There’s too much gold in the universe.
No one knows where it came from.
Live Science,
by
Rafi Letzter
Original Article
Posted By: StormCnter,
10/2/2020 2:42:50 PM
Something is raining gold across the universe. But no one knows what it is.
Here's the problem: Gold is an element, which means you can't make it through ordinary chemical reactions — though alchemists tried for centuries. To make the sparkly metal, you have to bind 79 protons and 118 neutrons together to form a single atomic nucleus. That's an intense nuclear fusion reaction. But such intense fusion doesn't happen frequently enough, at least not nearby, to make the giant trove of gold we find on Earth and elsewhere in the solar system.
Reply 1 - Posted by:
jhpeters2 10/2/2020 2:52:05 PM (No. 559834)
Does anyone know where the other elements in nature came from? Why stop at gold? The mind boggles.
14 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
DVC 10/2/2020 3:14:12 PM (No. 559858)
#1, yes, the article states that the quantities of all the other elements seem to be about what the math from these neutron starts would give you to expect.
Stars and especially the ones much larger than the sun (like 20 times larger) which are in final stages, collapse into themselves with their gravity compressing their matter to almost unbelievable densities. One matchbox sized chunk of neutron star matter would weigh a billion tons. This immense compression creates the other elements, jamming protons and neutrons to tightly together that they join and form larger nuclei. Many, most of the lighter elements are created in normal suns.
Up to about sulfur, they are made in a normal star, but in very small quantities, totaling less than 0.1%. Helium makes up about 1/4 of the mass of our sun. That 0.1% of elements is still a LOT. Our sun weighs as much as 330,000 Earths. So, 0.1% of that is still 330 Earth-weights worth of the lighter elements up to sulfur.
These is only the first 16 elements, but some of the most common and important, such as carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, magnesium, sodium, aluminum, silicon, phosphorous and sulfur. But there are more than 100 denser elements, many pretty rare. And I didn't mention hydrogen, helium, lithium, berylium and boron also formed in normal stars.
Maybe those old alchemists really DID figure out how to turn lead into gold. 😀
11 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
Safari Man 10/2/2020 3:38:04 PM (No. 559889)
Pretty sure it comes from global warming... the excess CO2 is transmogrifying into Au under the intense heat and pressure of hurricanes and, voila!, Goooooooooold. (Never mind that hurricanes are low pressure cells -- its pressure). Or at least the science is trying to understand if that is what's going on, but it's settled that Trump is to blame so we need to get back into the Paris Accord.
7 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
WhamDBambam 10/2/2020 3:40:53 PM (No. 559893)
IIRC, the percentage makeup of elements in the human body mirrors that of the universe.
5 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
snowoutlaw 10/2/2020 3:44:44 PM (No. 559900)
But the "Science is settled"?
7 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
Terry_tr6 10/2/2020 3:47:41 PM (No. 559906)
as someone who has panned and dredged for gold, the areas i have worked sure didn't have an overabundance of gold...
16 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
bamboozle 10/2/2020 3:49:00 PM (No. 559907)
Seek out the the periodic table song on YouTube. It will bring a smile to your 'pretty teeth'.
4 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
seamusm 10/2/2020 3:51:50 PM (No. 559910)
Maybe there really is a Rumplestiltskin.
3 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
philsner 10/2/2020 3:56:07 PM (No. 559921)
God made it.
16 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
anniebc 10/2/2020 4:20:11 PM (No. 559949)
If you can't make gold ordinarily, how can you say there's too much of it? What is too much? The Bible says the streets of glory are paved with a gold so pure, it's clear gold. Imagine that?
10 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
LC Chihuahua 10/2/2020 4:21:55 PM (No. 559952)
Alchemy. But watch out for the fool's gold too!
2 people like this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
snakeoil 10/2/2020 4:24:57 PM (No. 559956)
The thing that makes gold valuable on Earth is its rarity. If someone discovers a mountain made of gold the stuff would be as worthless as sand. If aliens wanted to destroy us all they have to do is shower the Earth with the stuff.
4 people like this.
Reply 13 - Posted by:
justavoter 10/2/2020 4:36:05 PM (No. 559971)
It is going to take a lot of gold to pave all the streets in Heaven. Why is this a surprise?
3 people like this.
Reply 14 - Posted by:
NorthernDog 10/2/2020 4:49:04 PM (No. 559986)
It's pretty hard to make water too. Where did it all come from? Noah has some good theories.
6 people like this.
Reply 15 - Posted by:
SkeezerMcGee 10/2/2020 5:12:47 PM (No. 560005)
Gold cannot be THAT rare. Over only a few years Hunter Biden found found a heck of lot of it in Ukraine and China.
6 people like this.
Reply 16 - Posted by:
JHHolliday 10/2/2020 5:44:54 PM (No. 560034)
Wherever it comes from I haven’t been “showered “ with it.
4 people like this.
Reply 17 - Posted by:
mcgyvertech 10/2/2020 6:08:03 PM (No. 560054)
There was a Twilight Zone episode on this very topic. Here's the final scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hW2XtG7hxF0
4 people like this.
Reply 18 - Posted by:
Heraclitus 10/2/2020 7:57:26 PM (No. 560153)
Fascinating!
And #2, i'm wondering if your alchemists' grandson is the one who's turning the Golden State into pyrite?
1 person likes this.
Reply 19 - Posted by:
Lawsy0 10/2/2020 9:55:45 PM (No. 560216)
This reminds me of a great story (too long for here) about a guy who took a sea bag full of gold ingots to heaven with him. St. Peter asked him, '' Why are you bringing all that old used pavement to heaven?''
Maybe some of it is flaking off and falling earthward.
3 people like this.
Below, you will find ...
Most Recent Articles posted by "StormCnter"
and
Most Active Articles (last 48 hours)