Prod Curt re: PR 6898<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr /><p>What kind of new elements are suspected (if possible) to be in other parts of the galaxy?<p><hr /></p></p></blockquote><br /><br />New elements, as in ones that haven't been discovered yet? Well, first off, nobody would know, because they haven't been discovered yet. <img src="/images/icons/tongue.gif" /> More to the point, though, the heavier an element gets, the more unstable it gets. The only undiscovered elements are ones which are extremely difficult to create and which decay so fast it's nearly impossible to confirm their presence before they're gone. There are basic fundamental laws behind this, so it's not likely that more exotic elements exist anywhere else.<br /><br />One notable exception: super-dense objects such as neutron stars, and presumably black holes (although odds are matter isn't even recognizable in black holes). Neutron stars are made of neutrons packed together so tightly there's nothing else there. It's not possible to say what element they are made of; the term has no meaning. I suppose you could say that neutron stars are a special kind of exotic element -- neutron star material. But they are not made of atoms in the classic sense, so the definitions break down. (The physics does not break down, but classic chemistry does. This is weird material; it can't really be described in elemental terms.)<br /><br />In classic chemistry, an element is defined by an atom. The atom has a specific number of protons, and this number defines the element -- it's where the atomic number comes from. There may be neutrons as well, but the number of neutrons can vary. If there are more or less than the same number of neutrons as protons, the atom is said to be an "isotope". The neutrons and protons cluster together in a nucleus. They are orbited by electrons, objects so tiny as to have a mass generally regarded as negligible. These electrons have a lot <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em> -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>