Talk:Super-Neutron

Latest comment: 14 years ago by Johnny Pez in topic Mistake in plot description

Mistake in plot description edit

In this story, it is not true that the reason why the "superneutron" did not make the sun explode as a supernova is that the sun has a lot of cadmium (in fact, the sun does not have a lot of cadmium). Rather, in the nuclear reaction analogy, superneutrons would make stars explode like U-235 nuclei hit by real neutrons -- but, since there are always impurities even in the purest U-235 bar, there always are some nuclei of other elements that won't explode. Cadmium is one such element (used to make 'control bars' that keep nuclear fission under control): it just absorbs neutrons without exploding. Hayes' explanation was that the Sun was like a nucleus of cadmium: in the middle of a Universe of U-235 stars (i.e. stars that would explode when hit by a "superneutron"), the Sun happened to be one of those very few "cadmium" stars that can absorb a superneutron without exploding.

So, the plot description must be changed to reflect that. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.210.141.238 (talk) 00:57, 24 July 2009 (UTC)Reply

The whole point of Wikipedia is that if you see an error in an article, you're supposed to correct it yourself, not complain about it. Johnny Pez (talk) 21:34, 16 January 2010 (UTC)Reply