Jones Beene wrote: > > Speaking of the Ocean - not necessarily the Dirac sea, nor the > depth of the imagination - there is the oft-mentioned "Special-K > deficit"... and we're not talking breakfast either. > > Potassium (K) is one of the most abundant elements in the Earth's > crust (2.4% by mass) but only 40 ppm in the ocean - despite its > solubility. Lets see: 40 compared to 24,000 is rather glaring (of > course that is a hyperbolic misuse of statistics - but it helps to > make the point). > > That point being that maybe we have this deficit because the > nucleus is more unstable under 'certain' low-energy circumstances > than the textbooks allow. And no further mention will be made of > Kervan now - but keep in mind that K can arguably be more active > even in biology then the following figures about it, based on > known properties, permit. > OTOH, Jones. That ~ 3.2e10 per square cm per second solar neutrino flux is changing K-40 to stable Calcium-40 wherever it pleases.
Fred > > Over one out of every 10,000 Potassium atoms is radioactive: > Potassium-40 - an unstable isotope with a half life of 1.26 > billion years. But there is so much of it in the biota that it > must be a major contributor to genetic damage leading to cancer > and/or occasionally leading to new (better) genes. It can therfore > be considered to be the most important agent of change in all of > life - with the possible exception of UV light. > > Potassium 40 has three decay modes: beta decay, positron emission, > and electron capture. Most of these K nuclei have 19 protons and > 21 neutrons and when one proton captures an electron (EC) to > become a neutron then 18 protons and 22 neutrons are left and the > atom has become Argon-40 the so-called "inert" gas. If the > electron has been "borrowed" from the epo (aether) then a > positronium is left over OR if the nucleus has emitted a postiron > there is also a spare one in the local environs .... > > This "extra" postitron may be one key to the reactivity of the > remainder argon, despite its short lifetime. Another may be the > triad e-e+e- or (e-)* ....where the spare positron bonds with two > electrons to form (e-)* or however it is formed - but it should > not be discounted that the positronium-positive ion, or the > transitory muon, coming from reversed-time-argon (of the Larson > reciprocal system) - may be involved in the unusual secondary > energy of this decays sequence. Another possibility, one might > suppose, although I do not recall ever seeing it mentioned is the > molecule: proton-electron-postiron-electron, which is like the H2 > molecule but with one proton substituted with a positron. Would > that postiron have an extended liftetime?? > > For every hundred 40K atoms that decay, only 11 become Ar-40. This > is not much to play with in order to power an ICE, as we are down > to one in 100,000 active and then with the billion+ year half-life > you are looking at one in every 10^18 active or only about 50,000 > per second per ounce of natural potassium hydroxide - which is > minicule as an energy resource. > > OTOH there may be potential ways to dramatically accelerate the > rate of decay, if not the relative percentage of the radioactive > species. The "24,000 times" deficit mentioned earlier may be a > clue as to what is going on... not to mention the "accelerated" > part. > > At any rate - there are surprising links between "inert" Argon and > the potassium decay chain leading to OU - some relating to > biology. > > Jones
