>"When a free neutron bumps into the atom, it splits the nucleus, throwing off additional neurons, which can then zing into the nuclei of nearby U-235 atoms, cr

>"When a free neutron bumps into the atom, it splits the nucleus, throwing off additional neurons, which can then zing into the nuclei of nearby U-235 atoms, creating a self-sustaining cascade of nuclear fission. The fission events each generate heat." OK, but... Here's my question: If heat is related to fission -- then is fission related to heat? In other words, in the conventional Physics of the present day, Physicists have assumed that fission causes heat. But what if the reverse were also true? What if heat, heat itself -- was fission? ? How would this be true, you may ask? Well, if we use a billard ball model of particles, and we say that fission is some of these billard ball particles being bounced around in certain ways, then maybe heat is the exact same process, the exact same pattern! ...Or, maybe heat is the same process as fission, just at a smaller/faster or larger/slower particle size... In other words, the bounce patterns might be the same -- even though the scale at which they occur might be different... Like, maybe radiation/fission can be equated to a billard table with really small balls, and maybe heat can be equated to a table with larger billard balls... Or perhaps the reverse is true... perhaps the particles/billard balls used for the fission are larger than those of heat, even though both types are still really small... OK, so if that's true then why doesn't conventional heat generate radioactivity, you may ask? Ah, but I'll bet heat does, at least to a microscopic degree! But the radioactivity that the heat generates is comprised of particles that have lesser ability to penetrate space, much less be detected, in other words, we imagine a barrier of 1 millimeter of air -- 1 mm! -- as enough of a barrier to stop the emanated particle/wave! Think of it like this... to block alpha particles, a thin sheet of paper is sufficient... But with gamma particles, you might need yards of lead... Well, same thing, but with air and heat... The air blocks the particles being radiated by the heat, and the reason they aren't being detected as "radiation" is because they're at a different wavelength (infrared?). Anyway, that's the case for looking at heat and fission as the same pattern, the same thing, but each is just relative to a scale... Disclaimer: All of the above -- is a crackpot theory only(!), and should only be treated as such. <g> (In legal terms, it would be considered rampant "conjecture, speculation and hearsay". <g>)