With the continuous development of new generation observation equipment such as the James Webb Space Telescope, humans have been able to glimpse many previously unobserved spaces in the universe. Does this mean that traditional theories will be rewritten? Yesterday, Brian Schmidt, the 2011 Nobel Prize winner in Physics, renowned astrophysicist, and professor at the Australian National University, visited the Shanghai Science Popularization University and gave an exclusive interview to reporters. In his view, "science never has the right answer, and the mission of scientists is to constantly discover the best answer." 25% of the universe has yet to be touched by humans. In 1998, Schmidt's team discovered that the expansion of the universe was accelerating by observing a type LA supernova, and was awarded the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics for this discovery. This discovery made humans realize that the universe is a wonderful mixture of 70% dark energy, 25% dark matter, and 5% ordinary atomic matter. Most scientists win Nobel Prizes because they have studied the 5% of the visible universe, while I have studied the 70% of dark energy. ”Schmidt smiled and said, "So far, 25% of the universe has not been touched by humans." At that time, he was using the previous generation of observation equipment represented by the Hubble Telescope. Nowadays, with the help of cutting-edge instruments such as the James Webb Space Telescope and the Chandra X-ray Observatory, humans are able to glimpse more mysteries of the universe, such as evidence of black holes in early galaxies and breakthroughs in exoplanet detection. He said, "In the past, people used to think that the universe was boring, but now we see the universe as exceptionally active." In recent years, more unsolved mysteries of the universe have emerged: what is the essence of dark energy? Will it increase with the expansion of the universe? To answer these questions, Schmidt listed a series of next-generation space exploration missions, such as the Euclid satellite and China's developing sky survey telescope, which will measure the history of cosmic expansion with unprecedented accuracy and continue to pursue the truth of dark energy. Schmidt said that although his personal research is just a drop in the ocean, "countless drops in the ocean will eventually make up the panoramic story of the universe. Is astronomy too far away from ordinary people? Schmidt believes the opposite is true. Astronomy is one of the easiest sciences to arouse human curiosity. When two or three year old children look up at the stars, they are actually conducting their first scientific exploration in their lives. "He pointed out that although astronomy does not directly" build a car, "it is closely related to our daily lives - many modern technologies are" byproducts "of astronomical research. The phone in your hand actually embodies the wisdom of astronomers. ”Schmidt smiled and pointed to the reporter's phone, explaining that WiFi technology originated from the anti-interference algorithm invented by Australian radio astronomers to search for black holes; Touchscreens and the World Wide Web were both born at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN); Digital camera technology was initially invented to transmit images to Jupiter; The high-precision atomic clock carried on the Global Positioning System (GPS) was originally used to measure the position and motion of celestial bodies. In the end, you will find that astronomy may seem distant, but it has truly shaped the modern world we live in. ”Schmidt said that astronomical research has helped create various key technologies that humans rely on for survival today. AI was already in use 30 years ago, and confidence will never be replaced by it. When it comes to artificial intelligence, Schmidt shared his experience of being connected to AI - as early as 30 years ago, he tried to use AI in scientific research. "At that time, computers were still very primitive, but astronomical data was so large that it could not be processed by humans. ”Schmidt recalled that in order to filter out image artifacts and identify stars, he and his team used a two-layer neural network (an early form of machine learning), which "could handle the workload of 10 people at that time". Now, Schmidt and his team are using AI technology to simulate the entire process of star explosions and analyze the complex changes involved. AI undoubtedly accelerates the entire research process and saves a lot of valuable observation time from telescopes. ”But he also emphasized that no matter how powerful AI is, it is only a tool. He often teaches students how to use AI correctly in classrooms at the Australian National University and reminds young people to become masters of AI, not servants of AI. Schmidt joked, 'I have confidence that I will never be replaced by AI.'. ”Although AI can efficiently analyze data, it cannot replace human intuition and curiosity in scientific discoveries. No matter how advanced AI is, it cannot clearly tell us what topics to study - it still requires humans to ask questions and give instructions. ”Currently, many observational data from the James Webb Telescope are open to the public. Schmidt encourages astronomy enthusiasts to actively search online and participate in data analysis: 'Machine learning and AI may miss certain details.'. If someone is willing to try processing this data, there may also be Nobel level discoveries. ”(New Society)