I realize trolling nerds is part of the appeal, but this gag would actually work with heavier noble gases like krypton, xenon, or radon.

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There is no* energy stored holding it together, just as there is no energy released when splitting a brick from the ground or splitting two magnets.

*The energy stored in the electrical repulsion of the protons is much much less than the energy required to break the strong force bonds amongst the protons and neutrons, so energy is consumed rather than released in a split.

I did not expect to find other Taiga dorks in here!

For the curious: Taiga dramas are very slow-paced (50-hour seasons) and on the dry side, but man are they excellent. The sets and costumes are beautiful, the characters and plots are compelling, and they’re quite educational (as far as dramas go).

Most are in feudal settings, but they aren’t constrained to one time period. There’s even one about the split loyalties of Japanese Americans in WWII. Really hard-hitting stuff.

If 50 hours of mostly people taking to each other isn’t a turn-off, I’d recommend starting with Hideyoshi. The lead from Samurai Gourmet plays one of the most pivotal figures of Japan’s unification, covering his entire adult life from peasant farmer to supreme ruler. There’s an atypical injection of contemporary salaryman comedy that makes the whole thing more approachable.

Taigas can be a pain to track down; anybody who’s interested can DM me.

It’s complicated.

Bah, they’ll never have my precious -march=native!

It’s funny that a desire for biome diversity has led in a small way to a kind of sameyness. Not so much a criticism as an amusing little irony.

Semiconductor tech is super cool though!