Homo sapiens.

Chapter 389 Difficulties
Dongying, Tokyo.

5 month 11 day.

Because of the influence of the Tokyo fungus, at this time, biological research institutions around the world are deeply studying the various characteristics of the fungus.

According to the information disclosed so far, Tokyo Fungi has relatively comprehensive data on various plastic products and their decomposition speeds in different environments.

And the three large companies that met in Tokyo today also got the data they wanted to know.

The three companies are: America's Tyco, France's Alcatel-Lucent, and Japan's NEC.

Maybe many people don't know what they do, that's because their products seldom appear directly in daily life, but anyone who has used computers and mobile phones has indirectly used the products of these three companies.

Tyco, Alcatel-Lucent, and NEC are the world's top three submarine cable engineering giants, contracting almost 90% of the world's submarine optical cable and cable construction projects.

However, this pattern is the data before Homo sapiens was formally established.

After the Homo sapiens company officially debuted last year, the Coral Submarine Cable Company was established to be responsible for the construction of submarine cable projects in the Homo sapiens company territory and its subsidiary areas.

The problem is that the area that is easy to be corroded is not in the shallow waters that are easy to replace, but in the seabed below a depth of more than 500 meters.

As the host, Nobuyoshi Takeda, president of NEC, has a very serious expression: "Everyone, everyone has seen the results of the evaluation report. Although the corrosion rate of fungi on the plastic protective layer of submarine optical cables is slower than that in tropical areas, it still cannot be ignored."

Coupled with the aftermath of the economic crisis, the Internet giants have become more cautious about the layout of submarine optical cables.

"Hehe, even if there is such a submarine, do you think Homo sapiens will sell it to us?" Thales asked with a sneer.

Thales gritted his teeth: "Damn it! This fungus appeared too suddenly."

Unless they are willing to redesign the route and change it to a shallow sea route.

But this time, as soon as the evaluation report of Tokyo Fungus came out, the top executives of Tyco, Alcatel-Lucent, and NEC rushed to hold a secret meeting in Tokyo.

And some submarine optical cables need to pass through ultra-deep seas similar to the Luzon Trench, Mariana Trench, and Solomon Trench.

Especially in the middle and high latitude regions with cold weather, the service life can be increased to about 30 years.

Although Europe and the United States are very hostile to Homo sapiens, they will basically not hand over the submarine cable project to Coral Submarine Cable, allowing the three major cable giants to barely keep their basic positions.

The person in charge of NEC's scientific research department thought for a while: "Among the currently known chemicals that can effectively inhibit the reproduction of this fungus, there are potassium permanganate and copper hydroxide. Potassium permanganate is soluble in water, and copper hydroxide It is easy to be decomposed by heat, and it is not suitable as an antibacterial agent for submarine optical cables."

For cable transformation on land, many areas already have a solution, which is to use copper hydroxide mixed with paint, and then apply it on the surface of the cable. As long as the special paint is applied regularly, the plastic protective layer of the cable can be replaced without replacing it. The service life is extended to about 15-17 years.

Tyco, Alcatel-Lucent, and NEC focused on this piece of fat last year, and frequently contacted Internet giants such as Google, hoping to win these submarine optical cable projects.

Unfortunately, people's wishes failed. The emergence of a Tokyo fungus directly exploded the global plastics industry.

Submarine optical cables in shallow seas are usually laid buried in order to prevent the optical cables from being easily discovered or being cut off by the anchor plow of the ship, and the optical cables will be covered with a layer of sand.

The reason for this situation is mainly related to the laying method of submarine optical cables.

Originally, last year, Internet giants such as Google, Microsoft, and Feishibu began to deploy submarine optical cable business one after another, preparing to recover with self-operation and further expand their business territory.

It is precisely because of the existence of this layer of sediment that the rate of corrosion of submarine optical cables by fungi has dropped by a large margin, and it can last for about 20 to 30 years.

Now the major submarine optical cable operating companies are holding that they would rather wait than continue to build additional submarine optical cables at this time.

Suddenly the conference room was silent.

This situation caused Tyco, Alcatel-Lucent, and NEC a headache. Even though they invested a lot of research funds, they still did not come up with a cost-effective solution.

This time is close to the service life of the submarine optical cable, so naturally there is no need to worry too much.

As for why it has not exceeded 30 years, the main reason is that the plastic itself will also age, and the plastic wire sheath that has been used for about 30 years can basically be scrapped.

Engineering solutions either take detours or require deep diving engineering submarines.

As a result, Tyco, Alcatel-Lucent, and NEC have not signed a project in the past six months.

Inside the NEC headquarters building.

As for the antibacterial plastic solution, there is currently no suitable antibacterial agent.

These Internet giants themselves do not have the ability to lay submarine optical cables, so they can only call for outsourcing.

The real problem is actually the submarine optical cables that appear in the deep sea, because the submarine optical cables in the deep sea are directly exposed to seawater, and there is no sediment burial at all. Fungi can use the oxygen and minerals in the seawater to cover the plastic protective layer. reproduce in large numbers.

However, submarine optical cables are different from land cables. Various components in seawater can easily decompose copper hydroxide, which will cause the antibacterial coating to fail.

If only this is the case, Tyco, Alcatel-Lucent, and NEC will not be too nervous.

One of the NEC executives said with some uncertainty: "I heard that Homo sapiens has developed an engineering submarine that can go deep into the seabed about 3000 meters for construction."

The atmosphere in the meeting room was solemn and depressing.

The plastic protective layer of submarine optical cables in the deep sea can only last for 6 to 8 years. This situation has made many companies operating submarine optical cables very anxious and entangled.

After a while, Henry Perrin, the president of Alcatel-Lucent, knocked on the table: "Can you improve the material of the plastic protective layer to achieve anti-fungal effect?"

If it is not repaired, it will be more troublesome to concentrate on repairing after six or seven years.

Thales, president of Tyco, raised his glasses: "There is no way for us to use buried construction for submarine optical cables with a depth of more than 500 meters."

Even if the nuclear submarine of the US military is borrowed, the maximum working depth is only about 1200 meters.

The problem is that the consequence of this is that the cost will explode, and some areas will not be able to connect to submarine optical cables.

The executives of the three companies discussed for a long time, but still could not come up with a solution.

Takeda Xinyi looked at other people with a headache, hoping that they could come up with a solution, otherwise this year's submarine optical cable orders would be forgotten.

If the problem of fungal corrosion is not solved for a day, they will not be able to receive projects. After all, companies that operate submarine optical cables are not being taken advantage of.

Now they can only watch all the land-based cable and optical cable manufacturers eat meat, but they can't even drink soup, which is really uncomfortable.

At present, the plastic protective layer of submarine optical cables they often use can only last for 6 to 8 years when the seabed is completely exposed.

After all, I want to repair it now, and there is no plan to extend the service life of the plastic protective layer.

As a private enterprise, they are not a giant enterprise like Homo sapiens, and there is no way to maintain it through internal circulation.

At this moment, an employee of NEC hurried in and said a few words in the ear of the president Nobuyoshi Takeda.

Immediately, Takeda Xinyi's face changed drastically.

　Thank you for your support (ω｀), and thank you book friend "Big Cat and Bear" for your reward.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)