Re: All or nothing logic
> the conditions to make palladium also exist at temperatures way below stars
It has actually nothing to do with temperature (at least not directly), it's just neutron capture (r-process and s-process, rapid and slow neutron capture).
The catch is that neutron capture is tricky, you need your nucleus to capture enough neutrons before the intermediary isotopes decay back into something lighter. It's like climbing up an escalator going down.
So, theoretically, while it can happen at any temperature, you need to be near something shedding loads of neutrons, and that would usually be a star fusing stuff into other stuff, and they tend to get quite hot doing so.
Given neutron capture is the only way to create some out of lighter elements, one can say (statistically almost) all palladium was created inside a star's furnace and then scattered around after the star's death. That freak palladium atom that formed in your sofa's cushion because of that uranium rod you brought back from the nuclear power plant you work at is a statistically insignificant exception...
Biting the hand that feeds IT
