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Originally Posted by parallaxicality
Even when Arthur C Clarke came up with the idea (admittedly with unobtainium, rather than plutonium) I couldn't figure out how it could be done, since you'd have to increase Jupiter's mass by 75 times before it became a proper star.
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The monoliths increase Jupiter's density, allowing fusion at the core. Of course, if you can build devices that can transmute matter, replicate (and presumably repair) themselves, and therefore operate indefinitely, then you could just have them operate as millions of fusion reactors. No need to fiddle with a planet's density.
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Now this guy's saying that they're trying to do it with Saturn? Which is a third the size of Jupiter? with 75 pounds of plutonium? I'm not even sure you could make a decent dirty bomb with 75 pounds of plutonium.
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You could build a nuke with less than 75 pounds of plutonium 239. However, this is plutonium 238, which changes things considerably.
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It has to be a joke. Why else use Clarke's name for the new star?
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It is a joke, on many levels, but I don't think the writer realizes it.
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EDIT: Just in case I get cornered on this, I should ask: is it actually possible to create a sustained fusion reaction in the atmosphere of a gas giant?
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No.