The second week after New Year's Day, two major events happened.
The famous academic journal Science chose the top ten scientific and technological breakthroughs of last year, which was 2016.
As the last piece of the general theory of relativity, the discovery of gravitational waves took the top spot.
If the electromagnetic telescope was the human eye, then the gravitational wave detector was the human ear. From then on, humans could finally listen to the sounds of the universe.
In second place was Cynthia 3.0. Compared to the sensational gravitational wave, most people didn't even know what it was, but it was the closest humans had ever been to becoming God.
With 473 genes, it contained the minimum number of genes necessary to maintain life activities. Also, it was the simplest life form that humans could create.
As for the third place, the modified PDMS film that solved the problem of lithium dendrites was unquestionably on the list.
For the materials science community, which hadn't had a "major breakthrough" for many years, this was undoubtedly a brilliant achievement. Also on the list was "filling up the seventh row of the periodic table of chemical elements". This year, the chemistry community was in high spirits.
Also on the list was Google's AlphaGo, which was the ultimate learning system built by the combination of the Monte Carlo decision tree algorithm and the deep neural network algorithm. This made it a well-deserved master in the field of artificial intelligence.
Also on the list was a breakthrough in space exploration technology. The seeds that humans sowed into space were gradually germinating …
These research results weren't ranked in any order. After all, it was impossible to compare results in different fields.
However, in reality, the rankings given by Science each year still reflected the subjective opinions of the journal editors to a certain extent.
According to the rankings given by Science, many people on the Internet were guessing that with this outstanding research result, Lu Zhou might become the second mathematician to win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry after John Pope.
Of course, this was only the opinion of laymen.
After all, the opinions of Science only represented Science, not the entire scientific community.
The Nobel Prize had very strict criteria for selecting outstanding achievements in the field of application. As an outstanding achievement in the field of application, the modified PDMS material was destined to not be awarded the Nobel Prize the year after the results were confirmed, like the gravitational wave material.
Whether an application technology was great or not required time to be tested.
However, just like the "father of artificial life", the famous mad scientist Kraig Venter, no one would be surprised if the Nobel Committee really awarded the Chemistry Prize to Lu Zhou one day.
After all, the problem of lithium dendrites had troubled the entire materials science community for decades.
Another major event that happened at the beginning of the year was Trump's inauguration speech at the White House.
However, this had nothing to do with Princeton, and Lu Zhou was not interested in politics.
…
The second week after New Year's Day, Professor Lu gave his students a long vacation.
First, he wanted to make up for the winter vacation, and second, he wanted to take a vacation to the Mediterranean Sea with his girlfriend.
Qin Yue said that he would return home for the New Year, while Hardy happily said that he planned to travel to the Mediterranean Sea with his girlfriend. As for Vera, when Lu Zhou asked her about her vacation plans, the little girl had a blank expression on her face.
As for Vera, when Lu Zhou asked her about her vacation plans, the little girl did not know what to do. She just had a blank expression on her face.
Lu Zhou looked at Vera and sighed.
If it were someone else, he might have suggested going back to visit his parents and relax.
But for her …
He could only find something meaningful for her to do.
Lu Zhou thought for a bit and said, "Mathematics is a subject that requires inspiration. If you just stay in the library, you might end up in the wrong direction. This spring, the American Mathematical Society is having a conference for young scholars at Berkeley. The thesis you showed me last time was pretty good. I suggest you try submitting it. "
When the little girl heard that she was going to give a report, she suddenly panicked and said nervously, "I … I haven't done a report before."
"No one is born with it. You have to learn to adapt," said Lu Zhou as he looked into her eyes. He then said in a serious tone, "If you're worried about travel expenses, you don't have to worry at all. Registration fees, plane tickets, and other expenses can all be paid for by the project. But if you're just scared to go on stage, I hope you can overcome it. Trust me, this is for your own good. "
Among his three students, Vera was the most talented. Therefore, Lu Zhou had the highest expectations for her.
One day, she would stand on a stage like the International Congress of Mathematicians and present her research results in a 45-minute or hour-long report. If she couldn't go on stage because of stage fright, she would never become a world-class scholar.
When Vera heard Lu Zhou say "this is for your own good", her cheeks turned slightly red. She didn't know what to do.
Lu Zhou waited for a long time and didn't get a reply. He didn't want to give her any way out.
"What's your answer?"
"… Yeah."
Even though she wasn't confident enough, it was still a big improvement.
Lu Zhou leaned back in his office chair and nodded with satisfaction. She barely passed.
"Then go prepare. There are three days left until the deadline. You don't have to come to the office in these three days. Carefully edit your thesis. I'll help you with the plane tickets. You just have to register. "
Lu Zhou forced her to make the decision and kicked her out of the office.
Vera stopped in front of the office door. She hesitated for a second and turned around.
Lu Zhou noticed Vera's hesitant expression and asked, "Is there something else?"
The little girl lowered her head and smiled embarrassedly. "Nothing, I just want to thank you … No one has ever cared about me like this before."
That's it?
Lu Zhou said, "You're welcome. After all, I'm your supervisor."
…
After taking care of the matters in Princeton, Lu Zhou drove his Ford Explorer to Philadelphia in the afternoon. He went to the office building where Star Sky Technology's North America branch office was located.
He had to admit that AM's service was quite satisfactory. Not only did they solve all of his problems, but they also helped him solve problems that he hadn't thought of yet.
Of course, the fees weren't cheap either.
Because the office was still being renovated, there wasn't much to see other than the cardboard boxes and renovation materials on the ground.
Lu Zhou walked around and left the office building. He then returned to his car.
He only stopped by the office to satisfy his curiosity. His main purpose in coming to Philadelphia wasn't for this matter. Instead, it was to meet someone, a consultant that AM contacted for him.
Apparently, the consultant was a professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He had a double degree in business administration and international trade.
Even though the relevant plans had already been prepared, it wasn't enough on paper. Some things had to be discussed in person.
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