The Universe's Strongest Material is a Cosmic Lasagna

[Judi Lynn]

A new study suggests that the “nuclear pasta” found in neutron stars is 10 billion times stronger than steel

By Jason Daley
smithsonian.com
September 20, 2018

Humans have looked for harder, stronger substances for millennia, replacing rock with iron, steel, composites and now graphene. But it may be awhile before we figure out how to use what a new study suggests is the strongest material in the universe, known as “nuclear pasta” and it’s found in the crusts of neutron stars, reports Brandon Specktor at LiveScience.

Just like campfires and goldfish, stars eventually die. If they are about the size of our sun or smaller they eventually burn up their fuel, swell into a red giant, then cool off into a relatively boring white dwarf. If they are larger than the sun, however, they go out in style. As they die, their immense gravity collapses them, setting off a giant supernova explosion. Depending on its size, the remaining core either collapses in on itself creating a black hole or forms a super-dense neutron star.

According to Bob Yirka at Phys.org, physicists have theorized that the material that makes up neutron stars is incredibly dense. While the diameter of these stars is about 12 miles across, they have a mass 1.4 times that of the sun. A single teaspoon would weigh a billion tons. It’s also believed that the material would be incredibly strong, perhaps the strongest in the universe. Researchers have also theorized that the outer crust of the neutron star would crystallize, surrounding a liquid core.

The densely packed protons and neutrons in that crust would take on novel shapes; researchers have proposed many such shapes may resemble members of the pasta family including gnocchi, lasagna and spaghetti. The question is, which is stronger, the material that makes up the outer crust or the “nuclear pasta” just below it?

Read more: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/universes-strongest-material-cosmic-lasagna-180970358/#fHl2iOwoj4q7Z7Yx.99

[PoliticAverse]

1. Does it become limp if you boil it? n/t

[keithbvadu2]

2. Then, if you boil it too long...

The difference between pasta and paste is how long you cook it.

[PoliticAverse]

3. So it would then become the cosmic glue that holds the universe together. Ahhh. n/t

[keithbvadu2]

4. Yep! Sounds good to me but I ain't no astro-physicist.

[FiveGoodMen]

5. Going to be rather challenging to make anything out of that