Actually, the hafnium grenade was, indeed, to be packaged in a grenade form factor. Nuclear-tipped air-to-air missiles and nuclear artillery shells already exist. (I know for a fact there is an 8"/206mm nuclear artillery shell in the US arsenal, and I believe there to be a 155mm nuclear round, though I'm not certain of that.)
The handwavium explanation of "nuclear isomers" has, as I best recall, something to do with some vague mumbling about nucleii with their protons in specific arrangements, I believe, which supposedly yield large amounts of energy when falling back into a lower-energy arrangement. (Or something like that. I have no evidence that Berman and Pilar are not consultants on this "project", beyond the fact that neither dilithium nor inverse nebulon fields have been mentioned in connection with it.) Since, to the best of my knowledge, we have not ascertained for certain whether nucleons HAVE any fixed arrangement in the nucleus (and in fact, my best understanding is that the nucleons are believed to be in continuous motion), this yields some severely elevated readings on my bogometer.
no subject
The
handwaviumexplanation of "nuclear isomers" has, as I best recall, something to do with some vague mumbling about nucleii with their protons in specific arrangements, I believe, which supposedly yield large amounts of energy when falling back into a lower-energy arrangement. (Or something like that. I have no evidence that Berman and Pilar are not consultants on this "project", beyond the fact that neither dilithium nor inverse nebulon fields have been mentioned in connection with it.) Since, to the best of my knowledge, we have not ascertained for certain whether nucleons HAVE any fixed arrangement in the nucleus (and in fact, my best understanding is that the nucleons are believed to be in continuous motion), this yields some severely elevated readings on my bogometer.