At 7:30 in the evening, on the Earth Federation International Channel, a solemn and solemn music sounded on time.
As this sound came, millions of viewers around the world fixed the TV station on this channel. The original advertisement ended and was replaced by a dark stage.
The stage remained dark at first, but a figure could be seen walking slowly backstage. This figure was wearing a navy blue suit and stood upright. As he walked closer to the screen, everyone suddenly looked at him. Here’s what this man looked like—
This is a middle-aged black man with sharp eyes and a serious smile, which is completely different from the original relaxed TV atmosphere.
This program is one of the most watched programs on the Earth Federation International Channel, and its content is very simple, that is, it interprets the major events that have attracted the most attention in the world during this period, satirizes politics, criticizes current affairs, or speaks for the weak. Speak... This program has been broadcast continuously for 20 years and created a ratings myth.
"Dear viewers, my name is Wilson Richard, and this is the Earth Federation International Channel - "Richard's World"."
The black host Richard stared at the screen and said directly without any preheating, "The former Soviet astronomer Kardashev once based the evolution and development of civilization in the universe on the basis of the principles of thermodynamics and energy laws. Different and divided into three levels... "
"The first level is a planet-level civilization—a civilization that has mastered all the energy on the planet it is on."
"This civilization can already change the climate, develop oceans, and control earthquakes at will on the planet... In short, this civilization has the ability to move mountains and seas on the planet, and rationally utilize and control all the resources and energy on the planet."
"The second level is stellar civilization - a civilization that can utilize all the energy of the entire star."
"The second type of civilization has huge demands for energy and resources, so they need to use all the light and heat emitted by stars. The method may be to smash some useless planets to create Dyson spheres, seal the stars inside, and fully enjoy Every bit of light and heat from the star!”
"Then, there is the third-level cosmic-level civilization—a civilization that can control several star systems and star clusters!"
Richard spread his arms and looked solemn, "Even a galaxy like the Milky Way, which has 200 billion stars, can truly change the world! At this time, the power of civilization will become omnipotent, unimaginable..."
As he spoke, Richard took a deep breath and suddenly changed his words, "Many people may be wondering, what am I talking about? Am I telling a science fiction story? No, no!"
"This classification method is the 'Kardashov Index' that was once widely circulated in the scientific community. It is a civilization classification method recognized by the Earth Federation. It is often used by researchers on the search for extraterrestrial civilization projects, science fiction writers and Used by prophets as a theoretical basis."
Having said this, Richard couldn't help but pause. A picture appeared behind him. It was an online announcement, and the content on the announcement was the "Blackwatch Dyson Cloud Plan" released early this morning. .
"I believe everyone has received the news about this plan. In today's society, a message can be sent to any corner of the earth within seconds, and to Mars in twenty minutes, but for Blackwall Everyone has different opinions on the news about Qi Company..."
"As far as I know, the most common opinion among everyone is one of doubt. Doubts that we humans are now able to build a Dyson cloud?"
As he spoke, Richard suddenly smiled softly, which was an extremely rare expression since he appeared on the show. "In fact, we humans are closer to the goal of building a Dyson Cloud than we imagined..."
"When the Kardashov Index classification method was born, the earth was defined as a civilization of level 0.73, which was the level half a century ago... But now after these years of development, we have unknowingly conquered the controllable nuclear fusion , establish a scientific research station on the moon, establish a permanent colony on Mars, and even... Blackwatch Company has begun to exploit the resources of the Kuiper Belt asteroids!"
"Behind countless difficulties being overcome, our human civilization index is also rising step by step. According to the latest calculations, our human civilization's current Kardashev Index classification has reached a 1.2-level civilization, and we are fully capable of building the Dyson Cloud." A project of the century!"
At this point, Richard's words gradually became louder, "When nuclear energy became completely popular, we gradually discovered that controllable nuclear fusion was just a stepping stone. It allowed us to knock on the door to the stars. But at the same time, it is just the most common pass... We humans have reached a crossroads, we must either start looking for new clean energy sources, or use nuclear energy to make a fuss!"
"Now, Blackwatch Company is once again in front of the Earth Federation. He is willing to stand up for us humans and explore the path to a higher level. What kind of spirit is this?"
Richard sighed suddenly, and at the same time bent down and bowed, "Please allow me, Richard, to pay my highest tribute to this company, this pioneer of mankind!"
"No matter whether this plan succeeds or fails in the end, we should not blame him, because he is carrying the burden on our behalf!"
With the last sentence, the deafening orchestral music sounded again, drowning everything and the shocked hearts of countless people!
"This is the most important thing that happened in the Earth Federation today. I am Wilson Richard, and this is the Earth Federation International Channel - "Richard's World". We will see you in the next issue..."
…
"Richard's World" undoubtedly added fuel to the fire, making the plan announced by Blacklight Technology burn more intensely in public opinion. In just one day, almost everyone in the world learned about Blacklight Technology's plan to build the Dyson Cloud. information.
In this regard, officials from all continents of the Earth Federation have mixed feelings, because they see further than ordinary people. Although the move of black light technology is equivalent to opening up a path for the future of mankind again, once it succeeds, it will also gain With vested interests, it is even possible that even solar energy is monopolized by Blacklight Technology.
So contrary to the eager expectations of ordinary people, the media in all continents have badmouthed this matter, and even used the "Law of the Dark Forest" to argue that this project may cause changes in the brightness of the sun, and this change , is likely to attract the prying eyes of other alien civilizations in the future.
So in the end, world public opinion was divided into two groups. One group expressed support for the construction of the Dyson Cloud, while the other group was completely opposed, believing that this was too big a step and could easily lead to trouble.
A few days later, the Earth Federation, which felt threatened, finally couldn't sit still. They held a summit of countries around the world. The four continents led their younger brothers to vote against this project of Black Light Technology and stop.
In response to the Earth Federation's reaction, Chen Chen sent the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Earth Federation headquarters to participate in the dispute, but on the other hand, various departments of Black Light Technology began to quietly implement the plan.
If it were ten years ago, Chen Chen would have carefully considered the opposition from all over the world. However, now that Black Light Technology has the Mars colony, it has the capital to break away from the Earth Federation. Even if the Earth Federation is because of this The sanctions against Blacklight Technology were only indifferent economic sanctions, and no one had the guts to mention force sanctions.
So, after arguing with each other for a full three months, seeing that the Earth Federation was unable to stop Black Light Technology, the Four Continents finally had to reluctantly compromise. They made a request to the Black Light Technology negotiating team, that is, the Four Continents Also join this Dyson Cloud project and get a share of it.
Chen Chen didn't have any objections to this. After all, the Four Continents account for 40% of the population of the Earth Federation and have manpower and material resources that far exceed those of Black Light Technology. If the Four Continents join, the construction period of the Dyson ring can be reduced by 100%. More than 50, as long as the core technology and dominance are still in the hands of Blacklight Technology, there will be no problem.
Therefore, after three months of nationality negotiations, the four continents decided to allocate tens of billions of funds, manpower and material resources to join the most massive project in human history.
As for the surrounding small countries, just like when they were developing controllable nuclear fusion, they can only watch helplessly.
Soon, the four continents dispatched thousands of engineers and scientists to the Life Sciences City, treating it as the command center for the most ambitious plan in human history, where tens of thousands of the world's top talents gathered. It also gave the Life Sciences City a new round of vitality.
"This is an engineering robot designed by our Black Light Technology."
At this time, in the aerospace base on the southern outskirts of Life Science City, decision-making delegations from five parties were discussing in the conference room. These scientists were full of fanaticism and kept throwing out their opinions and plans as if they were quarreling, even when it was time to eat. And without stopping.
A young engineer threw out a conceptual design drawing with a proud face, "This kind of robot is divided into forty-three types, each type has a corresponding division of labor... They have ceramic heat-insulating armor up to ten centimeters thick. , can completely withstand the high temperature and pressure on the surface of Mercury, and at the same time, controlled by the super AI designed by our Blackwatch Company, can continuously produce their own kind and solar panels, and launch these panels into space through electromagnetic ejection. middle."
"I object!"
However, after seeing the engineer's design drawings, decision-makers from four continents objected, "We will never tolerate a super AI with self-replication permissions. If you, Blackwatch Company, don't want to see smart machines... If there is a mechanical crisis, I still think that this kind of production cannot be fully delegated to computers."
"We at Blackwatch Company can guarantee the AI's loyalty!"
"That's not okay, we are firmly opposed to this kind of thing..."
The two sides immediately started arguing again.
"Okay, don't argue. We can talk about this later."
Another scientist with a global reputation stopped the meaningless quarrel between the two parties and said immediately, "We have no problems with the manufacturing of Dyson cloud equipment. Now we should talk about maintenance. Such a huge area , or even man-made artifacts that far exceed the surface area of the earth, how should we maintain it?"
"Of course, robots are also used for maintenance..."
Another scientist from Blacklight Technology shouted, “If we can build XTN robots, we can also build fully automated maintenance robots that can operate in outer space at the same time. These robots only need to be more than ten centimeters in size, and they can freely shuttle through the Dyson Cloud.” Surface, repair malfunctioning Dyson Cloud accessories.”
"What about energy transmission? The plan says it's laser transmission, so where should we build a device that can receive this huge energy?"
"Of course it's also in the universe. We can build several energy receiving devices with an area of more than a few square kilometers in orbit, and then introduce this energy to the ground through a space elevator. This is the best solution. Is it possible that you also want to send lasers directly? If it fails to reach the surface, wouldn’t it become solar bombing?”
"So, what do you do when there's a solar storm?"
Someone worried.
"What kind of problem is this? Haven't we designed the Dyson Cloud to be able to fold with each other with a certain unit as the core when a solar storm occurs? In this way, the device can fully obtain sufficient impact resistance. You can't answer such a simple question You can’t even think of it, right?”
“…”
"Who can figure out what kind of impact it would have on the planets in our solar system if Mercury's weight changed?"
Another scientist asked.
"Rest assured, this plan has been worked out before it's released."
A scientist from Blacklight Technology immediately waved his hand and showed a large series of data in front of everyone, "The acceleration caused by Mercury's gravitational pull on the Earth is only about 10-40nms^2, which is considered very small on an astronomical scale, and turning Mercury into The Dyson Cloud merely moves Mercury's center of mass closer to the sun, but its mass does not disappear."
"Even if the entire Mercury is dismantled and removed, in about 100 years, the perihelion and aphelion of the Earth will only shrink by one ten thousandth, and because the periodic perturbation phenomenon will recover after a few decades, so Just building a Dyson cloud is equivalent to evenly distributing the mass of Mercury in the solar orbit. This situation will not affect the Earth's orbit even in the long term!"
"Then the next topic is, how do we maintain the stability of the Dyson cloud in the solar orbit?"
“…”
The meeting room was buzzing with people, and countless words that were extremely unfamiliar to ordinary people popped out of their mouths. Everyone was discussing painfully and happily, breaking down the details in the plan to ensure that every step could be implemented smoothly. .
But no matter what, the more everyone discussed, the more they came up with a hunch - when this world-shaking plan is implemented, it will be the biggest step in human history!