A higher-dimensional incarnation, starting by leveraging the stars.

Chapter 125 Joint Research Group

"All that you just mentioned—biological armor, extraterrestrial exploration, another possibility for carbon-based life—all of it requires a premise." Zhou Huanan raised his head, looking directly into Hu Biao's eyes. For some reason, he had found a loophole in Hu Biao's words, and he was somewhat excited.

"You need to obtain biological materials that can survive in those extreme environments, not these greenhouse flowers on Earth, but biological materials that can actually survive in the vacuum of space, or on planets like Venus and Mars."

"But what do you have now? That biological neurotransmitter? Okay, I admit, it's indeed remarkable, truly groundbreaking. But it's ultimately based on research findings from carbon-based life on Earth. It can work inside the human body, it can glow in the laboratory, but try putting it on the surface of Venus? 460 degrees Celsius, 90 times atmospheric pressure, sulfuric acid clouds—it won't last three seconds."

Zhou Huanan leaned back in his chair, clasped his hands in front of his chest, as if he had regained his dignity as a mentor.

"So, where did your materials come from?"

This is indeed a good question. Any grand vision must ultimately return to the most basic practical issues.

Without materials, everything is just castles in the air.

Hu Biao smiled. "Teacher, I'll say it again: perspective!"

"You—" Zhou Huanan's lips twitched, barely suppressing the urge to throw the thermos in his hand.

Hu Biao quickly said, "Teacher, you need to broaden your thinking. Yes, we don't have suitable materials right now, not even on Blue Star, but does that mean we can't conduct research? Just like modern metallurgy—"

Metallurgy?

Zhou Huanan was slightly taken aback.

"The earliest metals used by humankind were native copper and native gold—those that could be picked up directly from the ground," Hu Biao continued, speaking to himself. "Later, we learned to smelt copper, reducing it from ore. Then we learned to smelt iron, which required higher temperatures and more complex techniques. Then came steel, various alloy steels, and special alloys—"

He spread his hands. "Were these materials just there waiting for humans to pick them up? No. They were researched and developed bit by bit over thousands of years by generations of people. The same goes for biological materials."

"But that takes time. As you said yourself, modern metallurgy took thousands of years to develop. Do you have thousands of years? Do we have thousands of years?"

"So, it's still a matter of not having a broad enough perspective—"

"Speak properly, speak like a human being!!" Zhou Huanan suddenly sat up straight and glared fiercely at Hu Biao.

"Alright, alright, I'll talk, I'll talk—" Hu Biao chuckled, "Why do we have to go for it all at once? Didn't that fabric seller say, don't go for a single color, go for a pair of 'hu'!"

"My thinking is the same. Before biomaterials are developed, I can use existing metallic materials as substitutes. Titanium alloys, carbon fibers, special ceramics—these readily available materials, although not as good as the ideal biomaterials, should be sufficient for some milder environments, such as the moon and Mars. Our country wants to send people to the moon now, so we can give it a try."

As he spoke, he patted the game interface on his phone screen.

"In this game, the armor designed by players is not entirely biological. Many designs are a hybrid of biological tissue and mechanical structure. The biological part is responsible for perception, response, and self-repair; the mechanical part is responsible for structural strength, environmental isolation, and energy supply."

""

"That's why I study this. The greatest value of this biological neurotransmitter lies here: it can act as a bridge, connecting biological and mechanical systems. It allows machines to have the reaction speed of organisms, and organisms to have the environmental tolerance of machines."

"With silicon-based technology so advanced now, and AI, robotics, automation—these technologies have all reached a certain stage of development, so why can't we take advantage of this?"

Zhou Huanan opened his mouth as if to say something, but ultimately did not speak.

Although his intuition told him that there were still many, many problems to solve and many pitfalls to fill, at least logically, the kid's line of thinking was consistent.

It is not the kind of self-consistency of a dreamer, but a self-consistency based on existing achievements and pointing to an actionable path.

"So—" Zhou Huanan was silent for a while before finally speaking again, "What is your next research direction?"

Should we continue to optimize this biological neurotransmitter?

Hu Biao shook his head.

"No, this is enough for now. There's no need for further optimization. What I need to do next is applied research—how to use it well and make the most of it."

"Specifically?"

"Robot," Hu Biao uttered three words.

Zhou Huanan paused for a moment, then glanced subconsciously at the constant temperature box on the table, then at the game interface on the phone screen, and finally looked back at Hu Biao's young face.

"Robots?" His tone held a hint of uncertainty. "Didn't you just say that robotics technology was a misguided investment of time? Why are you researching robots again now?"

Hu Biao laughed. "Teacher, my moral bottom line is very flexible. Even a piece of toilet paper has its uses, and a misguided technological path isn't without value. I'm just hitching a ride, don't you think?"

The office was quiet for a while.

"Do you know that this is the School of Life Sciences, not the School of Robotics?" Zhou Huanan asked.

"I know, but could we form a joint research group?" Hu Biao said with a relaxed expression.

"A joint research group? Do you even know what you're talking about?" Zhou Huanan's face darkened.

"Teacher, you see, once you've been an academician for a long time, it's hard to connect with the masses!" Hu Biao chuckled. "What I need isn't the kind of research group you have, with a bunch of PhDs and scholars, and funding that's easily in the hundreds of millions. I just need a few undergraduates with suitable majors, and the funding isn't much, just a small research group."

"A small research group?"

"Yes, I already have a fairly mature idea. Now I just want to put this idea into practice and see what the results will be."

"Alright, then I'll see what you can come up with." Hearing Hu Biao's words, Zhou Huanan breathed a slight sigh of relief. Moreover, he was also very curious about what Hu Biao could come up with.

"However—" Hu Biao's tone changed.

"But what?"

"My research mainly focuses on testing the limits of this thing, and this thing—as you can see—is it not suitable to be published?"

"Of course, you must sign a confidentiality agreement to join the research group." Zhou Huanan suddenly realized that he had almost been fooled by this kid. The most important thing about today's conversation was the biological medium material that Hu Biao had developed. Everything else was just bragging. He knew very well how valuable this biological medium was. The most important thing was to report it as soon as possible!

Realizing this, he glared at Hu Biao fiercely. "Alright, it's getting late. You should go back and rest. We'll try our best to arrange things for you in the research group!"

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