Scientists develop new hydrogen reactor

[Stelliform]

.....

 

[MongoTheGeek]

Originally posted by Stelliform
The only problem with that idea is that current laws would stop you from messing with the environment on this scale (even a desert one) I don't think 100 square miles of non unique plant and animal life could be found. Now if we could just figure out how to get the energy from a space based array to earth... then we would be cooking with electricity... 🙂

24,000 miles of wire to geostationary orbit. 🙂

Microwave induction has also been suggested.

 

[MacBandit]

Originally posted by MongoTheGeek
24,000 miles of wire to geostationary orbit. 🙂

Microwave induction has also been suggested.

I don't think microwave induction will ever be done. The problem is it could also be used as a weapon. So unless we can unite as one global community it will never happen.

As for messing with the ecology of the area I understand that but you know that if the government saw a need for it they would do it anyhow and no one could stop them. The problem is and this may sound like a conspiracy theory but it's absolutely true the government has too many participants that made there wealth from oil.

 

[spinko]

Originally posted by Stelliform
The only problem with that idea is that current laws would stop you from messing with the environment on this scale (even a desert one) I don't think 100 square miles of non unique plant and animal life could be found. Now if we could just figure out how to get the energy from a space based array to earth... then we would be cooking with electricity... 🙂

I suppose a major nuclear accident could contaminate just as big a surface ?

 

[MongoTheGeek]

Originally posted by spinko
I suppose a major nuclear accident could contaminate just as big a surface ?

Which causes more issues than it solves.

Most solutions for massive solar arrays are either orbital or floating. Other suggestions are to do it in deserts. There are other concerns besides replacing a huge swath of plant matter with sheets of silicon (Or perhaps mirrors and a tower like Solar 1) Such a large installation will have fairly sizable climatological impacts. Over this 100 sq miles there will be no evaporation. Down stream from the array there will be no rain. There will be a constant low pressure system over the beast.

 

[spinko]

low pressure ? clouds ?

😀

 

[bryanc]

Helium...not hydrogen

Originally posted by idea_hamster
Agreed -- in fact, very deep scuba divers actually add a small percent of hydrogen gas to their breathing mix which doesn't spontaneously react with the available oxygen.

This is a common misunderstanding. Breathing mixes for deep diving include helium not hydrogen. 'Heliox' is helium and oxygen, 'Trimix' is helium, nitrogen and oxygen. The reason helium is added is to reduce the relative abundance of oxygen (which is toxic at high partial pressures) without adding more nitrogen (which is narcotic at high partial pressure...nitrogen narcosis is fun, but not something you want in an environment where a mistake can kill you or your buddy). 'Nitrox' or EAN is also a common breathing mix for SCUBA, but it is for shallow diving, and has *higer* partial pressures of oxygen (in order to reduce the above mentioned narcosis effects and, more importantly, reduce the nitrogen load tissues absorb during a dive).