Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
In the following month, Lu Zhou’s life was very organized. He would listen to lectures during the day and had free leisure time during the night. He would play billiards with Yan Xinjue, or play cards with a few foreigners.
This was one of the most rewarding months he had in a long time.
The things he learned could not be taught from a textbook.
The last time he had this type of feeling was back at the Princeton conference, and that was only a few days. This time, he had a whole month.
However, vacation time was always short-lived.
At the end of the month, his relaxed schedule became hectic again.
The head of the LHCb organization, Lynn Evans, held a meeting in CERN’s largest conference room. He summarized the reports submitted by the research groups and finalized the experiment guidelines.
Almost half of the world’s famous physicists were sitting in this conference room.
Fortunately, Lu Zhou, as an intern, was able to attend this meeting.
Sadly, he did not get a chance to speak. He merely sat next to Professor Lu Shenjian and listened to the meeting.
In the final part of the meeting, physicists from various laboratories made recommendations to the experiment, and even Evans responded on behalf of LHCb.
Of course, it was not just physicists who were present. Various media outlets were also concerned about this experiment. They then had a ten-minute interview after the meeting was over. This was a ritual for CERN meetings.
These interviews were always interesting…
For example, a British reporter stood up.
“… Hello, Mr. Evans. When we interviewed Otto Rosler, a retired professor of chemistry at the University of Munich, Mr. Rosler expressed concerns about the collider experiment. He said that the ongoing experiment at CERN could lead to the formation of a quasar inside the earth… such as a black hole. Can you give a reasonable explanation to this?”
Mr. Evans was used to answering difficult questions, so he replied skillfully.
“We’ve already informed Mr. Rosler on his mistakes. Of course, we also understand that people like him won’t listen to us. Thousands of researchers have worked hard on this experiment, so we know what we’re doing, unlike this guy. Next question.”
Another reporter stood up.
“Can the theory generated by the Hadron Collider experiment be used as a theoretical basis for a time machine?”
Lynn Evans, “Our job is to test the correctness of the standard model and study the basic particles that make up the universe. We don’t have plans to study time machines. I’ve said countless times that this topic was handed over to CERN. Next question.”
“…”
Lu Zhou listened to those weak questions and was impressed by Mr. Evans’ reply. If it was him, he would not have this much patience with the reporters.
Professor Lu Shenjian nodded and he said to Yan Xinjue and Lu Zhou.
“After today, we might get a little busy. Make sure you guys adjust your schedule.”
Yan Xinjue nodded and said, “Ok, professor.”
Lu Zhou asked excitedly, “Do we have a task to do?”
Professor Lu Shenjian nodded, “Of course, we’re not here to screw around.”
He did not elaborate on the specific tasks, but Lu Zhou was not in a hurry. Lu Zhou knew that he would eventually inform him.
…
After the meeting, the Hadron Collider experiment entered the final preparation stage.
It was not just CERN physicists who were nervously involved in the preparation of the experiment, even special forces from Switzerland and France entered the nearby town.
This type of martial law situation started three days ago.
Soldiers were temporarily stationed at the entrance to the town, and every vehicle was checked prior to entry.
As for the entry and exit points of the LHCb, they had been temporarily blocked. Unauthorized personnel was not allowed to enter.
The experiment was about to begin.
Yan Xinjue borrowed a car and took Lu Zhou to CERN’s northern district.
It was worth mentioning that the researchers did not have to enter the Hadron Collider themselves. Professional staff members would take the elevators and check if the Collider was running normally. After that, researchers located in tens of kilometers away would operate the machine and collect the data in the CERN headquarters.
Yan Xinjue said that it would be a shame not to see the scene himself. Therefore, he agreed to take Lu Zhou there.
When they arrived at the northern district, they were stopped by two soldiers. Once the soldiers examined their identifications, they allowed them to pass through.
Sitting in the car, Lu Zhou looked back at the soldier checkpoint before he asked, “Are they here to protect the collider?”
Yan Xinjue replied while he continued to drive, “Actually, they’re not protecting the collider. They’re protecting the citizens of the two countries.”
“What…?”
Yan Xinjue shrugged, “Every year, people say that the LHC might cause a black hole and destroy Europe. There are protests against the LHC every year. Therefore, France sent their soldiers here to control the situation…”
Lu Zhou could not help but ask, “There are people that actually believe that?”
“CERN always seeks out trouble, and they always answer press conferences in an unreliable manner. Therefore, the media spreads false information about them. Around 2007, CERN’s spokesperson jokes that the LHC could create a black hole… I guess he wanted to show off how advanced the LHC was, but the media twisted his words.”
“Then?”
Yan Xinjue smiled and said, “Then the media blew up. Now, every year there are people protesting against the LHC. Even some environmental agencies have intervened. Some protesters even tried to sneak in through the tunnels. CERN had to hire firefighters to rescue them out.”
Lu Zhou secretly snarled.
Sneaking into the LHC, how dare they. Do they not want to live?
There had only been one person hit by the particle beam of the collider. His life eventually became as miserable as the soldiers from Chernobyl.
The high-intensity radiation and oxygen deficiency from the helium was deadly.
In a sense, this was why Lu Zhou did not choose Mission 3 to create history.