3 ms·

Ask HN: The modern approach to research unknown materials

• dekhn 3y ago
  In chemistry there has for ~100 years existed a standard set of tests in the form of a decision tree. This is mainly useful for substances which are soluble and fit in a test tube/flask/beaker/carboy. In physics, you'd start with a mass spectrometer which would quickly tell you what the elemental composition was, along with more detail. Then more refined GCMS and other forms of mass spec, as well as some X-rays at your local synchrotron, will give you some more structural information. There's also neutrons and a few other things. If you ground up your UAP and what came out wasn't at all analyzable with a mass spec ,xray spec, or neutrons, then you'd have armies of otherwise bored research scientists asking to try every single method. IE, if you find unobtanium, everybody will want to obtain your unobtainium.
  • markus_zhang 3y ago
    Thanks, that's interesting. I wonder what happens if there is a new atom found? Can we somehow make it out with some methods? I guess once we have all atoms we can just grow the thing?
    • dekhn 3y ago
      You mean like a new element? We haven't even managed to synthesize all the ones we believe can exist, because they get very unstable. Or maybe a way to make up different non-atom things out of subatomic particles and keep them stable? So long as the new thing has some signature on some of our sensor technology we should probably be able to deduce what it is (this is sort of what particle physics folks have been doing for some time). If we were presented with somethign truly novel like this it would be a "drop-everything, go all in on the science" while also sort of reflecting on how little we really know.