Science Quiz

[The Last Conformist]

Sedna isn't a member of the Kuiper Belt on account of it's orbital characteristica - it's in an highly elongated orbit whose innermost point already is far out by KBO standards. It's probably a member of the Inner Oort Cloud.

 

[Perfection]

Sedna isn't a member of the Kuiper Belt on account of it's orbital characteristica - it's in an highly elongated orbit whose innermost point already is far out by KBO standards. It's probably a member of the Inner Oort Cloud.

Bingo! It's innermost point is about twice as far away from the sun as the kuiper belt.

 

[knacki]

EDIT - sorry, I'll try to read msg more carefully before posting a totally irrelevant answer - EDIT

 

[betazed]

@Perfection, TLC and others:

See, I was not too way off with my last question.

we are trying to make a 4 codon base and trying to implement new life with new amino acids apart from the 20 we already use. You can read all about it here

 

[The Last Conformist]

I guess it's my turn to ask a question ...

One idea for practically useful controlled fusion is to replace one of the electrons in a hydrogen molecule by a muon, a 200 times heavier bigger brother of the former. Why would this help?

 

[betazed]

I guess it's my turn to ask a question ...

One idea for practically useful controlled fusion is to replace one of the electrons in a hydrogen molecule by a muon, a 200 times heavier bigger brother of the former. Why would this help?

I can take a guess. The orbit of the muon will be much smaller than the orbit of the electron. So the atom will be spatially smaller. Thus over a spatially smaller volume you will have a electrically netural region allowing two hydrogen atoms to come closer without their nucleuses repelling each other hence enhancing the probability of fusion.

Is that it?

 

[col]

Hmm - I'm not yet convinced it would. At fusion temperatures, there arent any such things as molecules or atoms - only nuclei and electrons/muons in a plasma. Any molecule would have been broken up.

 

[betazed]

Hmm - I'm not yet convinced it would. At fusion temperatures, there arent any such things as molecules or atoms - only nuclei and electrons/muons in a plasma. Any molecule would have been broken up.

That is true. Hence I am assumming the scenario described here is not one of a hot fusion (like the Tokamak style, or laser fusion style). More like sonofusion/cold fusion scenario.

I could be way off though.

 

[Perfection]

Wouldn't the muon be too unstable?