Big problem: The Big Bang Theory’s stars are high on lithium

[TexasTowelie]

It's a drug! It's a battery! It's also a remnant of the Big Bang.

There’s big news this week in the field of astrophysics that concerns the Big Bang Theory and lithium, but it’s not about the TV show or the mood-stabilizing drug. But please don’t stop reading! This is important stuff, and it shores up what had been a glaring hole in our theory that describes the early development of the universe.

If you’re familiar with lithium, chances are that it’s because it’s a mood-stabilizing drug used to treat bipolar disorder or used in batteries. But I’m not talking about the drug today, but rather two isotopes of lithium, lithium-6 and lithium-7, the latter of which is by far the more common.

Anyway, let’s start with the Big Bang. Physicists believe that about three minutes after the Big Bang the temperature of the universe cooled from 100 nonillion (that’s a 1, with 32 zeros, or in non-technical parlance, “freaking hot”) degrees Celsius to about 1 billion degrees, at which point it was cool enough for protons and neutrons to clump together and collide with other protons and neutrons.

This is called the Big Bang Nucleosynthesis. In these collisions models of the early universe predict that only six light elements were formed, two isotopes each of hydrogen, helium, and lithium. And happily, present day observations the abundance of hydrogen and helium in stars match very nicely with the abundance predicted by the models.

http://blog.chron.com/sciguy/2013/08/big-problem-the-big-bang-theorys-stars-are-high-on-lithium/?cmpid=htx

[dixiegrrrrl]

1. I rec'd just because of the Sheldon pic.

I love Sheldon. Pitch perfectly played, plus funny as hell.

[rhett o rick]

2. I love Sheldon also, but they have a great cast. nm

[TexasTowelie]

3. Yes,

the headline writer should get a bonus for the extra views.

At least I started the thread in the Science Group--I can only imagine the view count if I placed the thread in GD.

[Shankapotomus]

4. heh heh

Bazinga