Phew!!
An unprecedented heatwave hit him!
Lin Xian felt the temperature on his face rapidly rising, tiny beads of sweat instantly forming on his forehead!
"So hot!"
Lin Xian reluctantly opened his eyes...
Loud cicada chirps pierced his eardrums, with the scorching sun shining vertically down, making shadows timidly retreat beneath his feet.
He looked up at the sky.
A blazing sun occupied half the sky, glaring so intensely that it was impossible to stare directly at it, leaving transient black spots on his retina.
Lin Xian lowered his head, rubbing his eyes.
"It's been a long time since I had a daytime dream. I'm still not used to this temperature."
He estimated that the current temperature might have exceeded 40 degrees, a complete contrast to the icy winter of the real world... truly a world of difference.
He hurriedly ran to the shade of the trees, feeling a bit cooler there.
Squinting his eyes, he looked at the electronic billboard nearby. The time displayed was:
[August 28, 2624]
[13:33]
"One thirty, still early."
Lin Xian wiped the sweat off his forehead with his sleeve, unable to resist the urge to go to the library and enjoy the air conditioning.
Perhaps due to the intense midday heat, the usually bustling square was now devoid of people.
He walked along the shade of the trees to the bus stop and boarded the bus to the library.
In these 23 years of dreaming, Lin Xian rarely visited the library.
He only had 3 or 4 hours to play in the dream world every day, so how could he waste precious time in the library?
The few times he did come here were to try to understand why there was no technological development in the dream world.
He first noticed this absurd phenomenon when he was in junior high. During that time, he tried many methods and made a lot of efforts to find out the truth in his dreams.
However, all the information he gathered pointed to social issues as the root cause.
People complained about various injustices, believing that the lack of technological development over the past 600 years was due to various flaws in the system.
Lin Xian didn't quite believe in this explanation. He didn't think that the development of technology had to depend on these things. But at that time, considering that the dream was false, there was no need to dwell on these details.
"But now, things are definitely not that simple."
Lin Xian shook his head.
Once Professor Xu Yun and the verification of the dream were over... he would come back and thoroughly investigate the truth behind this issue.
Arriving at the library's ground floor, there was an electronic reading room for readers to search for materials and book locations.
Lin Xian opened the browser and typed in "Has cryogenic chamber development succeeded now?"
Ding.
Pressed Enter.
Zzz...
The computer made a tired sound as the monitor slowly refreshed.
The computer was a bit slow, a common problem with public computers.
Lin Xian glanced at the bottom right corner, where there were no less than 7 antivirus software programs, each of them popping up incessantly, causing a headache.
After about ten seconds, the search was completed, and many results appeared.
The first result was highlighted in bold black letters:
"As of now, cryogenic chambers have still not been successfully developed."
Hmm.
As expected, there was still no success in the dream world.
This result was not surprising at all.
With the technological development level in the dream being similar to that of 2022, it would be a miracle if cryogenic chambers were invented.
Lin Xian clicked on the first result—
It was a long article, and although it looked like it was pieced together by a marketing account, there were still some useful information:
"Due to the slow development, and even regression, of human technology after the 21st century... countries around the world started researching cryogenic technology late. The real beginning of cryogenic technology entering the public eye, from a scientific fantasy to a real issue, was in 2477 AD, when Dr. Mikeson, an American scientist, successfully developed a high-oxygen liquid that could maintain human body activity for a long time and prevent the formation of ice crystals in cells. Later, it was confirmed that this liquid could be used as the filling liquid for cryogenic chambers.
Since then, humanity saw hope for conquering cryogenic chambers for the first time, and countries around the world poured a large amount of manpower and material resources into establishing specialized research institutes to study cryogenic chamber-related technologies.
However, contrary to expectations, in the next one hundred years, there were no breakthroughs in cryogenic technology, and humanity was still far from the time-traveling cryogenic dreams they had imagined.
Therefore, Dr. Mikeson's research ignited the fire of cryogenic technology but also became the swan song of cryogenic technology. To commemorate this great pioneer, future scholars honored Dr. Mikeson as—
The Father of Cryogenics."
"There really is a Father of Cryogenics."
Lin Xian felt like his crow's mouth might have struck something.
But as expected, it was just as he thought.
In the year 2624 AD, although cryogenic chambers were still a distant dream, the filling liquid for cryogenic chambers had indeed been developed.
"Dr. Mikeson, thank you on behalf of Professor Xu Yun."
Lin Xian bowed to the computer screen, as if receiving authorization from Dr. Mikeson.
"Now, all that's left is to find relevant papers, academic reports, and such from Dr. Mikeson."
Lin Xian closed the webpage and opened the library's book management system.
He searched for the word "cryogenics."
Numerous search results popped up, with detailed information about the location of the books.
These books were diverse.
There were science fiction novels, comics, academic journals, news reports.
Lin Xian checked them one by one, quickly finding his target—
"An Overview and Prospects of Cryogenic Technology" by Bill Mikeson.
"It's you."
Lin Xian looked at the notes at the back:
Book location: 3rd floor, Science and Works Section C, Shelf 67, 7th floor.
Lin Xian went to the third floor.
Soon, he found Mr. Mikeson's work on the corresponding bookshelf.
"An Overview and Prospects of Cryogenic Technology"
Lin Xian looked at the title on the cover:
"An overview... You better really keep it simple, at least let me understand the main points..."
This book seemed to be a bit old, but it was still in good condition, probably never touched by anyone before.
Lin Xian found a seat by the window and started reading.
His memory was limited, and he couldn't bring out much from the dream, so he had to focus on the essentials and bring back some key materials for Professor Xu Yun.
Flipping through the first few pages, he could feel the earnestness of Mr. Mikeson.
It was evident that Mr. Mikeson wanted everyone to understand the principles and application process of cryogenic technology. He used many simple and understandable words to explain specialized terms and chemical phenomena, making it easier for Lin Xian to understand.
The book said...
The principle of human hibernation is to reduce the efficiency of all physiological and cellular activities to the lowest possible level, approaching a state of cessation but absolutely not stopping.
The best solution is cryopreservation.
To achieve good cryopreservation results, the human body must be frozen to below minus 120 degrees Celsius.
However, the contradiction arises here.
Human cells contain a large amount of water, and water will freeze below 0 degrees Celsius, forming ice crystals during the freezing process. These ice crystals, referred to as "ice crystals" (Note 1), have a destructive effect on cell structures, directly piercing cell membranes and killing cells, rendering them inactive.
Note 1: Ice crystals refer to the snowflake-shaped spiky structures formed by water during freezing, which can easily penetrate cells.
Although flash freezing technology can prevent ice crystals from forming by directly condensing into ice, thereby protecting cell structures from damage.
The second problem arises during thawing.
When thawing, it is inevitable that the temperature will gradually rise, approaching zero degrees Celsius. During this process, ice crystals will inevitably form, and cell structures will still be unavoidably damaged.
A body with all its cells damaged, with brain cells, nerve cells, somatic cells, and hemoglobin cells all ruptured and inactive... this is no different from complete death, with absolutely no possibility of revival.
"Hmm..."
Lin Xian found it quite fascinating.
At least so far, this part of the principle was completely understandable.
"So, how to solve the problem of ice crystals?"
Shuffle.
Lin Xian turned the page.