts were summoned. After listening to Zhang Yuan’s description, the core keywords were nothing more than a few: "Curvature," "Strange Matter," and "How to Destroy a Neutron Star."

There is a clear path, and compared to blind exploration, it’s a different energy level!

The first point of discussion was whether this message was true or false, and whether it was feasible. Perhaps it’s viable for others, but completely impractical for humans?

The entire discussion lasted for three days. With the currently available clues and information, scientists made even bolder conjectures. Over half of the physicists thought it was possible; others could not be certain.

"Yes, we can’t guarantee it 100%."

"But that’s enough; for things that haven’t been researched, where is there 100% certainty? It’s about whether humans are willing to take the gamble!"

The physicist Ak Manley aboard the spaceship was flush with excitement as he declared, "There’s a long way to go from the discovery of strange matter to the research of its specific properties."

"If the ’Strange Matter Hypothesis’ is correct, then strange matter is actually a relatively stable entity with a long half-life."

"According to Mr. Zhang Yuan’s information, large amounts of strange matter are hidden in the core of neutron stars, or they exist on the verge of becoming black holes in some quark stars. But how should we break through a neutron star?"

"It’s simply impossible!"

The diameter of a neutron star generally does not exceed 20 kilometers, appearing very miniature; some large asteroids are even bigger than neutron stars.

However, no scientist would underestimate the formidable power of neutron stars. Compressing a star with a mass greater than that of the Sun into a small sphere less than 20 kilometers in diameter, the surface temperature exceeds 60 million degrees, and the core temperature reaches 60 billion degrees!

Any electromagnetic pulse is comparable to the most powerful ray-based weapon.

How can humans destroy a neutron star and peek into its core?

Don’t even think about it!

Even having human spaceships fly near a neutron star is a dangerous act; throwing a stone onto it can trigger a huge nuclear explosion.

An enthusiastic weapons expert designed a plan, "...The most likely option is the antimatter weapon. Using pulsed antimatter weapons to continuously strike the same spot on a neutron star could expose its core. The neutron star is mainly composed of neutrons, so using anti-neutrons, it would be possible to annihilate part of the neutron star’s matter."

"Of course, we would need a substantial amount of antimatter; one Earth mass’s worth of antimatter would not be too much. We just need to punch a small hole in the neutron star and, before it can heal, collect all the data with instruments."

Hearing this staggering number, the officers in charge of logistics and supplies began to roll their eyes. One Earth mass’s worth of antimatter is not even a joking matter; humans don’t even have a planet fortress yet!

The minister grumbled, "I guarantee that even a Level 5 Civilization would not use antimatter to bomb neutron stars! It’s an irrational idiotic act!"

Since that path was unfeasible, the scientists discussed another method.

Every cloud has a silver lining—the forces of the universe themselves could easily accomplish what human power alone could not.

Many natural phenomena can destroy the structure of neutron stars.

"...Firstly, the collision of two neutron stars, merging into a larger one."

On August 17, 2017, gravitational waves produced by the merger of two neutron stars were directly detected for the first time. The collision of two neutron stars can be described as a particle accelerator on a cosmic scale, with an energy level far surpassing the Solar System Ring Accelerator!

When neutron stars are smashed and merged, their cores are bound to be exposed for some time.

Black hole ingestion can also dissect neutron stars.

The rate at which a black hole engulfs matter is limited, especially small black holes, which cannot immediately devour a massive neutron star completely.

An astronomer drew a simulation diagram on the computer screen, indicating, "A black hole ingesting a neutron star would lead to two scenarios."

"One is the disintegration of the neutron star, with the majority sucked into the event horizon and a minor part ejected at sub-high speed from the event horizon. The remaining mass would recombine into various heavy elements, drifting through the universe."

"The second scenario is the neutron star in the accretion disk near the black hole absorbing more matter. It’s unlikely that there’s nothing near the black hole, so both start vying for matter. With the increased mass of the neutron star, the gravitational pull becomes stronger, and it gets denser until it hits a critical value and becomes a black hole. Whether the merger of two black holes will produce the strange matter we are looking for is something we cannot know for now."