USA, editorial department of Science.
Adam sat in a chair in the editorial office, yawned and glanced at the wall clock.
It's 5 o'clock in the evening.
It's time to get off work!
He stretched and dragged the mouse to delete the files on the computer desktop.
As a science editor, he needs to review a large number of manuscripts submitted from all over the world every day.
Among these manuscripts from all over the world, it is conservatively estimated that only 10% are truly valuable!
As for the reason...it's simple.
Science is the world's top journal.
Countless scientific researchers hope that it can include and publish their papers.
This is not only an affirmation, but also a symbol of identity!
This also led to a very frustrating situation.
In addition to those serious scientific researchers, there are also many "wild" scientific researchers who also submit articles to Science magazine.
These "wild" scientific researchers have a name all their own.
Citizen scientist.
Referred to as Minke.
It is no exaggeration to say that at least half of the emails Adam receives every day come from these amateur scientists.
The conclusions contained therein are more shocking than the last.
Water-grinding knife cutting atomic technology, anti-gravity device, perpetual motion machine...
It can be said that in Adam's mailbox, there are only papers you can't think of, but no papers you can't see.
Adam sighed deeply as he dragged a file from his computer into the trash.
This article is a typical paper written by amateur scientists.
The author of the paper claimed that he had solved the Goldbach conjecture.
But when he opened the file and began to look at it carefully, he was horrified to find that the author didn't even understand what the Goldbach conjecture was!
"Oh my God...Michelle, you really should come and take a look at this paper." Adam muttered to himself while deleting the paper.
As Adam finished speaking, a blonde and blue-eyed editor sitting next to him smiled and turned to look at him: "What? What weird paper did you review again?"
Adam stopped what he was doing, turned the swivel chair under him, and complained to Michelle: "The author thinks that the Goldbach conjecture proves that 1+1=2."
Michelle was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter.
"Oh my god…Adam, I really don't understand why you always get to review these weird papers!"
Adam shrugged helplessly: "Who knows?"
"Ding Dong!"
Just as Adam was about to get up and leave his seat, a crisp reminder sounded from the computer in front of him.
"Damn it... Another submission!" Adam looked at Michelle who was doing nothing beside him angrily, "This is not fair!"
"I reviewed fifteen papers all day today!"
"Among them, fourteen are waste manuscripts!"
Michelle smiled and closed the computer in front of her, shrugged and said, "Really? Every time I get paid, I also feel it's unfair. How about we switch?"
Adam: "…"
"Then forget it..."
He smiled awkwardly and sat back in his seat.
The moment he saw the title of the paper, his eyebrows raised sharply.
"Wow! It's actually a paper on controlled nuclear fusion!"
"Michelle, let's make a bet. I bet this paper is a waste!"
Hearing Adam's words, Michelle raised her eyebrows and dragged her office chair to sit next to Adam: "What's the bet?"
"A dinner?"
Adam said as he clicked the mouse to open the file.
"If it's from Michelin, I'll bet with you!" Michelle glanced at the email title and said after a moment of silence.
Adam paused slightly in operating the mouse.
Michelin... that costs a lot of money!
However, thinking about the experience of rejecting fourteen consecutive drafts today, Adam felt a sense of inexplicable confidence in his heart.
"Okay! Just a Michelin restaurant!"
"I don't believe that I can still see a normal paper when I'm almost off work!"
As he was talking, the file in the mailbox was opened.
Adam quickly dragged the mouse and dragged the paper to the signature column.
"...hiss!"
The moment he saw the signature, Adam took a deep breath!
"The second author of this paper is actually from the Nuclear Physics Laboratory of Sandaokou University in Xiaguo?!"
The corners of Adam's mouth twitched slightly.
"You owe me a Michelin meal, don't forget it!" Michelle's eyes were almost filled with smile.
Adam shook his head helplessly. "Michelin is Michelin... I am more concerned about the first author of this paper."
"This Lv Yongchang... I don't think I've heard of this name in the nuclear physics community."
Michelle looked a little more serious.
She frowned and thought carefully for a while, then slowly shook her head.
"I haven't heard of that name either."
"Is it a newcomer?"
Adam shook his head solemnly and wrote down the string of letters in a notebook beside him: "Probably not. Do you think a newcomer can get the first author position on a paper like this?"
"The second author of this paper is from the Nuclear Physics Laboratory of Sandaokou University in Xiaguo!"
Michelle shook her head slowly: "I don't know either... Let's take a look at the content of the paper first!"
Adam nodded solemnly.
When he learned that the paper came from Sandaokou University in Xia Country, the expression on his face became much more serious.
"…According to experiments, the stellarator device can effectively prolong the time it can maintain controlled nuclear fusion?"
"Thirty-five minutes?!"
"WTF??!"
Adam quickly dragged the mouse and directly dragged the paper content to the experimental data section.
Looking at the dense experimental data in the paper, Adam's pupils dilated a little.
He muttered to himself, "Oh my God... Wasn't Xiaguo just kicked out of ITER?"
He could even imagine how exciting the expressions of those people at ITER would be once this paper was published in the journal Science!
"etc!"
Michelle on the side suddenly exclaimed in a low voice: "Adam, did you notice?!"
Adam looked at Michelle who was sitting next to him with a puzzled look: "What's wrong?"
Michelle pointed to the last page of the paper in disbelief: "Adam... the format of this paper, doesn't it look familiar to you?"
Adam frowned and looked carefully at the last page of the paper.
"As this graduation thesis is completed, the first person I want to thank is..."
Adam's pupils contracted violently!
"This, this is... an undergraduate thesis?!"
…
the next day.
Stanford University, USA.
Professor Collins came to the office early as usual.
"Knock, knock, knock!"
There was a rapid knock on the door.
Professor Collins, who had just sat down on the chair, frowned slightly.
"Who is it?!"
Professor Collins opened his mouth and shouted towards the door in a somewhat unfriendly tone.
"Professor! It's me!"
A somewhat panicked male voice came from the door.
This is the voice of his student Yiden.
Professor Collins frowned and whispered, "Come in!"
The next moment, the office door was pushed open, and a young man in his thirties rushed into the office in a panic.
"What's going on?!"
Professor Collins said unhappily: "Eden, I need an explanation!"
Eden walked up to Collins with a nervous look and placed a document on the desk in front of him.
"Professor, this is a new paper published in Science."
"I think... you should take a look."
Collins frowned even deeper.
He glanced at Yiden with dissatisfaction: "Didn't I tell you not to bother me before nine in the morning?"
Hearing this, Yiden's eyes suddenly showed a bit of anxiety: "Professor! This time is different! Xia Country may soon master the controlled nuclear fusion technology!"
Collins's expression suddenly changed!
"What did you say?!"
He quickly picked up the paper on the table and read it carefully.
"Professor...is this true?" Yiden asked nervously.
Collins looked a little unhappy and did not respond to the student's question immediately.
"How is it possible... that a stellarator can achieve controlled nuclear fusion for thirty-five minutes?!"
"This, this is impossible!"
You know, it was he who initiated the proposal for the United States to phase out stellarators!
Although he was reluctant to admit it, the detailed data in the paper gave him slaps in the face again and again.