Martin's heart raced as she listened to Caesar's urgent tone. Without wasting a second, she quickened her pace towards Caesar's lab, her mind filled with a mix of anticipation and concern. What could have happened that required her immediate attention?
"It's really cold in this laboratory," Martin exclaimed as he rushed into the lab. Caesar was sitting in front of the computer, with a scanning electron microscope (SEM) image of a material displayed on the screen. At the highest magnification, the image revealed a high-density precision beyond 1,000 lattice structures.
"This is the E29 now. Two days ago, its lattice density wasn't this high. And since you brought it here, the laboratory temperature dropped from 20 degrees Celsius to 9 degrees Celsius. But that's not the scariest part. The most astonishing thing is that we added a bit of E29 to the bionic limb of a small mouse, and this little troublemaker hasn't rested for three days. You're going to be famous, Martin! This is a major discovery," said Caesar.
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"That's the magic of studying materials, I suppose. You never know what will come out of the furnace," Martin responded, feeling ecstatic. Her wish was to achieve something during her studies so she could apply to stay in China. Having grown up in Africa, experiencing droughts and diseases, she had come to China like a phoenix rising from the ashes, seeking a better environment than her hometown.
Leaving the laboratory, she returned to her dormitory and opened her laptop to start writing her paper. Reflecting on the process of creating E29, she typed each word on the keyboard. It was her first time preparing a publication, and she couldn't help but notice how impressive the students here were. Many of her classmates had already published papers in prestigious journals such as EI and SCI, while her own experimental journey hadn't been so smooth.
After spending a whole day, she finally completed the first draft. Martin sent the draft to her professor's email. Now, all she wanted was a good night's sleep. In her dreams, she saw her hometown, sweltering and unbearable, much like the furnace in the lab. It had the power to destroy materials, but it could also produce treasures. Little did Martin know that this experiment would burn down her entire life.