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starring Dr. Hal !
THE COSMOS GIVES BIRTH TO NEW FORMS
March 29, 2019 10:00pm

 

Ask Dr Hal
THE COSMOS GIVES BIRTH TO NEW FORMS
"TO SEE THINGS IN THE SEED-- THAT IS GENIUS." -Lao Tzu. Many things come to be newly born in the depths of space, an ontogeny of singular presence. Within molecular clouds, relatively dense concentrations of interstellar gas and dust stretch where the temperature hovers just above Absolute Zero. There, streaming gases become molecular, and atoms bind together. CO and H2 are the most common molecules in interstellar gas clouds, where deep cold also causes gas to clump to high densities. When hyper-concentration reaches a certain essential mass, stars form and begin to blaze, as the supremely concentrated parts of the cloud core collapse under their own mighty, megalo-gravitic weight. Such ultra-concentrated cores typically possess around 104 solar masses in the form of gas and dust. The central cores, nuclei denser than the outer cloud, are first to undergo pre-stellar collapse, fragmenting into massive clumps around 0.1 parsecs in size, about the equivalent of 10 to 50 Solar masses. These embryonic clumps then develop into proto-stars, and are fully fledged in circa 10 million years, from unimaginable cold to greater than white-hot heat, the unstoppable hydrogen-helium fusion reaction which persists and endures through lustrums and epicycles, pulsations of Cosmic Time. Before four hours elapse but after three, the show concludes. Dr. H. Owll performs "The Hitchhiker" by Roald Dahl in its entirety. Puzzling Evidence chimes in toward the end. Submitted questions are answered, donations received. Mob Meattie, yours shall be answered on April 12th. Next week while Dr. H. Owll is far, far away from life-zone habitable California in remote, deep cold, a re-run will be in place, ideally superseded by Puzzling Evidence with lusty, bawling, newborn sound.


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