The progress of Devil Worm research was quite slow.
It was not because these scientists were incompetent, but because every breakthrough discovery could bring about countless possibilities. The roots of exploration spread at the boundary of science and expanded into the unknown soil.
The scientists gathered here were like babies sucking on their mother's milk, absorbing unheard of knowledge from the specimen from 3.7 billion years ago.
The problems in biology, genetics, chemistry, and other disciplines that were solved would evolve into new research branches in the future.
In the words of a Hua biologist from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the existence of Devil Worm itself had already refreshed human understanding of biology.
A few days ago, the world recognized the largest arthropod on Earth was only the Japanese spider crab with a leg length of 12 feet. However, the net length of this Devil Worm reached a terrifying 15 meters. In addition, its terrifying rock drilling ability could even drill through several kilometers or even dozens of kilometers underground, which also gave people a new understanding of the limits of what creatures could reach.
In particular, the biting ability of its two pairs of incisors could theoretically even cut through the entire rebar. Even the armor of the T-3 power armor was vulnerable in front of it. Only the rover and the Mars armored vehicle with a tonnage of nearly one hundred could survive its impact and bite.
There was also the hardened keratin armor that could protect it from being cut while moving at high speed in the broken rock formation. Its defense was enough to resist the direct fire of 12.7mm heavy machine gun bullets. Fortunately, the Celestial Trade Marines used Gauss rifles, and the armored vehicle was also equipped with large-caliber machine guns and external rockets. Otherwise, it would not be so easy to break through the defense.
When Jiang Chen received the analysis report of the Devil Worm's lethality, his first reaction was the Death Claw.
In its impression, only creatures like the Death Claw could fight against the power armor.
More accurately, it should be the sharp blade of the Death Claw and the armor of the Mud Crab. If it was only the Death Claw, there was no chance of winning against the Devil Worm. Among the creatures Jiang Chen had seen, perhaps only the Mother of Death Claw could beat it in individual combat.
Later, because of the increasing discoveries from the Devil Worm, the research branch became more and more detailed, covering more and more fields, to the point that there was a lack of manpower.
In order to solve this problem, more than a dozen scientists jointly asked Jiang Chen to invite several well-known scientists in the academic community but not from the four major member states to participate in the research. Because the problems encountered in the research of Devil Worms may use the conclusions obtained by these people in their respective fields.
After some deliberation, Jiang Chen exchanged opinions with the representatives of Hua, Russia, and Frankberg and finally relaxed the restrictions on nationality.
Some candidates were selected from the list provided by the joint petition scientists. The Earth Defense Alliance issued a total of 11 invitations to South Asian countries, three Eastern European countries, India, and other minor member states to allow them to participate in some project research. In addition, Finland, Donetsk Principality, and Nippon, which were actively promoting to join the Earth Defense Alliance, also had a scientist engaged in genetic engineering research approved.
However, this also brought about another problem, that was, the news of Devil Worms arriving in Celestial City could no longer be hidden …
"Verdale Taylor, what can I do for you?" Sitting in the lounge next to the laboratory, Jiang Chen put down the newspaper in his hand and looked at Verdell Taylor, who walked into the lounge. He said in a gentle tone, "If it is a new joint petition, I'm afraid it will be difficult to meet your requirements. Now we receive thousands of petitions from Northern and Western European universities in our mailbox every day. There are too many people trying to squeeze in here … It's difficult for us. "
When Verdale Taylor heard Jiang Chen's words, he touched his nose in embarrassment and said sorry.
The joint petition also had his name on it.
Jiang Chen's attitude toward scientific workers had always been very friendly, and their requests were basically satisfied as much as possible. Later, Verdale Taylor also learned from the representatives of his country how much trouble they had caused to Celestial Trade and the Earth Defense Alliance, so he still felt a little guilty toward Jiang Chen.
"It has nothing to do with the petition." Verdale Taylor coughed and said softly, "We have made a new discovery in the study of Devil Worms."
"Oh?" Jiang Chen looked at him with interest, "What discovery?"
"You know, from the entire atmospheric environment composed of carbon dioxide, from the groundwater to the rock formation, everything on Mars is acidic." Verdale Taylor paused and then said, "According to the conclusion of our previous research, Devil Worms can survive in an acidic environment, and even their blood is a strong acidic environment. It is likely that it is the result of natural selection in the more than three billion years of evolution."
"But later, the new scientist we invited to the project team put forward a different opinion."
"Oh?" Jiang Chen waited for him to continue.
"In addition to the strongly acidic blood, we also found some special organic matter in its blood." Verdale Taylor wrote a series of chemical formulas on the whiteboard that Jiang Chen couldn't understand with his chemical knowledge. "And this organic matter can only exist in a strong acidic environment."
"… My chemistry level is only at the undergraduate level." Jiang Chen looked at the long list of chemical formulas on the whiteboard and was speechless.
"You don't need to understand it. You just need to recognize this symbol." Verdale Taylor shook his head and pointed to the letter O in the chemical formula. "These represent oxygen atoms."
"I know this …" Suddenly, Jiang Chen found something strange in this chemical formula.
Almost every few letters, he could see a capital O.
This statement may be too amateurish, but it directly reflected the problem.
"Even if this Martian creature can survive in an acidic environment, it absolutely can't survive without oxygen," Verdale Taylor said in an affirmative tone. "We haven't named this organic matter yet, but it is this organic matter that can only exist in a strong acidic environment that provides the ability for Devil Worms to move in an oxygen-free environment!"
Jiang Chen could understand Verdale Taylor's words.
There was no oxygen on the surface of Mars. Not only the surface, but the oxygen in the underground mine must also be quite scarce. The Devil Worms that crawled like earthworms at the bottom must have an organ that could hold air for a long time. Jiang Chen initially guessed it was some kind of high-pressure airbag, but he didn't expect the reason to be in the blood …
Wait, if there was no oxygen on the surface and underground, where did they breathe?
And the Gaia civilization, he never noticed this problem. How did a civilization built underground solve the oxygen problem? They couldn't say that they mastered air filtration technology in the Stone Age, right?
How did these Martian creatures survive underground?
Jiang Chen suddenly realized the answer to this question.
And Verdale Taylor's next sentence revealed the answer to this question.
"The oxygen content of the Martian atmosphere is less than 1%, and it is impossible to provide the oxygen needed for these large arthropods." Verdale Taylor's tone carried a hint of excitement. "So we can assert that there must be such a place in the underground of Mars, where there is abundant oxygen! We call it the 'oxygen supply layer'! "
"Oxygen supply layer?" Jiang Chen frowned.
"Yes!" Verdale Taylor nodded, and the excitement between his eyebrows became more and more intense. "I'm sure that in this special underground space, there must be some kind of special anaerobic fungus. This fungus can adapt to the Martian environment, survive in an acidic environment, and consume carbon dioxide to produce oxygen. Its energy source may be geothermal, or it may be the feces of Devil Worms. It acts as both a producer and decomposer. It is because of the existence of this fungus that the underground biosphere of Mars can be connected into a closed ring! "
"I was invited by SpaceX to design an anaerobic bacteria that can survive in a medium to acidic environment for their Mars atmospheric modification project."
"Do you know what this bacteria means to us?" Verdale Taylor said enthusiastically.
Although he already vaguely guessed something, Jiang Chen couldn't help but gulp.
"What does it mean?"
"It means that we will be able to modify the Martian atmosphere!"
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