The Case of Strange Matter

Some call it the most dangerous substance in the universe. It could lie at the heart of “neutron stars”.

A simulation shows the merger of two neutron stars. Eventually they leave behind a black hole. Image by NASA.

In one of the most violent events in the universe, two neutron stars are gravitationally latched onto one another. They perform a cosmic dance where immense forces draw them together and deform their once neat, round bodies into gnarled and oblong shapes. It takes only a few milliseconds — less than the blink of an eye — for their crusts to shatter open and the less massive star to burst in a gory mess of material. Its contents form a spiral shape surrounding the merger while the larger star continues to get heavier. It grows, becoming more massive, soaking in the superdense material of the erupted star until it can no longer hold itself up against gravity. The star wavers, but finally succumbs into a black hole. The universe is now home to a new dark, sucking sphere. Less dense material that isn’t scraped into the black hole will orbit around in a fast-moving torus extending hundreds of miles. It is during one of these events that scientists hypothesize a dangerous, unpredictable substance might be ejected into the universe.

This is strange matter. And it could exist here on Earth already, deposited in our water or tucked away in Arctic meteorites. This strange matter is like a pathogen — infecting…