Chapter 70 Li Xiao's Contributions
In the second week after Chen Xueming took over the Lithium Extraction from Seawater project, the atmosphere in the laboratory quietly changed.
The most obvious change came from Li Xiao.
Previously, she always sat in the corner, quietly typing code, occasionally looking up to ask, "Should I record this data?" But now, she began to take the initiative to find Chen Xueming, asking about experimental plans, data requirements, and "Can I help design something?"
Chen Xueming was a bit unaccustomed to it at first, but he was soon infected by her enthusiasm.
"Dr. Chen," Li Xiao ran over again that afternoon, "The data records for your magnetic field separation experiment are still handwritten, right?"
Chen Xueming nodded. "Yes, manual recording, then I input it into the computer later. Why?"
Li Xiao's eyes sparkled. "Let me design an automatic collection system for you! The sensors will connect directly to the computer, displaying and storing data in real-time, and even automatically generating curves. You won't have to record while doing the experiment."
Chen Xueming was stunned for a moment. "You know how to do that?"
Li Xiao smiled. "It's a piece of cake! I've written similar programs before; I just need to modify it a bit."
Chen Xueming thought about it and nodded. "Then let's give it a try?"
"Alright!" Li Xiao skipped back to her workstation and started tapping away at the keyboard.
Three days later, Li Xiao's system went online.
That morning, Chen Xueming prepared for the magnetic field separation experiment as usual. He walked to the test bench and found an extra display screen connected to several wires he couldn't name.
"Dr. Chen!" Li Xiao ran over. "The system is installed! Look—"
She pressed the start button, and an interface immediately popped up on the display. On the left was the real-time data stream—magnetic field strength, flow rate, temperature, lithium ion concentration—and on the right was a curve being drawn, extending continuously as the experiment progressed.
"Let's start the experiment now!" Li Xiao said.
Chen Xueming started the device half-doubtingly. The simulated seawater solution began to flow, the magnetic field was energized, and the sampling pump started working.
The data on the display began to jump.
Magnetic field strength: 2.5T
Flow rate: 0.3m/s
Inlet lithium concentration: 0.17mg/L
Outlet lithium concentration: 0.06mg/L
Separation efficiency: 64.7%
Chen Xueming was stunned.
Usually, he would have to manually sample, send it for testing, and wait for results, taking an hour or two to get this data. Now, it was displayed on the screen in real-time.
"This..." He turned to look at Li Xiao. "How did you do it?"
Li Xiao smiled bashfully. "I added a few sensors to the pipes, connected them to a data acquisition card, and then used a program to process it in real-time. The concentration data is sampled and analyzed automatically; it's a bit slower, but still much faster than doing it manually."
Chen Xueming stared at the screen, speechless for a long time.
The separation efficiency of 64.7% was almost identical to the 65% he had measured manually the previous week. But the whole process had taken him less than a minute.
"Li..." He opened his mouth, not knowing what to say.
Li Xiao waved her hand. "Oh, Dr. Chen, don't get excited, this is just the beginning! I want to add an alarm function later; if the data is abnormal, it will automatically remind you. There's also historical data query, so you can pull up records from any previous experiment at any time..."
As Chen Xueming listened, he suddenly smiled.
"Li Xiao," he said, "you are much more impressive than I imagined."
Li Xiao blushed. "I just write some code; it's nothing impressive."
Just then, Zhang Zhe walked over, looked at the screen, and was also stunned. "Who made this?"
Li Xiao said softly, "I did..."
Zhang Zhe stared at the screen for a few seconds and then nodded:
"Not bad. Much faster than my manual notes."
Li Xiao's face turned even redder.
In the afternoon, Li Xiao brought out something new again.
"Dr. Chen, Teacher Zhang," she ran over holding her laptop, "I built a small database; see if it's useful."
On the screen was a simple interface with category navigation on the left and a search box on the right.
"This contains all the literature related to our project." Li Xiao clicked on a folder. "Categorized by theme: Adsorbent, Magnetic Field Separation, superconducting materials, seawater pretreatment... I've added keywords and abstracts to every paper, so you can search directly."
Chen Xueming leaned in and tried typing "manganese dissolution loss." Seven or eight papers immediately popped up on the screen, all regarding studies on the stability of manganese-based adsorbent.
He clicked on one, and the abstract, keywords, original link, and even Li Xiao's handwritten notes were clear at a glance.
"This..." Chen Xueming was shocked. "When did you organize all this?"
Li Xiao scratched her head. "I just did it as I went along. Every evening after the experiments were over, I'd organize the papers I read that day, and it slowly built up."
Chen Xueming tried a few more keywords, and each time he could quickly find relevant literature. There were even some papers he hadn't read, but he knew they were useful just by looking at the abstracts.
"Li Xiao," he looked up and said seriously, "do you know how important this database is?"
Li Xiao blinked. "It's just convenient for looking up information, right?"
Chen Xueming shook his head. "More than that. In scientific research, the most feared thing is information silos. If you don't know what others have done, you'll repeat their failures. If you don't know the latest progress, you'll fall behind the times. This database puts all of us on the same information platform."
He looked at Li Xiao with unprecedented admiration in his eyes:
"You aren't just writing code; you are helping us build bridges."
Li Xiao was stunned, and then her face turned red again.
In the evening, Lin Mo returned from outside and saw the three of them gathered around Li Xiao's computer as soon as he entered the laboratory.
"What are you looking at?" He walked over.
Chen Xueming looked up. "Teacher Lin, come quickly and look. Li Xiao made a database and organized all our literature into it."
Lin Mo leaned in to take a look and quickly understood what it was.
He straightened up and looked at Li Xiao:
"You made this yourself?"
Li Xiao nodded and said softly, "I just... did it as I went along."
Lin Mo smiled:
"As you went along? Do you know how much time this 'little extra effort' can save us?"
Li Xiao shook her head.
Lin Mo thought for a moment and said, "Conservatively speaking, each person saves at least five or six hours a week on literature searches. That's over twenty hours a month. Over a year, it's enough to do another round of experiments."
Li Xiao's eyes lit up. "Really?"
Lin Mo nodded. "Really."
He patted Li Xiao on the shoulder:
"Li Xiao, you aren't just an assistant who writes code anymore."
Li Xiao was taken aback. "Then what am I?"
Lin Mo looked at her seriously:
"You are a scientist. A scientist who knows how to use technology to solve research problems."
Li Xiao was dazed.
A scientist?
Her?
She was just a graduate from an ordinary university. She was good at writing code, but she had never imagined she could be associated with the word "scientist."
"Teacher Lin," she stammered slightly, "I... I'm not good enough, am I?"
Lin Mo smiled:
"Who says? These two things you did today—the data acquisition system and the literature database—which one isn't a core part of scientific research? Which one isn't helping the team solve problems?"
He looked into Li Xiao's eyes:
"Scientist isn't a title; it's about what you do. What you are doing is exactly what a scientist does."
Li Xiao's eyes grew a bit warm.
She lowered her head, blinked hard, then looked up at Lin Mo:
"Teacher Lin, I... I will keep working hard."
Lin Mo nodded. "I know."
The next day, Li Xiao's data acquisition system was officially put into use.
When Chen Xueming conducted experiments, he no longer had to frantically record data while keeping an eye on the equipment. All the data was displayed on the screen in real-time, automatically stored, and curves were generated. He only needed to focus on observing experimental phenomena and adjusting parameters at any time.
Zhang Zhe also began using the literature database. Previously, he had to search for half a day, but now, by entering a few keywords, he could find all relevant literature in seconds. He discovered he had missed a very important paper regarding the latest research on titanium-doped manganese oxides, which happened to be useful for the adsorbent optimization he was currently working on.
"Li Xiao," he rarely took the initiative to speak, "this database of yours saved me three days."
Li Xiao smiled bashfully. "I'm glad you can use it, Teacher Zhang."
In the afternoon, after Chen Xueming finished a set of experiments, he pulled up the historical data for comparison. The system automatically generated comparison curves for all experiments from the past week; it was clear at a glance which set of parameters was optimal.
"Teacher Lin was right," he muttered to himself. "This isn't an assistant; this is a scientist."
In the evening, Lin Mo came to the laboratory again.
He walked to Li Xiao's workstation, looked at the still-running literature database interface, and asked:
"Can this database be opened to the outside?"
Li Xiao was stunned. "Open to the outside? For whom?"
Lin Mo thought for a moment. "First for our internal team; Dr. Chen, Teacher Zhang, and the others can all access it directly. If it gets bigger later, maybe it can be used by all the researchers in the base."
Li Xiao's eyes lit up. "Sure! I can set permissions so different people see different parts."
Lin Mo nodded. "Then do it. If you need any support, let me know."
Li Xiao nodded vigorously. "Okay!"
Lin Mo turned to leave but stopped and added:
"By the way, can that data acquisition system have another function—real-time alarm?"
Li Xiao blinked. "What kind of situation should trigger an alarm?"
"For example, if the separation efficiency suddenly drops or the flow rate is abnormal. If the system can automatically identify anomalies and alert the experimental personnel immediately, it can avoid many mistakes."
Li Xiao thought for a moment and nodded. "I can! I'll add a threshold setting; if it exceeds the normal range, a pop-up alarm will appear, and it can even send a message to a phone!"
Lin Mo smiled. "Your way of thinking is becoming more and more like a scientist's."
Li Xiao's face turned red again.
A week later, Li Xiao's data acquisition system was upgraded to version 2.0.
The new version added a real-time alarm function and remote monitoring—Lin Mo could see the real-time experimental data from his own office. While Chen Xueming was doing experiments, he would occasionally receive a message from Lin Mo: "The flow rate has dropped, check the pump."
Chen Xueming would reply with a smile every time, "Teacher Lin, are you supervising me remotely?"
Lin Mo replied, "Supervising is Zhao Gang's job; I'm just spectating."
Li Xiao's literature database had also expanded significantly. She not only organized the team's own literature but also added relevant research from other laboratories in the base. One day, a researcher from the Institute of Materials came over and asked if it could be opened to her as well. Li Xiao asked Lin Mo for instructions, and Lin Mo said it could, but to pay attention to confidentiality.
Thus, the database added a permission leveling function.
Watching Li Xiao busy herself, Chen Xueming couldn't help but remark:
"Li Xiao, you alone are worth half a team."
Li Xiao smiled bashfully. "Not at all, I'm just doing odd jobs."
Chen Xueming shook his head:
"You aren't doing odd jobs. You are the eyes and ears of our team."
Li Xiao was stunned.
Eyes and ears.
She liked this metaphor.
In the evening, Li Xiao was the last to leave the laboratory.
She turned off her computer, stood at the door, and looked back.
The display screen connected to the data acquisition system was still lit, with real-time data jumping on it. The literature database interface was closed, but the organized literature still lay quietly on the server.
She remembered what Lin Mo had said: You are a scientist now.
She took a deep breath, closed the door, and stepped into the night.
In the distance, the lights of the experimental building were still on. Chen Xueming might still be working overtime, Zhang Zhe probably hadn't left either, and Lin Mo might be writing something in his office.
She looked at those lights, a smile appearing on her lips.
She wasn't a scientist.
But she was doing what a scientist does.
That was enough.