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Tetraneutron Discovered
Caid Raspa writes "According to this
Press Release the French have (accidentally) produced six nuclei of tetraneutron (nucleus with four neutrons and no protons). Theoreticians have previously thought that tetraneutron does not exist. As there is no electric charge in these nuclei, they allow better studies of the nuclear forces. The scientific article is also available at
arXiv.org."
Actually, the article says they may have produced some, not that they did produce some...
The trouble with high-level physics is that theoritical models are actually built on clay... nothing is ever sure, there are always things you need to adjust, and such...
More to the point, nothing is ever certain in any science. Science can only disprove hypotheses - it can never prove anything. The language is pretty standard for researchers talking about an unconfirmed result. They're pretty sure that they got it, but until it's been checked by other independent teams, no one will consider this a done deal.
It's just like Einstein saying he "may" have had new gravitational laws, or Pasteur saying he "may" have found a way to prevent disease. Both were sure, but the results were yet to be confirmed.
Give 'er a year and we'll have a definitive answer.
In Soviet Russia, sig types you!
[restoring 7-track 150bpi high-school physics backup]
Neutrons' function in a nucleus is supposedly to provide strong nuclear force to help counteract the protons' mutual repulsion. Seems to me that, without protons, neutrons should stick together even more readily.
So why aren't we finding small (or sometimes not-so-small) clumps of neutrons all over the place?
Life is like surrealism: if you have to have it explained to you, you can't afford it.
Check what I said - I didn't say it was a new form of matter, I said it was an accidentally discovered form of matter.
Second, just because something exists somewhere in the universe does not mean that it is thus safe or wise to have it here on earth. Black holes are fine, as long as they don't come near. Quasars are fine, as long as they aren't nearby and shining at us. Supernovas? Wonderful, but please keep them many light years away.
Really? Now, do you know all the properties of sub-atomic black holes? How about naked ones (no Swartzchild radius)? Quite possibly those could be pretty damn harmless - rather than simply saying "gee, the big ones are really scary, let's not even consider the little ones," doesn't it merit more study? No need for FUD here, you know. No one is claiming that they're going to make a star-sized black hole in their particle accelerator.
Maybe tetraneutron is something that is commonly made when cosmic rays hit our atmosphere, and maybe not. You should be at least a little startled by it, and that it was made _accidentally_.
Yes, how cool. Now, why should we be afraid of it, as grandparent suggests? It merits more study, not FUD. Thousands of other useful things were made accidentally - teflon, for one - and just because they weren't intentional doesn't mean that we should run and hide in fear from them.
-T