Chapter 175
Chapter 175
Forecasting and forecasting are completely different.
Foreknowledge is supernatural and irrational, but predictions are made on scientific and rational grounds. That is why self-proclaimed investment experts predict future economic prospects and stock price movements by matching all kinds of evidence.
So who can predict earthquakes and warn people about them?
It is, of course, an expert in the field who can do that.
California is located in the Pacific Rim orogeny and has long suffered from earthquakes due to the influence of the San Andreas Fault.
In 1906 and 1989, major earthquakes in San Francisco killed thousands, and in 1925, earthquakes in Santa Barbara destroyed buildings. In addition, there were countless earthquakes, both large and small.
Science develops out of necessity.
For this reason, geophysics, geology, seismology, etc. were actively studied in California, and there were not a few famous scholars and professors.
I searched the Internet for experts and related materials that I thought were famous or authoritative in the United States.
Earthquakes are constantly occurring around California even today, although it is usually not felt. And not long ago, a fairly large earthquake occurred in the sea, shaking the area around San Francisco and around LA.
Fortunately, there were no casualties or property damage (a man (?) fell at the airport and injured his head, which made news, but was discharged a few days later).
Although there has been a growing sense of quake threat in recent years, the academic consensus is that the probability of a major earthquake in California is less than 5 percent. The probability of it happening in the near future was virtually zero.
It would be common sense to think this way.
While searching for a while, an article caught my eye. It was a promotional material for a book published by the publisher.
“Let’s go.”
“Where?”
“bookstore. I have a book to buy.”
We went to a few nearby bookstores. And I managed to get two books that were full of dust under the bookshelf.
The book was 1300 pages long.
Taek-gyu couldn’t even turn five pages and closed the book.
“I’m just getting off.”
“… … .”
If it doesn’t sell, there’s a reason it doesn’t sell.
Even though it wasn’t terribly interesting, I stayed up all night to read it.
It was full of useless content, but the bottom line is that within this year, a massive earthquake that surpasses the Great Alaska Earthquake of 1964 or the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011 will strike California.
In preparation for this, the author argued that the population of Southern California and the West Coast should be relocated.
There are people who make extreme predictions in any field. Such people are usually treated as geeks or ignored.
But very rarely, such predictions are correct.
The important thing is that this author is not just a scumbag, but a professor at the California Institute of Technology. He is a person who fits the criteria I think.
I said to Taek-gyu, who had just woken up.
“I want to meet this person.”
“Where are you?”
“I’m working as a professor at the California Institute of Technology, so I will be at the California Institute of Technology.”
“Where is the California Institute of Technology?”
“California Tech, you’ll be in California.”
When I say that, I feel like I’m playing with words.
I searched the map with my smartphone.
“370 miles is not far from here. By American standards, of course.”
“How many kilos is that?”
“600 kilometers.”
Taehyung was surprised.
“It’s too far away!”
“So you said it was the American standard.”
I threw the car key at Taek-gyu.
“Let’s go. drive.”
“In what year are you going 600 kilometers? Can’t we just get on a plane?”
Taek-gyu muttered, but grabbed the steering wheel.
* * *
“Hey! arrived.”
I opened my eyes at Taek-gyu’s words.
Maybe it was because I slept last night, so I forgot to sleep.
“already?”
“Already. It’s been over five hours.”
We are at the California Institute of Technology… … Arrived at Caltech.
I got out of the car and stretched.
The campus was smaller than I thought. If I had seen it while passing by, I would not have even thought it was a university.
Anyway, this is the California Institute of Technology, one of the best engineering schools in the United States along with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
To think that I have come to a world-famous university, I have a new feeling.
As the name suggests, MIT is easy to think of as an engineering college, but it is a comprehensive university, not a college. Not only engineering colleges, but also economics, politics, and humanities colleges are world-class.
The most famous professor is not a professor of engineering, but Noam Chomsky, who is called the father of modern linguistics.
On the other hand, Caltech has only engineering colleges.
Taek-gyu asked, nodding his head as if he understood.
“How does it compare to Korea University?”
“If you look at the engineering level alone, there is no comparison.”
If Korea University is a place where the best talents in Korea gather, Caltech is a place where the best talents in the world gather. In fact, Caltech professors and their graduates have swept over 30 Nobel Prizes. On the other hand, Hankuk University has not ridden one yet.
Even during vacation, there were many students on campus. Just then, a group of students passed in front of us.
I approached them and asked.
“Good morning. Let me ask you something.”
Then an Asian young man among them spoke in Korean.
“Are you Korean?”
I nodded.
“Yes.”
“nice to meet you. My name is Seungjoo Kim. I am a Korean student.”
“Yes. nice to meet you. I came to meet a geology professor, where should I go?
“Ah! The geology department… … .”
He paused as he spoke, then looked me in the face.
“Perhaps… … .”
At that moment, the white girl behind her shouted as if she had realized something.
“Jinu Kang!”
Then the other students all looked at me in unison.
“uh! Come to think of it… … .”
“It’s really Gangjin-hoo!”
“Oh My God! Is Jinhoo Kang standing in front of me now?”
There was a commotion, and in an instant, dozens of students flocked to the surrounding area. They greeted me as if in a strange way.
Then, suddenly, someone asked a question.
“Did you find a way to solve the trolley dilemma of autonomous driving?”
From there, questions poured in from all over.
“Has it been confirmed how the positive electrode active material made of the new material affects the separator?”
“I have a question about the Faceit algorithm… … .”
“With machine learning… … .”
“… … .”
Developers know that, how do I know? I just invested money.
Anyway, it’s easier to ask questions now that people have gathered.
“I came to see Professor Kiran Mohan. Anyone know?”
Then a black woman with a packed hamburger in her hand raised her hand.
“I am Professor Kiran Mohan’s assistant.”
“Good for you. I’m here to see the professor.”
“I will guide you. Follow me.”
After shaking hands with her students, I headed off to meet her professor, Mohan with her.
* * *
Kiran Mohan, a professor at the California Institute of Technology.
He currently resides in a laboratory on campus. However, with dozens of boxes stacked on one side, people who don’t know will think of it as a warehouse or multi-level office.
Assistant Assistant Caree Cotwright said.
“Now, how about getting rid of these boxes?”
Professor Mohan shook his head.
“Leave it. Wouldn’t it be possible to get a call from online bookstores saying the stock is out of stock?”
“… … .”
Carrie said, ‘I can’t. The more returns, the more they came in.” She wanted to say, but she bit her mouth.
Professor Mohan has been studying earthquakes throughout his life. And he wrote and published a book summarizing his research.
Unfortunately, people weren’t very interested in earthquakes. And the academic community did not accept his argument.
The book failed both as a popular book and as an academic book. Even the first edition, which had not been shot for a while, remained in stock.
It’s not necessarily because of that, but the publishing house went out of business a few months ago, and the books left in stock were in a position to go to the waste disposal site.
Professor Mohan could not bear to watch his life’s masterpiece turn into abolition. So he moved all the books from the publisher’s warehouse to the lab, and as a result, the already narrow space became even more cramped.
“How did you apply for research funding?”
Science and research are very noble and noble work, but it is difficult to proceed without money.
The research was originally funded by the state government, but the support was cut off due to a cut in the related budget. So this time, the school applied for a research grant as well.
Carrie sighed inside her.
“No contact yet.”
“I’ll have to wait a little longer.”
Even if the field of seismology was successful, it was not directly related to money, so it was inevitable that it would be pushed back from the budget priority.
The previously allocated budget has already been burned by others. If this continues, it will be difficult to resume research in the second half of the year.
At lunchtime, Carrie went out to buy a hamburger, and Professor Mohan leaned back in his chair and read another professor’s paper.
Josh Brown.
As a professor at MIT, he is one of the most famous and recognized scholars in academia.
Professor Mohan sipped his cold coffee and skimmed through Professor Brown’s paper. He asserts that there will be no major earthquakes in the next 10 years, citing various reasons.
But small earthquakes can happen at any time, he predicted, and if there is a big one, it’s likely to be Mexico, not the US.
Professor Mohan snorted while reading his thesis.
“What does this idiot know?”
Suddenly, the surroundings became noisy. There was a lot of noise outside the window, even if it was a celebrity.
She wondered what was going on and tried to get her up, but Carrie ran into her lab.
“professor! A guest has arrived.”
“I’m busy right now, so I’ll send it back unless it’s an important guest.”(Read more @ wuxiax.com)
“An important guest.”
With those words, Professor Mohan closed the thesis he was looking at as if he had no choice.
“Did the dean come to see you?”
“It’s not… … .”
“Then tell me to wait until the work is done.”
“Jinhoo Kang is here! I really want to meet you.”
Professor Mohan was surprised by this.
“Did I say Kang Jin-hoo now? Maybe OTK Company CEO Kang Jin-hoo?”
“Yes.”
There are probably not many people in the United States who do not know the name.
He was hailed as one of the best investors since Warren Boat and made a fortune by investing in several California-based startups.
In California, the likes and dislikes of the earthquake were sharply divided. The reason I don’t like it is because Jinhoo Kang made a decisive contribution to the election of Ronald.
California, which is multiracial, high-income and educated, has traditionally had strong Democrat support.
In this election, Californians also cast their votes for Diane. However, the result was Ronald’s victory.
Rather than supporting Diane because he liked it, there was an atmosphere that Ronald would never be able to do so, so the shock was inevitable.
At the very least, would he have even protested for re-election?
Professor Mohan had a look of disbelief.
“Jinhoo Kang came to see me?”
I haven’t heard of her coming to America.
And, as a famous economist might not know, what did you come up with as a seismologist?
Carrie said with her eyes shining.
“Is it possible that you are trying to subsidize research funds? You also gave a huge amount of money to a professor at your alma mater to set up a research institute.”
The fact is known because the professor surprised the world by developing a new material to replace cobalt.
‘Is this a chance for me too?’
Professor Mohan said, trying to hide his excitement.
“Hmm, well, if you’ve heard of my reputation, it might be. You must have come from afar, but let me take you inside.”
“Okay.”
After a while, following her guidance, two young Asians entered the lab.
The moment Professor Mohan saw her face, he knew it was Jinhu Kang.
Jinhoo Kang held a thick book towards him.
“Are you the professor who wrote this book?”
The book is a masterpiece of his lifelong research.
The title was ‘The Big One is Coming’.
