Currently, hard technology is becoming the core driving force for a new round of technological transformation and industrial revolution. The 13th "Hard Technology Wave" special session of Cape of Good Hope Science Salon was recently held in the academic hall of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing. Top experts from new energy materials, atomic manufacturing, brain computer interface, controllable nuclear fusion, science fiction and other fields gathered together to conduct cross-border dialogue around "hard technology and civilization evolution".
Chen Liquan, winner of the 2025 National Highest Science and Technology Award and academician of the CAE Member, proposed that hard science and technology is rooted in basic research. Every major scientific and technological revolution can be traced back to the breakthrough in basic research. When it comes to the path of transformation from science to technology, and then to products and markets, Chen Liquan admits that this path is far more difficult than imagined. Subsequently, he also used the breakthrough in lithium battery material patents as an example to explain that the essence of great power competition is the competition of originality and disruptive innovation.
I have been working in the field of new energy materials for a long time, and I deeply understand that energy issues are not only industrial issues, but also national security issues, and the fundamental issue of whether civilization can continue to evolve. Whoever can take the lead in establishing a new energy system that is cleaner, more stable, more efficient, and more scalable will be more likely to take the initiative in future industrial competition. "Chen Liquan said that further looking at the development of the country and even civilization, how to promote the continuous progress of technology and let technology better lead human civilization forward is a question we need to think about.
In his keynote speech titled "Unbalanced Intelligent Systems," Konstantin Novoselov, winner of the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics, depicted a picture of the evolution of physics and materials science spanning centuries. He proposed that the evolution path of physics cognition, from reversible to irreversible, ultimately leads to complex systems. This thread is not only a review of the history of science, but also implies the inherent logic of hard technological breakthroughs: complex systems are the soil for combating entropy increase and nurturing true innovation.
Mi Lei, author of "Hard Technology Wave" and founding partner of Zhongke Chuangxing, proposed that hard technology civilization is the next stage of human civilization characterized by "exponential iteration of intelligence, almost infinite energy, precise material transformation, vast space expansion, and autonomous life optimization".
In the era of hard technology civilization, a new round of revolutionary technological breakthroughs is evolving along the five directions of matter, energy, life, information, and space. The 'end' of information is intelligence and quantum, the 'end' of energy is controllable nuclear fusion, the 'end' of matter is atomic manufacturing, the 'end' of space is interstellar migration, and the 'end' of life is human-machine symbiosis, "said Mi Lei.
The attendees generally believe that human society is standing at the threshold of a new round of technological revolution, and breakthroughs in hard technology will not only reshape the industrial landscape, but also profoundly affect the direction of civilization evolution. From artificial intelligence to quantum information, from nuclear fusion to brain computer interfaces, every breakthrough in cutting-edge technology is redefining the boundaries of human capabilities. (Outlook New Era)