this post was submitted on 15 Nov 2023
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Science Memes

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For real this time, NSF, I swear it's the last time. (mander.xyz)
submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 year ago (3 children)

We already have a perfectly good nuclear fusion reactor about 93,000,000 miles from our planet. We just need to make better use of its output.

[–] sleep_deprived 28 points 1 year ago

I mean yeah, we should absolutely be replacing as much fossil fuel use as we can with existing renewable energy tech. But there's no reason we shouldn't also be investing in fusion research, at least as far as I'm aware

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Archimedes agrees

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

They already do this fyi. Solar plants tend to use mirrors that concentrate light to heat water and turn a turbine instead of actual solar panels. Amazingly, iirc converting light into heat, the heat into steam, and then the steam into kinetic energy, is still more efficient than a normal photovoltaic cells.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago

And if you wanna go big you use liquid salt instead of boring old water.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

The concept is viable. Just needs moar mirrors

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Mythbusters used a lot of mirrors, and could not get it to work.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

The concept is viable. Just needs moar mirrors

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Sadly I believe they found adding more mirrors did not appreciably raise the temperature of the focal point. Diminishing returns and all. So unfortunately more mirrors is not the answer, more Lasers is!

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

Well seeing how you almost need the output of a Dyson swarm to make a Dyson swarm, cool glowy rock power and explodey gas power can and will work just as good. Especially for places that are far away from the ideal conditions to exploit solar energy terrestrially. Where I'm at we have to use literal piles of garbage to be able to get high enough above the trees to achieve sustainable output.