323: Chapter 323: Optical Lenses from a Thousand Years Ago

"Xiao Yu, look at this. 150,000 years ago, the Baigong Mountain iron pipes."

He operated the tablet and brought up a photo of Qinghai.

Xiao Yu leaned over to take a look; the interface displayed a desolate mountain.

Grey-yellow rocks were exposed on the surface, and several rusty iron pipes protruded from the mountain.

Some pipes were inserted vertically into the rock strata, while others passed through the stone walls at an angle, and some even extended from the summit all the way to the foot of the mountain.

"This is Baigong Mountain in the Qaidam Basin of Qinghai."

"Inside this mountain, there are many, many rusty iron pipes embedded. They extend from the summit to the foot of the mountain, and some even pass through the rock strata."

He spread his fingers to zoom in on the picture, showing the junction between the iron pipes and the rock.

The iron pipes and the rock fit tightly together with absolutely no gaps, as if they had grown together naturally.

There were traces of corrosion on the pipe walls, but they were intact as a whole.

As Jiang Zhe flipped through more photos of the iron pipes, he explained in detail,

"Later, geologists in our country determined that these iron pipes were formed 150,000 years ago."

"But they are embedded in the mountain, and there are absolutely no traces of artificial excavation around them."

"What is even more surprising is that archaeologists tested the composition of the iron pipes and found they contained a large amount of silicon oxide; silicon oxide only forms under long-term high temperature and high pressure."

"Later, some people in small circles claimed these iron pipes were tree fossils, that the roots turned into iron under special conditions; but tree fossils do not form hollow pipes, nor do they pass through rock strata."

"This is the same as the metal pipes I mentioned before; they are all hollow."

"Whether they are foreign or domestic out-of-place artifacts, they are all hollow."

"There are two possibilities!"

He held up two fingers with a serious expression,

"1: Hundreds of thousands of years ago, the Earth was full of technological civilizations!"

"2: This is a rare natural phenomenon that humanity has not yet fully determined."

After seeing and hearing all this, Xiao Yu had a subtle expression; she had a feeling in her heart.

Natural phenomena could explain it, and prehistoric technological civilizations could also explain it.

At this moment, in the live stream, the viewers also began to speculate.

"The Baigong Mountain iron pipes in Qinghai; I've heard of this. It caused quite a stir a long time ago. Some archaeologists said they were man-made, but not by modern humans."

"Embedded in the mountain 150,000 years ago, just like the nanotechnology from earlier; this is definitely man-made too, just not by us modern humans!"

"If they are tree fossils, why are they hollow, and why do they pass through rock strata?"

"..."

At this moment, in the principal's office.

Teacher Xiao Wang's eyes lit up, and he said confidently:

"The Baigong Mountain iron pipes; I know about this. When I was in college, some professors at our University of History argued about it for a long time. Some said they were tree fossils, some said they were formed by mineral veins, but no one could explain why they passed through the rock strata so neatly, or why the hollow structure was so regular."

Principal Fu looked at Xiao Wang, "Then what exactly are they?"

Xiao Wang shook his head slightly, "I don't know, but one thing is certain: it shouldn't have appeared 150,000 years ago; it is a representative of our country's out-of-place artifacts."

Old Wang chimed in: "That's right."

Soon, on the big screen, on the sofa.

Xiao Yu couldn't help but ask again: "Big Brother, besides this, are there any others?"

Jiang Zhe thought for a moment. Just showcasing out-of-place artifacts was a bit narrow, so he found one related to culture from the interface list.

"There are."

"Cave paintings in Europe."

He brought up photos of the cave paintings in Lascaux, France.

A robust wild ox appeared on the interface, with smooth lines, rich colors, precise perspective, and perfect proportions.

Xiao Yu leaned in to look, her beautiful eyes lighting up, "Wow, what an exquisite painting. The mane of the wild ox is distinct, and the muscle lines are full of power. Its eyes are so vivid, as if it's about to charge out from the rock wall and knock me over in the next second."

The next moment, Jiang Zhe's light voice came, "But this was painted by primitive people 16,000 years ago!"

As soon as these words were spoken, Xiao Yu's eyes, which had just lit up, turned into looks of disbelief, "Primitive people? Big Brother, you're joking, right?"

Jiang Zhe grinned, "Yes, this is a mural painted by primitive people 16,000 years ago."

"The people who painted these murals used mineral pigments: hematite, manganese ore, and clay."

"They needed to grind the ore into powder, mix it with grease or water, and blend out four colors: red, yellow, black, and white."

"They also needed to build scaffolding because some of the murals were on the cave ceiling, several meters above the ground."

"They even needed to design a light source because there was no natural light in the cave, so they had to use lamps made from animal fat or pine torches."

"Xiao Yu, humans 16,000 years ago still lived in caves, wore animal skins, smashed fruit with stones, and used stones as plates and kitchenware; yet they painted murals that modern painters cannot even paint."

Xiao Yu looked at the lifelike wild ox, unable to speak for a long time.

Her face full of disbelief—a painter from 16,000 years ago?

After seeing the murals, the viewers were also quiet for a moment, and then the barrage of comments flooded in.

"16,000-year-old murals? Damn, this painting skill is ten thousand times better than mine!"

"This perspective, this color, these lines—modern painters couldn't paint this, could they?"

"I'm from the Art Academy. Sorry, I'm in the studio right now, and the professor next to me said, 'Incredible, breathtaking. It doesn't even look like a 16,000-year-old mural, and there are no paintings from over ten thousand years ago that can compare to it!'"

"Hiss~~ Since the professor said so, then damn it, who did it?"

"How did primitive people do it?"

"..."

Kyoto, University of History residential compound.

Professor Chen Runzhi frowned slightly, ruminating, "I've been to see the Lascaux cave paintings; the lines of those wild oxen, horses, and deer are unbelievably smooth. Humans 16,000 years ago shouldn't have reached this level."

Qian Mingyi chimed in: "That's right, and they used mineral pigments, which require grinding, blending, and mixing. These technologies shouldn't have existed 16,000 years ago."

Old Wang said inopportunely: "Perhaps they weren't people from 16,000 years ago; or perhaps the technology wasn't from 16,000 years ago?"

When he finished speaking, the air in the room grew a bit cold.

Old Liu wrapped his cotton jacket tighter around himself.

Just then, Jiang Zhe's voice came again.

"Xiao Yu, there are actually many artifacts like that from over ten thousand years ago, but I won't talk about all of them."

"Now let's talk about the one closest to us."

He nodded slightly and looked at Xiao Yu, his expression carrying a hint of testing.

"Xiao Yu, let me ask you a question. What technologies do you think are needed for an optical telescope or a microscope?"

Xiao Yu looked puzzled; she didn't expect him to ask a question suddenly.

She pondered for a moment, then gave an answer: "You need glass, and you need tools that can grind the glass into a specific shape. I think you also need precision measuring tools?"

The more she thought about it, the less certain she became, and finally she had to give up, "Big Brother, in my spare time, I really haven't looked into knowledge about lenses or anything like that."

At this moment, the viewers began to offer their suggestions.

"I know this! You need optical glass, not ordinary glass."

"And you also need grinding technology to grind the glass into the shape of a lens; the curvature needs to be precise to the micron level!"

"That's right, you also need polishing, otherwise the light transmittance won't be enough, and the image will be blurry!"

"The key is the lathe, right? Without a precision lathe, you can't make an optical lens at all!"

"Material! Ordinary glass has dispersion; you need high-purity optical-grade material!"

"When you put it that way, the technology required to make a laboratory lens or camera lens is just too much, isn't it?"

"Why is he asking this?"

"..."

Xiao Yu subconsciously took out her phone and took a casual glance. After seeing the barrage, she was even more confused.

Jiang Zhe smiled slightly. He didn't answer directly, but instead slid the tablet and brought up a picture.

The screen displayed a round, transparent crystal, with a smooth surface, thick in the middle and thin at the edges, refracting clear light.

"Xiao Yu, guess how many years ago this lens is from?"

Xiao Yu looked at the crystal on the interface and hesitated for 2.5 seconds, "A few hundred years ago? Or the Renaissance period? I remember glasses appeared quite early, right?"

Jiang Zhe suddenly grinned, "One thousand years ago."

"What?" Xiao Yu's pupils contracted, "One thousand years ago? That's impossible, right?"

Inside the live stream, nearly 30 million viewers were stunned, and the barrage disappeared instantly.

Optical lenses from a thousand years ago????

The next moment, Jiang Zhe immediately brought up pictures unearthed from a Swedish Viking site.

He pointed to the round, transparent crystal on the screen, with its smooth surface, thick in the middle and thin at the edges.

"This is a lens made by Viking pirates in Sweden 1,000 years ago."

"This is not ordinary glass, but an optical-grade crystal lens; if you place it on paper, the sunlight will converge into a point and ignite the paper—it is a focusing lens."

"And the processing precision of this kind of lens requires the use of modern lathes and abrasives."

"You have to know, the Vikings from a thousand years ago had no lathes, let alone precision grinding tools!"

Speaking up to this point, Jiang Zhe suddenly revealed a mischievous smile, "The magical thing is, their lens can be used on 20th-century camera lenses!"

After speaking, Jiang Zhe winked gently.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yu's beautiful eyes widened on the spot, and her iron-like body suddenly shook, as if she had been startled into a shudder.

If the previous ones were prehistoric technological civilizations, then this was even more inconceivable!

All the viewers stared in astonishment at the lens on the big screen and its completely mismatched age!!