this post was submitted on 14 Nov 2024
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Science Memes

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

The nuclear batteries small enough for handheld devices that we've been reading about recently don't use any water.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

Those have been researched and tested for decades and the tech still hasn't caught on. They just don't put out enough power to be useful for much more than a clock circuit (not even enough to power a full watch, just keep the time).

I have serious doubts they're going to suddenly become viable anytime soon.

Any useful energy production from nuclear is basically just making steam to run turbines. Same with coal but you know.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago)

I believe they have been used in pacemakers, for example. They are becoming practical for more applications over time and are seemingly on the verge of appearing in consumer electronics. We shall see.

RTGs also do not use water. I suppose the watch batteries are essentially just tiny RTGs.

Conceivably you could use bimetallic strips to produce mechanical energy from the heat generation.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 7 hours ago (2 children)

They just found rocks that are naturally hot and boiled water with it... Engineering is a scam.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 hours ago

Sometimes we take the hot rocks and ship them to other planets too.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 hours ago (2 children)

We have rocks that do math, transmit electricity, and fly us through the sky.

When you get reductive about the natural sciences it all just boils down to applied physics which is applied mathematics.

But engineering and technology? Applied geology.

(/s because I’m not going to acknowledge that geology is applied chemistry and so on)

[–] [email protected] 2 points 59 minutes ago

You have to engrave special runes on these rocks for them to work.

I heard that some wizards on the remote island of Tayouan far east are very good at it.

[–] [email protected] 41 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

This is reminds me of a quote from one of the Encased loading screens.

To paraphrase it "Power generation before was about turning a turbine with steam. Under the Dome we have this fancy technology that we use to.....turn a turbine with steam."

[–] [email protected] 3 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

[Encased mentioned] I love that game

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 hours ago

I have a play through of being a certified idiot. I have never laughed harder at things my character has done.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 18 hours ago

The issue is that boiling water is inside human bodies

[–] [email protected] 18 points 19 hours ago

Nuclear power is just steampunk with magic rocks.

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