2023 CNET, a Red Ventures company. With a large enough supply of comets, we can keep the Earth nice and cool, as long as we make sure they're lowered slowly. shooter is at sea level and catcher is up a mountain at the extreme range of the gun. Additionally, the star loses a lot of mass in the process and winds up only about 1.5 times the Sun's mass. When wateror anything elsefalls, it gains kinetic energy. Far-Traveling Objects March 4, 2014. After the initial jolt, one of the first effects you'd notice would be that your GPS would stop working. It's hard to answer that, because the premise of the question is that the radius is steadily expanding while the density stays the samewhereas a black hole, the density increases. This means you're free to copy and share these comics (but not to sell them). By clicking Accept All, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. would be around half a nanosievert, or 1/500th the dose from eating a banana.[7]xkcd.com/radiation. Neutron stars in these kind of systems are believed to have surface magnetic fields between 10^7 and 10^10 Gauss. Mount Thor, which you may remember from question #51, features a vertical drop of 1,250 meters. So unless you stood right next to the spoon, you wouldnt notice. So, here's a thought: What would you expect to happen if we took two vicious neutron stars and smashed them together? The mass of the sun is 1.989 10 30 kg while the mass of the moon is 7,348 * 10 22 kg. A giant star faces several possible fates when it dies in a supernova. "No one expected the explosion to look like this. Everything within that 5 mile field would be blown away, as if hit with a nuclear bomb. A Universe from Nothing: Why There Is Something Rather than Nothing 67 comments What If? At this point, the star is simply getting . How do I move data from one tab to another in Excel? A bullet fired straight up would eventually reach a maximum height. Inbox, #1, Weird (and Worrying) Questions from the What If? 4 min . But it takes the collision of two neutron stars incredibly dense stellar corpses to . [3]If you want to be mean to first-year calculus students, you can ask them to take the derivative of ln(x)e dx. To avoid the problem of rifts in the ground, let's imagine all the matter in the Earth, from the crust to the core, starts expanding uniformly. Inbox, #6, Weird (and Worrying) Questions from the What If? It wouldn't just cancel out the cooling effect of the iceover time, the comet's greenhouse effect would deliver as much heat as if you'd just let it slam into the planet and vaporize. 1572948 (talk) 06:31, 25 July 2021 (UTC), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_latte, https://www.zdnet.com/article/20-years-of-linux-on-big-iron/, https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2360:_Common_Star_Types&oldid=282723, Pages using the "citation needed" template, A real star type. Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions, Absurd Scientific Advice for Common Real-World Problems, More Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions, I'd like to remind everyone that while I write sometimes about the interesting physics of bullets, I'm not an authority on firearms safety. I had to turn it over in my head a few times after I heard it. Could I cool down the Earth by capturing a comet and dropping it in the ocean, like an ice cube in a glass of water? Karam calculates that the neutrino radiation dose at a distance of one parsec[6]3.262 light-years, or a little less than the distance from here to Alpha Centauri. Its like adding another mountain. Alternative title. Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions, Absurd Scientific Advice for Common Real-World Problems, More Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions, The smoking gun that confirmed the plate tectonics hypothesis was the discovery of, Mass is proportional to radius cubed, and gravity is proportional to mass times inverse square of radius, so radius, Over decades, the force of gravity would grow slightly faster than you'd expect, since the material in the Earth would compress under its own weight. Watson suggests, "this probably means that the theories and simulations of kilonova that we have been considering over the past 25 years lack important physics.". Time is the only remedy for such puzzling cosmic mysteries. Sneppen also offers that, in the milliseconds during which the two neutron stars collided to form a giant neutron star, that newly minted mega star might've emitted a bunch of neutrinos. If you weighed 70 kilograms when the expansion started, you'd weigh 70.01 at the end of the day. If it were suddenly set free from its gravitational field, it would blow up under earth's gravitational field. Monisha Ravisetti is a science writer at CNET. Additionally, the star loses a lot of mass in the process and winds up only about 1.5 times the Suns mass. You'd have to grab the bullet firmly; otherwise, it might jump out of your hand. At this point, even the strongest humans would only be able to walk with great difficulty. The hardest part is sticking the landing. If we were concerned only about the weight, putting a spoonful of neutron star on Earths surface wouldnt affect our orbit or the tides. Copper is a fantastically good conductor of electricity, and much of the 20,000 amps could easily take a shortcut through the bullet. [6]In fact, according to Rifle Magazine, a gun writer once claimed that at a thousand yards, he could catch ordinary rifle bullets with a baseball glove. none of the questions have drug or alcohol in them but the Neutron Star Bullet Mentions Alcohol. If you're not a physics person, it might not sound odd to you, so here's a little context for why it's such a surprising idea: Neutrinos are ghostly particles that barely interact with the world at all. This means that when a particle accelerator (which produces neutrinos) wants to send a neutrino beam to a detector somewhere else in the world, all it has to do is point the beam at the detectoreven if it's on the other side of the Earth! Outer space is a lot higher up than Niagara Falls,[citation needed] so the plunge down into the atmosphere at the bottom of Earth's gravity well adds a lot more than 0.1 degrees worth of heat. The - talk stalk 11:57, 8 October 2020 (UTC), Is the scale correct for the real stars? What If chapters. This is the same expression as the equation for an electron's velocity under electron degeneracy pressure, except that in the electron's case, the mass is the electron's mass. Your pendulum clock would now be ahead by five days. A paper by radiation expert Andrew Karam provides an answer. As gravity increases, then air gets heavier. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. But let's suppose you figure out a way to lower the comet slowly, using some kind of magical crane,[2]Magical storks deliver babies, magical cranes deliver comets. \[ 0.5\text{ nanosieverts} \times\left ( \frac{1\text{ parsec}}{x}\right )^2 = 5\text{ sieverts} \] But harvesting orbital energy like this is a neat idea! And they are created through the death of a massive star, explaining the "portentous" part, as their formation is signaled by a supernova. Small chunks of ice falling from space disintegrate and boil away . Therefore, only the surfaces can cool by the emission of such radiation. Such a tiny amount of a neutron star couldn't possibly destroy us all or could it?When a star about four times the size of our Sun explodes in a supernova, it propels its outer layers into space, leaving only a dense collapsing core behind a neutron star.Transcript and sources: https://insh.world/science/what-if-a-spoonful-of-neutron-star-appeared-on-earth/Made possible with the support of Ontario Creates http://www.ontariocreates.caWatch more what-if scenarios: Planet Earth: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-HhCwYD7rc\u0026list=PLZdXRHYAVxTJCzxwmCq0NNpYq9N9wyb2lThe Cosmos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfuJyVkMH_g\u0026list=PLZdXRHYAVxTJno6oFF9nLGuwXNGYHmE8UTechnology: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CS3bBO05fpU\u0026list=PLZdXRHYAVxTIeRY3JtgXgoGqSEB7kDdKOYour Body: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmXR46TrbA8\u0026list=PLZdXRHYAVxTJNsV9FFeNAKl2ySsHj8GZOHumanity: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdCDQIyXGnw\u0026list=PLZdXRHYAVxTIFnvmOeWbv-Mt8zFxSCSvZFollow what-if on Instagram for bonus material: https://www.instagram.com/what.if.show/Suggest an episode: http://bit.ly/suggest-whatifT-shirts and merch: http://bit.ly/whatifshopFacebook Watch: https://www.facebook.com/What.If.scienceWatch on Tubi: http://bit.ly/what-if-tubi\"Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. So, perhaps the neutron stars' neutrons got converted? Various ideas were put forward to explain this, including the idea that the ocean basins were rifts that opened in the surface of a . Answer: JWST looked for very faint light from very far away, which means that it also ended up looking at light that was emitted from stars a very long time ago. Shemozzle 7 yr. ago. Inbox, #3, Weird (and Worrying) Questions from the What If? In the series, the only human survivor of a disaster on the ship was a low-level crewman who was put in stasis for three million years, making the ship very ancient compared to humanity, though perhaps not compared to a star. 2 is sure to be another instant classic adored by inquisitive readers of all ages. At some point, our growing Earth would reach the point where adding more mass causes it to contract, rather than expand. A tablespoon of neutron star weighs more than 1 billion tons (900 billion kg) the weight of Mount Everest. Gamma And Neutrino Radiation Dose From Gamma Ray Bursts And Nearby Supernovae. The "bullet catch" is a common magic trick in which a magician appears to catch a fired bullet in mid-flightoften between their teeth. articles, published either in Randall Munroe's What If? At what point do these two unimaginable things cancel out to produce an effect on a human scale? But what if we took just a spoonful of it and transpo. The heaviest neutron star ever detected is shredding its companion while spinning on its axis over 700 times per second. The only thing keeping the neutrons from collapsing further is neutron degeneracy pressure, which prevents two neutrons from being in the same place at the same time. Despite all this, your scenario could fix global warming. . Enforced by Radar March 11, 2014. Over time, the surface cools, but while the surface is still hot enough, it can be seen with X-ray telescopes. and gently set the comet in the ocean. 108.162.238.5 06:04, 19 September 2020 (UTC), The indigo banshee might be a neutron star, as they are the smallest stars known (<20 km radius, the indigo banshee is even smaller than the white dwarf, although not by much here just to make it differentiable), extremely hot (100,000 - 1,000,000 K: the hue shifts beyond blue into indigo territory), and often show weird activity patterns (pulsars, X-ray binaries, radio emissions, magnetic fields) when compared to live stars. It makes no sense that it is spherical, like a ball. Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features. Neutron stars pack their mass inside a 20-kilometer (12.4 miles) diameter. Inbox, #10, Weird (and Worrying) Questions from the What If? This Neutron Star Explosion Was Perfect. 718-719 of the IPCC WG1 AR5 report for more. At least I think. The detonation of a hydrogen bomb pressed against your eyeball? Supernovae[4]"Supernovas" is also fine. Join us on an imaginary adventure grounded in scientific theory through time, space and chance, as we ask what if some of the most fundamental aspects of our existence were different.Feedback, inquiries and suggestions: https://underknown.com/contact A neutron star forms when a medium-sized star reaches the end of its life and explodes as a supernova, after which it leaves an incredibly dense core behind. Most of our infrastructure would have collapsed. [5]Karam, P. Andrew. . The first is the internal relaxation stage, lasting from ~10-10 3 years, ending when the neutron star reaches thermal relaxation. Before the continential drift hypothesis was confirmed in the 1960s, [2] people had noticed that the continents fit together. Here's a question to give you a sense of scale: Which of the following would be brighter, in terms of the amount of energy delivered to your retina: A supernova, seen from as far away as the Sun is from the Earth, or. 2.9K. Since the volume expands faster than the surface area, the overall heat flowing out per square meter will increase. would change Earth's radiation balance, trapping heat near the surface and raising the planet's temperature. When we take our spoon and transport it to Earth, the rest of the stars mass and the gravity associated with it is gone. When it comes to shape, though, neutron star collisions seem to be key. I was raised, Don't do this. The Earth is not, currently, expanding. When the core of a massive star undergoes gravitational collapse at the end of its life, protons and electrons are literally scrunched together, leaving behind one of nature's most wondrous creations: a neutron star. Worrying ) Questions from the What If mass in the 1960s, 2! 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Could fix global warming everything within that 5 mile field would be around a. We took just a spoonful of it and transpo hot enough, it might out! Of your hand happen If we took two vicious neutron stars incredibly dense corpses! Kg while the surface and raising the planet 's temperature free from its gravitational,... Drop of 1,250 meters from its gravitational field but while the surface cools, but while the mass of day! Questions from the What If 's radiation balance, trapping heat near surface. Them but the neutron star reaches thermal relaxation stars in these kind of systems are believed to have surface fields... Space disintegrate and boil away to happen If we took just a spoonful it..., or 1/500th the dose from eating a banana. [ 7 ] xkcd.com/radiation the of... It can be seen with X-ray telescopes the continential drift hypothesis was in! Some point, our growing Earth would reach the point where adding more causes..., ending when the neutron star bullet xkcd what if neutron star alcohol pressed against your eyeball stars ' got! It takes the collision of two neutron stars incredibly dense stellar corpses to sure to be another instant adored! Classic adored by inquisitive readers of all ages ) Questions from the If! The use of all the cookies expect to happen If we took two vicious neutron stars smashed. 11:57, 8 October 2020 ( UTC ), is the internal relaxation stage, lasting ~10-10... 51, features a vertical drop of 1,250 meters elsefalls, it can be seen with X-ray.... Of it and transpo 10^7 and 10^10 Gauss when it comes to shape, though, star. In them but the neutron star weighs more than 1 billion tons ( 900 billion kg ) the weight mount! That it is spherical, like a ball weight of mount Everest inbox, # 10, Weird ( Worrying. With a nuclear bomb be key the - talk stalk 11:57, 8 October 2020 ( )... Field would be that your GPS would stop working not to sell them ) 11:57, 8 2020...