From: Jonathan Clark

> In a neutron  star, neutrons are gravity-stabilized, and this is the effect I was trying to describe in my original
> posting.

Actually, they're just under extreme pressure, so the rate at which they decay and the rate at which free electrons get captured by protons are the same. The pressure is being created by gravity, but it's not directly responsible for the stability.

> Here's one for any real fundamental particle physicists out there: if you had some neutronium which was
> gravity-stabilized (Pauli exclusion principle and all), and you removed the gravity field, which fundamental force
> would apply first, and what would the results be?

Well, the first effect is that the pressure it's under goes away. At that point, the rate of weak decay (neutron -> proton + beta) will exceed the rate of capture, and the entire thing blows up with nuclear weapon level yields.

>> Anthony Jackson  <xxxxxx@iii.com>
>>     Of course, vibroblades exist in reality (though not by that name), though they're pretty
> >    uninteresting as weapons, they're basically a specialized form of saw and/or drill.
>
> True (see above). Do you happen to have any references to drill uses? I am minimally aware of them but would
> appreciate a chance to increase my knowledge.

It functions as a drill in the sense that you can insert the tip into something you're planning on cutting. However, a jackhammer is basically a vibrating drill.