Mecha Star Wars.

Chapter 1341 Non-carbon-based life forms

"According to the values ​​derived from the damaged equipment," Cui Yan suddenly interjected, "the initial radiation levels at these locations were much higher than those at nearby locations. But after reinstallation, the detected radiation levels are very low."

He rushed to the control room as soon as he received the message from Cen Fangyuan, and just walked in when Lin Fan mentioned the suspicious point.

Everyone looked at the map again. The main control technician marked the radiation values ​​of other points in time, framed and zoomed in on the key locations, and synchronized the images to Antonio and the other person's communicators.

"What do you want to say?" Cen Fangyuan asked.

"There's always a reason for destroying the machine." Cui Yan's voice was cold but powerful. "Look at the radiation levels of the old and new machines. The gap between them is enough for the machine to work for many years before it disappears. Where did such a large gap go? Was it taken away by the other party? Their purpose is very clear: they're targeting the high radiation levels. The destroyed machine may just be a natural consequence."

"So..." Jin Sichen's eyes swept across the points on the map that could be connected into a line. "Suppose there's some kind of creature that's attracted to high levels of radiation... Chief Cui, radiation is also a form of energy, right?"

Cui Yan used to be the director of the 800 Science Institute. His knowledge in this area is richer than that of Jin Sichen, a psychologist, and Cen Fangyuan, the overall coordinator.

"Radiation is essentially a form of energy transfer: the phenomenon of energy spreading outward in the form of electromagnetic waves or particles," Cui Yan explained coldly. "But the radiation we encounter in our daily lives is essentially just different forms of energy carriers."

"For example, the energy we encounter most often is electromagnetic waves—electromagnetic radiation. Electromagnetic waves are invisible energy waves that alternate between electric and magnetic fields. Their energy levels range from low to high depending on their wavelength. Common..."

"Stop, stop, stop..." Antonio quickly called out, "Is there anything I can understand?"

If Antonio was in front of Cui Yan, he could have shot him through with his eyes, but unfortunately he couldn't. He glanced at Cen Fangyuan and decided to simplify the description.

"For example, the light and heat we perceive in daily life are essentially manifestations of electromagnetic radiation. The warmth we feel when basking in the sun is infrared radiation transmitted to our skin and converted into heat energy. Light is the visible light radiation emitted by a bulb that enters our eyes and is perceived by our visual system. Mobile phone and video signals are radio waves and microwave radiation, which are essentially the conversion and transmission of energy. Do you understand?"

"OK!" Antonio replied with satisfaction. "Go on."

Cui Yan rolled his eyes, but could only continue.

"Except for some wavelengths of ultraviolet radiation and higher energy types such as X-rays, most of the radiation we are exposed to in daily life, such as mobile phone radiation, Wi-Fi, infrared radiation, etc., has very low energy and will not damage human cells. It is non-ionizing radiation."

"In contrast, there's high-energy radiation carried by high-speed particles, also known as ionizing radiation. I won't go into the specifics of how this works, but in short, this type of radiation is extremely high-energy, carried by microscopic particles moving at high speeds, powerful enough to break the chemical bonds of atoms or molecules and cause damage."

"The reason you all showed signs of physical decay when you first entered the ancient world was because the ionizing radiation damaged and dissociated the DNA within your cells. This is what we often call radiation damage."

"However, this type of ionizing radiation is rarely encountered in daily life. Aside from radioactive substances produced in specific environments or scientific settings, such as the most well-known uranium and radium, the most common sources are hospital X-ray machines, CT scans, and MRIs. While these machines emit very strong radiation, exposure is brief, so the amount of ionizing radiation generated by daily exposure is extremely low. Only for radiologists would such long-term, high-intensity exposure pose a health risk. For normal individuals, the radiation is quickly metabolized after a few scans, so there's no need to worry."

Cui Yan felt that his popular science lecture had gone a bit off track, so he simply ended it.

"In short, if radiation is categorized as an energy carrier, it can indeed be roughly considered a form of energy. The only difference is the energy intensity, propagation method, and source."

"Thank you, Chief Cui, for clarifying my confusion," Jin Sichen smiled and nodded at Cui Yan. "The radiation from the ancient world must have been ionizing radiation. While it's very harmful, if it's considered a special type of energy, the higher the radiation value, the more energy it can provide for conversion, right?"

"Roughly speaking, yes." Cui Yan nodded.

"Then let's stick with Lin Jian's assumption and ignore the existence of Yinze." Jin Sichen continued to laugh. "Let's assume there's such a being, simply following high energy. It follows some unknown instinct to these high-energy locations. We don't know what a radiation removal machine is, but theoretically, since it can sense radiation levels, it should be able to sense the machine removing energy. So, to ensure it can absorb the maximum amount of radiation energy, it destroys the machine. Then, following its instinct, it finds the next high-radiation point and continues... Is this logical inference reasonable?"

Just as Cui Yan was about to speak, he heard Lin Fan's voice coming from the loudspeaker.

“Reasonable, but not tenable.”

"What do you mean?" Jin Sichen turned to the big screen.

"Just now, Cui said that ionizing radiation can damage human DNA." Lin Fan carefully searched the encyclopedia he had memorized in his head and reorganized his words to reply, "What it actually destroys is the chemical bonds of the carbon-based molecules within DNA. Everyone knows that we are all carbon-based organisms, right?"

Antonio nodded. "I know. All known life forms on Lanxing are carbon-based. There's also the hypothesis of silicon-based life, but it's never been proven."

"The damage ionizing radiation causes to carbon-based organisms is essentially the destruction of the stable structure and function of carbon-based molecules within DNA, which are the most important element in the life of carbon-based organisms. This damages the carrier of genetic information, leading to DNA chain breaks and base mutations, which in turn cause cell dysfunction and even death. The protein structure, which uses carbon chains as its backbone, is also destroyed, losing its core functions such as catalysis and transport, leading to metabolic collapse."

"You mean..." Antonio frowned, "Any carbon-based organism will inevitably be affected by radiation. That person can't be a carbon-based organism?"

"Look at me." Lin Fan pointed at himself. "If I went in with my physical body, I'd be exposed to radiation, but if I went in with a mecha, I wouldn't be. What do you think is the reason?"

"The mecha body isn't a carbon-based structure?" Antonio wondered. "Could it be that the mecha is a silicon-based life form?"

"I'm not sure about that," Lin Fan shook his head. "But conceptually, carbon-based life forms use carbon as their organic material skeleton and metabolic core. As far as we know, flesh-and-blood organisms, plants, microorganisms, bacteria, fungi, and so on are all carbon-based. Silicon-based life forms are just hypothetical life forms that use silicon as their skeleton, and they've never been proven. Whether the mecha is silicon-based or not, we can't tell with our current scientific capabilities, but judging by the results, it's probably not a carbon-based life form."

"We previously conducted calculations on silicon-based life on mechas at 800," Cui Yan continued. "Mechas meet some of the requirements, such as being able to survive in low-oxygen or oxygen-free environments, having a hard body, and being able to directly absorb light energy and radiation. However, they don't completely conform to the silicon-based concept, such as their reaction with water and their energy acquisition methods. Therefore, we essentially ruled out the possibility that mechas could be silicon-based life. But now, Lanxing's silicon-based life is a life hypothesis. So, we can only say that Lanxing's silicon-based biological theory doesn't match the mechas, but we can't deny the others."

"Stop, stop, stop! You're getting more and more confused." Antonio waved his hands repeatedly and looked at Lin Fan. "So what exactly did you mean just now? That troublemaker wasn't a carbon-based creature?"

Lin Fan nodded affirmatively: "At least it's not a creature of flesh and blood with intelligence in our conventional sense. It doesn't have the limitations of a carbon-based body, so it's not afraid of radiation damage."

"No body?" Antonio clasped his hands over his chest and rubbed his chin with one hand. "Ghost?"

Cui Yan subconsciously wanted to refute, but then he thought about the various things going on in the Special Affairs Office and shut up abruptly.

"Ah~" Jin Sichen interrupted with a smile, "That's not nice to say. Something without a body can still be a soul."

Isn't that still a ghost? Cen Fangyuan blinked and said nothing.

"Although the soul and body are usually bound together, after being affected by the evil resentment, I discovered that consciousness and spiritual awareness can also exist independently of the body," Lin Fan said. "On Bolun Star, after reaching a certain level of cultivation, spiritual awareness can even exist independently of the body. So this unknown entity may not be the person we conventionally understand."

"From this angle...we haven't considered it." Cen Fangyuan continued.

They had been staying aboard the Noah, staring at the futuristic spacecraft and all the high-tech gadgets every day. How could they possibly empathize with Lin Fan and the others' cultivation experiences? Even if they thought about it, it was fleeting, and they didn't pay much attention.

"Do you have a suspect?" Jin Sichen still understood Lin Fan.

Lin Fan nodded.

"Before the radiation incident broke out, when I woke up, I saw many white shadows surrounding Jin Tong. I suspect..."