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	'''Strangelets''' are small fragments of ]. They only exist if the "strange matter hypothesis" is correct, in which case they are the true ground state of matter, and nuclei are actually ] states with a very long lifetime.		'''Strangelets''' are small fragments of ]. They only exist if the "strange matter hypothesis" is correct, in which case they are the true ground state of matter, and nuclei are actually ] states with a very long lifetime. For a more detailed discussion see the article on ].

	== ~~Explanation~~ ==		== Possible observation ==

	In May ], a group of researchers at ] reported the possibility that strange matter may have been responsible for two seismic events recorded on ] and ] in ]; they proposed that two strangelets of unknown mass moving at roughly 400 km/s had passed through the Earth, generating seismic shock waves along their paths. The members of the group were Vidgor Teplitz, Eugene Herrin, David Anderson and Ileana Tibuleac. Most seismologists, however, consider the events to be normal deep earthquakes.		In May ], a group of researchers at ] reported the possibility that strange matter may have been responsible for two seismic events recorded on ] and ] in ]; they proposed that two strangelets of unknown mass moving at roughly 400 km/s had passed through the Earth, generating seismic shock waves along their paths. The members of the group were Vidgor Teplitz, Eugene Herrin, David Anderson and Ileana Tibuleac. Most seismologists, however, consider the events to be normal deep earthquakes.
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	== Strangelets and the apocalypse ==		== Strangelets and the apocalypse ==

			If strangelets exist and have negative electric charge then any strangelets produced by cosmic rays or in human-built accelerators could catalyze the conversion of large volumes of ordinary matter (such as the planet Earth) to strange matter. This possibility has received some media attention <ref>New Scientist, 28 August 1999: "A Black Hole Ate My Planet" </ref> but scientists have concluded that it is exceedingly unlikely. (Basically, if it could happen then cosmic rays would have caused the moon to convert long ago<ref>W. Busza, R. Jaffe, J. Sandweiss, F. Wilczek, "Review of speculative 'disaster scenarios' at RHIC", </ref> .)
	], an episode of the ] television series ] depicts a hypothetical scenario in which a test creating strangelets in a ] leads to the formation of a ]. However, a number of scientists have rejected the possibility of such events because no particle accelerator powerful enough exists, and also because the tiny black holes created in them would be too small to form fully.

			== References ==
	An episode of ] featured an attempt to destroy the planet by intentionally creating strangelets in a particle accelerator.
			<references/>

	For more information on strangelets, including a discussion of the possibility that strangelets might destroy the world, see the article on ].

	== External links ==		== External links ==

Revision as of 04:04, 5 March 2007

Strangelets are small fragments of strange matter. They only exist if the "strange matter hypothesis" is correct, in which case they are the true ground state of matter, and nuclei are actually metastable states with a very long lifetime. For a more detailed discussion see the article on strange matter.

Possible observation

In May 2002, a group of researchers at Southern Methodist University reported the possibility that strange matter may have been responsible for two seismic events recorded on October 22 and November 24 in 1993; they proposed that two strangelets of unknown mass moving at roughly 400 km/s had passed through the Earth, generating seismic shock waves along their paths. The members of the group were Vidgor Teplitz, Eugene Herrin, David Anderson and Ileana Tibuleac. Most seismologists, however, consider the events to be normal deep earthquakes.

Strangelet 'observatory'

It has been suggested that the International Monitoring System being set up to verify the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) may be useful as a sort of "strangelet observatory" using the entire Earth as its detector; the IMS will be designed to detect anomalous seismic disturbances down to 1 kiloton of TNT's equivalent energy release or less, and could be able to track strangelets passing through Earth in real time if properly exploited.

Strangelets and the apocalypse

If strangelets exist and have negative electric charge then any strangelets produced by cosmic rays or in human-built accelerators could catalyze the conversion of large volumes of ordinary matter (such as the planet Earth) to strange matter. This possibility has received some media attention but scientists have concluded that it is exceedingly unlikely. (Basically, if it could happen then cosmic rays would have caused the moon to convert long ago .)

References

New Scientist, 28 August 1999: "A Black Hole Ate My Planet"
W. Busza, R. Jaffe, J. Sandweiss, F. Wilczek, "Review of speculative 'disaster scenarios' at RHIC", Rev. Mod. Phys.72:1125-1140 (2000)

External links

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