It took Tao Xun only three days to finish translating Du Ke's third paper. Then he took the paper straight to the editorial office of the Journal of Chemical Physics.
"Old Tao, you're here. Is Du Ke's third paper ready?" One of the editorial board members spotted Tao Xun and hurriedly asked. Everyone had been waiting for Du Ke's paper these past few days.
At that shout from the board member, every editor in the already cramped office immediately got the news.
The editors responsible for chemistry were not particularly excited, but all the editors responsible for physics gathered around. "Professor Tao, where's the paper? Let me see it! The first two papers had me hooked. I spent several days at home trying to figure it out, but I still couldn't work out how electron flow and proton flow could be separated while maintaining the stability of the aggregated state."
"There's only one hard copy. I emailed it to Xiao Zhu. If you want it, have Xiao Zhu forward it to you."
"Hurry up and forward it, Xiao Zhu."
"Okay, I'll forward it now." Xiao Zhu was the least experienced member of the editorial board. He was mainly responsible for sorting submitted papers and distributing papers from different fields to the email inboxes of the actual reviewing editors.
For the next ten-odd minutes, the editors sat before their computers, carefully reading Du Ke's third paper, How the Interaction of Forces in Electron Flow Maintains Equilibrium. With nothing to do, Tao Xun borrowed a computer and browsed the news. Before he could finish reading a single trending article, someone abruptly slapped him on the shoulder. "Tao Xun, you have Du Ke's contact information, right? Call him and get him over here."
"Ah, Dean Chen, why are you here?" Professor Tao hurriedly rose to his feet.
The visitor was Chen Yang, executive deputy editor-in-chief of the Journal of Chemical Physics, dean of the School of the Young Class at Huaxia University of Science and Technology, a professor, a Doctoral Supervisor, and a Hundred Talents Program scholar.
"I'm the executive deputy editor-in-chief. Isn't it normal for me to be here? Tao Xun, I heard you arrive. I just finished reading Du Ke's paper. It's very interesting, and I want to discuss it with him face-to-face," Chen Yang said.
"Okay, Dean Chen. I'll call Du Ke right away."
Tao Xun quickly finished the call. Du Ke happened to be free as well and agreed to come over as soon as possible. Tao Xun also had a staff member go to the entrance of Xiake University to pick Du Ke up. Security had been strict recently, and ordinary vehicles and visitors were not allowed in.
While they waited, several editors responsible for physics gathered around Chen Yang and began a lively discussion.
"The idea of electron flow is fascinating, and its prospects are vast. My previous criticism was that it was like electrolyzing water into hydrogen and oxygen. Hydrogen and oxygen are indeed important energy sources, but energy has to be conserved—where would the energy for electrolysis come from? So it always felt like a pointless extra step. But after reading this paper, I understand now."
"Old Deng, what do you understand?"
"Didn't Tao Xun say that Du Ke planned to enter the battery industry? It suddenly occurred to me—if electron flow theory could be applied to batteries, wouldn't that perfectly solve the issue of energy conservation? Charging and discharging—that's how batteries work, isn't it? If an electron-flow battery really could be made, then based on the results envisioned here, lithium batteries might become obsolete."
"Old Deng's idea makes sense, but have you considered that there are too many constraints on electron flow? Maintaining it stably would probably be an enormous challenge."
"If there are difficulties, overcome them. Before Du Ke's mechanical equilibrium was developed, we probably thought electron flow itself was just a fantasy. But now? With this paper out, electron flow is no longer a concept—it's a fact."
"Have you thought about this? If electron flow theory really can be put into practical use, Du Ke's achievements may not be any less than Cao Yuan's, right?" An editor suddenly said. His words immediately stirred up the crowd.
Quite a few editors, including those responsible for chemistry, joined in, wanting to argue against it.
After all, Cao Yuan was a leading young researcher at Xiake University and the pride of its teachers. This genius had entered Xiake University's School of the Young Class at fourteen, gone to MIT for a doctorate at eighteen, and published a paper in Nature at twenty-two. His research on magic-angle Graphene had even made the cover of Nature. Many believed that once Cao Yuan matured further, winning a Nobel Prize would not be impossible.
"Comparing him with Cao Yuan... well..." One editor began his rebuttal, then suddenly swallowed the rest of his words.
Then came a stretch of silence.
Everyone present was a successful figure in academia. They were either professors at Xiake University or promising young scholars, so their judgment was naturally not poor. Cao Yuan had discovered the "magic angle" that gave Graphene superconducting properties, opening up research into unconventional superconducting materials. He had also published four papers in Nature, which was more than enough to prove the extraordinary value of his research.
Yet Du Ke's paper was indeed rather thin. Compared with cutting-edge Graphene superconductivity, this electron-flow theory seemed like turning water into hydrogen—somewhat old-fashioned and outdated.
But if it could be realized, electron-flow theory represented an equally vast New Energy field, perhaps even broader than the New Energy represented by Graphene superconductivity. More importantly, the transition of magic-angle Graphene from insulator to superconductor required temperatures of minus 271 degrees Celsius, making commercialization utterly impossible. It had merely opened another door for superconductivity research.
It showed people that superconducting materials did not necessarily have to be sought from compounds; they could be sought elsewhere as well.
At that moment, Editor-in-Chief Chen Yang smiled. "Why's everyone gone quiet? Room-temperature superconductivity won't be developed anytime soon, and judging by things, electron-flow batteries won't be developed anytime soon either. Whatever the future looks like, everyone can participate, right? When Du Ke arrives, we can ask him together. Perhaps we can collaborate in this area later and research electron flow together."
No scientific theory could be completed by one person alone.
Take the magic-angle Graphene discovered by Cao Yuan. Soon after he published two Nature papers, many others followed with several more Nature papers on Graphene. Du Ke's electron-flow theory had likewise pushed open a door. Everyone here had encountered this new theory at the earliest opportunity. If they went back, gave it more thought, and wrote a couple of papers for ordinary SCI journals, it was not impossible.
As for top journals like Nature, they did not dare imagine it.
While the editors chatted, Du Ke had already driven his own BYD Han into the Xiake University campus under the guidance of a staff member. After turning several corners, he stopped in front of a small building hidden among green trees. This was the editorial office of the Journal of Chemical Physics. After going up to the second floor and stepping onto the somewhat aged stairway, it was hard to associate such a plain environment with technology.
"Senior Du, you're incredible. Our editorial office has been discussing your papers every day lately. I've never seen anyone's papers spark discussions among so many professors at once." The staff member was a second-year student working part-time. He spoke enthusiastically to Du Ke, without the slightest trace of the arrogance typical of Xiake University's favored sons—after all, anyone who could get into an SCI journal's editorial office as a sophomore would not lack social awareness.
Du Ke smiled calmly. "Basic stuff. Don't praise me too hard."
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