Even though lithium-air batteries hadn't been invented yet, the light of dawn had blinded many people. Especially when it set off a magnitude 8 earthquake in the industry, the academic community was also affected.
Some people were in disbelief, some people were indifferent.
Some people were wild with joy, and naturally, there were also people who beat their chests and stamped their feet in regret.
This was related to billions of research funding, and it was also related to whether or not countless PhD students could successfully complete their graduation thesis.
After all, a lot of projects related to lithium-air batteries had been cut. Many PhD supervisors in this area were having a hard time, let alone their students …
At the North American Materials Science Spring Meeting held in downtown Boston, Massachusetts.
Materials scientists from all over the world gathered here.
If everything went according to plan, the star of this spring conference was supposed to be the research on molybdenum disulfide monolayer material, which was funded by Microsoft, Intel, and many other companies. Before this, this material was widely regarded by the academic community as the first choice for the future semiconductor industry, besides silicon carbide.
However, obviously, something unexpected had happened.
The popularity of lithium-air batteries trumped everything else.
During the first report at the beginning of the conference, Professor Stanley, who was wearing a tuxedo, walked on stage and passionately announced the advent of the lithium-air battery era, as well as how nutty his caged carbon molecular materials were …
Because of this, this year's materials science conference almost had a winner in the first report.
For those in the same trade who would throw leather shoes on the stage at the slightest disagreement, or even roll up their sleeves and start a fight, this guy's arrogant look was really asking for a beating!
Even though there were no fights, the entire report was still filled with conflicts.
Even though many laboratories had already repeated their experiments, competitors still pounced on Professor Stanley like crazy, trying to attack him.
For example, Dr. Curtis from the Argonne National Laboratory.
Amin from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
When working with Professor Salehi-Khojin, they successfully found a revolutionary method to complete a lithium-air battery that could achieve up to 700 charge-discharge cycles in the air.
After the lithium dendrites problem was solved, they tried to increase this number to 900. And now, this number had advanced with great difficulty to 1,000 times.
If it weren't for the birth of this caged carbon molecule, this "promising future" research project would've been cut off, and he would've been the one showing off on stage right now!
Stopping someone from making money was like killing their parents. Even Professor Curtis, who was usually polite, was enraged. During the Q&A session, he tried his best to find faults with Lu Zhou's caged carbon molecules.
Of course, even he knew in his heart that this was just a last-ditch effort …
The evening banquet was held at a five-star hotel next to the venue.
Professor Stanley wore a well-ironed tuxedo, and his hair was smooth and shiny. He had a smug smile on his face as he toasted the scholars, colleagues, and industry representatives who took the initiative to talk to him. They also exchanged business cards.
He was in the limelight at the previous report.
Because Lu Zhou didn't attend the meeting, as the first person to discover the material, he naturally became the focus of everyone's attention.
Even though he was criticized by his peers, so what?
People in the same industry were enemies.
The people he really needed to befriend were the big bosses who waved money around. Only they would pay for his research. His peers would at most sympathize with him when he failed, and then laugh at him behind his back.
Actually, Professor Stanley had already thought it through.
After all, when he thought about it carefully, other than being humiliated by Lu Zhou, he didn't seem to have suffered a particularly big loss.
Patent?
That thing originally belonged to ExxonMobil. After signing the research and development agreement, the benefits he could enjoy were quite limited. At most, he would get a small bonus. This was what working with a big company was like.
Working with ExxonMobil?
His reputation in the industry?
He had suffered a lot in the past six years, but now, he was once again in the eyes of major companies. His status seemed to have improved.
So, what did it matter?
Stanley listened to people complimenting him, and he looked at the people who had once stayed away from him. He felt an indescribable joy in his heart.
The head of the Department of Chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, an old professor who had worked with him in the battery field, firmly shook his hand and spoke.
"Congratulations, Professor Stanley! Once lithium-air batteries become popular, the Nobel Prize Committee will definitely seriously consider this landmark discovery. They will award you and Professor Lu the first Nobel Prize in the battery field … Do you want to come to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology? We can provide the best experimental environment for your new research project! I promise you will be satisfied. "
When Professor Stanley heard the name Professor Lu, his eyebrows twitched.
However, after all, he was a sly old fox who had been in academia for many years.
Although the wound in his heart seemed to have been torn open a little more, he still quickly controlled his emotions. He forced a smile and shook the hand of this old friend that he had just contacted and had a need to continue to be friends with. He tactfully declined.
"Thank you for your kindness … But Binghamton University is preparing to nominate me as the head of the chemistry department, and the laboratory is moving … I don't plan on doing anything in the short term."
Even though it was a pity, he couldn't give Stanley a better offer. He couldn't just give up his position, right?
The head of the Department of Chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology nodded. He let go of Stanley's hand and spoke in a regretful tone.
"I understand. After all, for us students, a stable environment is more important than anything else. No one likes to mess around … But if you want to come to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the future, please be sure to contact me."
Stanley raised his head slightly and nodded.
"Of course."
Normally, he wouldn't talk to the head of the Department of Chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. After all, the head of the department was also a permanent member of the American Chemical Society.
But now, his status was not lower than his, so naturally, there was no need for him to be humble.
While Professor Stanley was immersed in the feeling of being the focus of the entire banquet, a travel-worn figure walked into the banquet hall quickly. After looking around the venue, the figure walked toward Stanley.
After making eye contact with this person, Stanley paused for a second and spoke in a surprised tone.
"Woods? My dear friend, how did you … become like this? "
It had been six years since he last saw Woods. The man in front of him was far from the man with sharp eyes and a powerful aura. Instead, his face was full of wrinkles, and he looked old and haggard.
"Something happened." Woods took a deep breath and stared into Professor Stanley's eyes. He said, "Listen, even though we had some misunderstandings in the past and cut off your research project, now —"
"Stop." Professor Stanley had a premonition that this guy was going to say something, so he quickly interrupted him and said, "Just tell me what you want."
"ExxonMobil wants you to come back," Woods said sincerely. "You are the inventor of the caged carbon molecule. We all know that this honor should belong to you, not to the Chinese guy. We need a compound with similar functions, one that can bypass their patent … "
After listening to Woods' description, Professor Stanley went silent for a while and suddenly sighed.
"Give up, Woods, I know you don't want to give up, but we are no match for him."
Woods didn't expect Stanley to say something like this, so he paused for a second and spoke anxiously.
"Are we just going to watch them walk all over us? They control the future of our energy lifeline? The nuclear power plant in California is about to be built, and the lithium-air battery market is about to explode! Everyone wanted to use cleaner and cheaper energy, but how many people thought that the drop in oil prices would cause countless American families to lose their jobs? If we can't control the lithium-air battery patent, we won't be able to fight back at all! "
Make countless American families lose their jobs …
Aren't you greedy capitalists?
Of course, Stanley only muttered this sentence in his heart. Of course, he wouldn't say it out loud to this potential investor.
Professor Stanley coughed and looked at the emotional Woods. He then spoke.
"Listen, I understand how you feel, Mr. Woods, but what can we do in this situation? The patent law says who owns the patent. Unless you can convince Lu Zhou to sell the patent to you, I suggest you … think about happy things.
"Also, as you can see, I'm living a good life. Let the past six years go by. At least he didn't take what belongs to me. As for your question about whether I hate him or not, a few days ago, I hated him so much that I wanted to take a gun to China and shoot him. But now … "
"I've gotten over it."
Not just gotten over it.
It was also because Stanley was really scared.
He didn't know if Lu Zhou had predicted this, but he knew that because of that cunning China man, his academic career had been stagnant for six years.
Now that he had finally made a name for himself, he really didn't want to go against that guy anymore.
After all, he wasn't young anymore.
If he delayed it for another six years, he might end up in a coffin!
Professor Stanley shrugged and looked at Woods, who was dumbfounded, and said, "Don't worry.
"… As for the unemployment rate, that's for the people on Capitol Hill to think about, not us."
Woods stared blankly at Stanley who patted him on the shoulder, then turned around and left. He went to the next circle and started to chat with the big names in the same field.
Just like that, he stood there in a daze for a long time.
Suddenly, his shoulders moved. He looked down and stared at the floor.
As if he had thought of something, he chewed on a few words over and over again between his dry lips.
"Capitol Hill …
"That's for the people on Capitol Hill to think about …
"Yeah, why didn't I think of that!"
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
