Mamma Mia! The Strongest Material in Space: Nuclear Pasta
Mamma Mia! The Strongest Material in Space: Nuclear Pasta
Astronomers and theoretical physicists are apparently hungry all the time, for they have a penchant for naming phenomena after food, like spaghettification (I talked about it in my last article), Gomez’s Hamburger, and now nuclear pasta. What is that? And why is it called such a weird name?
Where can we find it?
When a star that is larger than the Sun but too small to become a black hole explodes, a neutron star forms, and the material inside it is called nuclear pasta. Research indicates that this is the most durable material in space.
Sooo, what is it, exactly?
The physics inside a neutron star gets a little wonky because you’re literally packing a nonillion kgs (1 with 30 zeros after it) of mass into a sphere that is about 20 km in diameter, which causes the density to be astronomically high (get it?). The neutrons inside the star respond to this by forming weird patterns, and these patterns happen to resemble different types of pasta that make layers. First, you have Gnocchi, then Spaghetti, then waffles (shame the Italian theme isn’t consistent, but the universe isn’t under the obligation to satisfy us), then sheets of lasagna, and so on.
Until recently, because of the astoundingly peculiar nature of the physics in this situation, scientists couldn’t predict the properties of this schmorgesborg of Italian cuisine. However, with the efforts of the scientists at McGill University, Rue University, California Institute of Technology, and Indiana University, we actually got close. They formed a series of tests that simulate the conditions inside a neutron star, and the results are well worth the effort.
Nuclear pasta is about TEN BILLION times the strength of steel. That makes it, by far, the most durable material ever observed. However, to claim that it is the strongest material ever is a huge claim, but it’s probably true. If anything becomes denser than nuclear pasta, it collapses on itself and becomes a black hole.
Great, we found incredibly dense gigantic pasta; what can we do?
Sadly, nothing; we can’t harness its energy, nor can we eat it. Because of the truly unfathomable density, nuclear pasta is incredibly unstable; it even emits gravitational waves. So, it can’t exist anywhere other than the boiling furnace inside a neutron star.
Sources
Caplan, M. E., et al. “Elasticity of Nuclear Pasta.” Physical Review Letters, vol. 121, no. 13, 24 Sept. 2018, doi:10.1103/physrevlett.121.132701.
Dupuis, Justin. “Nuclear Pasta, the Hardest Known Substance in the Universe.” Newsroom, 28 Sept. 2018, www.mcgill.ca/newsroom/channels/news/nuclear-pasta-hardest-known-substance-universe-289729.