After a brief hiatus, my next addition to my little writing series. I know I said after Socks and Precipitaion I would write about antimatter, but I got writers block, started a new project explaining pokemon biology, and then found a pokemon that required more science, so I wrote this article. I've no idea when my next science piece will be written due to school starting an a week, but I'll eventually have more.
Older articles:
http://www.chess.com/groups/forumview/socks-and-precipitation
http://www.chess.com/groups/forumview/earths-rotation-magnetic-field-and-volcanoes
http://www.chess.com/groups/forumview/dark-matter-kirby-aliens-quakes-and-doomsday
http://www.chess.com/groups/forumview/brains-broccoli-and-catfood
http://www.chess.com/groups/forumview/alternate-science-society
Alternatively, everything is here:
http://docs.google.com/View?id=dg9x686s_42gn89nzg5
Section XI -- The Divine Molecule
The 5 elements. Air, water, earth, fire, and aether. Aether? What exactly is aether? This section is devoted entirely to unveiling the mysteries behind this mysterious element. First, the composition of ether. Aether is the embodiment of everything and all that ever will be, the unification of the other 4 elements. Thus, it is composed of every element. One molecule of aether thus will be HHeLiBeBCNO... A valid objection could be raised about the noble gases being in this molecule. Another about the clashing oxidation states. Yet another about the instability of this huge molecule. First we address the presence of noble gases. It is true that they rarely form bonds with other elements. This is due to a nameless 5th fundamental force. When consecutive elements starting from hydrogen are in the same molecule, this force increases in power exponentially proportional to the number of elements in the molecule. This also answers the 3rd problem, as the force increases exponentially whereas the mass of the molecule increases only quadratically. This leaves merely the problem of the oxidation states, but this is also easily answered. Atoms are held together in a molecule due to the electromagnetic force, but the 5th force acts very differently. The 5th force holds the group together tightly, but forces between individual atoms are very weak. In fact, this need not be considered a molecule at all, rather a collection of atoms. The force holding them together is not dependent on charges, so oxidation states are irrelevant.
The nature of this force is unknown, but only specific isotopes of atoms react to this force. Also, there seems to be an infinite number of atoms in this molecule, which are stored in an infinity of dimensions. It is because the molecule spans higher dimensions that aether is undetectable. However, it is possible for aether to interact with non-aether materials if they are close together. Suppose a molecule of water is next to a di-aether molecule (A di-aether molecule is two aether molecules combined i.e. H2He2Li2Be2B2C2 etc.) The 5th force causes the water molecule to want to be a di-aether molecule. It tries to steal the necessary atoms to do so from the original di-aether molecules. They begin to "fight" over these atoms, but because they are in a higher dimension, they appear invisible to us. The two hydrogens and one oxygen atom in the original di-aether molecule get pulled into our dimension, thus we see two water molecules and the other atoms are undetectable. If there are more di-aether molecules in a chain, we will see a chain of water molecules. When the first water molecule is removed, there is no more conflict over atoms and the di-aethers return to their original form.
It takes a great deal of energy to form these aether molecules, but it may be possible to do so with alien technology. In fact, it has already been done, as collections of aether molecules in a ring shape have been found in multiple places. Some animals that can coil are able to touch the entire inside of the aether rings and thus project their molecules through the entire ring and use it as protection. The rings seem impossible to move, and their quantity is currently unknown, as only these animals are able to "see" them. It is also unknown as to how these animals are able to detect the rings. It is possible that the Lunas or Solos put the rings here long ago as a biology experiment, and upon finding that animals could adapt to detect the rings, they felt a need to capture the planet for further experiments.
The most common misconception about aether is that it fills all space and allows light to move without a medium. This is not true. Aether is very rare and extremely difficult to create, in fact it is unnatural. It also seems to override the weak force and prevent big atoms from disintegrating as long as they are part of the aether molecule. It does not exert any gravity unless it is turned into a different molecule. Aether is the divine molecule; it can be made from the other 4 elements, but nothing can be made out of it. The 5th force that holds the aether molecule together is stronger than all of the other 4 forces.
