Unfair?
I thought that mountain was mainly climbed by CEO's that let sherpa's carry their stuff?
They used Xenon to climb Everest in days – is it the future of mountaineering?
101–110 of 199 posts
Re: They used Xenon to climb Everest in days – is it the future of mountaineering?
#102Earlier quoted context omitted.
Isn't most business success about convincing people to buy expensive tulips while you (legally) walk away with the money and leave them holding the bags, then rinse and repeat? Seems like he'd be the right person for the job. And then you wonder why so many young people flirt with communism or want to see the capitalist system burn to the ground. What's the point of ethics and hard work if those who just lie their wa…
> And then you wonder why so many young people flirt with communism or want to see the capitalist system burn to the ground That's not why, particularly. They do so for various reasons: - they compare the reality of capitalism with a nonexistent nirvana, rather than the reality of the alternatives. They haven't run the real counterfactual - they gravitate to any philosophy that they're familiar with instinctively: mo…
"It's easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism"
Re: They used Xenon to climb Everest in days – is it the future of mountaineering?
#103Earlier quoted context omitted.
A cruise around the world? What's the differentiator?
A cruise ship doesn't have sails and a sailboat does. That's the reason I got from the context.
Thank you, that makes more sense than my reading. I thought the OP might have been comparing a single-legged trip vs a multi-stop "cruise", both in a similar sailing boat. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cruising_(maritime)
Re: They used Xenon to climb Everest in days – is it the future of mountaineering?
#104Climbing Everest these days just seems to be the quintessential activity for people that have lost site of what really matters in life. It's where you end up if you never grow out of the idea that life is a competition you can win.
IMO this is a reductionist take that is often peddled around Reddit. "Anybody can climb Everest, it's not that difficult", etc.
Personally? I think it's a pretty cool achievement and is _the_ mountain to climb for a reason. I'm with the other commenter here. Chase your passions.
Re: They used Xenon to climb Everest in days – is it the future of mountaineering?
#105Earlier quoted context omitted.
Isn't most business success about convincing people to buy expensive tulips while you (legally) walk away with the money and leave them holding the bags, then rinse and repeat? Seems like he'd be the right person for the job. And then you wonder why so many young people flirt with communism or want to see the capitalist system burn to the ground. What's the point of ethics and hard work if those who just lie their wa…
> And then you wonder why so many young people flirt with communism or want to see the capitalist system burn to the ground That's not why, particularly. They do so for various reasons: - they compare the reality of capitalism with a nonexistent nirvana, rather than the reality of the alternatives. They haven't run the real counterfactual - they gravitate to any philosophy that they're familiar with instinctively: mo…
Capitalism is undeniably useful, in some cases but so is a horse.
Yet theres a difference between hitching a horse to a wagon to move things vs joining a bestiality cult that worships horses.
A university is hardly the only place for terrible ideas to thrive, just look at silicon valley culture and this orange site.
Re: They used Xenon to climb Everest in days – is it the future of mountaineering?
#106I'm waiting until the trash pile on Everest is higher than the mountain itself. Everest isn't supposed to be easy to climb. If someone wants to do it faster/quicker - why would I care how. I'd still look at them and say you cheated.
Re: They used Xenon to climb Everest in days – is it the future of mountaineering?
#107Climbing Everest these days just seems to be the quintessential activity for people that have lost site of what really matters in life. It's where you end up if you never grow out of the idea that life is a competition you can win.
IMO this is a reductionist take that is often peddled around Reddit. "Anybody can climb Everest, it's not that difficult", etc. Personally? I think it's a pretty cool achievement and is _the_ mountain to climb for a reason. I'm with the other commenter here. Chase your passions.
Maybe it’s time to stop being so egocentric
https://nepalmonitor.com/2025/03/19/nepal-overtourism-everes...
Re: They used Xenon to climb Everest in days – is it the future of mountaineering?
#108Climbing Everest these days just seems to be the quintessential activity for people that have lost site of what really matters in life. It's where you end up if you never grow out of the idea that life is a competition you can win.
Some people like climbing mountains, including Everest. It makes sense to follow your interests in my opinion.
It makes sense to think about consequences.
https://nepalmonitor.com/2025/03/19/nepal-overtourism-everes...
Re: They used Xenon to climb Everest in days – is it the future of mountaineering?
#109Climbing Everest these days just seems to be the quintessential activity for people that have lost site of what really matters in life. It's where you end up if you never grow out of the idea that life is a competition you can win.
I think theres more to it than just ego. I find myself watching Everest videos on Youtube (shout out Michael Tracy's channel).
Ive never done mountaineering but I become fascinated by these stories of people on the mountain and sometimes wonder if I could do it. I definately never will, theres lots of other things id rather invest my time in but I can definately see the allure and why people become obsessed with doing it.
Re: They used Xenon to climb Everest in days – is it the future of mountaineering?
#110Isn't Xenon very expensive? I used it in my Laser MSc has part of the mix for a CO2 laser (marks how long ago that was). CO2 for the optic properties, and Xe to reduce the electron temperature. So the Xe in this case triggers a response in the human body, but people aren't quite sure why. Quite strange considering Xe is an inert gas.
Xenon is so expensive it's reasonable to think about recovering it from spent nuclear reactor fuel (it's a major fission product with no long lived isotopes, although you have to very rigorously separate it from krypton, which does have some.) Xenon isn't inert; it can form chemical compounds like xenon difluoride. In the body it's probably dissolving into cell membranes or other fatty components.
What do you mean by "no long-lived isotopes"? That fission only produces short lived Xenon isotopes? Then, what use would it be to harvest it from fuel?
For applications like in the article you want very long-lived or ideally stable Xe isotopes, which do exist.