If proton decay isn't true

Comments

• KTJ_microbes@mander.xyz ⁨7⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  Okay. I need a physicist. How does that relate to the heat death of the universe. Is all iron-56 the most probable distribution of energy in the universe (max entropy)?

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  • Droggelbecher@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Not a physicist yet, temporarily a high school physics and maths teacher until I can start my PhD

    Fe-56 is the heaviest nucleus that releases energy when other nuclei fuse into it. Everything heavier requires energy, that has to come from somewhere else, to fuse. All things tend to keep doing stuff that release energy, and they don’t like to do stuff that requires energy. So, in a long enough amount of time, nuclei keep fusing together while it releases energy, and stop when it starts to require energy.

    This pretty much only takes nuclear physics into account though, whereas the actual universe is a lot more complicated and will thus probably not turn itself into all iron.

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  • Gladaed@feddit.org ⁨4⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Least Energy. I.e. yes. Does be pretty good.

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  • Zink@programming.dev ⁨3⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Not a physicist, but I thought the heat death of the universe also involved all the matter being sucked into black holes and turned into pure energy. There’s a big chunk converted up front in the accretion disk, then the rest is converted into hawking radiation as the black hole(s) evaporate over the oodles and oodles of years.

    Whether or not there are also lumps of iron-56 or other matter floating around in the cold void probably depends on the real truth behind dark matter and dark energy and their long-term behavior.

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  • KTJ_microbes@mander.xyz ⁨7⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    This is an important question with real-life implications.

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• Kolanaki@pawb.social ⁨19⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  Add this feature to minecraft, so if you wait too long, everything is just iron.

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  • Hupf@feddit.org ⁨4⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    You’re saying bedrock eventually becomes breakable?

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  • Friendlybirdseggs@sopuli.xyz ⁨19⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    YES

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  • SkaveRat@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨19⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Next up: ProtonDecayOrBust

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• stupidcasey@lemmy.world ⁨17⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  Please help I tried this experiment but my eyes turned to Iron how can I see inside the box?

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  • Dicska@lemmy.world ⁨7⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    You don’t need to, I can tell you what’s inside.

    Iron.

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  • confluence@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Step 1: kill the cat in the box Step 2: make sure the cat isn’t still alive when you’re not looking

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• Ironfacebuster@lemmy.world ⁨17⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  This post really resonates with me

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• Usernamealreadyinuse@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

  Thanks, that is indeed a long time

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  • MidsizedSedan@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    Only Buzz Lightyear will get to see it :(

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  • Zorque@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    Gotta change it to scientific Image

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    • Usernamealreadyinuse@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

      Yeah i got this first, thanks! But it didn’t give any meaning in size, after I saw “infinite” I knew more or less how long I should wait

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• sun_is_ra@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

  I didn’t understand this one. Why would any matter eventually turn into iron?

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  • ImWaitingForRetcons@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    Elements with a proton number less than or greater than iron become more stable as they approach iron, and so, over very, very long timeframes, from random quantum tunnelling effects, will favour being iron over being other elements.

    Thus, in 10^~1500 years, virtually all atoms in the universe will turn into iron, assuming protons don’t decay (which may or may not happen).

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    • DarkAri@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨6⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      So all males do eventually become FeMales? I knew it…

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• credo@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

  That’s…

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  • Taalnazi@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    For some extra existential crisis, consider this.

    In 1x10^10^56 years, a new big bang could occur in the universe, through quantum tunneling.

    If you multiply that with all possible ways in which all subatomic particles in the observable universe could be arranged (1x^10^115), that might be a possible timeframe for a new universe exactly like ours.

    That is, a universe in where you posted that comment, and I’m writing this right now. Maybe we’re doing that a few seconds differently, but overall it’s the same universe.

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