A 2-3% variation in light quark mass of carbon-12 would not have allowed life

[Dusty Bake Activate]

North Carolina State University

Life as we know it is based upon the elements of carbon and oxygen. Now a team of physicists, including one from North Carolina State University, is looking at the conditions necessary to the formation of those two elements in the universe. They’ve found that when it comes to supporting life, the universe leaves very little margin for error.

Both carbon and oxygen are produced when helium burns inside of giant red stars. Carbon-12, an essential element we’re all made of, can only form when three alpha particles, or helium-4 nuclei, combine in a very specific way.* The key to formation is an excited state of carbon-12 known as the Hoyle state, and it has a very specific energy – measured at 379 keV (or 379,000 electron volts) above the energy of three alpha particles. Oxygen is produced by the combination of another alpha particle and carbon.NC State physicist Dean Lee and German colleagues Evgeny Epelbaum, Hermann Krebs, Timo Laehde and Ulf-G. Meissner had previously confirmed the existence and structure of the Hoyle state with a numerical lattice that allowed the researchers to simulate how protons and neutrons interact. These protons and neutrons are made up of elementary particles called quarks. The light quark mass is one of the fundamental parameters of nature, and this mass affects particles’ energies.

In new lattice calculations done at the Juelich Supercomputer Centre the physicists found that just a slight variation in the light quark mass will change the energy of the Hoyle state, and this in turn would affect the production of carbon and oxygen in such a way that life as we know it wouldn’t exist.“The Hoyle state of carbon is key,” Lee says. “If the Hoyle state energy was at 479 keV or more above the three alpha particles, then the amount of carbon produced would be too low for carbon-based life.“

The same holds true for oxygen,” he adds. “If the Hoyle state energy were instead within 279 keV of the three alphas, then there would be plenty of carbon. But the stars would burn their helium into carbon much earlier in their life cycle. As a consequence, the stars would not be hot enough to produce sufficient oxygen for life. In our lattice simulations, we find that more than a 2 or 3 percent change in the light quark mass would lead to problems with the abundance of either carbon or oxygen in the universe.

"The researchers’ findings appear in*Physical Review Letters.The work was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy; the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft Deutscher Forschungszentren and Bundesministerium fuer Bildung und Forschung in Germany; European Union HadronPhysics3 Project and the European Research Council.—

Universe Leaves Little Margin For Error When It Comes To Supporting Life - Science News - redOrbit

 

[Ed MOTHERFUCKING G]

Its almost as if it was designed by somebody to work so flawlessly and coincedentally

 

[Dusty Bake Activate]

Its almost as if it was designed by somebody to work so flawlessly and coincedentally

Not really. What proportion of the universe has conditions habitable to life?

 

[Ghost of $oCal]

Not really. What proportion of the universe has conditions habitable to life?

What would that matter if we are capable of turning inhabitable conditions into habitable ones? We put a man on an inhabitable moon over 40 years ago... think what we could we do in 400 years.

Technically, no corner of the universe would be off limits then.

 

[Ghost of $oCal]

I do get the point of the article tho, it just makes me believe we're apart of a much bigger scheme even more.

 

[NoMayo15]

My university

 

[Sensitive Blake Griffin]

I do get the point of the article tho, it just makes me believe we're apart of a much bigger scheme even more.

what exactly is the "scheme"?

 

[Ghost of $oCal]

what exactly is the "scheme"?

I mean logically speaking, we have to face the inevitable, eventually our resources here will run out. It would be safe to assume that one day mankind will have to colonize outwards, given the progressive advancement of technology and a scenario where we don't kill ourselves first. With that would hopefully come a social, civil, intellectual and physical awareness development way past where we're at now.

That's just one safe assumption of a bigger short term scheme i can think of right off the bat... and that's not even factoring in a spiritual evolution that i also happen to lean towards but purposely left out just so i could cater to a non-religious audience.

i dont claim to think i know what the ultimate goal is, nobody knows. For now all we can do is just live life on a positive tip and do whats right in our hearts. that alone will help us reach the next level.

 

[Liquid]

I mean logically speaking, we have to face the inevitable, eventually our resources here will run out. It would be safe to assume that one day mankind will have to colonize outwards, given the progressive advancement of technology and a scenario where we don't kill ourselves first. With that would hopefully come a social, civil, intellectual and physical awareness development way past where we're at now.

That's just one safe assumption of a bigger short term scheme i can think of right off the bat... and that's not even factoring in a spiritual evolution that i also happen to lean towards but purposely left out just so i could cater to a non-religious audience.

i dont claim to think i know what the ultimate goal is, nobody knows. For now all we can do is just live life on a positive tip and do whats right in our hearts. that alone will help us reach the next level.

resources run out, world war, asteroid hit, or some other natural disaster.

Hopefully science continues to push forward to keep us moving before one of those inevitable situations happen.

 

[Serious]

My university

What would that matter if we are capable of turning inhabitable conditions into habitable ones? We put a man on an inhabitable moon over 40 years ago... think what we could we do in 400 years.

Technically, no corner of the universe would be off limits then.

terraform?

resources run out, world war, asteroid hit, or some other natural disaster.

Hopefully science continues to push forward to keep us moving before one of those inevitable situations happen.

Science will never get funding like that unless Neil tha GAWD becomes president.

Imo, that would be the best way to create jobs and as well as an affluent educated society at the same damn time...



But the corporations that be, have to make money off of the utter laziness and misinformed general populous...

 

[NoMayo15]