1054 Product Launch

Two low-key men were sitting in a corner of the waiting terminal, and they each had a suitcase next to them.

If anyone in the physics world walked past here, they would instantly recognize these two and ask for their signatures.

Unfortunately, the probability of someone recognizing them was less than one in a thousand.

Even though the ILHCRC headquarters in Shanghai would hold their first High Energy Physics Research Summit in a few days, that probability wouldn’t increase by much.

But then again, thanks to this waiting terminal, in which he was just another citizen, Witten could finally enjoy a moment of silence. He could quietly think about problems without worrying about being interrupted.

Sitting next to Witten was Frank Wilczek, who was also going to the conference in Shanghai. Wilczek glanced at the journal in Witten’s hand and squinted.

[3.7Ghz Integrated Circuit Based on Carbon Nanotube Film]

What the h.e.l.l?

“When did you become interested in integrated circuits?”

Even though Wilczek didn’t want to interrupt Witten, he still couldn’t help but ask out of curiosity.

“I don’t really understand it, but it looks interesting.”

Witten flipped through the journal and said, “A new chip based on graphene material is expected to redefine semiconductors and revolutionize the electronics industry… Sigh, no wonder IEEE withdrew this paper.”

Even though he was a physicist, that didn’t mean he was clueless about other fields.

In fact, he had been to many countries and talked with many people, so he had a much wider range of knowledge than most people.

Even though IEEE was a non-profit professionals society, mainly composed of engineers in the field of electrical and computer engineering, that didn’t mean they were exempt from the influence of the industry or even politics.

When it came to integrated circuits, in which its research value could only be reflected in the market, the boundary between industry and academia became muddy.

Not to mention that this organization was based in America.

There was no doubt that the carbon-based chips had shaken North America… possibly even disrupting the global semiconductor industry. Giants such as Intel, which had a strong position in the semiconductor industry, wouldn’t allow such things to happen.

In fact, if the technology was made by Intel or AMD, there wouldn’t have been as strong of a resistance against the technology.

But this technology was created by a company in the middle of the industrial chain, by a foreign company…

Not to mention, this company was based in China.

Even if the company was based in an ally of the United States, the White House wouldn’t be so kind.

The withdrawal from IEEE was only the first step. The goal was to control its academic freedom. Witten could already imagine what would happen next.

Once the battle began, semiconductor manufacturers such as Intel, Qualcomm, and AMD would form an alliance. They would use their impact in the industry to put pressure on the industrial chain, hoping to exclude this technology… Until they finished researching the technology themselves.

However, this time, the IEEE attack obviously failed.

The people that withdrew Professor Lu’s paper would have never imagined Professor Lu to create his own journal and submit his paper again, word for word.

The entire academic community was stunned by his actions.

However, Witten wasn’t surprised.

After all, Professor Lu was the one person that could stand up to Faltings.

Even Witten himself wouldn’t have the courage and energy to argue with the stubborn German.

Professor Wilczek had a thoughtful look on his face, and he suddenly asked, “Do you think this is a good thing?”

Witten knew what he was asking, so he smiled and replied, “In the long term, it is.”

“You think so?” Wilczek said, “We have regulated academia over the past century, but now, they’re changing the rules. At least the academic language is unified, so people don’t have to learn Chinese just to read a paper anymore.”

Even though Future was bilingual, for people in foreign academia, their only choice was to learn another language.

After all, academic works were different from literary works.

The translated version of the latter would never read better than the original.

But for the former, for those that sought the truth, whether it was translated by a layman or an expert, it was nearly impossible to fully reflect the academic viewpoints of the original author.

Moreover, once the influence of Future reached the likes of Science and Nature, it would further increase the language exclusivity problem.

This was what worried Wilczek.

In fact, he wasn’t the only one thinking about this.

People in the physics world began to worry about this ever since the establishment of the ILHCRC.

Witten looked at his old friend and smiled carelessly.

He turned the page in his Future issue and spoke.

“Language has never been an obstacle to academic prosperity. In fact, the most prosperous period of European academia was the time when Europe was the most divided… It was also the most brilliant time of culture and science.

“What’s wrong with learning another language? I learned French in a month when I was at CERN. Even though I’m not young anymore, it shouldn’t take me too long to learn another language… I encourage you to try to learn a little Chinese. The papers from the Moon Palace are all published in Chinese. The ILHCRC is becoming more and more influential in the international physics community. Not to mention the lunar surface hadron collider is about to be completed. We might have to travel to Shanghai more than Switzerland and France combined.”

Wilczek shook his head and said, “I tried learning Chinese… Those characters are too difficult.”

“What’s difficult isn’t the language itself, it’s your subconscious prejudice and resistance to new information,” Witten casually said. “A lot of the time, this prejudice prevents us from seeking the truth. Just like a few centuries ago, we ignorantly believed that the world was flat, that the sun rotated around us.

“I remember what my father once told me. He said that science is an idea, it is also a tool.

“The Chinese are obviously a part of academia, and they can’t be ignored. The arrogance in our hearts has allowed us to become ignorant. Arrogance breeds many problems and logical fallacies. The problems we are facing are a manifestation of these fallacies…”

Witten closed the journal in his hand and looked at Professor Wilczek. He smiled and spoke.

“Okay, it’s almost time to board the plane.”

…

The ILHCRC wasn’t the only one hosting a conference in Shanghai.

While Witten and his friend boarded the flight to Shanghai, two senior officials from Intel, Mayberry and Swan, landed at Shanghai International Airport.

Jet lagged, Mayberry pa.s.sed through customs and yawned as he walked through the airport.

Swan was walking next to him. He frowned and asked, “The product launch is happening in one hour… Are you sure you’re fine?”

“I’m fine, I’m just a little… jet-lagged.” Mayberry shook his groggy head and ma.s.saged his temple as he said, “Actually, I think me alone is enough. Obviously, they’re trying to attract our attention. We can just ignore them and follow our plan.”

“That’s correct in theory.” Swan looked in front of him and said, “But the only way to defeat an opponent is to learn about the opponent. Since they are arrogant enough to give us this opportunity, we should take it.

“It doesn’t matter what product they plan on launching at the conference, we have to find out where they are with the carbon-based chip research.”