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Old October 20th 16, 03:05 AM posted to sci.space.history
Fred J. McCall[_3_]
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Default Totally empty space?

Dean Markley wrote:

On Wednesday, October 19, 2016 at 10:11:47 AM UTC-4, Fred J. McCall wrote:
wrote:

On Mon, 17 Oct 2016 18:14:22 -0700, Fred J. McCall wrote:

wrote:


Is there anywhere in space, well out past our solar system, between stars, where
there's absolutely nothing? And by that I mean not even any atoms? Or does the
fact that there's a "space" out there mean there are atoms? Just got to thinking
about it. Thanks.


You're still going to have some atoms. There may be only one in a one
meter cube (intergalactic space), but there will be some.

Okay. But an atom of what? Hydrogen? Carbon?


What are stellar winds made up of?

Hint: It's not carbon.


Protons!


And protons are?

[Come on, you're a chemist.]

That's mostly what you're going to find. The occasional atom of other
stuff, especially if you're somewhere near a supernova.


--
"Have you noticed that the most subtle shedders of blood have always
been the most civilized gentlemen? If civilization has not made man
more bloodthirsty, it has at least made him more hideously and
abominably bloodthirsty. Formerly he saw bloodshed as an act of
justice, and with a clear conscience exterminated whomever he
thought he should. And now we consider bloodshed an abomination,
yet engage in this abomination more than ever."
-- Dostoyevsky "Notes From The Underground"