knudsen@ihnss.UUCP (05/08/84)
It's reassuring to know billionnnzzzz of tonnnzzzz of antimatter would be needed to blow a planet apart, tho blowing up its Sun would serve the purpose just as well for present and future life on the planet. I understood differently the danger in "The Gods Themselves" (one the BEST SF novels I've ever read); it was that the weakening of the nuclear force wouyld spread to the Sun, which would then nova prematurely. In fact, the triple-sexed people in the other universe were already suffering from a dimming of their sun, since in their universe the nuclear force was getting stronger, making fusion more difficult. New topic: How to blow up Jupiter. Years ago, I figured that if a sufficiently crushproof H-bomb could be parachuted down to where Jupiter consists of metallic hydrogen, and detonated, a chain reaction could easily be started that should blow most of the planet away. Needless to say, I don't recommend it this close to Earth....mike k PS: not to be confused with making a permanent star out of Jupiter-- "their failures were the wonder of astronomers on a thousand planets".