Chapter 815: Elected for Both

Generally speaking, in order for a species to adapt to changes in their environment, the species would often evolve through reproduction and natural selection.

Because of this, it seemed reasonable that the X-0172 bacteria released spores and pheromones that made the host dormant.

However…

The fact that these two characteristics were contained in the tiny X-0172 bacteria was quite strange.

If it weren’t for Professor Liu, Lu Zhou would have never noticed this.

This was indeed quite a coincidence.

It was almost like…

This bacteria was created to help a certain type of species to survive in harsh climates?

Of course, Professor Liu and Lu Zhou were both just speculating. There was no direct evidence that the genome of this bacteria was artificially modified.

If their hypothesis was correct, then it would mean that millions of years ago, there was a technologically advanced civilization on the fiery red planet.

This would undoubtedly be a huge discovery.

Of course, Professor Liu’s hypothesis was merely a guess. There was no way to verify his hypothesis. Lu Zhou wrote the hypothesis down and left it aside.

Verifying one’s hypothesis was one of the most important processes in scientific research. He wouldn’t discredit Professor Liu’s idea, nor would he rush to believe Professor Liu’s idea before collecting sufficient evidence.

So far, his “crawler” all-terrain survey vehicle deployed on Mars was investigating the geological environment around New Virginia. If there was a s.p.a.ce-age civilization on Mars, there should be some clues…

He set the Mars bacteria matter aside.

The days quickly pa.s.sed by. The red autumn leaves began to fall off the trees. It was October.

After nearly a year of selection, the 2021 academician election finally came to an end in October.

After the second round of evaluations was finished, the final selections would be decided by the academician election committee.

The list of the elected academicians was announced on the official Chinese Academy of Sciences and Academy of Engineering website.

Just like people had expected, the n.o.bel Prize winner, Fields Medal winner, national scientific research project leader, Lu Zhou, was elected into both academies.

Not only was his elections displayed on the official academy websites, but it was also posted at the Jin Ling University entrances, as well as the front page of the campus news forum. This was great news for the school!

[Congratulations to Professor Lu Zhou for being elected as a member of the 2021 Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Academy of Engineering academician!]

Ever since the 2000s, Jin Ling University hadn’t had any new academician professors.

But now, Professor Lu from the mathematics department suddenly won two academician t.i.tles. This meant it was double the happiness. Many mathematics professors even lectured with smiles on their faces.

After all, Lu Zhou had always been popular at the university. Many professors watched him grow as a student, especially Professor Liu Xiangping who helped Lu Zhou in the mathematical modeling compet.i.tion. Back then, during the mathematical modeling compet.i.tion, he could see that Lu Zhou was an extraordinary person.

Now that Jin Ling University had another academician under its belt, its ranking in the Chinese academic community was much higher than before.

For those who wanted to further their academic career at Jin Ling University, Lu Zhou’s election was obviously good news.

The professors and scholars weren’t the only ones happy for them, even the students were happy as well.

Even though they had heard countless legends of the great Professor Lu before, being selected into two academies… People couldn’t help but feel impressed.

There had never been someone who had been elected into two academies at once…

There probably would never be another one.

A female student stood in front of the news bulletin board. She was carrying a stack of books, and she couldn’t help but exclaim, “Amazing, Professor Lu is on both academician lists.”

“Yeah…” Another female student with bangs nodded and asked curiously, “Oh yeah, what is above academician?”

“Above academician? I don’t think that exists… If I recall correctly, academician is the highest academic t.i.tle in the country. The elections happen every two years, and every academician has to be approved by more than two-thirds of the current academicians. It is one of the hardest t.i.tles to gain!”

Normally speaking, it was extremely impressive to gain the t.i.tle of an academician in your sixties or fifties.

Being able to gain this life-long t.i.tle in your twenties was never heard of before.

“Life-long t.i.tle…” The girl with bangs looked at the bulletin board and said, “He won two t.i.tles at once. Which meant two-thirds of the Academy of Engineering and Academy of Science academicians voted for him… That is crazy.”

“Of course, it’s insane!” The girl with gla.s.ses remembered something. She looked at another girl and quickly said, “Oh yeah, Meng Qi, Professor Lu was your teacher, right? Tell me, what kind of person is he?”

“Oh…” Han Mengqi stared at the bulletin board and said, “What kind of person? He’s always busy, he rarely comes to his office… I’m not sure.”

Obviously, her roommate wasn’t satisfied with this answer. The girl in gla.s.ses said, “… But he has taught you before?”

“He did…” Han Mengqi was a little embarra.s.sed, and she said, “He’s an easy-going person?”

Her roommate looked a little disappointed, and she muttered to herself, “Easy going? I thought he would be the cool and calm type… I saw him eating barbecued meat at the cafeteria, but I was too scared to ask for his WeChat.”

Han Mengqi sighed. She twirled her hair and didn’t know what to say.

2021 was nearly over.

She already completed her graduation thesis.

She should be graduating by next summer.

What should I do after I graduate?

Should I continue with academia, or work at my mom’s company?

I don’t want to think about this…