Star Just Ate a Planet, and It's Not Done Yet

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/09/science/space/planetary-engulfment-hungry-star.html

13•wglb•1h ago

Comments

rgrieselhuber•42m ago

"Just"

senectus1•37m ago

https://archive.md/CtsG6

opengrass•34m ago

We must prevent our sun from doing this by eating less meat and paying more taxes.

SkiFreeWin3•22m ago

Good point, clearly a solar system with too many liberals and no second amendment.

gchamonlive•18m ago

While the sun has nothing to the with the rest, >500g a week of red meat is linked to intestinal cancer[1][2] and the billionaires should be paying more taxes if you asked me

[1]https://www.wcrf.org/preventing-cancer/topics/meat-and-cance... [2]https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S03088...

jmyeet•7m ago

It's really the plastic straws that are the problem. That and avocado toast. And in 1-2 billion years when the Sun has heated up the Earth such that it's uninhabitable anyway (or 100 years at the rate we're going), we can at least feel comfort in all the shareholder value we've created along the way.

owlninja•16m ago

I love stories like this. A subtle reminder how inconsequential our actions are on this planet in the grand, unplanned scheme. I look forward to reading HN with my breakfast each morning then going to a job that helps me raise a family and have fun on the weekends. I read stories of war, corruption, sadistic leaders, and great suffering. I've learned to appreciate the joys of life and have come to terms that we are not here for a long time - just for a good time.

"Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us."

-Bill Watterson

im3w1l•12m ago

There is a pretty significant chance that ours will be a starfaring civilization and that our children will reshape the very heavens.

blightful•6m ago

Very doubtful when you really dig into what is involved. We probably will never make it out of the solar system. To another star is a pipe dream. We will wreck our planet soon enough and the likely outcome is our species will go extinct. This will probably happen in the next few thousand years or sooner.

kibwen•6m ago

If by "children" you mean self-replicating viral robot swarms, then maybe. Nothing biologically descended from humans will ever leave the heliosphere in any form that could be considered living.

excalibur•5m ago

Our kids can't change a tire.

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