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New Type of Chemical Bond Predicted To Exist In White Dwarfs
ananyo writes "A previously unknown type of powerful chemical bond should be induced by the ferocious magnetic fields of white dwarfs and neutron stars, according to computer simulations. If the effect can be harnessed in the lab, 'magnetized matter' could be exploited for quantum computing. Chemists identify two classes of strong molecular bonds: ionic bonds, in which electrons from one atom hop over to another, and covalent bonds, in which electrons are shared between atoms. But researchers at the University of Oslo accidentally discovered a third bonding mechanism when they simulated how atoms should behave under magnetic fields of about 105 tesla — 10,000 times the biggest fields that can be generated on Earth (abstract)."
Should be 10 to the 5 Tesla, or 10^5, or 10**5 if you're a Fortran guy...
TFS is wrong. It's not 105 T, it's 10^5 T.
They're destroying the sanctity of traditional chemical bonding!
"Though shalt not lie with an atom magnetically as one would lie with an atom electrostatically. It is an abomination."
- Pauliticus 18:22
Everything is better with chainsaws.
Scientists discover an exotic fundamental particle called the ficton with the rest mass of a small moon that only existed in the unimaginable pressures and temperatures of the first 10^-25 seconds after the universe began its expansion. They promise it will allow users with next-generation PDAs to play Angry Birds with quantum computing.
You know what's the saddest thing about your joke? That you're right. We'll get quantum computers that can do calculations at speeds we cannot even fathom today, yet in the end they'll be used to play silly games that could have run on a C64. And watching porn, of course.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
First of all, why seems everybody forgets about the metallic bonds?
Covalent: that old, nice and sharing couple;
Ionic: same as above, but one of them is abusive and electron digger;
Metallic bond: communism of electrons (or orgy, if you prefer).You know, covalent and ionic aFirst: covalent and ionic aren't two "types" of bonds but extremes of the same continuum. Some bonds - like in hydrogen fluoride - lie pretty much between them, not being fully ionic or fully covalent.
Second thing: ironically, there is no such thing as "types" of bonds. These three categories above aren't "unmixable", you have "metallic" bonds with covalent properties (like gold loves to make), you have borderline covalent-ionic bonds (like HF), this kind of thing. Think in them as extremes in a triangle, while most real life bonds lie inside this triangle.
Lastly, about the article itself... seems like "quantum computing" is what they put when they cannot think in an application to a Chem or Phys discovery nowadays. And I understood they didn't found a new bond type or whatever; their discovery was "oh look, orbitals can be deformed by magnetic fields!".
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