Three-Body
Episode Twenty Four
9/23/2023 | 47m 29sVideo has Closed Captions
Ye Wenjie comes up with a plan: use the sun as an amplifier to transmit signals.
Ye Wenjie, who conducted research at the Red Coast Base, comes up with a bold exploration plan: use the sun as an amplifier to transmit signals into the universe. Despite Lei Zhicheng’s opposition, she implements this experiment during a machine maintenance. Later, with the world in war and nuclear weapons threats, she believes that human’s madness had reached its pinnacle.
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Three-Body is presented by your local public television station.
Three-Body
Episode Twenty Four
9/23/2023 | 47m 29sVideo has Closed Captions
Ye Wenjie, who conducted research at the Red Coast Base, comes up with a bold exploration plan: use the sun as an amplifier to transmit signals into the universe. Despite Lei Zhicheng’s opposition, she implements this experiment during a machine maintenance. Later, with the world in war and nuclear weapons threats, she believes that human’s madness had reached its pinnacle.
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♪ Endless drifting ♪ ♪ To the end of the dark forest ♪ ♪ The wind is like a hand ♪ ♪ Trying to keep time ♪ ♪ Who is the hunter with a gun ♪ ♪ Trying to devour the entire universe ♪ ♪ The light is like an eye ♪ ♪ That penetrates dreams ♪ ♪ Don't answer ♪ ♪ Who is eager to fill his eyes with the starry sky ♪ ♪ The earth is no longer rotating ♪ ♪ You gave me a small universe ♪ ♪ In the arms of the universe ♪ ♪ Calling humbly for the vast space and time ♪ ♪ The world aches dully ♪ =Three-Body= =Episode 24= (Both Yang Weining and Lei Zhicheng) (supported me to continue my research, ) (but I knew for a fact that it had hit a dead end.)
(Report of Conclusion) (In my final report, ) (I conceded that I failed and couldn't solve the problem.)
It's been so long, yet Ye Wenjie still hasn't made much of a breakthrough.
It's a brand-new topic.
The fact that she's taking on it counts for something.
I can't agree more.
It's highly theoretical and proves the researcher's expertise, or should we say proficiency.
I'll give her everything she needs to carry on with her work so that we won't let our superiors down.
This research means a lot to us, too.
Us?
It's you who want her to continue.
Weining, I hate to say this, but you're less insightful.
Now that the chaos in society is finally subsiding, new requirements are set for cadres like us.
We need to be mature politically and accomplished academically.
You don't want to be stuck here forever, do you?
Think about your future.
We've been helping Ye Wenjie with her research.
If she makes a breakthrough, the credit will go to us, too.
I didn't think of that as long as she can carry on her research.
Sure.
Of course.
That makes the two of us.
Without this research project, she wouldn't have indulged in the latest academic resources.
I'm envious.
(In the end, I didn't hand in that report.)
(If my research was terminated, ) (the base library would stop gathering research materials) (or ordering foreign language journals.)
(I'd no longer gain access) (to such a trove of astrophysics references.)
(But I never expected that this decision) (would lead to a surprising discovery.)
(I continued my research as normal on solar interference, ) (but actually, I was refining my mathematical model of the sun.)
(After completing a set of cumbersome matrix calculations, ) (a paper in a journal about Jupiter) (caught my attention.)
(Dr. Harry Peterson published a set of data) (accidentally obtained on June 12th and July 2nd) (while observing Jupiter's precession, ) (during which strong electromagnetic radiation was detected, ) (lasting 81 seconds) (and 76 seconds, respectively.)
(Monitoring Main Control Room) (June 12th.)
(July 2nd.)
(I remember those two dates vividly.)
(During those days, ) (Red Coast's Monitoring System also received strong sun outages.)
(The two sun outages occurred 16 minutes and 42 seconds) (after the arrival) (of the Jovian radio outbursts on Earth.)
(That 16 minutes and 42 seconds were critical.)
Hello.
It's Ye Wenjie of Monitoring.
Contact the National Astronomical Observatories for Earth's and Jupiter's positions on June 12th and July 2nd.
(Sun) (Earth) (Jupiter) (778.33 Million KM) (152.7 Million KM) (100 Million KM) (From the distance between Earth and Jupiter, ) (it's easy to figure out the time it took) (for the radio outbursts to travel between the two.)
(Then calculate the time) (it'd take the radio outbursts to go from Jupiter to the sun, ) (and from the sun to Earth.)
(The difference between the two was exactly 16 minutes and 42 seconds.)
I know I might've bored you, but I feel necessary to tell you every word of it.
Is such a gap related to the sudden fluctuation of solar radiation?
I had my guess back in the day.
As you all know, energy produced by reaction within the solar core is initially in the form of high-energy gamma rays.
The radiation zone absorbs these high-energy photons and re-emits them.
Such successive absorption and re-emission go quite a long way as a photon might take 1,000 years to leave the sun.
That's true.
After this lengthy process, gamma rays become X-rays, extreme ultraviolet, ultraviolet, then eventually turn into visible light and other forms of radiation.
The frequencies drop gradually.
You can think of it as a slow slope.
However, my model of the sun led to a new result.
As radiation dropped through different frequencies, there were boundaries between the subzones.
It's like going down the stairs.
As energy crossed each boundary, from inside out, the radiation frequency stepped down a grade sharply.
So the change in frequencies isn't gradual?
That differs from the traditional view.
Indeed.
I also found that these boundaries would reflect radiation from the lower-frequency side, and I called them "energy mirrors".
How accurate and fascinating!
One of the most incredible features of those boundary surfaces is what I call "gain reflectivity".
My theory is the energy mirrors not only reflect radiation from the lower-frequency side but also amplify it.
All the mysterious sudden fluctuations we observed in narrow frequency bands were the result of other radiation from space being amplified.
That was why we couldn't see any disturbances on the surface of the sun.
But that characteristic was bizarre and hard to prove until I discovered that critical time-frame: 16 minutes and 42 seconds.
You skipped meals again?
Here's Jupiter's precession on June 12th and July 2nd, and solar interference on Earth on those days from the National Astronomical Observatories.
Jupiter is here, and Earth and the sun.
Based on Earth's and Jupiter's positions then, I calculated the distances between the three.
The time for electromagnetic radiation to reach Earth from Jupiter is approximately 2,099 seconds.
From Jupiter to the sun and the sun to Earth, that's about 3,101 seconds.
The difference is 1,002 seconds or 16 minutes and 42 seconds.
So?
My guess is after the Jovian radio outbursts reached the sun, they were re-emitted after being amplified about 100 million times.
Earth received both sets of emissions before and after the amplification, separated by 16 minutes and 42 seconds.
The sun is an amplifier for radio waves!
But it's receiving electromagnetic radiation from space all the time, including that from the Earth.
Why were only some of the waves amplified?
Because of the shielding effect of the solar convection zone.
(Sun) Situated outside the radiation zone, it's the outermost liquid layer of the sun.
(Solar Convection Zone) (Space) The radio waves from space penetrate the convection zone first to reach the radiation zone, where they'll be amplified before being reflected back out.
So the waves have to be more powerful than a threshold value.
The vast majority of Earth-based radio sources.
(Earth) Can't cross this threshold, but the Jovian radio outburst crossed it.
(Jupiter) (Sun) Red Coast's maximum transmission power exceeds it, too.
(Space, Radiation Zone, Sun) Will this solve solar interference?
Not really, but an exciting possibility ensues.
That humans can use the sun as a super-antenna, and through it, broadcast radio waves to the universe.
The waves will be sent with the power of the sun, hundreds of millions of times greater than the total usable transmission power on Earth.
Are you saying.
Earth can transmit at the level of a Kardashev Type II civilization?
Correct.
Once we compare the waveforms of the two Jovian radio outbursts with the waveforms of the sun outages received by Red Coast and they're a match, that'll be further confirmation of my theory.
What do you need?
Contact Dr. Harry Peterson to obtain the waveform records of the two Jovian radio outbursts.
That won't be easy.
For one, we lack a proper channel, and two, we need approval at all levels.
Any lapse could lead to treason.
I'll see what I can do.
There's a...
There's a shortcut.
I'm listening.
Red Coast can transmit radio waves directly at the sun at a power level above the threshold value.
No way.
That's never been done in our country.
I doubt Political Commissar Lei would agree to it.
I'll tell him it's for my solar research.
Use our transmission system as a solar exploration radar whose echoes can be analyzed to obtain some information about solar radiation.
There are such precedents in the West.
In fact, it's technically easier than the radar exploration of terrestrial planets already being conducted.
Given Lei's technical background, he won't be fooled.
It's worth a try.
(Solar Electromagnetic Radiation Monitored by Red Coast) Ye Wenjie, you're getting out of line!
Theoretical research is enough.
Why go to such great lengths?
Lei, as you know, all major discoveries must be confirmed by experiments.
If her theory is proven right, that'll be unprecedented!
Just this once, please.
Yes.
Try it once.
It's not too difficult.
Receiving the echoes after transmission will only take... A little over ten minutes.
That's right!
Enough for Red Coast to switch from transmission to monitoring mode.
I know it's feasible technically and operationally.
You just don't get it, do you?
Aiming a super-powerful radio beam at the sun?
Have you thought about the potential danger and risk?
I have to review every report before handing it in.
Everything related to the sun must be double-checked!
There's uncertainty about this experiment.
Great uncertainty, you know?
(Research Report) Keep working on solar interference.
Forget about this experiment.
Political Commissar Lei's refusal is beyond reasonable.
I'm sorry.
I wish I could help.
It's for your sake.
Let it go.
(But I didn't listen to him.)
(Finally, sparks of hope were rekindled after so long.)
(I couldn't see them go out like this.)
(I kept looking for a chance to pull off the experiment.)
(Actually, ) (the risk wasn't too high to get it done.)
(Red Coast's transmitter was ultra-high-powered.)
(The fault rate was high.)
(After each overhaul, there'd be a test transmission.)
Engineer Zhang, something is wrong again.
It keeps happening.
I just finished the overhaul yesterday.
Not again!
I'll do it.
Thank you, Wenjie.
(I adjusted the test transmission power to exceed the threshold value) (for my gain-reflective theory) (and then set the frequency) (to the value most likely to be amplified by the energy mirror.)
(Finally, under the guise of testing the antenna, ) (I aimed it at the setting sun) (and transmitted the same content as usual.)
Hey... Tell... Tell the base station to monitor the 12,000 MHz channel.
What are we receiving?
Maybe we'll get something.
There's no time to change the system to monitoring mode.
This is Yang Weining.
Monitor the 12,000 MHz channel.
Keep me updated.
Wait!
Given the low sensitivity of that radio, we can only receive signals from extraterrestrials on the moon.
The signal comes from the sun.
You used Red Coast to send a signal to the sun?
Do not tell anyone else about it.
It can't happen again.
Never!
What's the point anyway?
Even if there's an echo wave, it'll be too weak to be picked up by our radio.
No.
If my guess is right, it'll receive an extremely strong echo, more powerful than we can imagine.
As long as the transmission power exceeds a certain threshold, the sun can amplify the signal 100 million-fold.
I see.
They got nothing.
Don't be too upset.
Check this out.
That astronomer wrote back.
What did he say?
He said he hadn't imagined that there'd be fellows in China studying planetary electromagnetism and expected more collaboration and communication.
(The two stacks of paper he sent included a complete record) (of the waveforms of the two Jovian radio outbursts.)
(I lined them up on the floor.)
(If they match that of the two sun outages, ) (that means my theory is right.)
(Halfway through the effort, I gave up any hope.)
(I knew those two waveforms by heart.)
(They didn't match these two.)
What's wrong?
Nothing.
It's time to wake up from my dream.
(Little did I know that at that moment, ) (the first cry that could be heard) (in space from Earth civilization) (had been spreading out from the sun) (to the universe at the speed of light.)
(A star-powered radio wave, like a majestic tide, ) (had crossed the orbit of Jupiter.)
(At the frequency of 12,000 MHz, ) (the sun was the brightest star in the entire Milky Way.)
Your call to the universe let Lord finally hear us!
Eliminate human tyranny!
The world belongs to Trisolaris!
Eliminate human tyranny!
The world belongs to Trisolaris!
Eliminate human tyranny!
The world belongs to Trisolaris!
At the time, I couldn't have imagined that.
That transmission was more of a gorgeous bubble.
It quickly broke and my life returned to peace.
(The Red Coast Project completed its testing and breaking-in phases.)
(Technical problems became fewer and fewer.)
(Four years after I came to the base, ) (Yang Weining married me at the cost of his future career.)
(We stayed on the base as ordinary technicians.)
(My life and work became regular and I gained inner peace.)
(That said, what had been suppressed by anxiety and fear) (began to awaken.)
(I started to look with a rational gaze) (at the madness and hatred that had harmed me) (and straight at humanity's evil side.)
(I read classics of foreign-language philosophy and history.)
(Philosophers' extraordinary insights) (led me to the most fundamental) (and secret aspects of human nature.)
(In reality, the irrationality of the human race) (was constantly on display.)
(Deranged logging was found every day everywhere.)
(Wasteland kept growing day by day.)
(The insanity of the human race) (had reached its historical zenith.)
(Back then, ) (the Cold War was at its height.)
(Under the ground were countless missile silos.)
(Under the sea, ) (nuclear submarines were patrolling like ghosts.)
(Nuclear warfare able to destroy Earth dozens of times) (might break out at any moment.)
(A single Lafayette) (or Yankee-class submarine held enough warheads) (to destroy hundreds of cities) (and kill hundreds of millions of people.)
(Nuclear Weapons are as powerful as stars.)
(But the universe has even more terrible forces) (such as black holes, anti-matter, dark matter, and more.)
(Compared with them, ) (a thermonuclear bomb is nothing but a tiny candle.)
(If humans obtained one of those other forces, (the world might be vaporized instantly.)
In the presence of madness, rationality is powerless.
(I remember I was battling the loss of purpose.)
(I had been an idealist) (who'd give it her all for a great cause.)
(But then, I found all that I had done was meaningless, ) As would any future endeavor be.
Until 1979, on October 21st, everything was changed.
(Actually, the night shift was easy.)
(I just needed to check the waves of radio signals from space) (and listen to the meaningless noise.)
(It was hard to tell with the naked eye if a waveform carried information.)
(But I was so familiar with the waveform) (of the noise of the universe.)
(I realized the wave moving in front of me) (had been modulated by intelligence.)
(No radio signals we had received exceeded C-level recognizability.)
(Were it an A, the likelihood that the transmission contained intelligent information) (would be above 90 percent.)
(The rating of that one was AAAAA.)
(That was extremely unusual, ) (which meant that the received transmission) (used the same coding language as Red Coast's outbound transmission.)
(Do not answer) "Do not answer".
"Do not answer"!
"Do not answer"!
(Do not answer) ♪ I've seen things you people won't believe ♪ ♪ Soon our planet will vanish ♪ ♪ I've known the future you people won't think of ♪ ♪ Soon your planet will be punished ♪ ♪ I've seen things you people won't believe ♪ ♪ Soon our planet will vanish ♪ ♪ I've known the future you people won't think of ♪ ♪ Soon your planet will be punished ♪ ♪ I've seen things you people won't believe ♪ ♪ Soon our planet will vanish ♪ ♪ I've known the future you people won't think of ♪ ♪ Soon your planet will be punished ♪ ♪ I've seen things you people won't believe ♪ ♪ Soon our planet will vanish ♪ ♪ I've known the future you people won't think of ♪ ♪ Soon your planet will be punished ♪ ♪ I've seen things you people won't believe ♪ ♪ Soon our planet will vanish ♪ ♪ I've known the future you people won't think of ♪ ♪ Soon your planet will be punished ♪ =Three-Body=
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