Stellar Evolution and the Helium Flash

When the stars threw down their spears And water d heaven with their tears, 

The ant with the multicolored, blinking abdomen nods. We ll bring Miss Muxdrbbzol to you shortly. We want to take you to see the Nephilim. Nephilim Bob says. 

Plex claps Bob s shoulder with his feeding appendage. Sir, the most enigmatic of biblical stories deals with the Nephilim. This strange race is mentioned in Genesis 6 1-4.  

Plex is amazing, but sometimes Bob is uncomfortable with the kind of creatures who could go on Jeopardy and win or could quote any passage from the Bible. However, this was not a time to shun any information Mr. Plex could give. You know our Bible, Mr. Plex  

Plex nods. Yes, most of the scolexes on my world have been Christianized by the metallic missionaries. We devote half of our waking hours to studying the Bible, particularly the Old Testament. 

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All stellar evolution can be summed up by a simple rule the star tries to make itself as small as possible. Its life story is one of contraction, but in a discontinuous manner, with sometimes long pauses during which it maintains its size. There are phases when the outer layers are driven off by radiation pressure (stellar winds, ejection of the envelope) and brief periods when the star violently readjusts itself, but without breaking apart (helium flash, thermal pulses). 

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