215

https://xkcd.com/2860

Alt text:

Unlike an Iron Age collapse, a Bronze Age collapse releases energy, since copper and tin are past the iron peak on the curve of binding energy.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] palordrolap@kbin.social 6 points 11 months ago

First row is real. Second row, not so much.

That said, the "one big nucleon" is pretty close in concept to a neutron star. It needs a few more nucleons than there are in a single atom though. Just a few. And it's not really a decay mode as it is a gravitational effect.

It's also kind of reminiscent of superatoms - clusters of atoms that act like one single atom - but that is very much not the same. (The nuclei aren't fused. They maintain regular, sensible, atomic distances. Electrons are free to pass between. etc.)

this post was submitted on 27 Nov 2023
215 points (98.6% liked)

xkcd

8799 readers
96 users here now

A community for a webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS