Chapter 51: The Energy Paradox

“Hello everyone, I am Arthur Lambert from the Tesla Institute.”

The speaker was a young man, barely over twenty years old, with a face that still held traces of adolescence. He looked shy and visibly nervous seeing so many people in the audience.

“Today, I will be presenting my research findings regarding the Noah’s vacuum zero-point energy, quantum fluctuations, and the conservation of energy…”

Young and inexperienced, Arthur launched immediately into a dense discussion of quantum theory. He flashed through holographic slides, manipulating various calculus formulas and speaking in a jargon that only a specialized physicist could hope to follow. The rest of the audience was left completely bewildered.

However, the audience was polite. Even those who didn’t understand a word remained seated, quietly watching this rising star of the scientific community show off his knowledge.

When Arthur finally finished speaking, there was a moment of profound silence. Surprisingly, no one raised a hand to ask a question.

“Uh… does anyone have any questions?” Arthur sensed the atmosphere was off and stood awkwardly on the stage, shifting his weight.

The experienced Dr. Felix knew exactly where the young man had gone wrong. A senior scientist should always look after the younger generation. Besides, Felix had read Arthur’s paper long ago and knew its value.

He stood up from his seat and asked encouragingly, “Mr. Lambert, could you tell us how you discovered this problem? Please try to explain it as plainly as possible.”

The question touched upon Arthur’s proudest achievement. His expression grew confident. “As everyone knows, the mass of the Noah is conserved. No matter how much material is loaded inside, its external mass remains unchanged.”

“This is miraculous, but it is a fact. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be able to propel hundreds of millions of tons of material. Not even a billion-ton equivalent nuclear drive would suffice.”

“Yes, that’s true.” The scientists in the audience nodded. This had always been a point of fascination and confusion for them.

“We have reason to believe that an alien civilization, using methods we don’t understand, has ’hidden’ this mass, perhaps through spatial folding or dimensional technology. However, this mass has not disappeared; it’s merely masked. The people inside are alive and the cargo is physical. The mass is real.”

“So, I had a thought: since this spaceship is so miraculous, is energy conserved? Does the Law of Conservation of Energy apply to this vessel?”

“The hull of the spaceship has a constant mass of 1.03 million tons. Yet, we have loaded billions of tons of material inside. Does this lead to a violation of energy conservation?” Arthur posited from the stage.

“Dr. Lambert, could you explain why loading cargo would violate conservation?” someone asked, their curiosity finally piqued.

Arthur immediately explained, “According to the kinetic energy formula under macroscopic low-speed conditions, E = 1/2 mv^2, the kinetic energy of an object is directly proportional to its mass and the square of its velocity. So, the question arises: do the billions of tons of material inside the spaceship actually possess kinetic energy?”

“Everyone knows that our spaceship’s velocity is currently around 28 km/s relative to the sun. Do the people inside the spaceship share that velocity?”

“If we have zero velocity, then our kinetic energy is zero, and energy is conserved.”

“But if we share the same velocity as the spaceship, then we must ask: for billions of tons of matter moving at such high speeds, where does the kinetic energy come from? Who gave us this energy?”

“Our nuclear and chemical engines simply cannot provide enough power to generate that much kinetic energy for the internal mass. Did this energy appear out of thin air? Is energy truly conserved within the Noah?”

A murmur ran through the crowd. Everyone fell into deep thought, a sense of tension and alarm rising in the room. The problem was straightforward, yet terrifying: if the cargo inside the spaceship had kinetic energy, where was the source?

Was the Law of Conservation of Energy being overthrown right before their eyes?

A twenty-two-year-old scientist was challenging the most classic theorem in physics, the First Law of Thermodynamics!

Energy can neither be created nor destroyed; it can only be transformed or transferred. The total amount of energy must remain constant. This law is the foundation of the entire edifice of science.

If Arthur was right, the physics would collapse. The history of physics would be rewritten, technology would become unreliable, and centuries of research papers would become scrap paper.

Human civilization, built upon these physical laws, would be standing on ruins.

Faces in the audience turned pale. An unparalleled fear gripped their hearts. If the laws they had learned since childhood were wrong, what was real?

The Law of Conservation cannot be overthrown!

“So, what is the velocity of the objects inside our spaceship? Is it zero? or is it 28 km/s?” a scientist in the audience asked, his voice trembling.

“I’m very sorry,” Arthur said solemnly. “After testing, our internal velocity is consistent with the spaceship’s external velocity.”

“At first, I was shocked. Was energy no longer conserved? Like everyone else, I believe in the laws of physics… but we must find an explanation for this phenomenon.”

“Since the kinetic energy of the internal matter cannot be provided by the nuclear engine, either energy is being created out of thin air, or an unknown, powerful energy source we haven’t discovered is bestowing this kinetic energy upon us.”

The audience erupted into noise. If there was a hidden source, then conservation was saved. That was easier to accept. Arthur’s words had hooked them. Where did this energy come from?

Arthur presented his evidence. “I believe that our internal speed is consistent with the spaceship’s external speed based on two facts.”

“First, inertia. When we walk from the interior of the spaceship to the exterior hull, we experience no sudden acceleration or deceleration relative to the ship. This indicates that our velocity vector remains highly consistent with the Noah.”

“If our internal speed were zero, stepping outside onto the moving hull would result in us being instantly flung away at 28 km/s. This does not happen.”

“Second, I conducted a time dilation experiment. According to the Theory of Relativity, time slows down for an object in motion. I placed two cesium atomic clocks, one inside the ship and one on the outer hull. After a period, the time displayed by both clocks was exactly the same.”

“This confirms that we are subject to the same relativistic effects inside the ship as the hull is outside. We are moving.”

Many people nodded. The proof was solid. The internal matter possessed velocity.

“In that case, Dr. Lambert, where does the kinetic energy come from?” a scientist shouted.

“I believe our kinetic energy comes from Vacuum Zero-Point Energy. We are borrowing energy from the vacuum via quantum fluctuations.”

Arthur continued, “Quantum fluctuation refers to the uncertainty principle allowing a small amount of energy to randomly appear in empty space, provided that this energy disappears again within a microscopic timeframe. The greater the energy, the shorter its existence.”

“It seemingly violates conservation, but because the energy is returned to the vacuum almost instantly, on a macro scale, the law holds.”

“However, on the Noah, this ’borrowed’ energy has been stabilized. It has become our kinetic energy. It appears out of thin air, but its essence is drawn from the background energy of the universe itself…”

Those who didn’t understand the math were lost, but those who did gasped.

It was truly god-like technology.

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