Chapter 164 Unspeakable Ice

  Pulsar, a rapidly rotating neutron star.

  It is not uncommon in space. As early as 2022, humans have discovered more than 600 pulsars in space observations.

  This type of extreme celestial body can periodically emit pulse signals, most of which have a diameter of about 10 kilometers and rotate extremely fast.

  And not all neutron stars are pulsars. When the star is smaller and more massive, its rotation period is shorter and the pulse signal is stronger. Blue Star takes about twenty-four hours to rotate once. And the rotation period of the pulsar is as small as a few tenths and zero seconds! To achieve such an autobiographical speed, even white dwarfs are not enough.

  So only high-speed rotating neutron stars can play the role of pulsars.

   But if that's all, pulsars are just that.

  Compared with the magnetars that Lu Yu encountered in the Alliance of Conscious Life Forms, pulsars are more like extreme celestial bodies that can be seen everywhere in the universe, and Lu Yu cannot take a second look at them.

  But the pulsar displayed on the 7th is actually broadcasting information to the entire universe in the universal language of the universe.

   As for the content, it is even more strange.

ice? ice?

  Water condensed into a solid?

   This thing can’t be said to be everywhere in the big universe, it can also be said to be everywhere.

   It is also easier to make ice cubes. A large number of hydrogen atoms and oxygen atoms react with each other to form water molecules, and then the ice can be obtained by low temperature treatment.

  Not to mention civilizations that already use pulsars to broadcast, don’t even have such technology?

   Lu Yu looked at the holographic projection in front of him, then at No. 7, and always felt that there must be something wrong.

   "Ice! That's right, it's ice!"

  No. 7's mouth stiffened: "According to the universal language translation, it is ice cubes, water condensate!"

   It wasn't that Lu Yu was suspicious, it was just too unbelievable.

   After thinking about it, he also forwarded this information to Base Zero.

"…ice?"

   "For civilizations that have been able to use pulsar broadcasts, we think that their definition of [ice] is very likely to be different from the ice defined by us humans."

   "But... it is also very likely to lure the broadcast, and use the low level of civilization to lure the surrounding civilizations that receive the broadcast to go to..."

  Based on normal logic, at the level of a planetary civilization, it is impossible to send out electromagnetic wave information facing the universe, because these electromagnetic signals will still be severely attenuated in the space environment.

  Taking Blue Star as an example, human beings began to use electromagnetic wave-based communication technology in the 20th century, and integrated electromagnetic signals into civilized life around the middle of the 20th century.

  By the 21st century, it has been used for hundreds of years.

  Electromagnetic waves can travel at the speed of light in a vacuum environment. With the blue star as the core, if there are civilizations within a hundred light-years around, they have already received electromagnetic signals.

  But in fact, the electromagnetic waves emitted by human beings can reach the Oort Nebula at most, and they will attenuate to a blind tone, and no information can be read anymore.

  Unless human beings can really discover the solar energy mirror gain reflection effect, and carry out the emission of the energy level of Type II civilization.

  Otherwise, if you observe the Blue Star from the Proxima Centauri, you will only see the silence there, without any trace of civilization.

  Planetary civilizations are silent bacteria to the universe, and it is extremely difficult to make their own voice.

  The civilization in front of me has begun to make its own voice, even using an extreme celestial body.

At the beginning, the Qing people of the sixth-level civilization could only absorb a star as the energy source for gravitational wave broadcasting. This civilization has already been able to transform a neutron star into a broadcasting station. Based on this calculation, it is very likely that they have already mastered space. Technological river system level civilization.

   And now, the broadcast message wants other civilizations to teach them how to make ice.

   This is where it gets interesting.

   Lu Yu, who thought he had nothing to gain just now, suddenly became interested.

   It’s not that he became bold, it’s simply that the Silver Star has proved through practice that advanced civilizations that have mastered space technology seem to have no choice but to drag the Silver Star into the black hole and try to die together.

   Going to see this strange broadcast is not in vain to encounter this galaxy that looks like the Milky Way.

   "Have you locked its coordinates? Let's go and have a look."

  Lu Yu's ideas were quickly implemented, and the space jump under the control of No. 7 accurately arrived at a position ten astronomical distances away from the pulsar.

  A pulsar with a diameter of only ten kilometers is not even comparable to some asteroids in terms of volume, but it has a strong sense of existence in the universe!

  The high-temperature blue-white flame makes this pulsar appear extremely bright.

   What's even more frightening is its electromagnetic pulse signal and magnetic field, making it extremely eye-catching like a lighthouse in the universe.

   Nearly one light-year away from this pulsar is a veritable restricted area for life, surrounded by nebula at the end of the star, high temperature, high pressure and strong magnetic field cut off the basis for the birth of all carbon-based organisms.

  Ten astronomical distances, about 1.5 billion kilometers.

   At such a distance, observing a pulsar is like observing a dust hundred meters away with the naked eye.

   There are no traces of civilization activities in the surrounding area. Like many star fields in the universe, this place is silent and desolate.

A neutron star is the densest star except for a black hole. At the end of a star’s evolution, it may become one of the few end points after a supernova explosion through gravitational collapse. A star that has not reached the mass that can form a black hole collapses at the end of its life. Objects between white dwarfs and black holes are many times denser than anything on Earth.

  The huge pressure it generated during the explosive collapse process caused a huge change in its material structure. In this case, not only the shell of the atom is crushed, but also the nucleus of the atom is crushed.

  The protons and neutrons in the nucleus are squeezed out, and the protons and electrons are squeezed together to form neutrons. Eventually, all the neutrons squeeze together to form a neutron star. Obviously, the density of neutron stars, even white dwarfs composed of atomic nuclei, cannot compare with it. On a neutron star, there are a full billion tons of matter per cubic centimeter.

   Around such an extreme environment, it is right to be quiet and desolate.

   "Hello, the civilization that received the message."

   "Please guide us to make ice cubes, please?"

   This piece of information is still being played over and over again, because it is closer to the signal source, and the received frequency becomes more frequent.

   "The civilization that sent the broadcast led us here. It is neither a trap, nor does it seem to have any purpose... Isn't it a space prank?"

   "The local civilization is too rude!"

   This is the first time Lu Yu has encountered this kind of space joke. It will take a lot of time and material resources to adjust the pulsar's battery pulse to the level of carrying information.

   As mentioned before, the particularity of a pulsar lies in its fast spin, and the emitted electromagnetic pulse is also related to its rotation.

   One is to adjust the rotation, and the other is to work in a gravity field where only neutrons can exist.

  If you want to transform this extreme celestial body into a radio station, the difficulty is far more difficult than taking Blue Star to wander.

   All this effort, just for space pranks?

   "Let's move closer."

   Following Lu Yu's instructions, the Silver Star quickly passed through the high-temperature space environment and approached the pulsar.

  As on the magnetar time, the extreme environment here did not affect the Argent Star in the slightest.

   Lu Yu began to approach without any cover, and he didn't even attract the attention of the civilization who arranged all this.

   It wasn't until the Silver Star approached nearly a hundred kilometers away from the pulsar that there was a new change.

   "Hello, the civilization approaching us."

   "Are you here to help us make ice?"

   This is a signal from a pulsar. Although it is extremely weak compared to the powerful electromagnetic pulse, it does carry different information.

   "Are these signals coming from a part of the neutron star's surface?"

   "Our current instruments are too affected under such extreme conditions, and we can only collect some vague information..."

  The holographic projection of No. 7's feedback appeared in virtual reality, and there are already a large number of experts in Base Zero waiting for this first-hand information.

   "Is there a civilization that has established a base similar to an observation station there, and the signal is transmitted from the observation station?"

   "If this is the case, then this civilization has been able to establish an observation station on the neutron star, why does it ask the passing civilization to help make [ice cubes]?"

   "From the current data and observation results, there are no traces of technological artifacts there."

   "Maybe space technology is used? After all, normal matter can't maintain its original structure on neutron stars. We can only use space technology to isolate the extreme environment, and at the same time isolate us from prying eyes."

  Experts have different opinions, and it is really difficult to directly grasp the situation in front of them.

   "Yes, we Horn Race are here to help you make [ice cubes]!"

   "Please come out and communicate with us."

   Lu Yu is already extremely proficient in dealing with the impostor clan.

  There is too little information now, so use the communication method.

  Once the opponent shows hostility, you can try the propulsion function that Lu Yu spent 3,000 points to reinstall.

   If you really dare to touch porcelain, let you taste the taste of a space dump truck!

"Great!"

   "Thank you, Horn Civilization."

   "We are directly below your ship."

  The answer came back quickly, and the other party also revealed his position very sincerely.

   And No. 7 hurriedly overloaded various observation instruments, and did not hesitate to scrap them to capture traces of the other party.

   Then the observation results obtained made all the experts silent.

  The energy radiation of a neutron star is a million times that of the sun. According to the electricity consumption in the world, if the total energy radiated by it in one second is converted into electrical energy, it will be enough for the blue star to last for hundreds of millions of years.

   There is a layer of plasma outside the neutron star, and if it extends a little further down, the atomic nuclei will completely dissociate and disappear. The neutron star material becomes a continuous neutron fluid mixed with a small amount of electrons and protons.

  The reason why the No. 0 experts were silent was that there were layers of regular fluctuations in the place directly below the Silver Star that should have been a restricted area for life, as if they were greeting them.

  Neutron star life?

   Lu Yu suddenly thought of the previous planetary lifeforms, did he not expect that this pulsar is also a similar lifeform?

  No….not right.

   Lu Yu looked at the holographic projection below, and then combined a large amount of observation data.

   While the neutron star's magnetic field acts below, nothing changes. Compared with the whole neutron star being a living thing, it is more like the neutrons in this part of its surface have the characteristics of life.

   But this is outrageous!

  Neutrons, how could they form the signs of life?

  Although human beings have conjectures such as Boltzmann brains, they are only conjectures, but there are real cases in front of them!

  It is necessary to know that the previous planetary life forms, at least from the magnetic field, had the basis for forming a thinking circuit, and after tens of thousands of years, hundreds of millions of years of adjustments, they formed consciousness.

  Neutrons are made up of two down quarks and one up quark.

  Free neutrons, that is, the constituents of neutron stars, can only exist stably for 15 minutes, and then they will decay into protons and electrons, and soon new neutrons will be born to take the place of decaying neutrons. Only the neutrons in the nucleus become very stable.

  In such a short period of time, let alone how to construct the consciousness network nerves, they may start to decay and die as soon as they have cognition.

  But in fact, the neutron life form was miraculously born.

  During the communication with Lu Yu, these neutron life forms directly told the information about them.

   Since when, their group of neutron groups gathered together began to have the ability to think, and I don’t remember.

  Even if it is a group of life forms, their structure is destined to have a short lifespan.

  There is only fifteen minutes, and each part has to catch up with decay before it can attract more neutrons to gather and become the carrier of the thinking circuit.

  Their existence of life forms can only be continued through continuous iteration, replacing the previously decayed neutrons. Once they hesitate for a moment, the thinking circuit that their group has worked so hard to maintain will collapse.

  For them, fifteen minutes is the length of a lifetime. During Lu Yu's communication, the neutron lifeform below has already been rounded for two rounds.

  But these neutron life forms have an extremely strange dream, they want to create [ice cubes] on the surface of neutron stars.

  Summer insects, unspeakable ice.

  Neutron life forms are also not allowed.

  A civilization that may have passed by by chance told the neutron life many generations ago that there is such a material form as ice in the universe. Since then, it has become the lifelong pursuit of the neutron life.

  Generation after generation.

   Group after group.

   Maybe they can't even pass on civilization and technology, but the dream of pursuing the state of [ice cube] has been passed down.

   It may sound unbelievable that these extremely short-lived lives, which may be iterated in an instant, actually want to make ice on a neutron star?

   For this reason, they did not hesitate to modify the neutron star to send help broadcasts to the whole universe. It must be known that their life forms are already so fragile, and the modification of the neutron star may even wipe out themselves.

  This ice is not water condensation as defined by humans.

  What these neutron beings desire is to freeze the extremely dense matter on the neutron star.

  Because for their extremely short lives, the frozen neutron star matter may be an ultimate beauty.

  (end of this chapter)