Homepage
Login
New Post
Profile
It depends how believable you want your story to be to someone who knows a little about science.
There are many things in science where it is very difficult to say what is possible or what might exist elsewhere in the universe. If you said that there is another planet out there somewhere with creatures who have blue skin and breath ammonia, who is to say that this is not possible? We have a lot to learn yet about the biology of creatures here on Earth, to say what the biology of creatures on another planet might be like is pure speculation.
But there are other things, at least a few, where we can pretty conclusively say that we have categorized all possibilities. The list of elements is one of these. Elements are defined by their atomic number. Elements with all possible atomic numbers up to 116 (last I heard) have been discovered in nature or synthesized in the laboratory. So if you're going to propose a new element, it would have to have an atomic number higher than 116. Anything less than that and it's not a "new element", it's a known element. But that's a problem as heavier elements do not occur in nature and are unstable. I recall reading years ago a theory that there might be heavier elements that are stable, I don't know enough physics to discuss the plausibility of such a theory, but you might be able to make something of that.
So if you told me, "I have discovered a new element that comes between Copper and Zinc on the periodic table" ... that's just not possible. Copper has atomic number 29 and Zinc is 30, and atomic numbers must be integers, and there just are no integers between 29 and 30.
You could, I suppose, write a story in which the hero discovers that the periodic table is completely wrong, that that's not how elements work at all. How plausible you can make that depends on your creativity and skill as a writer.
(0)More posts by @Heady158
Terms of Use Privacy policy Contact About Cancellation policy © selfpublishingguru.com2024 All Rights reserved.