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PASTA MATTER. “In the first part of this paper, we investigate the possible existence of a structured hadron-quark mixed phase in the cores of neutron stars. This phase, referred to as the hadron-quark pasta phase, consists of spherical blob, rod, and slab rare phase geometries.” https://lnkd.in/dSt3xgn View in LinkedIn

STRANGE QUARK STARS. “A thorough search in the currently detected ~2950 exoplanets around normal main-sequence stars has failed to identify any stable close-in objects that meet the SQM criteria, i.e., lying in the tidal disruption region for normal matter planets. However, the pulsar planet PSR J1719-1438B, with an orbital radius of ~6 × 10(10) cm and orbital period of 7837 s, is, encouragingly, found to be a good candidate.” (SQM = strange quark matter). https://lnkd.in/d-4qzTw View in LinkedIn

LOWEST ENERGY STATE. “The true ground state of hadronic matter may be strange quark matter (SQM). Consequently, observed pulsars may actually be strange quark stars, but not neutron stars. However, proving or disproving the SQM hypothesis still remains a difficult problem to solve due to the similarity between the macroscopical characteristics of strange quark stars and neutron stars.” https://lnkd.in/d-4qzTw View in LinkedIn

STRANGE DWARFS. “We investigate the stability of "strange dwarfs": white-dwarf-sized stars with a density discontinuity between a small dense core of quark matter and a thick low-density mantle of degenerate electrons. Previous work on strange dwarfs suggested that such a discontinuity could stabilize stars that would have been classified as unstable by the conventional criteria based on extrema in the mass–radius relation. We investigate the stability of such stars by numerically solving the Sturm–Liouville equations for the lowest-energy modes of the star. We find that the conventional criteria are correct, and strange dwarfs are not stable.” https://lnkd.in/dJXt729 View in LinkedIn

The spring growth of mosses on a local wall as they put forth their time capsules into the future. View in LinkedIn

A door in Girona. View in LinkedIn

THE NATURAL INGREDIENTS that Theophilus mentions include various plants, human urine, teeth and hair of very specific animals, and both human and animal blood. Dung was a key ingredient of one recipe. https://lnkd.in/d7yzXt5 View in LinkedIn

TOXIC SUBSTANCES. Reading Theophilus reminds one why life was, as Thomas Hobbes described, “nasty, brutish and short”. These artisans splashed around lead, mercury (quicksilver) and sulfur with abandon, heating them at length in open vessels. Indeed they were the ingredients for paints, and one or two still are. https://lnkd.in/d7yzXt5 View in LinkedIn

ANCIENT CRAFTSMEN were highly skilled and had to source almost everything by their own hand, tools, reagents, even the workshops. Theophilus did not merely compile recipes, but had a first hand working knowledge of each of the crafts he described. It is readily apparent on reading this work that ancient craftsmen were immensely skilled and knowledgeable, by necessity. There was no handy hardware store, Amazon, or knowledge but a click away. https://lnkd.in/d7yzXt5 View in LinkedIn

CRAFTS COVERED. Theophilus’s work covers the enormous range of craftsmanship of his time, ranging from the making of paints, glues, oils, varnishes, and metal work, often citing several methods. Glasswork required building four types of kiln and making numerous colored glasses and glass paints, as well as lead window assembling. The metal work includes building the workshop, making the kiln, all the tools, a church organ, methods of refining and plating metals, and church bells. And more. https://lnkd.in/d7yzXt5 View in LinkedIn