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Canadian Researchers Create Supernova In-lab

Erebus42 writes "Canada has done something neat. Apparently researchers at the University of British Columbia have created supernova in their ISAC (Isotope Seperator and Accelerator), transmuting sodium 21 into magnesium 22. Spiffy."

18 of 308 comments (clear)

  1. WOW! I want one! by AltGrendel · · Score: 2, Funny
    A supernova in my backyard! Great going Canada!

    Now could you make a black-hole for power generation purposes?

    Thanks!

    --
    The simple truth is that interstellar distances will not fit into the human imagination

    - Douglas Adams

  2. Neat? by saintlupus · · Score: 4, Funny

    Canada has done something neat.

    Christ, how many dollars is the new coin worth this time?

    --saint

    1. Re:Neat? by the_2nd_coming · · Score: 3, Funny

      gosh, they seem to wqant to move backward in Monetary technology
      Canada's goal......

      by 2005 they plan to only be using chickens and goats.

      --



      I am the Alpha and the Omega-3
  3. Ah yes by mrroot · · Score: 4, Funny

    The world has enough Sodium 21. It's about time someone started converting all that crap to Magnesium 22.

    --
    I Heart Sorting Networks
  4. Bragging rights. by exceed · · Score: 4, Funny

    "Canada is now leading the world in the field of nuclear astrophysics.

    "We have bragging rights."


    Finally... I was wondering when we would. ;-)

    --

    void women (int money, time_t time);
  5. Alchemy? by Starship+Trooper · · Score: 0, Funny

    If they can turn sodium(21) into magnesium(22), they're only two steps away from transforming Lead(82) into Gold(79)! Go Canada! :-)

    --
    Loneliness is a power that we possess to give or take away forever
  6. Re:I can see it now! by greenfly · · Score: 4, Funny

    "Nova" Scotia should have known better!

  7. Slippery Slope by adamy · · Score: 4, Funny

    THere seems to be wuite a bit of bragging in the article, but I guess that is to be expected. Something big like this sounds like it took a lot of effort, so these guys were psyched. Can't say as I blame them.

    But it does kindof worry me that Canadians ccan now create there own elements at will. What is to prevent them from creating tons and tons of gold and flooding the gold market? Or How about creating their own Plutonium. Uh oh, I think Canada just got the bomb...Or Carbon. If canada can create it's own Carbon, what can keep them from creating diamonds and flooding the diamond market. And Carbopn is the basis for life. they can create their own stem cells. George Bush ain't going to be happy about that one...Wait, I just relized this means they can create their Hydrogen. My god, they cancreate their own sun. My god, Canada must be stopped.

    Congrats goes out to these guys.

    --
    Open Source Identity Management: FreeIPA.org
  8. Supernova? by Rupert · · Score: 4, Funny

    What has this to do with stars exploding?

    I mean, yes, this is a nuclear reaction that occurs in supernovas, but it's only one of many. If you come to my house and I sell you a book, I have not recreated Barnes and Noble in my study.

    Still, it's a cool trick.

    --

    --
    E_NOSIG
  9. I'm usually proppin' canucks.... by loraksus · · Score: 4, Funny

    But the next thing ubc wants to do is ignite the "supernova".

    Next for the lab is what Shotter describes as one of the thorniest problems for nuclear astrophysicists, duplicating the reaction of the isotope oxygen 15, which is believed to be the spark that ignites nova explosions and x-ray bursts.

    What can I say, America better not try and invade... :)

    --
    1q2w3e4r5t6y7u8i9o0pqawsedrftgthyjukilo;p'azsxdcfv gbhnjmk,l.;/
  10. First-hand account by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Chalmers: Good Lord, what is happening in there?
    Skinner: Aurora Borealis?
    Chalmers: Aurora Borealis? At this time of year? At this time of day? In this part of the country? Localized entirely within your kitchen?
    Skinner: Yes.
    Chalmers: May I see it?
    Skinner: Oh, erm... No.

  11. Re:Say What? by ArsSineArtificio · · Score: 3, Funny
    So let me get this straight. They made a small supernova? They made a supernova the size of a sodium isotope?

    Would that be a Supernovetta?



    I think the term is "nanonova".

    --
    All employees must wash hands before seeking equitable relief.
  12. Bad timing by Grape+Shasta · · Score: 2, Funny


    All this bragging aboot Canada makes me want to go download that Molson beer commercial from AdCritic...

    --

    "I am a cipher, a cipher, wrapped in an enigma, smothered in secret sauce" -Jimmy James
  13. We should ban hands as well by JMZero · · Score: 4, Funny

    Lots of things could end up in Osama's hands. Let's ban hands altogether.

    Where's the guy who makes the joke about other people asking about Beowulf clusters of supernova's?
    -

    --
    Let's not stir that bag of worms...
  14. Re:Canada, soon to be the richest nation in the wo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Jesus was way cool.
    Everybody liked Jesus.
    Everybody wanted to hang out with him.
    Anything he wanted to do he did.
    He turned water into wine,
    and if he had wanted to,
    he could have turned wheat into
    marijuana, sugar into cocaine,
    or vitamin pills into amphetamines.

  15. American Researcher Creates Black Hole In-Cubicle by Tsar · · Score: 5, Funny

    In a parallel breakthrough sure to rock the physics world to its very foundations, Tsar has created a mini black hole in his ISAC (Incredibly Stinky, Ancient Cubicle), causing light to bend uniformly around a point approximately six inches above his desk. The feat was accomplished by using a sample of very pure silicon-based substance called "glass", which was ground and shaped to form what is, in effect, a solid "lens".

    Ultraviolet light generated by an ionized gas was then used to excite a flourescent coating on the interior of a nearby cylinder, creating visible light which was reflected by the surface of a technical document placed precisely in its path. The light was then directed through the "lens" to produce the light-bending effect commonly seen only around supermassive objects such as black holes and galactic superclusters.

    Tsar's next ambitious project is to create a miniature expanding multiverse by blowing up several balloons for a staff New Year's party, the expense of which will likely be covered by the piles of grant money expected due to the unqualified success of the LENS experiment.

    Disclaimer: I'm all all for the advancement of science, but why do we have to use hyperbole to make it seem interesting, or valuable? Maybe if everyone stopped claiming to have created supernovae or black holes or the core of a star or the moment of creation, we could get to a point where dull, devoted, brilliant researchers who didn't minor in drama can still get funding for their worthy efforts. (This is not a plug—I'm not a researcher, and I'm vastly overpaid as it is.)

  16. It's a Canadian Plot to Accelerate Global Warning by billstewart · · Score: 2, Funny
    Let's get to the point of this. The reason the Canadians are trying to replicate Supernovae is because Canada is TOO COLD*. They're doing this insidious dangerous experiment as part of their campaign to Make Canada Warmer. Sure, they could just burn all that oil instead of shipping it south of the border, but that's not enough - they want something Really Really Warm, and this not only solves the problem, it gets the job done a lot faster than shipping us aerosol cans full of ozone.

    *I mean, how often have you seen a weather map on TV that has temperatures in Canada that are even 32 degrees? It'll be 72 in Seattle and just across the border in Vancouver it's 20 degrees. And when it's 35 degrees in Buffalo, it's usually like ZERO in Toronto.

    --

    Bill Stewart
    New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
  17. This is nothing! by Snafoo · · Score: 5, Funny

    Why, here in Canada, we've not only created a supernova but in fact a whole 'mirror universe'. Although virtually identical to the US in most ways, in this 'twin world' the dollar is almost worthless, the politics are leftish, measurements are conducted in a rather strange "metric" system, the minority language is French rather than Spanish, and people manifest love for their nation by violently asserting a profound lack of patriotism.

    As near as I can tell, the real universe split from its when the war of independence failed to happen, although it could also have something to do with the invention of poutine.

    Interestingly, since prime-time television programming has apparently not yet been invented in this timeline, this alternate universe is almost completely dependent upon its mate for non-drama, non-Prince-Edward-Island-themed broadcasts. Thus, while the existence of a 'shadow -universe' may come as a shock to all of you in out there in the real one, citizens of this other realm have known about your universe for quite some time. They've been watching you! They don't wear goatees, but they all seem to wear mustaches! Avoid replacement by your evil twin: Destroy Canada today!

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    - undoware.ca