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[-] Kidplayer_666@lemm.ee 116 points 1 year ago

All of humanities technological advancements can be summed up in ever more complex ways to boil water

[-] FederatedSaint@lemmy.world 21 points 1 year ago

That's why photovoltaics need much more R&D. They are the only true advancement in electricity production since the inception of broadly adopted electrification.

[-] Kidplayer_666@lemm.ee 32 points 1 year ago

Exactly why we should ditch them. We shall not break tradition. Praise be the turbine

[-] Restaldt@lemm.ee 13 points 1 year ago
[-] GBU_28@lemm.ee 5 points 1 year ago

Anoint me in condensate

[-] Opafi@feddit.de 9 points 1 year ago

It doesn't rotate to generate electricity? Must be blasphemy.

Blessed be the holy turbine, we seek guidance in its rotation. Long may it spin and bring forth a bounteous current.

[-] vithigar@lemmy.ca 6 points 1 year ago

Also fuel cells.

[-] someguy3@lemmy.world 16 points 1 year ago

Hey we burn things just for heat too.

[-] SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 23 points 1 year ago
[-] someguy3@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago

We heat homes, smelt ore, many industrial things.

[-] CJOtheReal@ani.social 4 points 1 year ago

We heat homes by heating water and putting the hot water through pipes into wall mounted iron tanks so that the water cools down again...

[-] BandoCalrissian@lemm.ee 7 points 1 year ago

Not everyone uses radiators. My system is a forced air furnace.

[-] scifu@lemm.ee 7 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

We heat water molecules in air.

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I think to be more general it boils down to just oxidate stuff.

/pun intended

[-] Pyr_Pressure@lemmy.ca 7 points 1 year ago

Boil shit, burn shit, and blow shit up. Humans in a nut shell.

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[-] Peppycito@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 year ago

Most of the biggest advances in technology is just about moving liquids. Rocket science is really just large scale HVAC.

[-] zepheriths@lemmy.world 41 points 1 year ago

Oh boy just wait till you hear how fossil fuels work

[-] PhlubbaDubba@lemm.ee 38 points 1 year ago

That's just steam power with extra steps!

I've got bad news for ya bruv

[-] TonyToniToneOfficial@lemmy.ml 32 points 1 year ago

Wait till you find out how nuclear fusion makes electricity

[-] SkybreakerEngineer@lemmy.world 26 points 1 year ago

You mean, how it will in 20 years?

[-] TonyToniToneOfficial@lemmy.ml 17 points 1 year ago

Perpetually so

[-] Tb0n3@sh.itjust.works 10 points 1 year ago

It's like Musk time. In 20 years it'll only be 20 years away.

[-] GaMEChld@lemmy.world 16 points 1 year ago

Helion's approach is actually different. They are attempting to capture energy directly through induction. I hope it pans out for them, seems like a really interesting approach.

[-] peopleproblems@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago
[-] GaMEChld@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

Here's a video I saw a few months back you might find interesting:

https://youtu.be/_bDXXWQxK38?si=7XooWphajO6OlRB5

[-] NocturnalMorning@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago

We can do it now, just haven't found a way to scale it and make it economical yet.

[-] TonyToniToneOfficial@lemmy.ml 7 points 1 year ago

ITER is doing a great job on that front

[-] Zaphod@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 1 year ago

There's actually two (at least that I know of) ways for fusion to generate electricity, this is a newer one https://youtu.be/uRaQLZaaHWo?si=DTwV26inm1pyrYn8

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[-] someguy3@lemmy.world 15 points 1 year ago

Our entire society* has been based on burning things. Then we progressed to... burning atoms.

(*Exceptions I can think of is solar, wind, hydro.)

[-] JohnDClay@sh.itjust.works 12 points 1 year ago

Then we're leaching off the sun burning atoms.

[-] someguy3@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)
[-] joyjoy@lemm.ee 10 points 1 year ago

Solar farms did start out as using the sun to boil water. Basically mirrors redirecting light to a central point to super-heat a pipe flowing with water.

[-] burgersc12@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Theres actually been a major increase in solar thermal power stations in the last few years

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[-] dangblingus@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 1 year ago

ACKSHUALLY you're not burning atoms in a nuclear reaction. You're creating a chain reaction of neutrons colliding with Uranium isotopes. No combustion.

[-] FederatedSaint@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago

Wind and hydro still have to spin a turbine. Solar is the one true stand out advancement in electricity production since we started using electricity.

[-] someguy3@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

They spin it directly though, not via steam.

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[-] Zellith@kbin.social 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

To be fair, the atoms were going to burn anyhow. We just clumped them together to make better use of them.

[-] RizzRustbolt@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

They can't all be photonic inversion.

[-] CJOtheReal@ani.social 2 points 1 year ago

I like RTGs way more

[-] Draconic_NEO@mander.xyz 2 points 1 year ago

Well Rotating a rotor on a generator is the most convenient way to make electricity with parts that last a long amount of time. Also doesn't help that we use AC power while other sources like photovoltaic produce DC power which needs to be converted to be used.

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this post was submitted on 22 Nov 2023
460 points (97.3% liked)

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