A post-80s doctor with a domestic monthly salary of 5,000 is not wanted, but an annual salary of 120 million US dollars after going abroad? My detailed response is here

Every reporter: Yang Yu Every editor: Duan Lian, Dong Xingsheng

When it was rumored on the Internet that "Dr. Frustrated" had gone to work in the United States with an annual salary of 120 million US dollars and owned a manor, the person involved, Liu Benliang, was immersed in independent research at his home in Beijing.

This unexplained Internet hype reminds people of the TV job hunting program that Liu Benliang participated in four years ago.

At the beginning of 2018, 35-year-old Liu Benliang was facing the most difficult moment in his life: in Beijing, he had no job, little savings left, and his second child was born prematurely. Therefore, he, who was originally concentrating on research, decided to participate in that program, not asking for much, with a monthly salary of 5,000. Many judges expressed their disbelief at the low salary and questioned their doctoral status.

It is reported that Liu Benliang has a bright school experience. Liu Benliang was born in Shandong in 1983. He graduated from Shandong University with a bachelor's degree, a master's degree from the Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and a doctorate degree from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. It is understood that the topic of Dr. Liu Benliang's dissertation is to use noble metals to enhance the optical field strength, focusing on the manufacture of noble metal nano-resonance units. After graduating from his Ph.D., Liu Benliang once worked in Beidou Navigation Company, focusing on the research of "sensor materials". Because it was completely irrelevant to the direction he was interested in, he left after a year.

Image source: The Paper

For many years, Liu Benliang has been obsessed with solving energy problems. In the program, he explained what the outside world considers to be a "crazy" scientific research direction: in the future, a AA battery will be enough to power a family for decades. Because of this, in the show, he was ridiculed several times by the boss present. After the show was broadcast, Liu Benliang was even regarded as a "heterogeneous" among job seekers.

The contrast between his ambition and the current situation of embarrassment has made Liu Benliang a "low-spirited talent" in the public's mouth, and his "annual salary of 120 million US dollars" fits the expectations of the outside world for his "Road to Revenge". For a while, the "Shuangwen" rumors that were first hyped up by the self-media spread rapidly.

Image source: Internet

"Suddenly, a lot of people (in the classmate group) came to add me on QQ, and sent me messages saying how did you go to the United States. I don't know what happened." Economic News" reporter interview.

Liu Benliang said that his current independent research direction is in the same line as that explained in the program, and he is lonely but contentedly walking on the scientific research path he has chosen. Faced with the concern and confusion of his followers, he called himself a "whaling man" and hoped that everyone would understand that "for some people, there is another way of motivation besides money."

At the same time, he also believes that talents will not be buried, they just need air and water to take root and grow. "Give me some time and I will prove that I am not a talent."

Refuting the rumor that "going to work in the United States with an annual salary of 120 million US dollars"Still insisting on independent research in China

According to The Paper, in 2018, due to the pressure of survival, Liu Benliang participated in the recording of the job hunting program "It's You".

In this controversial program, Liu Benliang said on stage that the direction he was researching was cold nuclear fusion. He also said that he was inventing a No. 5 battery, which can be used by a family for 10 years. "Doing scientific research by myself is for the benefit of mankind, not for making money, but the family needs financial support, father and wife need to live, 5,000 yuan is enough." Liu Benliang said.

After self-introduction, many judges expressed their disbelief at the low salary and questioned his doctoral status. A judge asked, "What is EV? What is ph-EV?" Liu Benliang said he didn't know. The judge said that this is currently the most popular concept in the new energy vehicle industry. Liu Benliang replied, "I don't look down on new energy vehicles. I am more than an order of magnitude better than its batteries. It is a difference at the level of civilization."

Later, another judge asked him questions such as "Can you speak a few words of Cantonese (because he has studied in Hong Kong for many years)" and "Where did you live in Hong Kong when you were studying for a PhD?" Liu Benliang said that he could not answer.

Recalling his own performance in this episode, Liu Benliang also admitted, "There is still some bragging."

NBD: Why did you participate in the job hunting program?

Liu Benliang: The program was recorded in January 2018. At that time, the second child (the second child) was just born, and the family had no savings, and the second child was born prematurely and cost seven to eighty thousand. At that time, I was the most troubled, and I felt that I was in a very uncomfortable state all day long. I had no other choice, so I went to record that program.

The recording is also divided into several times. The first time is the preliminary selection, choose your story, and then go to the training, and the third time is the official recording. The program was broadcast in April of that year, and it went through several months of editing. When I was recruited, I knew that I had failed in my job search.

Liu Benliang when he participated in the job hunting program Source: video screenshot

NBD: After the recording of the program in 2018, how did you solve the work problem?

Liu Benliang: (Participating in the program) After failing to find a job, I was pulled back by my colleagues and went to work in the research institute of my previous (where) company. In March last year, the company withdrew the research institute, and I left the company again to continue to do (research) on my own.

NBD: There are rumors on the Internet that you are going to work in the United States with an annual salary of 120 million US dollars. What is your current situation?

Liu Benliang: The fact that I went to the United States was suddenly hyped up. In fact, I have been in Beijing all the time, and I have never left Beijing. In the past ten years, I have never thought of going to a foreign country, and there is a high probability that I will not go to the United States to do this research in the future, because China is already enough for me to develop my ability.

Liu Benliang Photo source: Photo by reporter Li Shaoting

"Minke" or "Wizard"?

Not interested in small fish and shrimp topics

According to The Paper, regarding the special case of Liu Benliang, there are probably two voices in the current boiling Internet public opinion. A voice still questioned Liu Benliang's research direction, saying that he deviated from the professional direction and became a "minke" (folk scientist). "The doctor of cold fusion is about as reliable as the doctor of water to oil." A netizen commented.

It is understood that nuclear fusion usually requires high temperatures above tens of millions of degrees Celsius. This temperature is to allow the nuclei to have enough energy to overcome the repulsion between each other, so that they can gather together and generate more energy.

And cold fusion, that is, nuclear fusion that does not require high temperature (below 1000 degrees) (muon catalysis can also greatly reduce the fusion temperature, but it is usually not included in this category). It is understood that cold fusion has been popular for a while in the late 1980s. Chemist Fleischmann said that in the process of electrolyzing heavy water with palladium, he observed an unusually high energy output, claiming to achieve cold fusion, but later proved that the experiment was not repeatable .

However, some people in the industry said that aside from the feasibility of cold nuclear fusion, Liu Benliang's other theory that "one battery can be used by the whole family for 10 years" is indeed based on physics, that is, Einstein's mass-energy equation. "If the mass of a No. 5 battery is completely lost, it can indeed release a huge amount of energy, but the current human research and technical means are too rough. At this stage, the only primary means of utilizing atomic energy are thermonuclear fission and thermonuclear fusion."

NBD: What kind of research are you still doing in recent years?

Liu Benliang: There are two main research directions for me now. One is to (solve) the energy problem mentioned in the program before. Let me clarify here, In fact, that is not (through) cold nuclear fusion, but belongs to the output energy of quantum motion, and the energy is obtained by changing the nature of the vacuum environment. The energy behind it is not very clear to us now, but it is only deduced from the existing laws of physics, and there must be such a device.

The other one is, I have always hoped to make an algorithm that can explain random phenomena, and I can use this algorithm to study the changes in space after the success of our device, and see if I can get some very interesting data. For example, Is it possible to detect the state of a star several light years away or the occurrence of certain events.

NBD: The outside world is very concerned about the research of "cold nuclear fusion". How did you come into contact with this research, and why did you not continue to do it?

Liu Benliang: When I came to Beijing from Hong Kong, I was actually researching cold nuclear fusion. At the same time, I was also developing something else, which was like an umbrella. It could gather sunlight. I think Make a small amount of money by making a handicraft, and develop it for a year. But I suddenly realized that when I was 30 years old and my energy was at my peak, I decided to solve difficult problems. Don’t spend too much time on simple things like making money. A lot of time.

I heard about cold nuclear fusion when I was studying for a master's degree. I came into contact with cold nuclear fusion in 2009, when I was still in Hong Kong. After leaving Hong Kong, I still pondered for a year, and then I suddenly realized that cold fusion is not as simple as I thought. To sum up, I think it is hopeless for me to do this, so I decided to quit at the end of 2011.

Facts have proved that I might have been right not to do it at the time, because a professor at Tsinghua University did it all his life but never did it. But cold fusion made me realize that there may be an ideal form of energy with huge capacity, no nuclear radiation, and very safe.

NBD: What problem is your current research trying to solve, or what applications will it have?

Liu Benliang: The problem we want to solve is using quantum motion to drive everything. It will bring a series of effects, such as changing the nature of space, and we can use this effect to make new types of transportation, such as realizing anti-gravity or artificial force fields. This is all something to say later, but the most important core is that We have found some ways that do not seem to contradict the existing scientific laws in theory to achieve the goal of quantum-driven everything.

When I was on the show in 2018, I felt that "solid-state devices" had been successful, but two years later, I felt that there were still problems in it, and then I rethought it.

NBD: Your research field sounds like it takes a lot of energy and investment. Why do you insist on studying these "big problems"?

Liu Benliang: When I was exposed to energy issues when I was an undergraduate, I planted an idea in my heart to solve energy problems. Especially when I met some teachers when I was an undergraduate, they said that I was the best student they had ever seen. This sentence put me under great pressure, but such a seed was planted in my heart-to do something special s things.

(Later) when I was doing my master's thesis, I wanted to study the evolution process of helium bubbles of a certain material. I had just been exposed to this topic for about a few days, and I had a picture of how helium bubbles evolve and how they gather. After finishing my graduation thesis, I found that it matched my image very well. Then I learned about myself, and I turned out to be a person who is good at this kind of image thinking.

(In the next few years) I have been tempered by wind and waves, and I have indeed mastered a certain ability to capture big problems, and now I am only interested in these big problems. I think I'm a whale hunter, you ask me to catch those small fish and shrimps, you can't arouse my interest, I don't feel excited, I have no interest in doing it. I'd rather be poor and poor, I'm going to catch big fish.

NBD: Do you want to work in a scientific research institution after graduation?

Liu Benliang: Actually, it’s not that I don’t want to go, (but) I have the final say, if I go to work under a boss, I must be doing a project assigned by the boss. I can't bear it, I've seen big winds and big waves, those subjects are really small fish and small shrimp.

Basically, with the current scientific research platform, I can't see a place that can give me great opportunities. For example, if I didn't put in the energy to publish good papers, then I couldn't get into a better school or research unit that would allow me to conduct independent research. I must do it under the hands of others, they will divide my projects, and I will waste (time). I haven't solved my "big fish" problem so far, so I have no other choice.

NBD: If the research you are doing now requires experimental instruments and investment, what should you do?

Liu Benliang: This thing is the way to be poor, and the way to be rich. The way to be poor is to use more brains, and the way to be rich is to use brains and do experiments. I don’t think this is important.

Now I mainly do algorithms, so there is no cost. I bought all the computers, and I don't do experiments. If the algorithm is successful, I can afford any kind of equipment, so I worked hard to develop my algorithm successfully. I think I can do it for sure. I am still a little confident, but it is also very difficult. But I think that as long as this matter does not violate the laws of science, it can basically be successful. It is just a matter of time (problem), and it just takes a lot of energy to do it.

"The whole world should understand that there is another way to motivate than money"

NBD: Have you estimated how many years later your research will be fruitful?

Liu Benliang: In fact, it has a special meaning for me to engage in these things. When I was doing (research), the happiness was just like those fishermen who "snapped" to catch a big fish, and he had no shortage of fish to eat, so he was very happy when he caught a fish. I feel very happy fishing those "big fish", so I am not very willing to publish this (through) paper.

A lot of university professors are publishing papers, they have their understanding of science, mine is not like that. I think doing scientific research is a person's happiness. Only by motivating yourself to keep forging ahead and finally forming a system can you be able to output. After publishing it, I feel that it is meaningless and that thing is not happy anymore. Do you still have the motivation to continue it?

So I think the whole world should understand that besides money, there is another kind of motivation, the kind of incentive (people) that "catch big fish". I allow you to not publish papers for many, many years, you can do your own research, and once a system is formed, you will publish it. Because you haven't formed a system, it's boring to post once, and it feels like others are discussing your affairs all day long.

There are some very superb creations, you have to allow them to be kept secret, to belong to one person, to be perfected and developed by him. Just like Newton, he felt that the whole system was formed, so he told the world all about it.

NBD: What suggestions do you have for the current scientific research ecology?

Liu Benliang: I think different experiences will lead to different understandings, and ultimately different choices. Most of us now regard the scientific research system as an input-output system. I invest in it, and you have to publish a few papers, make a few patents, and achieve what results. This is a capitalized thing. But I think that real innovation is not like this, it includes your achievements in personal life. A scientist grows old, but catches a "big fish" and immortalizes his life. It is necessary to create conditions that allow him to have this kind of motivation.

Like some mathematicians, he can continue to be highly productive, because mathematicians are more like creating one technology after another. But a physicist is different. A physicist will feel that he has mastered the secret of "God", and he will cherish it more, which is another psychological state.

I think the whole scientific research system still has some room for improvement. Now it is much better than before, but it needs to be more humane and less materialistic. Scientific research is a huge ecology, which requires various "species" and some mutated molecules to jump out of local optimum, achieve better scientific research results, and make greater contributions to society. This can be regarded as self-defense: allow these mutant molecules to exist, let them conduct research quietly, give full play to their advantages, and give full play to their specialties.

(Intern Lei Qinglan also contributed to this article)

Reporter|Yang Yu

Editor| Duan Lian Dong Xingsheng Du Hengfeng

Proofreading| Cheng Peng

Part of the content is synthesized from The Paper

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