system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Can we separate and store neutrons? What would it be useful for?
gpt
Neutrons can be stored if they have low enough energy (these are called cold neutrons) but not for very long because they turn into protons after about 15 minutes. They do have applications though, there are facilities where neutrons are scattered through materials to see how they deflect and to study the material properties. These are typically built next to nuclear reactors, where there are lots of free neutrons.