On the Moon Palace.
Inside the experiment cabin.
Ian Crawford, a professor of astrobiology and planetary science from Birkbeck College of the University of London, was sitting in a chair next to the porthole. He looked at the silver-white planet outside the window and suddenly smiled.
"About six years ago, I wrote an evaluation report detailing the economic feasibility of moon mining."
Sitting across from him, Stephen Parubie, who had a beard that extended from his chin to his temples, snorted.
"Then what happened?"
"I published the paper in Physical Geography Progress and sent a copy to UKSA." Ian Crawford shrugged and said, "But the UKSA bureaucrats probably thought it was a waste paper."
Professor Stephen: "Isn't it?"
"Of course not." Professor Ian smiled and raised his chin in the direction of the porthole. He said, "Aren't China making it a reality?"
"Sooner or later, they'll find out that instead of sending production lines and workers to the moon, it's better to build them on Earth and send them to space." Professor Stephen muttered, "Besides, this isn't a big deal. We have similar plans."
Even though Stanford University wasn't a xenophobic university, as an American, he didn't like to hear any good news about China in this space race. Especially since the Ares program had become a mess.
He was in a bad mood, so he subconsciously reached out to his chest. He suddenly remembered that he was wearing a spacesuit, not a jacket with cigarettes in the inner pocket.
"Damn it, is there a place to smoke?"
Just as Professor Stephen was about to stand up from his chair, a voice came from the side.
"Smoking on the space station will increase the ventilation system of each space module by at least two million smoke particles. You should smoke on the ground."
Professor Zhao Shuxuan floated in from the direction of the cabin door. He grabbed the bulkhead handrail with one hand and held the latest test report with the other. He said, "Okay, everyone, that's it for the break. That's all for the break. Time is running out. There are still three unfortunate Ares project colonists waiting for us to save. "
When Professor Stephen heard the Chinese researcher mention the Ares program, there was a flash of displeasure in his eyes, but he didn't say anything.
Every day since the sandstorm had been filled with misfortune. Now, top experts in astrobiology, microbiology, and clinical biology from seven countries were sitting here. They weren't there to do anything else, they were there to clean up the mess left by the Ares program.
Zhao Shuxuan distributed the test results in his hand and concisely explained the situation to the other researchers in the experiment cabin.
"The latest test results are out. Other than colonist No. 3, the levels of antibodies and hypnotic pheromones in colonists No. 1 and No. 2 have decreased. Judging from their heart rates, their metabolism is gradually returning to normal levels. They should wake up soon … Do you need some time to read through the test results?"
"No need, I've already read through it." Professor Stephen put the test results aside and adjusted his glasses. He said, "The key right now is not the antibodies or the X-0172 bacteria."
Professor Ian: "Spores."
"That's right, spores." Professor Stephen nodded and looked at the other scholars in the experiment cabin. He said, "Only by getting rid of the spores can we truly solve the problem."
Professor Leslie asked, "Then do you have any good ideas?"
"We have two sets of plans.
"The first plan is to find a way to prevent the X-0172 bacteria from forming spores. The second plan is to find a way to directly kill the spores and get rid of them completely. "
Professor Leslie thought for a moment and said, "The second method is very difficult."
"Yes, so the first plan is most likely to work." Professor Stephen looked at the environment in the experiment cabin and said, "Forgive me for being blunt, but the research conditions here are too simple. I don't know if it would be more convenient to do physics experiments in a gravity-free environment, but if we want to find a way to prevent the X-0172 bacteria from forming spores as soon as possible, it would be best to send the samples to Earth and use the experimental facilities on Earth. "
Professor Stephen looked at Professor Zhao Shuxuan.
As the representative of the Chinese researchers and the person in charge of the entire X-0172 bacteria project, he was the only one who had the right to apply to the Moon Palace to send the inactivated samples to Earth.
Of course, Stephen didn't just want inactivated samples. He also wanted to find a way to convince the Lunar Orbit Committee to send the intact X-0172 bacterial spores to his laboratory at Stanford University.
Only there would he be confident that he could find a way to eliminate the bacteria once and for all.
However, the China researcher didn't let him get what he wanted.
Zhao Shuxuan shook his head and vetoed his suggestion.
"That's too risky. Even completely inactivated samples can't guarantee their safety."
"There's no such thing as 100% safety in theory, but we can do it in practice." Professor Stephen tried to convince him. He said, "Don't we have samples of the horrible smallpox virus?"
Zhao Shuxuan hesitated for a second and shook his head.
"We need to think about this carefully."
Professor Stephen sighed heavily.
"We've thought about it for long enough."
…
The academic discussion ended, and there weren't any constructive results.
Seeing that it was getting late, after the experts from all over the world had a simple dinner, they all returned to the living cabin and went into the living space that was shaped like a tree hole.
Professor Stephen was lying vertically on his bed. He connected his laptop to the data port on the cabin wall and used the communication channel provided by the Moon Palace to connect to the Earth's network.
Although there were various problems such as slow speed and high latency, it was enough to use this small pipe to deal with some of their own work and to exchange ideas with the researchers in the country.
Professor Stephen logged on to the instant messaging software and was about to contact his assistant. His assistant took the initiative to contact him through a voice call request.
"I'm sorry to bother you, Professor, but I have to report something to you."
Stephen was taken aback for a moment before he frowned and asked.
"What is it?"
"According to your request, we searched the database for research on spores and anaerobic bacteria. As a result, we found this paper on arXiv."
His assistant paused for a second and spoke.
"The author claims that … he found a way to inhibit the production of spores by the X-0172 bacteria."
"That's impossible, there are only seven people in the world who can write this thesis, including me." Professor Stephen smiled and shook his head. "Send it to my email."
His assistant nodded and spoke.
"Okay, Professor."
Stephen didn't have any hope for the thesis on arXiv.
The first-hand information on the X-0172 bacteria was basically all on the Moon Palace. If other scholars wanted to do research in this area, they would first have to find a way to obtain specimens.
However, there were less than 12 inactivated specimens sent to Earth. Only some large research institutions had access to these specimens. Scholars who had access to these specimens wouldn't be satisfied with arXiv.
Of course, even though the probability of finding a valuable thesis on arXiv was almost zero, that didn't prevent him from looking at what the author wrote.
After all, even if it was just to open up new research ideas, it was still quite good.
Professor Stephen opened the thesis and casually glanced at the screen. However, when he was at the third page, he suddenly said, "Huh?"
His eyebrows gradually turned serious. He flipped the thesis back to the introduction section and began to read it carefully again.
"What kind of stuff is written here … How did they write it?"
He muttered to himself. The more he read, the more astonished he was.
His eyes were filled with doubt, surprise, disdain, and disbelief. In the end, he was completely shocked.
Professor Stephen flipped to the beginning of the thesis. He only wanted to know one thing, which was who wrote this thesis!
However, when he saw the author's name, he suddenly froze.
"Z …?"
What the hell?
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