Under the remote control of numerous clones, a thousand probes, each with a radius of about five meters and shaped like a sphere, akin to a submarine's sensor, were transported by Jupiter aircraft and dropped into the gas giant designated as number 2.
Amidst the supersonic gales, the near-constant colossal thunderstorms, and the countless hailstorms, these submarine probes evaded numerous obstacles, venturing unprecedentedly deep into the atmosphere of this gas giant, only to lose contact with Li Qingsong moments later.
There was no recourse. The gas here was too dense, the magnetic field too strong, and the interference was overwhelming. No communication method Li Qingsong had mastered could maintain contact with the submarine probes under these conditions.
The only hope lay in the intelligent programs embedded within those submarine probes.
If all went according to plan, they would descend through tens of thousands of kilometers of atmosphere, reach the metallic hydrogen layer of the gas giant, and then resurface, bringing back information from that region.
Of course, this was merely an experiment; they didn't need to dive that deep this time.
Time quietly passed. According to the preset program, they should have already descended to a depth of about 5,000 kilometers.
After staying there for an hour, they would begin to ascend. If all went well, they would complete the ascent in three days.
Li Qingsong, controlling numerous clones, waited at the edge of this massive gas giant.
Time slipped by silently, and several days passed in an instant.
Numerous Jupiter aircraft and Xuan Bird platforms converged at the designated ascent point, closely scanning the planet's surface amidst the wind and rain.
"Even in such a harsh environment, surely at least one out of ten probes built with the peak technology of an electroweak civilization should survive, right? I don't even expect a hundred out of a thousand submarine probes to return; just ten would be enough."
Li Qingsong thought silently.
The return time had arrived. But as far as the eye could see, there was only the supersonic gale and thunderstorms of the gas giant.
Not a single shadow of a submarine probe could be seen.
Li Qingsong waited for another three days. Finally, he spotted the shadow of a submarine probe.
It ascended with extreme difficulty, its hard metallic surface covered in a dense network of scratches, as if it were about to collapse at any moment.
Fortunately, all of its internal equipment was intact.
Li Qingsong towed it back to the laboratory and quickly began analyzing it.
After reviewing the data, Li Qingsong sighed and completely abandoned the plan to probe the metallic hydrogen layer of the gas giant.
The pressure there was far too immense; even his specially designed probes couldn't withstand it. The meteorological conditions were also too severe; the constant changes in airflow could easily tear apart these probes that he had meticulously designed.
The fact that one out of a thousand submarine probes had successfully returned was already a stroke of incredible luck.
And this was only after venturing 5,000 kilometers into the gas giant's atmosphere.
The depth of the metallic hydrogen layer was about 20,000 kilometers.
The environment there was countless times more hostile than the depth the probes had reached.
Perhaps even if he truly unified the strong nuclear force, it would be nearly impossible to create a probe capable of reaching the metallic hydrogen layer of a gas giant.
"If the plan to probe the gas giant is not feasible, then I can only try another route.
In the entire exploration plan, the most important thing is the 'vibration' caused by the sudden decay of protons.
This vibration must be extremely minute. And sufficient pressure is a prerequisite for amplifying this vibration.
The reason is obvious: the greater the pressure, the more violent the collision of matter when a proton suddenly decays and disappears.
At the same time, there must be enough matter. If there is enough matter, there will be enough protons, and the probability of proton decay will be higher.
Considering the above factors, perhaps… I can simulate the internal environment of a gas giant and create a new type of probe?
Li Qingsong gradually had a flash of inspiration.
"This probe must have a large enough volume and mass, and its internal medium must be subjected to a sufficiently large external pressure. Only in this way will the 'vibration' after proton decay have sufficient intensity.
At the same time, this internal medium should necessarily use hydrogen, and not other elements. Because the nuclei of other elements have many protons. Even if a proton is lost, it will only decay into another element, and it will still have enough material support.
However, a hydrogen nucleus has only one proton. Once it decays and disappears, the atom will disappear directly, creating a 'cavity,' which will cause vibration.
This probe must be located in zero-gravity space, because any external gravity may interfere with the detection accuracy, causing the probe to miss the slight vibration caused by proton decay.
Once this probe is built, no machinery can be operated inside it, because the operation of any machinery will cause vibration, causing interference and affecting the detection accuracy.
Therefore, its probe main device and power supply device should be separate. I need to build a dedicated fusion power station next to it…"
In the process of slow contemplation, this unprecedented new type of probe gradually took shape in Li Qingsong's mind.
It should be known that the deepest part of the Earth's ocean, the Mariana Trench, is only subjected to a pressure of about 1,100 times atmospheric pressure.
And at this moment, this number is more than 180 times the pressure at the bottom of the Mariana Trench!
This is almost equivalent to the pressure exerted when the weight of more than 180 elephants is entirely pressed on a human fingernail.
In the laboratory environment, Li Qingsong did use laser shock and magnetic compression technology to create pressures far exceeding this number, even up to hundreds of millions of times the Earth's atmospheric pressure.
But that was in the laboratory, and only facing extremely small objects.
And at this moment, the mass of the material that Li Qingsong needs to pressurize is as high as 160 million tons!
The two are fundamentally different.
Moreover, even if Li Qingsong really managed to stably apply a pressure of 200,000 times atmospheric pressure to 160 million tons of hydrogen, this would only reach the lower limit for detecting proton decay vibrations.
160 million tons of hydrogen contains approximately 10^38 protons. Assuming a proton lifetime of 10^37 years, only an average of 10 protons will decay each year.
A pressure of 200,000 times atmospheric pressure will only amplify the vibration to a detectable precision limit. If you want to be more sensitive, it is best to increase the mass of hydrogen contained inside the probe by ten times, and at the same time increase the pressure to twice the original pressure.
Thus, it is a pressure of 400,000 times atmospheric pressure and billion tons of hydrogen.
Faced with these performance indicators, even Li Qingsong felt a little heavy.
The difficulty of building this probe is really high…
But it is always easier than venturing into the metallic hydrogen layer of a gas giant to try to distinguish that tiny bit of "starquake."
At the same time, Li Qingsong confirmed that this is indeed a potentially correct path to detect proton decay.
Because, in theory, although it is difficult to build this probe, ordinary electroweak civilizations still have the possibility of building it.
Since this is the case… then there is nothing to say.
Build!
