AMA | October 2022

/ Podcast / 5 Comments

Welcome to the October 2022 Ask Me Anything episode of Mindscape! These monthly excursions are funded by Patreon supporters (who are also the ones asking the questions). We take questions asked by Patreons, whittle them down to a more manageable number -- based primarily on whether I have anything interesting to say about them, not whether the questions themselves are good -- and sometimes group them together if they are about a similar topic. Enjoy!

Support Mindscape on Patreon.

5 thoughts on “AMA | October 2022”

  1. Damon W. Byrd

    When our Sun formed did the heavy elements sink to the center? If so and there is little or no hydrogen or deuterium near the center of the Sun, then how could fusion take place creating helium?

  2. Nichael Cramer

    First, thanks. Your response to my question (about how, precisely, the Higgs field “adds mass” to certain particles) was quite helpful.

    Second, to answer the implied question during your response: Yes, my name *is* spelled (and pronounced) “Like Michael with an ‘N’”. 😉

    (What can I say? Parents + Whimsy is always a risky combination.).

  3. Howard Gary

    Damon, as you know, our Sun is a star born when a cloud of gas known as a solar nebula collapsed, and in the middle of this formation matter condensed into a burning ball of gas that became the Sun. The Sun is about 90% hydrogen, 9% helium, and only 0.1% heavier elements such as carbon and nitrogen. Since the percentage of heavier elements compared to hydrogen was so small, they had little effect on the normal fusion processes occurring in the core of the Sun.

    The video posted below ‘Sun 101|National Geographic’ (5 Jan 2018) does a pretty good job of explaining the formation and evolution of the Sun.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HoTK_Gqi2Q

  4. Benjamin Segal

    Could the very question of whether the universe has a beginning be like the question “what color is the number 2?” Is it possible that we are utterly mistaken about the category of the thing we call “our universe?”

  5. Yasas Ponweera

    Hi Sean,
    In your book, Biggest Ideas of the Universe, in chapter six, you talk about equation 6.10, explaining the length contraction of a moving ruler compared to one not moving. Equation 6. 2 is the fundamental assumption of relativity, which gives rise to a specific property (longer path is the shortest proper time elapsed) of space-time. But equation 6.10 seems to be the complete opposite of 6.2. I would like to know the physical implication of 6.10 of a space-time build-up upon 6.2.

    Thank you,

    Yasas Ponweera

Comments are closed.

Scroll to Top