Deep Space Wandering Fleet-Chapter 56 - : Undergraduates Are Inferior to Dogs, Graduate Students Are Everywhere
Chapter 56: Chapter 56: Undergraduates Are Inferior to Dogs, Graduate Students Are Everywhere
Zhang Yuan had interned on the spaceship for a year already, making him quite familiar with the entire living area structure.
He woke up hungry and stepped out of his room, intending to go to the dining hall for a meal.
The air was fresh, with Pu Pu Grass growing in water basins around the hallway. Under the influence of light, it converted the carbon dioxide exhaled by humans into oxygen.
This seaweed-like plant grew swiftly, producing sweet grape-like fruits in about 28 days. If one wanted to eat them, they could freely pick them, as everything along the path was free of charge.
The ceiling’s lights were similar to sunlight. During night, these artificial light sources turned dimmer and softer, making it easy for people to distinguish between day and night.
A few men and women passed by Zhang Yuan, excitedly discussing.
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“Carbon oxygen cycling is a complex science. If the proportions of carbon dioxide and oxygen go out of control, people can easily be poisoned…”
“Microbial community control is the most important part in spaceship environmental studies, specifically involving…”
Along the way, Zhang Yuan heard many hushed conversations, many of which he could not understand.
The academic atmosphere here was remarkably dense, with discussions about scientific issues, spaceships, and even the Fermi Paradox and aliens.
The astronaut exam was far more difficult than the college entrance exam; the spaceship gathered elites from all professions. Everyone had a high awareness of self-learning.
A desire to learn suddenly sprouted within him.
Everyone was striving hard!
He quickened his pace, planning to study intensely after finishing his meal.
Rest?
No need for that!
At that moment, Zhang Yuan noticed a girl in a sailor outfit looking around, appearing lost.
She was about 1.6 meters tall and looked adorable.
“Do you need any help?”
Zhang Yuan figured she might be going for a meal. He knew the spaceship well, so helping a little seemed fine.
“Excuse me, how do I get to the Biological Science Conference Hall?” The girl’s accent was a bit strange, and by Zhang Yuan’s guess, she might be a foreigner.
Astronauts from the Earth Era were recruited globally, so encountering foreigners was quite normal.
“Biological Science Conference Hall?”
Zhang Yuan was slightly taken aback, unaware of the conference venue.
“It’s the one… presided over by Professor Mendel,” the girl said, somewhat embarrassed.
“Do you have the exact coordinates?”
“E-14 area.”
“Oh, you’re going the wrong way. It’s in that direction,” Zhang Yuan smiled faintly and pointed in a direction. “Walk about three or four hundred meters, turn left, and take the elevator.”
“Thank you so much. I really appreciate your help.”
The girl bowed politely and then turned to leave.
This was just a minor episode, but Zhang Yuan’s desire to learn grew even stronger!
The girl he just encountered seemed to be his age, yet she was invited to attend a conference on Biological Science.
Zhang Yuan sighed deeply.
“Without good papers, without a high degree, you barely have the right to breathe; undergraduates have indeed become the lowest class of society…”
“I guess there’s no one with a lower degree than mine.”
“I need to check on my paper, it’s been over ten days since I submitted it…”
After so many days, there should have been some response.
He rushed to the cafeteria, hurriedly ate a few bites of rice. There weren’t any special dishes, the vegetables were naturally grown without pollution, hydroponically, but all the meat dishes were synthetic and didn’t taste very good.
Zhang Yuan hurried back to his dormitory, connected to the spaceship communication system, and requested access to the Earth internet.
“Hello, please select the data package you would like to purchase. 1 CNY = 1 GB.”
The average distance between the Moon and Earth is about 380,000 kilometers, electromagnetic communication travels at the speed of light, so the round trip delay was over two seconds, making real-time online gaming practically impossible.
However, sending emails, making calls, or watching videos was no problem, as long as you could tolerate a two-second delay.
After a while, Zhang Yuan opened his email and found a reply quietly waiting there.
It was unclear how far the review process had gone.
He opened the email with a slightly anxious heart, and his face slightly changed.
“Hello, your viewpoints are good, but there are many shortcomings…”
“…therefore, we’re not considering it for review at this time.”
What’s going on!
My paper was rejected?
Zhang Yuan frowned and read the email carefully.
This editor didn’t outright reject the review, but offered many suggestions for revisions.
But to make the changes they required, I’d have to almost completely rewrite the structure of the paper—it wouldn’t be much different from starting a new one.
Zhang Yuan sighed a few times. Publishing in “Modern Science” is indeed not easy.
He didn’t want to waste too much time on this, what if he rewrote the paper and they were still not satisfied?
He immediately made a call to Professor Wang Zhong on Earth, asking the elder for guidance—surely that couldn’t be wrong.
“What? ‘Modern Science’ rejected it? Asked you to rewrite it?”
“Yes, I’ll forward the review email to you.”
Professor Wang Zhong inspected the email on his computer for about a minute, then spoke somewhat puzzledly, “What kind of review comments are these, all vague and cumbersome, isn’t this just making things difficult?”
He hesitated slightly, then as if he realized something, he whispered, “Your paper only has your name on it, right? I’ve heard that some unethical journal editors, seeing you have no backing, might take the opportunity to solicit bribes. Has he contacted you privately to ask for a bribe?”
Zhang Yuan responded in surprise, “There has been no private contact… ‘Modern Science’ has editors like that?”
Professor Wang continued, “No matter where, there’s always a darker side, unrelated to the influence of the journal. If someone really calls to solicit a bribe, you could record it and let me handle it. As for the paper, if you’re in a hurry, you could switch to another journal, such as ‘Scientific Pioneer’…”
“Although the impact factor is lower, we have more sway there, and could help expedite your review. You might want to consult Professor Lu on this issue.”
Zhang Yuan then called Professor Lu Junzhe at the Mechanical Engineering College of Xisha University.
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“It didn’t pass even the first round?” Professor Lu Junzhe raised his voice, “‘Modern Science’ has really gone downhill, demanding revisions for such a paper! Who reviewed it?”
All their subsequent work was based on Zhang Yuan’s paper, and now it was being sent back, plus with the annual evaluation approaching in a few months, how could he not be anxious?
“I don’t know who reviewed it.” Zhang Yuan said, “Can I submit it to ‘Scientific Pioneer’?”
After some thought, Professor Lu replied, “Well, ‘Scientific Pioneer’ is also good, although the impact factor is slightly lower; if you don’t mind, go ahead.”
“I’ll call Editor Hu and ask him to expedite the review of your paper.”
Zhang Yuan didn’t mind, he just wanted his paper to be published as soon as possible.
Gold always shines; just by changing the journal, it wouldn’t be buried, would it?
…
