Shenhao: Gold Medal Investor

Although the food was not satisfactory, the meal was extremely rewarding.

Professor Liang is not arrogant because of the young people and lack of qualifications. On the contrary, he is enthusiastic, straightforward and very straightforward. What is even more rare is that Professor Liang has a wide range of knowledge and is even very insightful about business logic.

, not the kind of nerd in the ivory tower at all.

Gao Si said: "Teacher Liang, I remember that China participated in an international project on a thirty-meter large telescope. How is that project going now?"

Liang Ming asked: "The thirty-meter telescope you are talking about refers to the tmt project, right?"

Gao Si nodded and said: "Yes, this is the project. It seems that this project was designed in 2004. Twenty years have passed. Why is there no news?"

Liang Ming sighed and shook his head: "Well, if we had followed the original plan of the project, this telescope should have been completed and put into use the year before last. The design of tmt was completed in 2009. At that time, it was the most advanced among all large telescope projects in the world.

One. The site selection was completed in 2011, and the location was chosen on Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawaii. Ground was broken in 2014, and at that time everyone thought it could be completed ahead of schedule."

"Then what happened next?" Luo Xingyu asked.

"Later, in 2015, a group of native Hawaiians went to court to sue the University of California, USA, and they won the lawsuit."

"Why are you suing the University of California?"

"The University of California is the main design and operating institution of the TMT project. The reason for the indigenous people's lawsuit is particularly direct. It is that the construction of the large telescope destroyed the environment of Mauna Kea and damaged the interests of the Native Hawaiians. You should know that once it is established in the United States,

If the issue rises to the level of ideology and Zheng Zhi’s correctness, the lawsuit will definitely be won.”

"After losing the lawsuit, the Supreme Court revoked the construction permit of the tmt project, which directly led to the suspension of the tmt project. I heard that the investors of tmt have not given up their efforts until now, but I think it is possible to get re-approval

Sex is minimal.”

Luo Xingyu suddenly asked: "Teacher Liang, have you not considered changing the address of the tmt project? Even if the conditions are not as good as Mauna Kea, it is better than letting the project be shelved completely."

Liang Mingdao: "If you think about the problem this way, it means you don't understand the interests of this kind of international cooperation project. Hawaii is a territory of the United States, so although this project is an international cooperation project, it is led by the United States. The University of California, which is the leader,

The California Institute of Technology is a technical team from the United States. For telescope projects cooperating with multiple countries, the use time will be divided according to actual investment in the future. Although our country participates in core technologies, the proportion is very low, and at most it can only be divided into hundreds.

About ten percent of the usage time.”

"It is not that there are no alternative sites for the tmt project. The Canary Islands in the West and my country's Cold Lake Seshten Mountain are both telescope sites of the same level. However, if the tmt project is moved to the West or my country, The leading country, team, and allocation of time will all have to change. Therefore, every time it comes to re-selecting a location, it is a protracted wrangling, and in the end nothing can be decided."

Zhuang Zuqin suddenly said: "It is too unwise to cause the project to abort in order to compete for the leadership of the project."

Liang Ming nodded and confirmed Zhuang Zuqin's question. He said: "Now that the tmt project design has been completed, there is no longer any significance in fighting for the leadership of the project. This is only one reason. The more important factor is money."

"The total budget of the TMT project has reached 1.4 billion U.S. dollars, and a large part of this money comes from private foundations. For example, the Moore Foundation in the United States invested 300 million U.S. dollars. These capital investments are all

Purpose. If the construction site of TMT is placed in our country, it is likely that half of the funds will be withdrawn."

"Let's assume that there is a withdrawal of 500 million US dollars, which will create a funding gap of 3.5 billion yuan. Where can such a large sum of money be obtained? You can't expect to build a large telescope in China and let RB invest in it.

"

Gao Si listened thoughtfully to Professor Liang Ming's explanation. If these problems are ultimately just financial issues, then for Gao Si, it would be almost no problem.

Gao Si said: "Teacher Liang, if funds are not a problem, then does China have enough technical strength to build a large telescope independently?"

Liang Mingdao: "I think there is no problem. The tasks we undertake in the tmt project are optical subsystems, laser guidance subsystems and some subsystems related to electronics, communications and data processing. These are the core things of tmt.

If there is really no shortage of money, China itself is fully capable of building a large telescope."

"But..." Liang Ming sighed: "I know better than anyone how poor China's astronomy research is. If we had money, why would I leave my hometown and go to the University of Hawaii to teach? It's not because of our own equipment.

I can't keep up. The Hua Tian Eye radio telescope is the largest in the world. It sounds very impressive. That project only cost 1.6 billion US dollars when fully calculated. If you build a super optical telescope, the cost will be at least ten times that of the Sky Eye. Moreover, even if

We have this budget, but it’s impossible to use it to build an optical telescope.”

"Why?"

"Yes, why?"

"Why, Teacher Liang?"

Even if you have money, you won't be able to build an optical telescope. Professor Liang Ming's words made everyone feel confused.

Liang Ming explained patiently: "Because our country's radio astronomy research is already relatively advanced. China's consistent strategy is to maximize its leading advantage and conquer the world first. Therefore, future funding will most likely be

Invest in continuing to build more giant radio telescopes like the Sky Eye to expand the existing advantages. As for optical telescopes, we are already too far behind, so we don’t care if we fall further behind. We will catch up when we have money in the future.

.”

After hearing this, Gao Si already had a plan in mind.

He had no intention of revealing his plan to invest in building a large telescope on Seshten Mountain in Cold Lake. Talking about this topic at this time would only make Professor Liang feel crazy. He wanted to wait until everything was settled, then

Tell Professor Liang the news. Maybe by that time, Professor Liang will be willing to return to China and become the manager of the new observatory.

"Teacher Liang, if... I mean if, if China has its own large optical telescope, will you return to China to develop it?" Gao Si tried to ask.

Liang Ming replied without hesitation: "Of course. I don't expect a super project like the Thirty Meter Optical Telescope to be completed in China. Even a ten-meter optical telescope, no, as long as there is a five-meter diameter

If the optical telescope is completed in China, I will choose to return to China for development."

"Teacher Liang, you will definitely get what you want. By the way, do you know anyone from the Chinese team involved in the tmt project? When we return to China, can you introduce us to them?"

Hearing this question, Liang Ming couldn't help but frown: "The two most important units in China that host the TMT project are the Jinling Institute of Astronomical Optics and the Huanglong Institute of Optics and Mechanics. These two units have my friends and students. However, you can contact us

What do they do?”

The corner of Gao Si's mouth turned up and he replied: "I am an investor. When I contact them, of course I am sending money to the scientists."