Thinking about carbon detonation in white dwarf stars (Type IA supernova)

I was reading about white dwarf stars because I've been very interested in neutron stars and I was wondering about something slightly less dense but really still incredibly dense.  While I was reading about that I learned about "Carbon Detonation" in which enough matter falls into a white dwarf star that it causes a runaway fusion reaction and explosion, which we've observed / classified astronomically as type IA supernova.  Here's some thoughts I've had about carbon detonation.

homebrewing hard cider

I'm attempting to home brew a hard cider, starting with the simplest possible recipe. 
Ingredients:

Installing a sparkling* drain near our house

I installed a sparkling drain* near our house, here is a time-lapse video, description below the fold:

* you may be more familiar with the name French drain, however, that is only correct if it is made in France

Installing pavers at the end of the driveway

I always wanted to do a project with paving stones - I've always been inspired by ancient stonework, especially reading about ancient roman roads - so I decided to put a band of pavers down along the end of our driveway.

Cutting down a dead pine tree

I cut down a dead pine tree, took some live and time-lapse videos of it.

Sunset views from a 66' lift in Watertown, MA

I rented a lift to do some tree work, and took some pictures from it at its highest level during sunset.

Cutting down a black locust tree in our back yard that was dying / dead

We had a black locust tree that a couple years ago was late to have leaves, and then as the years went by only had leaves in one area of the tree.  A couple years go my good friend Nick and I did some work removing some of the branches, and it was a bit terrifying how heavy they were.  The tree appeared to show some new life after that, but the new life unfortunately just looks like the branches that sprout from a dead tree.  We made another attempt at removing it, this time got it down!  Full disclosure, there was a not of terror and caution using this kind of equipment (full, diesel powered lift; chainsaws, winches, etc.)

This picture completely fails to capture how thoroughly coated in sawdust we were.  We're wearing safety harnesses, which got surprisingly heavy as the day wore on.  I think they are only 5-10 lbs. so I can't imagine how people would wear 30-50 pounds of armor in medieval and ancient combat.  Or how modern soldiers pack a third of the body weight on a day's march!