Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with supernova

Find a book about a teen who reverses entropy

Axle — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 11:41:59 -0800

Need help finding a book I read as a teenager. It involved teens with weird powers including the power to reverse entropy. In the novel, there were a group of teens that gained strange powers (I think because of a supernova or something). Of these powers, two stuck out to me as being really cool. One kid gave off an aura that made things grow. Everything, including bacteria and mold would grow, so he couldn't stay for very long in places because he would quickly degrade and muck up any room. I remember that another kid got shot in the leg, and since they were hiding from the government or something, he was forced to cut off the kids leg and let his powers make it grow back.

The other kid I remember was the focus of the book, because he had much greater powers. He could bring people back from the dead. And he reversed entropy. For example, grains of sand would form patterns, and locks would lose their randomness and eventually unlock. He could also destroy or heal (mentally) someone with a word.

There's also one last person I remember, who was some sort of really rich entrepreneur who wanted to do good, so he got the two kids together to bring back everyone who had been killed at a concentration camp during the Holocaust.

I recall reading only one book, but it seemed like it was part of a series. I'd really appreciate any hints as to what this series is called, because my google-fu can't turn anything up.

Inconstant Sun

Merdryn — Wed, 01 Nov 2006 08:39:15 -0800

I'm working on a short story, a sort of parallel to Inconstant Moon by Larry Niven, that involves the Sun going nova, and its effects on Earth's last minutes/hours/days. I'm starting to wonder if his description of what would happen if the Sun went nova is 100% accurate, so I'd like to pick it apart. Secondarily, what would happen if the sun turned into a red giant, instead? Okay: The Sun goes nova. In the story, it basically cooks the light side of the earth, while a steam-storm rushes over the terminator to the dark side of the earth, steaming everyone alive within a relatively short period of time.

My thoughts: If the Sun were to go nova, the central mass that holds us in orbit would lessen, and our orbital distance from the Sun would increase. Would we move out of the way of the bulk of matter being ejected from the sun? How long would it take for climate to change? Would we crash into our moon? Other satellites? When would we die, and from what?

If the Sun were to shift into a red giant, that also involves a significant loss of mass. It's commonly held that the Sun would just envelop and scorch the Earth, but I again wonder: Wouldn't the loss of mass cause our orbital distance to increase? Is it possible that we'd orbit the now red giant Sun in such a way as to continue life on Earth?

Effects of a Really-Near-Earth-Supernova?

Chanther — Wed, 28 Dec 2005 09:36:34 -0800

How close would a Near-Earth Supernova have to be to Earth to cause immediate surface effects? And what would those effects be? Most of the articles I've read on the effects of a Near-Earth Supernova on Earth's biosphere deal with the elimination of the ozone layer and associated consequences - damage to the biosphere from solar radiation which now can reach the surface because of the lack of protection from the ozone layer. But they don't talk about immediate surface effects. I assume that if a supernova were to go off much closer to the Earth than the ozone-depeletion scenarios contemplate, that the radiation would overwhelm the atmospheric barriers and irradiate the surface immediately. Theoretically, how close would a supernova have to be to do this?

Secondly, what would the actual effects be, aside from a lethal dose of radiation to living things? What would it look like? Would the atmosphere fluoresce? Would fires ignite? What would a protected observer see happening on the Earth's surface?

Tiger, tiger, burning bright/In the forests of the night

Rothko — Mon, 22 Aug 2005 03:30:31 -0800

Surviving a supernova... • What would happen if superheated gas from a supernova hit our solar system?
• Would we know if a supernova explosion happened near enough for us to know it is coming?
• How far away would a supernova need to be for us to survive its effects?