Sand can be found everywhere on the earth. Will this material be a scarce resource?
Zhong Guoqiang said with a serious face: "The sand Han Yuxin mentioned is construction sand."
"That's right." Han Yuxin said worriedly: "It's construction sand, and now it's starting to become scarce."
It was a long story, and I couldn¡¯t explain it in one or two sentences. Then, she took the two of them to a nearby teahouse to sit down.
Near the window, Chen Yao, Han Yuxin, and Zhong Guoqiang sat down, and the waiter filled three cups of black tea for them.
Han Yuxin took a sip of tea and said slowly: "Brother, you know that ocean sand and desert sand cannot be used as building materials, right?"
Of course Chen Yao knows. If you study physics seriously in middle school, you will know the reason.
30% of the earth¡¯s land is desert. Deserts not only cannot be used for farming, which wastes land resources, but also bring sandstorms and pollute the environment.
For any country in the world, managing deserts is a headache.
Someone once suggested that desert sand be used as building materials and transported to cities to build buildings and urban pavements. Wouldn¡¯t the desert problem be solved?
However, desert sand cannot be used as building materials. It is weathered, has too small particles, poor adhesion to concrete, and contains alkaline substances.
The sand used for construction is river sand, which is coarser and relatively round. It is the best material for construction sand.
However, the natural formation of sand takes a long time. The stones are washed and separated in large rivers, which takes thousands of years to form a large amount of river sand.
Because of over-exploitation, the sand in many rivers has been mined and becomes increasingly scarce.
It has also affected the river ecology, and the country has begun to ban illegal sand mining.
River sand is getting less and less, so let¡¯s turn to sea sand. 70% of the earth is ocean, and the ocean has endless sand.
However, the salt content of sea sand is too high, and the salt will corrode the building. Over time, the building will easily collapse.
Desert sand cannot be used, ocean sand cannot be used, and it seems that there is only river sand. However, it is becoming increasingly scarce.
In the 1980s, a ton of sand in China cost only 2 yuan, or even free of charge. You could easily pull a cart back from a nearby river.
In 2000, it was only 10 yuan per ton, and in 2010 it was only 15 yuan per ton. However, starting in 2018, the price of sand began to skyrocket, rising to 140 yuan per ton, a 1000% increase!
Yes, one thousand percent.
The price is rising faster than gold and diamonds. Who would have thought that sand would one day become a scarce resource.
Professor Zhong Guoqiang drank tea and slowly talked about sand. Chen Yao didn't say anything and listened to the old man talking.
In fact, there is not much sand in the country. After all, there are enough rivers. However, the demand is too high, and it becomes a shortage.
The world's annual sand consumption exceeds 40 billion tons, and China accounts for one-half, about 20 billion tons. However, the formation of natural river sand takes a very long time, and the mining volume has exceeded the rate of natural formation.
There are fewer and fewer high-quality construction sands, but the country still needs to build houses, bridges, urban pavements, etc. It must be used.
¡° Watching the price of sand skyrocketing, there is no other good way.
Although there is a technology that can use machines to crush stones, that is, artificial sand making, the cost is not low and it is not a long-term solution.
What if it takes one day and all the stones are mined?
Tens of billions of tons are mined every year. This is no joke. One day all the stones will be dug out.
Legend University is now encountering such a thorny problem. The price of sand suddenly skyrocketed, and it exceeded the budget and had to stop work.
Chen Yao touched his chin and thought for a while, then said: "Relying on natural formation alone is definitely not a long-term solution."
That¡¯s for sure, it took thousands of years to form naturally, and many rivers have had their sand dug out.
"Artificial sand making is a good way." Han Yuxin said.
Chen Yao shook his head slightly: "This is not a long-term solution. The best way is to use desert sand to solve the sand shortage. Secondly, it can also control sandstorms."
It sounds simple. How can it be so easy to transform desert sand into construction sand? Maybe technology is not the main reason, but the cost is the most difficult thing.
??Technological research and development does not solve the cost. It will always be a niche gadget and cannot be commercialized on a large scale.
? 70% of the world¡¯s fresh water resources are in Antarctica. Transporting Antarctic ice to the desert can solve the water shortage there. However, the cost is too high and it is difficult to do so.
So, if you want desert sand to be truly utilized by humans as building materials, in addition to solving technical problems, you also need to solve cost problems.
"Brother, do you really have a solution?" Han Yuxin was very curious.
If he really did it, it would be a great achievement and he could win the Nobel Peace Prize!
Chen Yao smiled and nodded: "There must be a way."
Regardless of whether the remaining dormitory buildings can be completed, the construction notebook of Legend University is completed and enrollment can begin.
There is no problem with the hardware, and it is completely up to the standards of top universities. The biggest problem is the software, especially the teaching talent.
Chen Yao asked Zhong Guoqiang: "Professor, I would like to invite you to be the dean of the School of Artificial Intelligence of our school. Are you willing?"
As a well-known artificial intelligence scientist in China, he has a high status in the scientific and technological community. If he can join, it can enhance the school's teaching strength.
Zhong Guoqiang said: "I need some time to think about it."
After thinking about it, he added: "Whether I join or not, I will introduce talents from home and abroad to teach in your school."
In addition to artificial intelligence, there are also many cutting-edge subjects such as brain wave applications, large-scale circuit integration, software Internet, etc. A considerable number of teachers are engineers from legendary tracks.
After graduation, you can work in the legendary track, which is quite attractive to students. After all, you can get a monthly salary of 30,000 yuan upon entry, which not every company can offer.
Unlike other traditional universities, this university will adopt more advanced teaching methods, cultivate two or three Nobel Prizes, and produce at least one Nobel Prize winner in physics, chemistry, and medicine.
In the long run, let it become a cradle of top talents and contribute to the country¡¯s basic teaching career.
After discussing it for a while, the matter was decided. As for the technical problem of desert sand conversion, Chen Yao would find another way to solve it.
Zhong Guoqiang put down his tea cup, got up and immediately went back to Shencheng University to attend class.
Chen Yao paid and walked out of the teahouse with Han Yuxin. It was sunny and sunny outside, and the cool breeze felt comfortable on his body.
She glanced at the vast university campus around her: "Brother, I see that your ambition to found a university is not small."
Chen Yao smiled and asked, "What ambition?"
Han Yuxin said: "You want to become the president of the world's number one university!"
Since the university is called Legend, it must live up to its name. (Remember the website address: www.hlnovel.com