209: Chapter 209: The Academic World Has Changed

After the morning rush hour, around eight or nine o'clock.

The paper co-authored by Ouyang Baili, Li Mo, and Guan Jingming along with J, titled "Hypothesis on Intelligent Life Being Forced to Participate in a Dark Competition in the Universe Based on Formula J and the J-Sphere Concept"...

It quickly took the top spot in the "Frontiers of Thought" section of the domestic theoretical physics and astronomy academic circles, and the gap between it and the second-place paper, "Humans Are the Only Civilization in the Universe," was widening frantically.

The comment section refreshed at an incredible speed, but most were filled with skepticism and anger.

After all, this was a serious scientific exchange platform—to directly throw out the claim that there are 80 civilizations in the Milky Way more advanced than Earth's, some even controlling J-Spheres...

And the proposition that there are 3200 billion intelligent civilizations in the universe, all forced into a Dark Competition, challenged the cognitive limits of the existing scientific community.

"Darn it, here we go again, the Nth installment of the J-series papers. This time it's even more ridiculous, a direct census of alien civilizations—80 in our galaxy, 3200 billion in the universe?"

"Formula J? I didn't expect a guy who seems like an amateur in astronomy to come up with such a professional formula. Could he have stolen it from somewhere?"

"Dark Competition? That sounds like the title of a third-rate sci-fi novel. Have Professor Ouyang and the others been completely hoodwinked by that J?"

"It's just grandstanding. Throwing away basic logic just to grab attention. Being forced to participate in the ultimate race in the universe—this isn't physics anymore; it's the obsession of a cosmic sociologist!"

"Thought experiments can be bold and down-to-earth, but they shouldn't be out of this world—if there are 80 civilizations in the Milky Way more advanced than humanity, why haven't I received a single signal? Have they all gone invisible because of the Dark Competition?"

"To the person above, why are you such a pure contrarian? Signals from low-level civilizations can't travel very far. For example, how long does it take for the USA to communicate back and forth with Voyager outside the Solar System? In a few more years, human signals outside the Solar System will dissipate completely. So J's point is—low-level signals don't travel far, and high-level signals won't be received by you. Who says advanced civilizations must use electromagnetic waves? At the frontiers of quantum science, they use signals related to things like Quantum Entanglement, understand? It crosses the entire universe in an instant. Oh, by the way, if the Time Stream concept is widely applied, our technological civilization will be able to use zero-latency quantum signals too!!!"

"I don't need to understand. I just need to know that J is grandstanding!"

Occasionally, foreign graduate students and some obscure scholars who browsed the article left brief comments.

"Incredible. From the previous 36-degree solar core to the current Dark Competition, this J is as crazy as ever."

"The premise is interesting, but jumping to 3200 billion civilizations is, in every sense, too astronomical."

"Is this the 'madman' academic paper that Professor Stephen from the University of Cambridge praised? It's simply shocking!"

"So crazy, I can't look away!"

"..."

Noon, in the professors' canteen of the Physics Department at Magic City University.

Professors and mentors gathered together with their meal trays.

Their conversation inevitably turned to the paper that had caused such a stir.

"Did you hear? Professor Ouyang and J published another one. This time it's even wilder, saying there are 80 alien civilization big shots in the Milky Way, each at least higher than Earth's level; and 3200 billion in the entire universe!"

"Are they crazy? 80. Why can't we observe even one?"

"It was only published in the thought section, not a serious journal. However, the new concepts of Formula J, J-Spheres, and the Dark Competition are indeed very impactful."

"Impactful? I'd say destructive. Defining the ultimate goal of civilization as jumping out of the universe to become the universe's first observer, and calling it a forced competition—what kind of lessons is this J giving his younger sister anyway?"

The professors in the canteen were buzzing with discussion.

But this time, some of the younger professors reacted differently.

The J-Sphere concept points out that advanced civilizations might not make themselves brighter, but rather darker, or even disguise themselves as natural phenomena. If that's the case, our direction in searching for aliens over the past few decades might really have been wrong, only looking for rooms with the lights on.

The appearance of Formula J is so that astronomers are no longer lost.

The other professors looked over and couldn't help but shake their heads.

One professor said, "Fantasies detached from data, no matter how inconceivable, are just making a scene!"

Another professor sighed, "You're just being stubborn. That's why they published it in the thought section—to explore possibilities, not to claim they're right. However, if even such a crazy idea can be built up with data and models to make sense, and even calculate specific numbers, then it's truly a bit frightening."

"Are you saying that our understanding of the universe might still have very, very large blind spots, and we haven't even figured out the survival laws of the entire universe?"

"It's quite likely. Anyway, I see two key points—1: Signals from low-level civilizations can't be sent that far and won't be received by us; 2: Advanced civilizations all hide themselves and generally don't send signals, so Earth can't receive them. Even if they do send signals, they might not use electromagnetic waves as a medium. So combining 1 and 2, it equals: [We, Earth's civilization, cannot detect alien signals!]"

*Hiss~~~*

After fermenting for a morning, this paper also spread like wildfire through theoretical physics and astronomy department groups and graduate student groups in universities across the country.

"Holy crap, God J's team released a big move, calculating the number of civilizations in the entire universe and the Dark Competition. This scale is huge!"

"80 alien civilizations in the Milky Way, 3200 billion in the universe... these numbers stunned me. It's even more terrifying than the 3.51% from the Black Hole Universe last time!"

"Are they playing with something very new—using the most serious academic tools to argue for the craziest sci-fi ideas? I have ideas too; can they help me verify them?"

"To the person above, sure, as long as you can create something with Formula J and the Time Stream as the core. Besides, the Time Stream concept was recently confirmed by people from multiple research institutes across the country to be able to explain gravitational potential energy. This shows their theory isn't groundless but has real evidence. Universal gravitation might truly not exist. So, J is a true Great God, and what are you?"

"Wuu wuu wuu~ I'm just a little noob!"

"But don't you think it's terrifying if you think about it? If all civilizations are hiding themselves and desperately trying to be the first to escape the universe—if there's even a slight possibility to this hypothesis—then is the silent universe we observe now the result of this silent war? Is our Earth not even qualified to participate, or are we just streaking in the starter village?"

"Starter village? Maybe not. We might be living under the protection of some super civilization, leaving us completely ignorant of the outside world. After all, we're in the backwaters of the Milky Way!"

"..."

In the afternoon, in university offices across the country, some professors listened to their graduate students excitedly discussing the "Milky Way Top 80" and the Dark Competition. Frowning, they asked for the source and then found the paper to read.

After reading it, the professors remained silent for a long time.

Although J is a pseudonym, many people had already linked J with the proponent of the 36-degree sun and the Black Hole Universe, as well as Xiaoyu's brother from that livestream room.

One after another, the professors coincidentally opened their browsers and found the relevant recorded clips.

In the video, it wasn't lines from the livestream, but words spoken during a private chat between Jiang Zhe and Xiao Yu.

"Xiao Yu, don't always think that alien civilizations will make a big fanfare."

"A truly advanced civilization's first priority might be to hide; they'd find ways to pull back the light of their home star, like putting on a cloak of invisibility."

"Why? Because the ultimate resource of the universe might not be matter or space, but time."

"It's the Time Stream that allows you and me to exist and stars to burn, but will also eventually lead everything to the Big Heat Death."

"Every civilization that realizes this will begin a race they cannot help but participate in."

"Before time runs out, Xiao Yu, you must become strong enough—strong enough to jump out of this cosmic pond. Only by looking back from the outside can you define the starting point of this pond."

"This is the true meaning of the first observer—it's not the beginning; it's the end, the only thing all survivors fight for!"

As the video ended, these professors took a deep breath, unable to help but shake their heads, then nod.

"Crazy, truly crazy. But why do I feel like his entire logic is somewhat self-consistent?"

"J, what kind of monster are you? You're tutoring your high school sister, and you end up tutoring her in cosmic sociology and the ultimate morphology of civilizations?"

"Three days ago it was the Black Hole Universe, the day before yesterday it was that gravity doesn't exist, and today it's the Dark Competition and a massive census of civilizations. You've dragged the reputation of the scientific community through the mud."

"If he were just a grandstanding clown, it would be fine. But the thing is, that Time Stream concept really can explain some things we can't, and that's what's keeping people up at night!"

"..."

The paper continued to ferment, and professors in related fields across the country felt a kind of cognitive exhaustion.

Because if J were just a madman, it might be fine; no one would take him seriously.

But with the introduction of the Time Stream concept, many scholars have come to agree—it can explain gravitational potential energy and is a new theory that occasionally challenges gravity. This forced them to take it seriously!

...

Afternoon, Beijing, National Astronomical Observatory.

Professor Zhang Qinian pushed open the door to the small meeting room on the third floor.

It was already filled with smoke; several heavy smokers from the institute were already there.

Sitting at the head of the table was Deputy Director Wang Zhenhua, also known as Old Wang who made the call last night. He was currently frowning at the tablet in his hand.

"Old Zhang, this report of yours!" Old Wang looked up and placed the tablet on the table. "And that Dark Competition paper online—several heads of the institute have read them."

"Let's talk frankly behind closed doors today—just how much weight do this J-Sphere and Formula J actually carry?"