The 3.8 Billion Year Stone Collected in Zhai Mingguo's Office "This stone is 3.8 billion years old, the oldest stone in China. This piece is 2.5 billion years old. This colored stone is relatively young, about 13 million years old... We mainly look at which stone can better reflect the history of the earth."
Group photo of Zhai Mingguo graduating from Renmin University Affiliated Junior High School (1963)
The rocks found by Zhai Mingguo now stand in the courtyard of the institute
The internal energy of the earth flowing through the magma at sea will be exhausted in another four billion years, calculated by the decay of radioactive isotopes, when the earth will die. Without pulse (earthquake and tectonic movement) and without breathing (volcanic and material cycles), the Earth itself has no "life." Without the oxygen and water we humans need, the Earth will become a "Death Star." Moreover, it is irreversible "death". The future of the earth will eventually die, and where will humanity go? Zhai Mingguo said: Because of this, we now need to study how the earth evolved to the present, and what will happen from now to the future. In the future, there will inevitably be a science called future geology, which will study the appearance of the earth in billions of years, whether earthquakes can still appear, changes in water and oxygen, and how rocks will change, and how the living environment of human beings will change. These are very profound and are crowns in the mysteries of the natural sciences. "While these studies may not change the natural law of the eventual demise of the earth, in-depth exploration can allow humanity to better understand the earth, use the earth, live in harmony with the earth, and explore the future of the global village." "Although the earth will eventually die, but people do not have to worry about the sky, in the course of the 4 billion years of the earth there is a record of civilization history of only a few thousand to ten thousand years, there are billions of years of life on the earth, people's wisdom will be able to solve the problem of the 'future', we need science and must rely on science." Zhai Mingguo said.
"Stars Chasing Dreams" series of video column inscription: Ding Zhongli
Producer: Yang Gu
Director System: Song Leyong
General planner: Zhan Zhao, Song Yajuan
Reporter: Song Yajuan, Zhang Jiaxing, Xiao Chunfang
Choreographer: Xiao Chunfang, Song Yajuan
Coordinator: Qi Fang
Camera: Zhang Jiaxing, Xiao Chunfang
Video Production: Guangming Network Science Popularization Division
Acknowledgements: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Co-produced: Guangming Network of China Association for Science and Technology
Source: Guangming Network WeChat public account