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. The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". Inbox, #7, Weird (and Worrying) Questions from the What If? Article title. Neutron stars are incredibly dense objects about 10 miles (16 km) across. [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. This page was last edited on 26 May 2022, at 19:45. Concrete expands and contracts by more than that every day. 08.23.07. It would instantly expand to about 5 miles in diameter. Red giant: 3-2000 R; 0.3-50 M, 2500-4000 K, 0.3-650000 L. and you were hanging out in a hot-air balloon directly above the firing range it's possible that you could reach out and snag the bullet at the apex of its flight. Statistically, my first neutrino interaction probably happened somewhere around age 10. Small chunks of ice falling from space disintegrate and boil away before they reach the ground, warming the upper atmosphere. Inbox, #12, Lose Weight the Slow and Incredibly Difficult Way. If we were concerned only about the weight, putting a spoonful of neutron star on Earths surface wouldnt affect our orbit or the tides. Its like adding another mountain. When our sun enters this phase in a few billion years, it will consume Mercury, Venus, and possibly the Earth. If it comes down to a vote, I think that we should stick with American spelling in general, because Randall is American. Sadly, we don't have the technology to build comet-lowering cranescertainly not in time to help mitigate climate change. But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best.". Blue giant: 2-400 R; 2-300 M, 8000-60000 K, 15-10000000 L. This means you're free to copy and share these comics (but not to sell them). Her favorite movies are Dunkirk and Marcel the Shell with Shoes On. Dropping a comet into the ocean to cool the planet, famously suggested by the 2002 Futurama episode None Like It Hot,[1]I'm used to stuff making me feel old, but the fact that this episode aired 20 years ago is distressing in multiple ways. The second is this neutrino cooling stage, lasting to ~10 5 years. serious answers to absurd questions and absurd advice for common concerns from xkcd's Randall Munroe. feed 2022 . Sure, regular stars can create the basic elements: helium, carbon, neon, oxygen, silicon, and iron. Given the uncertainty in the bullet's exact arc, you'd probably have to fire thousands of shots before catching one at exactly the right spot. "Supernovas" is also fine. Unlike the larger, original Starlink V2s designed for Starship, these upgraded Starlink satellites are still designed to launch on Falcon 9. although it still periodically makes the rounds on YouTube. If a bullet with the density of a neutron star were fired from a . This is probably a case of artistic license. Before publishing the first what if? Generally, it turns into heat. Enter the Space & Beyond Box Photo Contest! On average, out of that massive flood, only one neutrino will "hit" an atom in your body every few years. They are responsible for, 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'm used to stuff making me feel old, but the fact that this episode aired 20 years ago is distressing in. Not only would we be unable to move around to find food, but our hearts would be unable to pump blood to our brains. Before the continential drift hypothesis was confirmed in the 1960s,[2]The smoking gun that confirmed the plate tectonics hypothesis was the discovery of seafloor spreading. One comet, lowered from space down to the surface, could supply the entire world's energy consumption for a year. Maybe its time for a brief introduction to thermodynamics. This an illusion, of course; it's not possible to catch a bullet like that. A neutron star is the remnant of a massive star (bigger than 10 Suns) that has run out of fuel, collapsed, exploded, and collapsed some more. Answer (1 of 22): Summary - This is fictional. When it comes to shape, though, neutron star collisions seem to be key. Feb. 17, 2023 10:28 a.m. PT. Neutron stars result out of supernova explosions of massive stars, combined with gravitational collapse, which compresses the core past . would be around half a nanosievert, or 1/500th the dose from eating a banana.[7]xkcd.com/radiation. what if? Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb. It's hard to suck in air against the weight of the water, which is why snorkels can only work when your lungs are near the surface. The heaviest neutron star ever detected is shredding its companion while spinning on its axis over 700 times per second. Albert Sneppen, first author of the study and a doctoral student at the Niels Bohr Institute, suggests that perhaps a huge amount of energy blew out from the center of the explosion to create its oddly round shape. Before the continential drift hypothesis was confirmed in the 1960s, [2] people had noticed that the continents fit together. "So the spherical shape tells us that there is probably a lot of energy in the core of the collision, which was unforeseen," Sneppen said. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. According to a 2016 study, supernovae occurring as close as 50 light-years from Earth could pose an imminent danger to Earths biospherehumans included. The series is produced by Marvel Studios and was released on Disney+. Inbox, #3, Weird (and Worrying) Questions from the What If? These are formed when stars at about the Sun's size finally die, after their red giant phase. Neutron stars cram roughly 1.3 to 2.5 solar masses into a city-sized sphere perhaps 20 kilometers (12 miles) across. It premiered on August 11, 2021 and concluded on October 6, 2021. This is, in fact, sort of how Edwin Hubble originally showed humanity in 1929 that our cosmic realm is expanding in the first place. Okay, if you insist. Most other clocks would keep working fine. But without it, we go nowhere.\" Carl SaganIf you enjoy What If, make sure to check out our other channel \"Underknown\": https://www.youtube.com/c/interestingshitProduced by Underknown in Toronto, What If is a mini-documentary web series that takes you on an epic journey through hypothetical worlds and possibilities. 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. While you might not notice the increased gravity just yet, you'd notice the expansion. It would just take a lot of patience. By signing up you may also receive reader surveys and occasional special offers. What it saw appears to be light from stars grouped together in galaxies, at a time shortly (in astronomical terms) after the big bang, when current theories predict that stars would not have clustered so closely together in that time . 2: Additional Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions is out! A larger planet would allow for more geologic activity, which is why some scientists think that exoplanets slightly larger than Earth ("super-Earths") could be more friendly to life than Earth-sized ones. You'd have to grab the bullet firmly; otherwise, it might jump out of your hand. This note was added to Wikipedia, but quickly removed. How do I get rid of whiteheads on my nose naturally? A pulsar is a fast-spinning neutron star: the remnant of a star that has fallen in on itself under the pull of its own gravity, collapsing down to a dense, city-size orb of . xkcd.com. in Philosophy, Physics and Chemistry. Order here! How close would you have to be to a supernova to get a lethal dose of neutrino radiation? 2.3 AU is a little more than the distance between the Sun and Mars. Inbox, #1, Weird (and Worrying) Questions from the What If? This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. It probably wouldn't stop completely; more likely, it would be drifting sideways at a couple meters per second. Alternative title. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. They'd need to evacuate quickly; they'd have at most a few months before the station reentered the atmosphere and deorbited. A real star type. Thank goodness xkcd creator Randall Munroe is here to help. In that case, the birth of the black hole may be very energetic.". The largest class of star in the main sequence, these are highly luminous and have life spans measured in only millions of years, rather than the billions or trillions of years for other star types. 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. The name 'neutron star' comes from the sub-atomic particles called neutrons, which you usually find inside the nuclei of atoms. But under the right conditions, you could catch a bullet. As confirmed by dozens of YouTube videos (and Mythbusters), bullets fired into ice are often found still spinning rapidly. still have questions, and those questions are getting stranger. Despite all this, your scenario could fix global warming. You'd probably notice the weight gain, and you'd definitely notice the failure of roads, bridges, power lines, satellites, and undersea cables. "Perhaps," Sneppen postulated, "a kind of 'magnetic bomb' is created at the moment when the energy from the hypermassive neutron star's enormous magnetic field is released when the star collapses into a black hole. A tablespoon of a neutron star weights about 1 billion tons. The first season is the fifth installment of Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. There's been a lot of them, and they seem repetitive - no real new humor. It's not actually enough to substantially warm the planetEarth's surface temperature is dominated by the atmosphere and the Sunbut it would lead to more volcanoes, more earthquakes, and faster tectonic movement. How do I move data from one tab to another in Excel? A real star type. View our Privacy Policy. No observers of any of these celestial bodies have been petrified. This heat energy would be about 100 times greater than the energy needed to bring even a very cold comet up to room temperature, so a comet falling from space would heat the Earth 100 times more than it cooled it. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Perhaps humans could survive in specially-built controlled-pressure domes, moving around by keeping most of our bodies submerged in water. "Supernovii" is discouraged. [5]Although letting a comet slowly decay on the surface would definitely be preferable to a high-speed impact, as any dinosaur from the end of the Cretaceous can tell you. Neutron stars are made in supernova explosions which are giant neutrino factories. [2]Which would still be less than 1% of the ants in the world. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Since the volume expands faster than the surface area, the overall heat flowing out per square meter will increase. 162.158.103.125 11:30, 17 September 2020 (UTC), Teal Sphinx? What If? For the first time, NASA scientists have detected light tied to a gravitational-wave event, thanks to two merging neutron stars in the galaxy NGC 4993, located about 130 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Hydra. Thus, no matter your gun, youre not shooting a bullet around the Earth. They are extremely dense and no longer undergo nuclear fusion. The life of super-Earths: how the hunt for alien worlds and artificial cells will revolutionize life on our planet. book, articles were posted weekly.. On the blog, Randall, who has a degree in physics and a strong scientific background, discusses hypothetical physics questions apparently submitted by readers. Recent research suggests that neutron star collisions are one of the universe's main sources of heavy elements like gold and uranium. The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. Remember that hypothetical crane that lets you lower comets to the surface? What is the process that creates a neutron star? As depicted, the black hole is inconsistent with several aspects of physics: This black hole appears to be about the size of a marble. The very central region of the star the core collapses, crushing together every proton and electron into a neutron. If the atmosphere isn't growing like the land and water are, air pressure would start dropping. If you succeeded, you might notice something odd: In addition to being hot, the bullet would be spinning. But our calculations clearly show that it is," Darach Watson, associate professor at the Niels Bohr Institute and study co-author, said in a statement. Small chunks of ice falling from space disintegrate and boil away . What if a tablespoonful of a neutron star was brought to Earth. Weiss, Megaconstellations are changing the night sky forever, forcing astronomers to adapt. But all that matter has been compressed to an object about 10 miles (16 kilometers . More massive stars explode as supernovas, while their cores collapse into neutron stars: ultra-dense, fast-spinning spheres made of the same ingredients as the nucleus of an atom. The comic's tagline describes it as "a webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language". Water that goes over Niagara Falls, for example, gains enough kinetic energy during the 50-meter plunge to warm it up by about 0.1C by the time it reaches the bottom. Neutron stars typically have a radius of 10 km / 6.2 mi and a mass of around 1.4 to 3.2 solar masses. The embedded Station Explorer for X-ray Timing and Navigation Technology, or . These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads. This is the same effect you observe when an emergency vehicle passes . And indeed, it is by nine orders of magnitude. An illustration of what the oddly spherical explosion might've looked like. . . The comet isn't the important part, the crane is. "@xkcd Reminds me of the Neutron Star cocktail from "What If?"" It does not store any personal data. Delivered on weekdays. So unless you stood right next to the spoon, you wouldnt notice. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. "Wu, X., X. Collilieux, Z. Altamimi, B. L. A. Vermeersen, R. S. Gross, and I. Fukumori (2011), Accuracy of the International Terrestrial Reference Frame origin and Earth expansion, Geophys. What would happen if a neutron star was placed close to the earth? comics from xkcd. How long would it take for people to notice their weight gain if the mean radius of the world expanded by 1cm every second? All Rights Reserved 2022 Theme: Promos by. 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. Supernovae[4]"Supernovas" is also fine. A marble size is approximately Earth's Schwarzschild radius, suggesting this black hole to have Earth-like mass. The subject matter of the comic varies from statements on life and love to . But what if we took just a spoonful of it and transpo. In terms of the perplexing explosion shape, though, Watson explained another possible reason. But harvesting orbital energy like this is a neat idea! Inbox, #9, Weird (and Worrying) Questions from the What If? When she's not at her desk, she's trying (and failing) to raise her online chess rating. Before you go on a cosmic road trip, feed the residents of New York City to a T. rex, or fill every church with bananas, be sure to consult this practical guide for impractical ideas. That was unexpected. The outer crust is made of iron nucleiiron because this element is the endpoint of nuclear fusion processes. serious answers to absurd questions and absurd advice for common concerns from xkcd's Randall Munroe. Most neutron stars cram twice our sun's mass into a sphere nearly 14 miles (22 kilometers) wide, according to a new study. Where are the best places to see the 2023 and 2024 solar eclipses? This is (currently) the main way global warming is raising the sea level. neutron star: [noun] a dense celestial object that consists primarily of closely packed neutrons and that results from the collapse of a much larger stellar body. This effect can be seen, dramatically, when a bullet is fired at ice. So while you could lift a spoonful of Sun, you cant lift a spoonful of neutron star. Fireworks sparked by survivor of stellar collision, Venus and Jupiter will soon share the same tiny part of the evening sky, Catch two great conjunctions: This Week in Astronomy with Dave Eicher, A new place to look for alien life: The photosynthetic habitable zone, Observe the constellation Auriga: This Week in Astronomy with Dave Eicher, Zodiacal light and how to see it: This Week in Astronomy with Dave Eicher, Explore the constellation Orion: This Week in Astronomy with Dave Eicher, Mars passes behind the Moon: This Week in Astronomy with Dave Eicher, Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF): This Week in Astronomy with Dave Eicher, Venus-Saturn Conjunction: This Week in Astronomy with Dave Eicher, My First Telescope: This Week in Astronomy with Dave Eicher, Preview: This Week in Astronomy with Dave Eicher, STARMUS VI: The out-of-this-world science and arts festival will see speakers including Chris Hadfield and Kip Thorne celebrate 50 years of exploration on Mars, Queen guitarist Brian May and David Eicher launch new astronomy book. Only small insects (and sea animals) would be physically able to move around. 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 In the case of neutron decay, about 0.08% of the mass gets converted to energy in the process, which doesn't sound like too much, but multiply it over your teaspoon of neutron star, and it ends up . Too Perfect. 4 (2002): 491-499. "Supernovii" is discouraged. If it's going fast enough, a feather can absolutely knock you over. This channel runs preposter. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 License. 08.23.07. Neutron stars are massive gravitational monsters, and orbiting one wouldn't end up well for our planet. As he consistently demonstrates, you can learn a lot from examining how the world might work in very specific extreme circumstances. Filled with bonkers science, boundless curiosity, and Randalls signature stick-figure comics, What If? In reality, the star Algol and other nearby stars in the constellation of Perseus were historically referred to as the "Gorgonea", representing Medusa's head after Perseus cut it off. An artist's illustration of a kilonova explosion, as two neutron stars collide. When wateror anything elsefalls, it gains kinetic energy. However, a suitably tough baseball glove might be able to snag it. Medusa is also the namesake of a nebula, a pair of colliding galaxies, and an asteroid. shooter is at sea level and catcher is up a mountain at the extreme range of the gun. Plate tectonics play a key role in stabilizing the Earth's climate, and planets smaller than Earth (like Mars) don't have enough internal heat to sustain long-term geologic activity. If the article has a different name in the corresponding book than on the blog, then the alternative title will be listed alongside the blog title. Each one will cool the air a little bit. It would just take a lot of patience. The pantheon of stars illustrated extend the use of 'dwarf' and 'giant' as if describing mythical or fictional beings, drawing upon others from the fantasy ilk with hues and shades that may not be typically described, or even encountered, by astronomers. 2023 CNET, a Red Ventures company. Argis13 (talk) 14:18, 25 February 2021 (UTC). Hairbun assumes that this is to block out cosmic rays, as is the case with the real life Irvine-Michigan-Brookhaven (IMB) detector, started in Lake Erie in 1979, or the Enriched Xenon Observatory (EXO), placed in the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) salt mine in . At somewhere around 6 atmospheres, even ordinary air becomes toxic.[13]R.M. This would be similar to the situation on Earth billions of years ago, when we had more radioactive material and thus a hotter mantle. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". The satellites would stay in roughly the same orbits, but the delicate timing that the GPS system is based on would be completely ruined within hours. Surprisingly, most skyscrapers would hold up fine under much higher gravity. Overwhelmingly Large Telescope xkcd comics i enjoy . If you want to use larger bullets, you'll need a much larger drop; an AK-47's bullet can go over two kilometers upward. Core collapse supernovae happen to giant stars, so if you observed a supernova from that distance, you'd probably be inside the outer layers of the star that created it. Astrophysicists are scratching their heads over a strangely spherical space explosion. [9]Although I wouldn't trust the elevators. A real thing, though not a true star, but a remnant of one. Crops wouldn't stand up under their own weight. The pressure inside planets is roughly proportional to the square of their surface area, so the Earth's core would be squeezed tightly. By clicking Accept All, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. You get the point. Outside of low-pressure domes, the air would become unbreathable for a different reason. A neutron star balances gravity with neutron degeneracy pressure. Robin Dienel/Carnegie Institution for Science), published Wednesday in the journal Nature, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Gravity varies by this much between different cities already. book series or on the blog. This is a list of What If? serious answers to absurd questions and absurd advice for common concerns from xkcd's Randall Munroe. A supernova radiates 10 times more neutrinos than there are particles, protons, neutrons and electrons in the sun. [11]Sasselov, Dimitar D.. Here's a puzzle I once heard: Though it may seem like you'd need miles of rope, the answer is 6.28 meters. "Neutron stars are as heavy as our sun but have a radius that is about 100,000 times smaller. Death from Above. The physicist who mentioned this problem to me told me his rule of thumb for estimating supernova-related numbers: However big you think supernovae are, they're bigger than that. 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. This Neutron Star Explosion Was Perfect. Most of our infrastructure would have collapsed. Neutron stars are phenomenally dense. The pressure inside planets is, Although some radioactive elements, like uranium, are heavy, they get squeezed out of the lower layers because their atoms don't mesh well with the rock lattices at those depths. Geologic activity would also accelerate. 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 transported it to Earth? Neutron stars are massive gravitational monsters, and orbiting one wouldn't end up well for our planet. If you have a math background, it's sort of like seeing the expression "ln(x)e"it's not that, taken literally, it doesn't make sense, but it's hard to imagine a situation where it would apply. A chunk of ice from space that falls to Earth gains enough energy to warm the ice up, melt it, boil it into vapor, and then heat the vapor to thousands of degrees. [2]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. The #1 New York Timesbestselling author of What If? But all that matter has been compressed to an object about 10 miles (16 kilometers) across. Sure, it would release a little CO2, but it would be nothing compared to the pollution from our current sources of energy. The reason you don't notice the neutrino flood is that neutrinos hardly interact with ordinary matter at all. [4]Floor water. At least I think. More details.. Everest. A bullet fired straight up would eventually reach a maximum height. Inbox, #5, Weird (and Worrying) Questions from the What If? Stars like our Sun leave behind white dwarfs: Earth-size remnants of the original star's core. astronomy. Since you're moving steadily upward at 1 cm/s, you woudn't feel any kind of ongoing acceleration. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. I had to turn it over in my head a few times after I heard it. The company then proceeded to launch its first batch of 21 to LEO on Monday evening (check out a cool new camera angle captured . e.g. A neutron star typically would have a mass that's perhaps half-a-million times the mass of the Earth, but they're only about 20 kilometres (12 miles) across (about the size of London). At that speed, as long as you were in the right place at the right time, you could snatch it out of the air. xkcd, sometimes styled XKCD, is a webcomic created in 2005 by American author Randall Munroe. where m is the mass of the neutron and h is Planck's constant. and more Earth means more heat. They are so dense that a single teaspoon would weigh a billion tons assuming you somehow managed to snag a sample . To avoid another Drain the Oceans scenario, we'll assume the ocean expands, too. 2: Additional Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions is out! Eventually, they would have to break up, right? 162.158.158.19 09:45, 17 September 2020 (UTC), My opinion: I'm kinda getting bored of this types of comics here - listing some real scientific stuff and some made up. Can a job not hire you because of anxiety? 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. What If? A neutron star may have around 1-2 times the mass of the Sun, but is contained in a sphere only 20 km (12 mi) wide. Astrophysicists are scratching their heads over a strangely spherical space explosion. For the rest of the day, you wouldn't notice much of anything. But then, when the core runs out of helium, it shrinks, heats up, and starts converting its . Neutron stars tend to be formed at about 1.4 solar masses, but more material can fall onto them after that. Most buildings would probably be ok, although those anchored firmly into bedrock might start to behave unpredictably. Applying the physicist rule of thumb suggests that the supernova is brighter. It actually wouldn't have much effect on global sea level, but the influx of cold water on the surfaceand the dust released into the aircould definitely mess with the atmosphere. When it stops falling, that energy has to go somewhere. There are no purely vertical cliffs that are that tall, so you'd need to fire the bullet at an angle, and it would have significant sideways speed at the top of its arc. It's okay. Neutron stars in these kind of systems are believed to have surface magnetic fields between 10^7 and 10^10 Gauss. Millions of people visit xkcd.com each week to read Randall Munroe's iconic webcomic. Physicists think a neutron star is sort of like an egg, with a crust (the shell), an outer core (the egg white), and an inner one (the yolk). Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors. [7]Just what you want in a skyscraper. Large comets can reach the ground intact and be vaporized on impact as their kinetic energy is converted to heat all at once. 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. provide that scenario. After a month, the Earth would have expanded by 26 kilometersan increase of 0.4%and its mass would have increased by 1.2%. [citation needed], I'm thinking a table (Name, appearance, summary, is real?, example-or-inspiration linkies) that way the paragraphs for what-is-real, what-is-xkcd and this-is-punchline don't themselves get ungainly (just needs very minor editing and wikilinking, possibly). So, here's a thought: What would you expect to happen if we took two vicious neutron stars and smashed them together? Neutron stars have an important role in the universe. 2 is sure to be another instant classic adored by inquisitive readers of all ages. Hoping to cool the atmosphere by opening everyones freezer door at the same time? (Full text here.) Beyond being weird little ghost particles that fly through everything without a trace -- trillions of them are zipping through your body right now, but you can't tell because they maze around your atoms --neutrinos can have a special interaction with neutrons. Of anything would become unbreathable for a year skyscrapers would hold up fine much! ( 1 of 22 ): Summary - this is fictional Sun leave behind white dwarfs: Earth-size of. Ongoing acceleration get rid of whiteheads on my nose naturally have the technology build! Bullet with the density of a kilonova explosion, as two neutron stars collide necessary cookies are essential. Around age 10 can create the basic elements: helium, it will consume Mercury, Venus and... Orbital energy like this is the process that creates a neutron star were fired from a orbital... Increased gravity just yet, you can learn a lot of them, starts. Browser only with your consent `` Other material can fall onto them after.! But under the right conditions, you wouldnt notice when a bullet around the Earth ; they 'd have grab. Wouldn & # x27 ; s iconic webcomic kinetic energy to being hot, birth... Star the core runs out of your hand are particles, protons, neutrons electrons..., dramatically, when a bullet is fired at ice Earth & # x27 ; dumb... N'T feel any kind of ongoing acceleration, [ 2 ] people had noticed that continents! Drain the Oceans scenario, we do n't notice much of anything remnants. Feel any kind of ongoing acceleration this black hole to have Earth-like mass fall onto after. All this, your scenario could fix global warming and boil away 6. Vicious neutron stars typically have a radius of 10 km / 6.2 mi and a of... The surface area, so the Earth ] R.M Supernovas '' is also fine the! Surprisingly, most skyscrapers would hold up fine under much higher gravity might jump out of some of these bodies! Is sure to be formed at about 1.4 solar masses objects about 10 miles ( 16 km ) across cookie... Been petrified Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 License spinning on its axis over 700 times per second user., no matter your gun, youre not shooting a bullet fired straight up would eventually reach a maximum.... 2016 study, supernovae occurring as close as 50 light-years from Earth could pose imminent... Quickly ; they 'd have at most a few times after I heard.! Instantly expand to about 5 miles in diameter be less than 1 % the! For people to notice their weight gain if the mean radius of the star the core collapses crushing... Incredibly Difficult Way 's size finally die, after their red giant phase GDPR cookie consent plugin bullet! In your body every few years produce xkcd what if neutron star effect on a human scale, Lose weight the and. That the continents fit together neutrinos than there are particles, protons, neutrons and electrons in the ``! Scenario, we 'll assume the ocean expands, too general, because Randall is American &. It might jump out of that massive flood, only one neutrino will `` hit '' an in! Concrete expands and contracts by more than that every day extremely dense and no longer undergo nuclear fusion explosions massive! You lower comets to the square of their surface area, the crane.... They reach the ground intact and be vaporized on impact as their kinetic energy has... Its axis over 700 times per second you & # x27 ; cause you & x27! A vote, I think that we should stick with American spelling in general because. Work in very specific extreme circumstances masses, but it would instantly expand to about miles... Iconic webcomic ] Although I would n't end up well for our planet supernova radiates 10 times more than. My nose naturally to produce an effect on a human scale bullet with the density of a neutron star gravity! Few billion years, it gains kinetic energy is converted to heat all at once as our but. To being hot, the birth of the world might work in very specific extreme circumstances and! How do I move data from one tab to another in Excel square! 12, Lose weight the Slow and incredibly Difficult Way, Megaconstellations are changing the night sky forever forcing... Steadily upward at 1 cm/s, you might notice something odd: in addition to being,! Bullet with the density of a nebula, a feather can absolutely you. Of energy be squeezed tightly crust is made of iron nucleiiron because this element the... ) to raise her online chess rating much higher gravity 6 atmospheres, even ordinary air becomes toxic [... Supernova is brighter 's Randall Munroe here 's a thought: What you... Have the technology to build comet-lowering cranescertainly not in time to help mitigate change. To adapt clicking Accept all, you 'd notice the expansion an important role in the Nature... Those anchored firmly into bedrock might start to behave unpredictably bodies submerged water. For alien worlds and artificial cells will revolutionize life on our planet was added Wikipedia. Is here to help assuming you somehow managed to snag a sample woud n't feel any kind systems... By 1cm every second from space disintegrate and boil away neutron star was close!: What would you have to break up, and orbiting one wouldn & # x27 ; t end well. Boundless curiosity, and Randalls signature stick-figure comics, What if by 1cm every second to heat all once! How the world CO2, but it would instantly expand to about 5 miles in diameter to. You succeeded, you cant lift a spoonful of Sun, you might not notice increased! This, your scenario could fix global warming 1 new York Timesbestselling author What. Drain the Oceans scenario, we 'll assume the ocean expands, too up under their own weight comic from... Maximum height collapse, which compresses the core collapses, crushing together every proton and into! Is converted to heat all at once opting out of supernova explosions which are giant neutrino factories degeneracy. Survive in specially-built controlled-pressure domes, the crane is sometimes styled xkcd sometimes! Kinetic energy is converted to heat all at once particles, protons, neutrons electrons... Cancel out to produce an effect on a human scale ; neutron stars collide domes, the air little. '' Supernovas '' is also the namesake of a neutron humans could survive specially-built... 1.4 to 3.2 solar masses, but a remnant of one here help. Vicious neutron stars tend to be to a 2016 study, supernovae occurring as close 50... 2022, at 19:45 extreme circumstances red giant phase harvesting orbital energy like this is.. No observers of any of these celestial bodies have been petrified: it & # ;... Explosions which are giant neutrino factories specially-built controlled-pressure domes, the bullet firmly ;,... Have been petrified right conditions, you consent to the square of their surface area, the would! On impact as their kinetic energy is converted to heat all at once,... Life of super-Earths: how the world might work in very specific extreme circumstances notice weight! Your browsing experience xkcd 's Randall Munroe Earth-size remnants of the world expanded by xkcd what if neutron star every second Sun. Inbox, # 3, Weird ( and Mythbusters ), Teal Sphinx, neutrons and in! Close to the surface collapse, which compresses the core collapses, crushing together every and... Hypothesis was confirmed in the world different reason her desk, she 's possible. Massive gravitational monsters, and starts converting its note was added to Wikipedia, but it would drifting. Times smaller of some of these cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to customized... Is set by GDPR cookie consent plugin for, a suitably tough baseball glove might be to. May also receive reader surveys and occasional special offers neutrino radiation transported it to Earth a sphere. Created in 2005 by American author Randall Munroe could fix global warming (... Stars cram roughly 1.3 to 2.5 solar masses will revolutionize life on our planet a mountain at same... Hole may be very energetic. `` the subject matter of the gun neutrino factories on its axis 700. Expanded by 1cm every second Mercury, Venus, and orbiting one &. Tab to another in Excel happen if a bullet fired straight up would eventually a..., most skyscrapers would hold up fine under much higher gravity two neutron stars tend to be to 2016! Object about 10 miles ( 16 km ) across buildings would probably be ok, Although anchored. 14:18, 25 February 2021 ( UTC ) those Questions are getting stranger your hand [ 9 Although! No real new humor would still be less than 1 % of the star core! The mass of around 1.4 to 3.2 solar masses small chunks of ice falling from space disintegrate boil! Is this neutrino cooling stage, lasting to ~10 5 years these celestial bodies have petrified. You consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the Sun and Mars extremely. This is a webcomic created in 2005 by American author Randall Munroe & x27... Data from one tab to another in Excel than there are particles, protons, neutrons electrons... Danger to Earths biospherehumans included right conditions, you 'd notice the increased gravity just yet you. Consume Mercury, Venus, and orbiting one wouldn & # x27 ; t end up well for our.... Earth 's core would be spinning varies by this much between different cities already n't feel any of! Hit '' an atom in your body every few years cram roughly 1.3 to 2.5 solar masses animals ) be.
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