Chapter 81

"Hello, I am Smith, the Chief Editor of Physiology at Nature magazine. Mr. Zhuo, you look so young. In the materials you sent, you mentioned that you are only 27 years old. If this is true, you and Einstein made groundbreaking discoveries at almost the same age." Fan Yucheng knew that Westerners rarely ask strangers about their age, so the other party must be truly amazed.

"Yes, I am Zhuo Chuan, and I am exactly 27 years old," Zhuo Chuan replied. He was well aware of the reference to Einstein, the great scientist who, at the age of 26 to 27, published a paper titled "A Heuristic Viewpoint on the Generation and Transformation of Light," which was later verified 21 years later, earning him the Nobel Prize in Physics. His era was a time when young scientists emerged in large numbers, making one significant scientific discovery after another.

"In this new century, there are almost no scientists as young as you, I mean, scientists who have made such great discoveries," Fan Yucheng continued, already deeply impressed.

"The paper you submitted four days ago, 'On the Principle of Predicting Human Physiological Conditions from Changes in Electrocardiographic Signals,' has been reviewed twice. Thirteen professional reviewers have conducted experiments based on your proposed theory and have preliminarily confirmed its correctness. We are preparing to publish it in the next issue. The magazine has entrusted me to inform you of some precautions," Fan Yucheng quickly translated the video conversation.

"Hello, please go ahead," Zhuo Chuan responded politely.

"Your paper, after being reviewed by thirteen professional reviewers, has received unanimous praise. If it is further clinically verified, it will be the most significant medical discovery in fifteen years. We take this very seriously. After checking, we found no similar papers or research published in public journals. We would like to confirm whether you have submitted and published this paper in any other public journals?" As Fan Yucheng translated, she became increasingly astonished. She knew Smith's level and status; at the Asian academic forum, the young scholars who surrounded him were a clear indication.

"No," Zhuo Chuan replied.

"Excellent, we are honored to be the first public journal to publish this paper. Nature magazine will once again record a great scientific innovation..." Fan Yucheng found the translation effortless, as Smith's opening was entirely praise for Zhuo Chuan. In her experience, foreigners were extremely straightforward, and Smith's repeated compliments to Zhuo Chuan could only mean that the paper was not only genuine but also of greater importance than she had imagined.

The conversation lasted less than an hour, with Smith spending most of the time praising the significance and originality of Zhuo Chuan's paper. He only briefly mentioned some technical terms, and the translation was not as difficult as she had expected.

What surprised her even more was Zhuo Chuan's learning ability. In just over half an hour, he began to understand Smith's conversation. Often, she only needed to translate Zhuo Chuan's words to Smith, as Zhuo Chuan's pronunciation was not yet standard or fluent, making it difficult for Smith to understand.

Smith also informed Zhuo Chuan that the paper was not only highly impactful in content but also required no revisions and could be published directly as a formal paper in the next week. They even believed the author was more familiar with the journal's publication rules than they were.

In many cases, authors need to make multiple revisions, but this submitted paper showed no such need. This could only be attributed to the author's extensive and meticulous preparation before submission.

He expressed special gratitude to Zhuo Chuan, as this greatly reduced the workload of the editors, allowing them to focus on verifying the content's authenticity. He was excited that this great paper could be published a few days or weeks earlier. He said he was eager to see the world's reaction, as the journal did not lack significant discoveries in the industry, but it had been a long time since such a paper was published. Once it was released, even laypeople, who might not understand the formulas and terms, would be greatly impressed.

The call ended quickly. Smith told Zhuo Chuan that he would see his paper published in Nature magazine next Monday. He also informed him that the entire journal would reserve sufficient space to publish Zhuo Chuan's lengthy paper, without any cuts, breaking the usual practice and significantly reducing the space occupied by other articles and communications.

Zhuo Chuan expressed his gratitude.

After the translation, Fan Yucheng was convinced that a new star in the scientific world was about to rise, and the most significant discovery of the new century was about to be revealed. She, as one of the first to know, could not help but engage Zhuo Chuan in conversation, despite her usual reserve.

"Mr. Zhuo, how did you make such a significant discovery? I wonder if I have the honor of knowing?"

Zhuo Chuan was not surprised. In fact, during the clinical trials at the hospital, many doctors had asked similar questions, not just about the principles but also about how he made such a discovery. At that time, Zhuo Chuan had no time to waste explaining, so he had given vague technical answers.

With the publication of this paper, it was inevitable that he would have to answer this question in the media. Zhuo Chuan was well-prepared, not only with a solid reason but also with his own secret weapon: the two abilities he had acquired in the new world—astonishing memory and computational power. These two abilities could explain why he made such a great discovery at such a young age. In the official reports, this would be presented as the birth of another genius.

"Of course, there's nothing to hide. In fact, I started this research in high school. I was raised by my grandfather, who was not in good health and liked to drink. He had several episodes, but fortunately, he was taken to the hospital in time. In the hospital's intensive care unit, I first encountered an electrocardiographic monitor and understood that electrocardiographic signals could provide real-time alerts about a person's physiological condition. This inspired me to explore the idea of predicting changes in physiological conditions through electrocardiographic signals, a mix of truth and fiction..."

What Zhuo Chuan said was partly true and partly fabricated. He would not lie about his grandfather. In high school, he had indeed thought that if there were a device to predict his grandfather's condition, he wouldn't have to worry about his grandfather's safety while he was in class. Fortunately, no such incident occurred. His grandfather passed away at 89, a year after Zhuo Chuan graduated from university and started working. The only regret was that he never got to see his grandson's children.

But to say he conducted research at that time was a stretch. He spent nearly 16 hours a day studying, slept for only about 5 hours, and had no time left for research after eating and resting.

...