141–150 of 191 posts
I found the whole issue of Yellowstone being "overdue" becoming significantly less urgent when I learned that by that definition, it was already overdue back when humans were still hunting wooly mammoths with sticks.
If something has an x% chance of happening per year and it hasn't happened for many years it has an x% change of happening next year, not some greater percentage.
Even if we could, to do so would be an ecological disaster, and it would destroy the natural wonders of Yellowstone.
Ultimately it's a giant volcano that's going to eradicate anything within a few hundred miles with the force of a nuclear blast. As ridiculous as it sounds, if we can find a way to diffuse it that does a lot more for both the natural world, and for the humans that live in proximity to it.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
why did what we would presume are fairly professional level engineers and scientists at JPL (at least not working for TV "documentaries") write a whole paper called "DEFENDING HUMAN CIVILIZATION FROM SUPERVOLCANIC ERUPTIONS" which has all of its emphasis on Yellowstone? https://scienceandtechnology.jpl.nasa.gov/sites/default/file...
Kinda weird to just go for an argument of authority huh? I'd recommend watching the video for a non-authority based series of arguments based on multiple sources and a lot of data. Anyway, the reason they wrote that paper is probably because they are talking about extreme hypotheticals themselves. Notice how their comparison is that it's twice as likely as a 2km asteroid impact, which are once in every few million ye…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Fiberglass/FRP is an interesting one. I believe the limiting factor there would be that the polymers used would slowly degrade/weaken over time due to chemical aging. Fiberglass boats last up to 50 years but that is in a harsher environment - not sure how long you could go on land. Perhaps some polymers could be formulated to last that long, I'm not sure.
UV from sunlight degrades fiberglass/FRP over time. I believe that boats are painted to protect them from this, and need to be recoated periodically because the uv sunlight will degrade the paint eventually, also.
Key points I recall from the technical report I read:
- could power much the US... of course, distribution of power from this remote location is a big problem by itself.
- most of the geothermal plants would be >95% underground and would pose little blight on the landscape. Many geothermal plants are largely subterranean anyhow. Of course, things would ugly AF during construction.
- power transfer network to connect the locus of small power plants together and to switching stations could use cryogenic high-temperature superconducting wire (YBCO or MgF2)... the power transfer needs and relatively short distances may make it the best solution economically.
- modern drilling technology make doing this a lot easier than it used to be.
- might help avert a super volcano disaster
I found the whole issue of Yellowstone being "overdue" becoming significantly less urgent when I learned that by that definition, it was already overdue back when humans were still hunting wooly mammoths with sticks.
The whole overdue thing is also a logically fallacy. If something has an x% chance of happening per year and it hasn't happened for many years it has an x% change of happening next year, not some greater percentage.
I think I read a lengthy technical proposal about 15 years ago about turning the outskirts of Yellowstone into a massive network of geothermal energy plants. I tried finding it real quick but no luck. I did work at JPL pre-2016 so I might be conflating things... I remember talking about this very topic at JPL over coffee at least once. Key points I recall from the technical report I read: - could power much the US...…
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S096014812...