(urth) Dark matter at the heart of the sun...

Gwern Branwen gwern0 at gmail.com
Wed Aug 4 08:53:29 PDT 2010


On Wed, Aug 4, 2010 at 11:38 AM, Dan'l Danehy-Oakes <danldo at gmail.com> wrote:
> "A scientist at Royal Holloway, University of London believes dark
> matter is lurking at the centre of the sun and cooling down its core
> temperature."
>
> Cue Twilight Zone theme.
>
> http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/07/100721132407.htm

Huh. I remember this from Stephen Baxter's Xeelee universe
(specifically _Ring_) - the dark matter 'photino birds' were
deliberately cooling the Sun to lengthen its lifespan and thus the
timespan in which they could reproduce using it (something about dark
matter needing high gravity to reach usable concentrations).

(Which is, of course, an entirely different mechanic and purpose than
black holes in the Sun's core.)

-- 
gwern



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