Du Gang still suppressed his emotions and asked, "So, what are the standards for a first-level civilization?"
Pang Ze said calmly: "There are two that have reached the standard of first-level civilization!"
"The first one is that technology has naturally evolved to the first-level civilization standard, that is, it can rationally use the resources of the mother planet to realize travel and colonization between planets... In terms of energy technology, it must be proficient in using quark fusion!"
Du Gang happened to know about quark fusion. He discussed it with his PE teacher during physical education class.
Not long ago, experiments on quark fusion were published in scientific magazines.
In a nuclear fusion using heavy water as raw material, the energy released by the fusion of a deuterium (dao) atom and a tritium (chuan) atom is about 17 MeV, while the quark fusion formed by the collision of two subatoms has 138 MeV of energy!
This experiment proved that quark fusion is a more advanced fusion method than nuclear fusion, and its power is more than eight times that of nuclear fusion!
However, due to some technical obstacles, it cannot be applied in practice. According to inference, humans on earth will need at least one hundred to two hundred years of accumulation before they can truly master quark fusion!
It is obvious that the current earth civilization has not mastered quark fusion and does not meet the standards of their first-level technological civilization!
Du Gang asked again: "What about the other criteria for promotion to the first-level civilization?"
Pang Ze smiled and said: "Meteor Star!"
"As long as this civilization gives birth to the first meteor-level powerhouse, it means that their civilization has reached the first-level civilization standard... Even if this civilization has not developed technology!"
"Believe me, it is definitely more difficult to advance to the first level civilization with the meteor star than to advance to the first level civilization with the technology!"
"However, for the same first-level civilization, the difficulty of advancing to the second-level civilization is exactly the opposite!"
Du Gang was very curious about the information about the universe at the moment, wishing he could know everything. He quickly asked: "You mean it is more difficult for a first-level technological civilization to advance to the second level? Why?"
Pang Ze smiled and said: "To give you the simplest example, for example, your country's carrier pigeons are responsible for delivering messages, and each one costs ten yuan!"
"Then, now someone tells you that he will install a base station for you for free and sell you a contact number for only ten yuan. Tell me, do you plan to use a carrier pigeon or a telephone?"
"Of course using the phone!"
This is a naturally developed technological blockade. The same product is better and cheaper than yours. At this time, it is very difficult for you to develop your own products!
Du Gang thought about the situation on earth regarding chip technology. To buy chips for domestic mobile phones, you need to pay hundreds of billions every year. But if you re-research the chip, the cost will be more than ten times that of buying it!
Because you are researching, others are also researching. You may be researching the fifth generation, while others are already researching the fifteenth generation!
Same price, different products, the market will make its own choice!
This is just inside the earth, and the technology gap between two different countries has already widened so far.
If placed in the universe, the technological gap is even more obvious. It is a gap of hundreds or thousands of generations!
Maybe, even after tens of thousands of years of research, you may not be able to catch up with the technology included in other people’s latest products!
But the problem is that research requires funds, and other people’s funds are paid by consumers, while your funds can only be borne by your civilization, unless you are willing to let your civilization continue to use homing pigeons!
Therefore, technical barriers naturally form!
In just a few dozen seconds, Du Gang understood what Pang Ze said about why it is difficult for a first-level technological civilization to advance to a second-level technological civilization.
Just like a certain computer assembly company, he makes more money as an agent for assembly than he makes from doing research and development himself, so he won't spend money and time on research and development... But in fact, this is a vicious circle, and technology will get bigger and bigger!
Why does it take you decades or hundreds of years to understand technology that has been developed over millions or even tens of millions of years
After thinking about these issues, he felt a little heavy, which meant that in the field of science and technology, the earth's civilization was about to enter that vicious cycle.
However, he still asked curiously: "Then, what is the symbol of the second-level technological civilization?"
Pang Ze smiled and said: "Antimatter and antimatter annihilation is a more powerful technology than quark fusion!"
"If quark fusion is still within the scope of your understanding, then the annihilation of matter and antimatter is an unimaginable existence..."
"The energy this technology can produce is about a hundred times that of your nuclear fusion? A thousand times? Sorry, I don't really understand this stuff either!"
He thought for a while and then said:
"Well, how should I put it? The spaceship in the sky is a three-star E-class spacecraft of our association. It has space jumping technology and can span a distance of twenty light years... What it carries is the annihilation technology of matter and antimatter. Only Only the energy generated by this technology can achieve space jumps!"
"Of course, the raw materials that can annihilate matter and antimatter are very expensive. You have no idea how high the fees charged by the civilizations that control this technology..."
Du Gang had a simple understanding of the second-level civilization, which was very powerful!
"Is this second-level civilization rare?"
Pang Ze smiled and said: "Second-level civilization is not rare, but second-level technological civilization is very rare!"
"Let me put it this way, there are even Level 3 civilizations in the entire Wasteland Star Territory, but there is not a single Level 2 technological civilization!"
Du Gang pointed to the spacecraft suspended in the sky in confusion and asked: "What are these spacecrafts of yours?"
"Bought from the next-door star field!"
Pang Ze suddenly pressed a button on his watch, and suddenly, a bunch of pictures were projected out of thin air.
"Let me show you the real universe!"
Soon, a swirling galaxy appeared on the projection.
Du Gang blurted out, "Galaxy?!"
Pang Ze nodded and said, "Yes, this is the Milky Way!"
He asked rhetorically: "Do you know the location of the Milky Way in the universe?"
Du Gang shook his head. He had discussed this with his physical education teacher. The earth has not yet discovered how big the universe is and where the center of the universe is.
Pang Ze smiled and said: "The center of the universe is over there!"
As he spoke, he stretched out his hand and pointed at Tianyu.
Du Gang's mouth twitched and he ignored him.
Pang Ze smiled and continued: "Well, actually, I don't know where the center of the universe is. I didn't expect you weren't fooled..."
"Getting back to the subject, no matter where the center of the universe is, it does exist!"
"There are about two trillion galaxies like our Milky Way... "
Regarding this point, Du Gang did not deny that the earth has currently detected 5 billion galaxies similar to the size of the Milky Way. With the level of these advanced civilizations, it is very reasonable to detect more!
"Our Milky Way is far away from the center of the universe. It can be said that it is in the suburbs, roughly in the five rings. Of course, there may be hundreds of billions of similar galaxies between each ring..."
"Let's go back to the Milky Way, other places are not what we should know about!"
He asked again: "Do you know how many stars there are in the Milky Way?"
"More than 125 billion?" Du Gang said tentatively. This is the number of stars that the earth has detected.
"more than!"
Pang Ze smiled and said: "There are about one trillion stars in the Milky Way, which means there are trillions of galaxies here... "
"The universe is too big, and the Milky Way is too big. Just talking about galaxies is too complicated. Therefore, we usually name some star fields with other meanings. Each star field includes a bunch of galaxies..."
"For example, in distant places, there are powerful civilizations that rule hundreds of thousands of galaxies and form their own country. In this way, the star field will be named after the country... "
"The location we are currently at, at the end of the ninth segment of the third cantilever of the Milky Way, is called the Wasteland Star Field!"
"Wasteland Star Territory..."
Du Gang chewed again and asked: "Are we under the rule of a country called Wasteland?"
"no!"
Pang Ze looked at him regretfully and said with a smile: "The real situation is worse than this. I will tell you in a moment..."
"What I want to talk about now is the Purple Orchid Star Territory!"
As he spoke, he waved his hand and brought the rotating Milky Way closer in the projection.
Soon, a strange star field appeared, densely packed with stars shining in it.
"The Purple Orchid Star Territory, also called the Purple Orchid Principality, governs a territory that is three hundred light-years in diameter and has more than a thousand galaxies. It is the closest star territory to us..."
"Purple Orchid Principality is what I call the only second-level technological civilization here. Their actual civilization level has reached level five, but their scientific and technological civilization is only at level two. From here, what can you understand?"
Du Gang blurted out, "They are also blocked by technology?!"
Pang Ze nodded, "Yes, the Zilan Principality has existed for millions of years. After such a long period of development, it has reached the second level of scientific and technological civilization. It can be imagined that in the field of science and technology, high-level civilization has a strong relationship with low-level civilization. The dominance of civilization…”
"Level 5 civilization..."
Du Gang quickly asked: "The fifth-level civilization you are talking about refers to force?"
"Yes, the Meteor-level civilization can be called a first-level civilization. Those with meteor-level power can be called a second-level civilization. Those with comet-level power can be called a third-level civilization. In our Wasteland Star Territory, the strongest one is the third-level civilization. Civilized…”
"However, generally we don't call it civilization, but we call it power, such as first-level power, second-level power, and third-level power!"
"understood!"
Du Gang nodded and asked: "Then what you have been saying is, how big is our Wasteland Star Territory? What do you mean?"
Pang Ze quickly adjusted the star field map and released the galaxies including the solar system.
"You see, the spherical star field here with a diameter of more than a hundred light years is the Wasteland Star Field..."
In the projection, all the galaxies are not arranged flatly, but three-dimensionally, floating in uneven layers like up, down, left, right, and right.
"We call the moving surface of the Milky Way the galactic disk or the galactic surface. The one above the galactic disk is the upper galactic surface, and the one below it is the lower galactic surface..."
Du Gang frowned and said, "How to distinguish between upper and lower?"
Pang Ze reopened the projection of the Milky Way and said: "All celestial bodies are moving. The Milky Way moves around the center of the universe, stars move around the center of the Galaxy, and planets move around the center of the stars..."
"The Milky Way is composed of four parts: the galactic center, the galactic core, the galactic disk, and the galactic corona..."
"Have you seen this small ball in the center of the Milky Way? This round ball is the galactic core, which is composed of very dense star systems... "
"When we look from the silver surface to the silver core, you will find that one side has a large silver core and one side has a small silver core. We call the side with the larger silver core the upper silver surface, and the side with the smaller silver core the lower silver surface. , In this way, even in the universe, up and down can be distinguished... "
"So, just by taking this plane as the center, we can determine the orientation of each galaxy... "
"It's a coincidence that the star system you are in is located on the galactic surface, which is relatively central!"
Du Gang nodded, finally understanding what the universe said about the upper and lower silver surfaces.
"The wasteland star field we are in is a spherical space with a diameter of more than a hundred light years. There are more than 300 stars in it. In other words, there are more than 300 galaxies..."
"Among them, there are four third-level forces, more than twenty second-level forces, and several first-level forces..."
Pang Ze smiled and said: "The star system you are in is a newborn star. It does not have many planets. Some star systems have hundreds of planets..."
Du Gang interrupted and asked: "Your Universe Civilization Protection Association is one of the third-level forces?"
"That's right!"
Pang Ze nodded and said: "Although our Universe Civilization Association has branches all over the galaxy, they basically still run their own affairs..."
"Here in the Wasteland Star Territory, if our association did not have a comet star to take over, believe it or not, the star thieves would dare to raid our hometown. Their hatred for me is not small..."
Du Gang said in surprise: "Star thief? Is there really such a thing?"
"Yes, there are many people who are willing to do this kind of business for free. There is no unified force in the Wasteland Star Territory, so star thieves are very rampant here. Basically, there are many forces. They are caravans on the surface and caravans behind the scenes. Here is the Star Thief..."
"Then why didn't the Star Thieves come to our place?"
Pang Ze smiled and spread his hands, "Are you too naive? They are all considered star thieves, just to grab ready-made goods. What do you have here? Even if there are minerals, can they still be miners?"
Du Gang thought for a while, and it was indeed true. Since the Cosmic Civilization Protection Association is a third-level force in the Wasteland Star Territory, with their protection, the star thieves would not dare to mine even if they captured the primitive civilization, so the primitive civilization was nothing to them. use.
"Star thieves usually stay outside the bustling star field, ready to hunt the caravans of various civilizations passing by, or rob some rich planets..."
Speaking of money, Du Gang quickly asked: "What is the general settlement currency in cosmic civilization?"
Pang Ze smiled and said: "I don't know about other places, but in our Wasteland Star Territory, settlements are usually made in Purple Orchid Coins, which is the currency of the Purple Orchid Principality..."
Having said this, Ponze paused and his expression gradually became serious.
"You have a rough understanding of the basic situation of the universe. Next, I am going to tell you about the Wasteland Star Territory. What follows may be beyond your knowledge..."
“I really don’t want to talk about these things~!”
Pang Ze's expression was a little complicated, but he still spoke, "Speaking of the Wasteland Star Territory, we have to talk about the Deadly Silence Realm!"
"In our universe, there is a place called the Realm of Death..."
"The Realm of Dead Silence?" Du Gang was startled. This name seemed like a noun from a fantasy novel, and it felt strange to appear in the real world.
Pang Ze nodded and said: "The realm of death and silence, a place without life!"
"Do you know how long a colorful purple-level expert can survive in the Wasteland Star Territory?"
He didn't wait for Du Gang to answer and said to himself:
"Can live 200 years!"
"Then do you know how long the colorful purples living near the galactic center can live?"
"Can live 2000 years!"
Du Gang looked at him in surprise, not understanding what he meant by this.
Pang Ze said seriously: "You heard it right, and I said it right too. Purple-level warriors of the same level will have different lifespans if they are in two different places!"
"It's not just the center of the galaxy. I can say that in the center of the universe, purple-level warriors can live longer, maybe 20,000 years, maybe 200,000 years..."
He suddenly showed a complicated expression and continued: "It may also be immortal!"
"What?"
Du Gang looked at him in shock, not understanding what these words meant.
Pang Ze stretched out his left and right hands, gestured, and said: "If the fingers of my left hand are the center of the universe, then the fingers of my right hand are the edge of the realm of death!"
"The center of the universe represents life and beauty!"
"The realm of death and silence represents death and loneliness!"
"The Wasteland Star Territory where we are located is on the edge of this realm of death and silence. We will fall into the realm of death and silence at any time..."
"The most despairing thing is that in the wasteland star field we live in, all galaxies circle around the center of the galaxy, but in fact, they are far away from the center of the galaxy and close to the realm of death!"
After saying this, Pang Ze paused for a while, and after Du Gang digested the information, he continued: "Have you heard of entropy?"
"entropy?"
Du Gang was stunned for a moment. There is indeed a theory of entropy on the earth. He once discussed it with his physical education teacher.
"I've heard of the law of entropy increase..."
He had some knowledge of things related to entropy and the second law of thermodynamics.
Pang Ze nodded and said: "As long as you know entropy, entropy exists in our universe. Although it is invisible and intangible, it really exists..."
"The entropy in the textbook is too complicated. I couldn't figure it out for three days and three nights. Let me make it simpler!"
"You can understand it this way. Our entire universe has entropy. In the center of the universe, there is less entropy, so people can live longer. The realm of death and silence is full of entropy, and no life can survive!"
"Entropy is what sucks your life force... More than that, it will take away the life of all objects!"
"The reason why we have a lifespan limit is because of the existence of entropy!"
"Be it other objects or planets, under the influence of entropy, everything will perish..."
"The law of increasing entropy means that entropy is always increasing. Nothing in the universe can escape the persecution of entropy. Everything will be destroyed under the influence of entropy!"
"Now, do you understand why our place is called the Wasteland Star Territory? The next star territory that enters the dead realm of entropy is ours!"
"Of course, the Realm of Death is huge, and there are also many wasteland star fields. Ours here can only be regarded as the wasteland star field on the third cantilever of the Milky Way..."
Du Gang frowned and said, "Then how far is our star from the realm of death?"
"Ten light years, your star's revolution speed is 1,300th the speed of light, and it will be sucked into the entropy realm in about ten to twenty thousand years..."
"Then if I run to the center of the galaxy now, does that mean my lifespan will increase significantly?"
"Yes, the closer to the galactic center, the less entropy is. For humans, they can live longer..."
These theories shocked him.
He thought that all human beings were the same and had similar life spans, but it turned out that this was not the case.
The lifespan of humans living in the Galactic Center is nearly ten times longer than that here!
And if we are human beings living in the center of the universe, it is even possible to live forever...
Incredible!
Thanks to Qin Sowshangshu for another reward of 1,000 starting coins. Thanks!
(End of chapter)