章 253: Chapter 244: Searching for Four-Dimensional Space Fragments
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Lin Sen speculated that the Four-Dimensional Space Fragment might be somewhere between 1.3 and 1.6 light-years from the Solar System.
Although the fragment is referred to as "Four-Dimensional," it was not described as small; the original text mentioned it being a small soap bubble with a diameter of several tens of astronomical units.
Based on the description in the original text, one could infer the rate at which the four-dimensional space was shrinking. A space spanning several tens of astronomical units had collapsed into three dimensions in just a few months. From this, one could deduce that when it was discovered 50 years earlier, its present size might be around one thousand astronomical units.
Then, looking back further, if it was the medieval period 750 years ago, its size could have been tens of thousands of astronomical units. Since one light-year is about 63,000 astronomical units, its edges could have just touched Earth at that time.
Although the original text did not state that the Four-Dimensional Space Fragment encountered by the Blue Space was the same as the one encountered by medieval Earth,
Lin Sen concluded that they must be one and the same. In AD 1453, the edge of the four-dimensional space met Earth, giving rise to a legendary era of magic. Shortly thereafter, as the four-dimensional space moved away and shrank in size, it gradually left the Solar System.
But even if the four-dimensional space is now one thousand astronomical units across, with an error over 0.3 light-years (about 20,000 astronomical units) from the Solar System and considering the space might span across two to three time zones, the probability of finding it was one in a hundred thousand.
Despite Lin Sen having a thousand warships divided into fifty columns, with each column stretching several astronomical units in length, searching for it in such a dragnet fashion was very difficult.
Lin Sen ordered them to probe the space along their route deliberately, which only slightly increased the possibility of finding it.
Time quietly passed in the midst of this search.
...
The Crisis Era, year 218.
Lin Sen had ordered the warships to decelerate a year ago, and by now, they could not be very far from the four-dimensional space.
The current speed of the warships was only one thousandth of the speed of light. If they had been traveling at 10% of the speed of light, they might have passed by the four-dimensional space within a month.
But whether it was gravitational waves or other methods of detection, there was nothing unusual in this region of space, and Lin Sen's worries about not finding the four-dimensional space grew.
Blue Space and Universal Gravity had always been at the forefront of the columns, and even their routes were decided among themselves.
However, after such a lengthy time, 1.5 light-years from the Solar System, none of the warship columns had detected anything unusual, which weighed heavily on Lin Sen's spirits.
Perhaps the four-dimensional space was very close, or perhaps he had already missed it during a previous period.
Perhaps luck does not always favor humanity, and humans are not the protagonists of the universe.
Or maybe he was too fixated on the Four-Dimensional Space Fragments. Although their existence could bring infinite possibilities, humanity still has the capability to create a more glorious civilization even without them.
After all, no matter when, true strength and continuous progress are the real keys.
But sometimes fate changes so unexpectedly that just when Lin Sen had mentally prepared for mission failure, a discovery by human scientists rekindled his hope.
Human scientists had never ceased their analysis of interstellar dust, and through some of these medium tests, they found something very strange.
The first was that the density of elements like hydrogen and nitrogen in the interstellar medium far exceeded our previous predictions, their abundance was beyond imagination.
There are many branches of astronomy that sometimes differ from each other even more than physics and chemistry do, such as cosmic chemistry. Cosmic chemistry is the study of the chemical composition and the evolutionary laws of cosmic matter.
The task of cosmic chemistry also includes spectral analysis of the interstellar medium in radio, infrared, and visible light bands.
This interstellar medium is inevitably irradiated by existing particles in the universe, such as cosmic rays. They undergo mutual evolution, akin to a chemical reaction, and cosmic chemistry studies the patterns of this evolution.
Secondly, what puzzled these scientists was that tests on the interstellar matter revealed it seemed to have just been born; as if they had not undergone any "chemical reactions" with the interstellar medium of the universe.
This was extremely inconsistent with the cosmic chemistry theory that humanity had studied for nearly 300 years, totally challenging everyone's understanding.
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Lin Sen perhaps knew the reason, materials from the three-dimensional universe, such as cosmic rays, do not "react" with four-dimensional materials from the four-dimensional space; they are not on the same dimension.
Even if three-dimensional materials pass through a warp point into four-dimensional space, their nature remains three-dimensional, and they cannot "react" with four-dimensional materials.
When four-dimensional space is reduced to a lower dimension, the materials from four-dimensional space will become three-dimensional materials, much like newly formed materials.
This discovery dramatically increased the possibility of finding four-dimensional space by countless times. The simplest way is to study the "newness" of the interstellar medium along the way, and by continually heading towards the direction of the "new" materials, one would surely find four-dimensional space.
Lin Sen woke up everyone on the ship and convened a full-ship meeting to discuss whether to continue exploring in this direction.
This was humanity's first discovery of a new phenomenon, and studying this "new" material could reveal new mysteries of the universe to us. Delving into this material would undoubtedly elevate our understanding of the universe to a new height.
This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and if we gave it up lightly, we might regret it in the future. Almost all scientific researchers supported this view.
We also needed to consider the risks. According to current research data, it is possible that the existence of materials in some area 800 astronomical units away was zero.
Of course, this does not mean that these materials did not exist before. In the four-dimensional space, they also existed. However, in the three-dimensional universe, many properties are brand new, having not experienced "reactions" with materials from the three-dimensional universe. However, except for Lin Sen, no one else knew this.
Scientists analyzed that something must be happening there, and it couldn't be ruled out that it might pose a threat to the human warship.
But on the path of scientific endeavor, such risks were hardly worth mentioning, as science has always been accompanied by risks.
Whether that place was a trap set by some "Hunter" was indeed possible.
Sociologists analyzed that if this universe were in a Dark Forest state.
Setting traps near some star systems, if these star systems could evolve civilizations, when a civilization ventures out of its star system, it would be very likely to explore this kind of phenomenon, and the temptation of such a trap would be too great.
In exploring, it could trigger some mechanism we are unaware of, thereby alerting the "Hunter".
But this possibility was also relatively small; the main state of the Dark Forest was to hide, and Hunters also need to hide from each other.
Setting such traps could also lead to exposing oneself to other more advanced Hunters, so they generally would not do this.
However, there was a law in this universe: if something was possible, it would definitely happen, so no one dared to outright claim that this exploration was without danger.
The only one without such worries was Lin Sen.
Under Lin Sen's encouragement, instead of worrying and fearing, it was better to face it bravely, and they ultimately decided to proceed towards that region of space.
After determining the target, they immediately notified other warships to head to that mysterious region together.
PS: The author initially intended to describe the difficulty of finding four-dimensional space, but as I wrote, it turned into a scientific explanation, I hope the dear readers will forgive me.
Some readers think that the Four-Dimensional Fragment encountered by the Blue Space is different from the one encountered in the Middle Ages. Direct evidence is mentioned in the original text with several questions:
Why are there soap bubbles?
Why are there so many Four-Dimensional Space Fragments in the three-dimensional universe?
Earth has been orbiting in space for billions of years. Is it not possible that it has entered a Four-Dimensional Fragment?
These questions seem to suggest that there are many Four-Dimensional Fragments, but to clarify the subject of the question, he is saying relative to the entire universe, there are many Four-Dimensional Fragments.
It's not within the short span of a light-year near the Solar System that multiple Four-Dimensional Fragments would appear.
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