Play 4D chess…
Can’t she speak normally?
It was getting late, and the sun was coming down.
Lu Zhou sat in front of his desk as he stared at his computer screen with a headache. He stared at the blinking text cursor and suddenly shook his head.
He had to publish a thesis that wouldn’t disclose any “industry secrets”, or even any specific academic information. However, that thesis had to show the world that the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study had made a major breakthrough in lithium-air batteries…
Also, he had to make his paper as impactful as possible…
How the f*ck am I supposed to “just write this”?
Lu Zhou had been in academia for many years, but this was the first time he faced a situation like this.
He scratched his head and wanted to give up. Suddenly, the test tube on the corner of his desk caught his eye.
Inspiration flowed through his brain like a tsunami.
He stood up from his chair and exclaimed, “I got it!”
Since he couldn’t write about specific lithium-air battery technical details, it was better to focus on the mathematical model. He could simply publish a computational materials science paper and avoid talking about the lithium-air battery.
His eyes began to lit up, and his hands began to move across the keyboard. He typed a title line on the previously blank document.
[Research on the transportation of oxygen molecules in caged carbon molecules and modified PDMS materials, and its application prospects in the field of lithium-air batteries]
When Lu Zhou read the title, he couldn’t help but praise himself, “I’m a genius!”
The patent application for the caged carbon molecules had already been completed. Even though he adjusted several large π bonds on the caged carbon molecules, he still had the patent rights.
He already completed the experiment and had all of the data, so even one of his students could easily write this thesis.
Lu Zhou spent a couple of hours writing and formatting the paper.
After he converted it to PDF format, he attached the file into an email and looked at his email list. He clicked with his mouse and thought about where to submit this paper.
Nature?
Science?
Neither of them sounds good.
This kind of boring result is going to take a long time to get published. The most important thing is to make this as impactful and sensational as possible.
Lu Zhou made up his mind.
Since it’s such a bad paper, I’m not going to submit it to Nature.
After some consideration, Lu Zhou sent the email to the JACS editorial department.
Even though JACS wasn’t as famous as Nature and Science, it still had a high impact factor in the materials science and chemistry fields. It was one of the top journals in its respective field.
The paper Lu Zhou wrote on the “Theoretical Model of Electrochemical Interface Structure”, which won him the Nobel Prize, was submitted to JACS.
Because he reviewed some papers for the journal, he had a good relationship with the editorial department. Thus, his paper wouldn’t take long to get approved.
After all of that, Lu Zhou stretched his back and went to bed.
…
The other side of the world, America.
Someone in the editorial department of JACS exclaimed, “Jesus, Kanov, guess what I just received in my mailbox? Professor Lu’s paper!”
Kanov looked at Agris, the editor-in-chief, and was shocked.
“Wait a second, what did you say? Professor Lu’s paper? He’s back to materials science?”
Agris smiled and said, “What do you mean back, he never left materials science. Have you forgotten who the founder of the theoretical model of computational materials and electrochemical interfaces is? Who the 2018 Nobel Prize winner was!”
The JACS journal had published many Nobel Prize level papers; however, Agris personally reviewed and approved the 2018 Nobel Prize in Chemistry paper!
That achievement alone was enough for him to brag for the rest of his life.
Kanov quietly muttered, “But he doesn’t seem to think so.”
“That doesn’t matter! What matters is what we think! Forget about this, let me have a look first,” Agris said as he printed out the paper and began to read.
Kanov saw that Agris had a weird look on his face. He hesitated for a moment before asking the editor-in-chief, “What’s in the paper?”
“Oxygen molecule transportation using caged carbon molecules in modified PDMS material… Jesus, it’s about lithium-air batteries!” Agris took a deep breath and turned the page as he said, “I’ve heard rumors that the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study is researching lithium-air batteries and that their project leader is Yang Xu!”
Kanov knew of Yang Xu. He had an emotional look on his face.
“The author of this paper is Lu Zhou…”
“Yeah.” Agris gulped and pinched the manuscript with his hand as he said, “Kanov, do you know what this means? This means they might have been successful!”
Kanov didn’t know why Agris kept answering his own questions.
However, he realized why his editor-in-chief was making such a big deal out of this.
Based on his past experience, when it came to popular academic research projects, after the research team made a breakthrough, they often restrained from immediately publishing their results.
Even if they did publish, it was because they were forced to “present their results”. Often times, they would publish trivial research that couldn’t inspire their competitors.
Yang Xu, for example, hadn’t published a single paper in the past year. However, everyone knew that his research team was making good progress.
Now that Lu Zhou suddenly published this paper…
Not to mention that the paper was about a huge breakthrough.
There was only one possibility, which was that the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study had already obtained a patent for this technology, and might have even matured the technology!
This was the only explanation as to why they were willing to publish such a revealing thesis.
There was no question regarding if this paper would get published.
The problem was finding the right reviewer.
Agris looked at Kanov and asked, “Who else is in this research area?”
Kanov thought for a second and said, “Professor Jeff Dahn from Dalhousie University in Canada. He’s a pioneer in the industrial application of LiNixMnyCozO2 and did good research on lithium batteries. He has published countless Science papers… I think he’s a good choice.”
Agris contemplated for a second and said, “It might be difficult. He’s working on an IBM project, so he might not have the free time. We have to find an expert, but not a competitor.”
“That’s going to be difficult.”
Kanov scratched his head, and a name suddenly appeared in his mind. His eyes lit up as he said, “I know someone! He’s the perfect choice!”
Agris asked, “Who?”
“Professor Stanley Whittingham from Binghamton University! He’s published this paper on titanium sulfide cathodes. I think he’s no longer doing experiments, but I still remember how shocked I was when I first read his paper…”
Agris began to look impatient, so Kanov quickly added, “I noticed that Professor Lu referenced a result from Professor Stanley’s caged carbon molecules.
“He’s the perfect reviewer for this thesis!”
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