# Dropping some neutronium **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 24, 2014, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropping-some-neutronium/708114 "2014-12-24T20:19:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2014, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropping-some-neutronium/708114/21 "2014-12-26T18:30:50Z")
> [@get\_lives](#): > > Why wouldn’t it be something more dense, like gold/iridium? Because iron is at the bottom of the curve of binding energy - other nuclei can release energy by fissioning or fusing with other nuclei, but iron can’t. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2014, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropping-some-neutronium/708114/22 "2014-12-26T19:23:00Z")
I’va long wondered that about iron–why its presence is the dying breath of a star. Thanks **AndyL** ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2014, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropping-some-neutronium/708114/23 "2014-12-26T19:54:47Z")
> [@The Great Sun Jester](#): > > I’va long wondered that about iron–why its presence is the dying breath of a star. Thanks **AndyL** No problem. Here’s some background info [Nuclear binding energy - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_binding_energy#Nuclear_binding_energy_curve) ---
**Author:** ![get\_lives](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecb155/32.png) [@get\_lives](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/get_lives)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropping-some-neutronium/708114/24 "2014-12-27T01:01:27Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > Because iron is at the bottom of the curve of binding energy - other nuclei can release energy by fissioning or fusing with other nuclei, but iron can’t. So there’s no way to get large amounts of the most-dense elements without getting much larger amounts of iron, then? In a natural environment, I mean. ---
**Author:** ![Bert\_Nobbins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@Bert\_Nobbins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bert_Nobbins)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropping-some-neutronium/708114/25 "2014-12-27T01:36:30Z")
Seems to me we’re going to need a pretty strong teaspoon. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropping-some-neutronium/708114/26 "2014-12-27T09:45:13Z")
True, nobody ever thinks of the teaspoon. I suggest using unobtanium for that. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropping-some-neutronium/708114/27 "2014-12-27T16:17:10Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Btw, when I read OP hed I first thought it was about dropping acid, but with neutronium instead of LSD. … [Hijack] Hey **Leo** - I notice you often (always?) refer to the thread title as the “hed”. Is that some specialist copy editor or typesetter term, or have you just decided to scrimp on "a"s? I’m not trying to be a jerk, just curious. Thanks … [/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropping-some-neutronium/708114/28 "2014-12-27T17:46:39Z")
I was going to link to Randall Munroe’s awesome [What If](http://whatif.xkcd.com) column about “dropping and/or touching a neutronium bullet”, until I remembered that it was only in the book, not online. A shame, it added some fascinating info to this topic. ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropping-some-neutronium/708114/29 "2014-12-27T17:52:58Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > [Hijack] > Hey **Leo** - I notice you often (always?) refer to the thread title as the “hed”. > > Is that some specialist copy editor or typesetter term, or have you just decided to scrimp on "a"s? > > I’m not trying to be a jerk, just curious. Thanks … > [/hijack] According to this [Wiktionary entry](http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/hed#Noun), it’s “journalism slang” for the headline of a story. I see how that applies to the title of a thread, although I don’t know if **Leo Bloom** is the only one who uses it that way or if it’s become common. The “etymology” section says: > [@](#): > > Deliberately altered spelling of head, to distinguish the word as not belonging in the story. Compare [_lede_](http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/lede#English) (“lead, introduction”). ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropping-some-neutronium/708114/30 "2014-12-27T17:55:25Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > [Hijack] > Hey **Leo** - I notice you often (always?) refer to the thread title as the “hed”. > > Is that some specialist copy editor or typesetter term, or have you just decided to scrimp on "a"s? > > I’m not trying to be a jerk, just curious. Thanks … > [/hijack] Both. “Subject” or “subject line” are too long to type, but sometimes I use the first. “Hed” saves the “a,” yes, but you’d never catch me typing “thru” or, 99% of the time textspeak on the phone. (Except for “cya,” for some reason.) And perhaps for that reason, and–besides for argot for the sake of argot–it is the way journalists refer to the headline. Because you don’t want to confuse what you’re actually talking about, as in “put head here” and hilarity ensues. Many lifetimes ago I was en editor and writer for tech magazines. So: 1st, lazy and textspeak, 2nd, affectation, memory, general semantic comfort. ETA: since you mention it, a lifetime even earlier, I was a typesetter in a hot type shop. Lead matrices man. Hand type too, just like Gutenburg. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropping-some-neutronium/708114/31 "2014-12-27T18:04:21Z")
[Hijack] Since we’re all letting our hair down, I have a question for you, **LSLGuy**. You are well known here as a pilot, military and commercial, who both knows his stuff and is extremely helpful with long, detailed posts directly on topic and suggestive in the continuing discussion. I’ve often wondered: do you sometimes write your posts at work, during down times halfway over the Atlantic? [/Hijack] ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropping-some-neutronium/708114/32 "2014-12-27T19:17:41Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > … Many lifetimes ago I was en editor and writer for tech magazines… > since you mention it, a lifetime even earlier, I was a typesetter in a hot type shop. Lead matrices man. Hand type too, just like Gutenburg. Thanks. Your career explains it. Thanks. It was clear you disdained txtspeak in general, so that made “hed” look pretty incongruous to this non-editor. I should have assumed it was work jargon. But in general I prefer to ask over to assuming. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropping-some-neutronium/708114/33 "2014-12-27T19:32:46Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > …I’ve often wondered: do you sometimes write your posts at work, during down times halfway over the Atlantic? … Thanks for the kind words. I don’t fly the Atlantic; most of that work is overnight & I’ve never seen the attraction of working graveyard shift. I’m to be found droning over the lower 48 with occasional sojourns to Canada, Mexico, and various Caribbean islands. Someday I may give the Atlantic (or Pacific) a try. Quibbling aside, any internet access while flying is verboten. Ditto newspapers, magazines, e-books, Sudoku, etc. As is pretty much any activity other than talking baseball, whining about ex-wives & politicians, etc., all while attentively watching the paint dry hour after hour. You may recall some embarrassing headlines a few years ago about a crew who got so absorbed in playing with their laptops that they forgot to arrive at their destination. Nobody involved is still employed. The Feds and therefore the airlines’ managers are deadly serious about this. I do end up killing a lot of time in hotels. After a meal and/or a workout there’s often a couple of hours before bed or else first thing in the AM. Sometimes the local area, time of day, and weather are conducive to exploring the neighborhood. But often not. When I’m stuck inside the SDMB fills that time well. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropping-some-neutronium/708114/34 "2014-12-27T20:06:02Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > Do you realize how fast you could bake a potato with this stuff? It would still take an hour so even if you don’t want a potato go ahead and start one, because in an hour, who knows. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropping-some-neutronium/708114/35 "2014-12-27T22:07:25Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > … > I don’t fly the Atlantic; most of that work is overnight & I’ve never seen the attraction of working graveyard shift. I’m to be found droning over the lower 48 with occasional sojourns to Canada, Mexico, and various Caribbean islands. Someday I may give the Atlantic (or Pacific) a try… [hijack of hijack] What kind of prep training does a pilot do when switching routes so drastically? I’m guessing that each new airport requires “training” of some sort. But do they just direct you “keep going east or west till you get there” from your usual transcontinental routes? Seen/flew one ocean/large body of water seen 'em all? [/hijack] ETA hijack of hijack #2 I called “hed” argot, you called it “jargon,” Wiki apparently doesn’t care and also called it “slang.” Old discussion topic. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropping-some-neutronium/708114/36 "2014-12-27T23:37:27Z")
> [@chorpler](#): > > I was going to link to Randall Munroe’s awesome [What If](http://whatif.xkcd.com) column about “dropping and/or touching a neutronium bullet”, until I remembered that it was only in the book, not online. A shame, it added some fascinating info to this topic. What else is only in the book? ---
**Author:** ![Bert\_Nobbins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@Bert\_Nobbins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bert_Nobbins)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2014, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropping-some-neutronium/708114/37 "2014-12-28T17:30:52Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > True, nobody ever thinks of the teaspoon. I suggest using unobtanium for that. Too difficult to get hold of. I’m going to specify standard unbendium. ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2014, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropping-some-neutronium/708114/38 "2014-12-30T02:35:56Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > What else is only in the book? A bunch of columns, like “What if I fired a bullet with the density of neutronium from a gun?” and “What if the earth stopped spinning, but not the atmosphere?” and “What would happen if you made a periodic table out of cube-shaped bricks, where each brick was made of the corresponding element?” and “How long could a nuclear submarine last in orbit?” and some others I can’t recall, plus numerous “Weird and worrying questions from the What-If Inbox” short columns, which remind me of when Cecil does “Questions we’re still thinking about”. I got both the book (on Kindle) and Wil Wheaton’s reading of the audio book (from Audible). Well worth it, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2015, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropping-some-neutronium/708114/39 "2015-01-01T18:44:43Z")
> [@get\_lives](#): > > So there’s no way to get large amounts of the most-dense elements without getting much larger amounts of iron, then? In a natural environment, I mean. I’m not an expert, but I suspect that there might be a way to modulate the decay of neutronium to minimize the production of iron - but Chronos specified a slow decay, which means that you’re going to allow the nucleons to reach their minimum energy state, iron. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2015, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropping-some-neutronium/708114/40 "2015-01-01T19:02:59Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > D’oh. About 21 minutes, not 42. For a maximum speed about about 4200 feet per second, by the way. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropping-some-neutronium/708114.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropping-some-neutronium/708114.md?page=3)