To think that beneath the south pole lies a metric shit ton of shit. I think some things are better left unknown.
Or a metric ton of untreated fertilizer.
It's always good to have some optimism.
South Pole Water Infrastructure
41–50 of 67 posts
Re: South Pole Water Infrastructure
#42TL;DR: They mine the Antarctic for ice, creating huge sinkholes, then fill the holes in with raw sewage, a gift for future generations. Environmentally friendly, right!
It's otherwise uninhabitable.
Aside from that what do you think our ancestors did with their waste?
People overestimate the impact of individuals on the planet. Which is a game corporations play so you underestimate the impact of their profits on the planet.
Re: South Pole Water Infrastructure
#43Always great to see a brr.fyi post on HN. Living in the south pole is basically like living on an alien planet.
That's a great metaphor - and a reminder that settling Mars will be much harder than an antarctic operation.
Re: South Pole Water Infrastructure
#44Earlier quoted context omitted.
Tomorrow, a nuclear war happens. Next, nuclear winter and the slow death of the human race. Antarctica? Sits untouched for millions of years, then aliens land, and find a mysterious additional lake filled with all sorts of microbes.
Given the extent of human impact on the planet, these aliens can probably deduce this whodunnit.
Not so sure about that. My implied scenario had an implied ice age, and the last one scoured the land clean to bedrock.
Sure, I suppose there'd be some evidence, but in millions of years everything would be fallen, dozens of ice ages would have happened, plants and animals would have grown over everything, and so on.
We've found structures thousands of years old, but not millions. We've found fossils that are quite old, but that doesn't tell use anything about the intellect, or true capabilities of the species.
Millions of years is a really, really long time.
It's hard for me to imagine a single bit of data about humans existing, still.
Maybe some datasets on the moon, wasn't someone going to send something there?
Re: South Pole Water Infrastructure
#45Earlier quoted context omitted.
Wait until you learn about landfills! Although considering the desire to survive on the Moon and Mars, one would think recycling sewage in more of a closed system would be worth funding.
Landfills aren't usually in Antarctica. I thought we were supposed to be trying to keep Antarctica relatively pristine because it's Antarctica . Also, the sewage doesn't decompose in those temperatures, like it would in a normal landfill.
Wait until you learn where the penguins shit
Re: South Pole Water Infrastructure
#46TL;DR: They mine the Antarctic for ice, creating huge sinkholes, then fill the holes in with raw sewage, a gift for future generations. Environmentally friendly, right!
It's otherwise uninhabitable. Aside from that what do you think our ancestors did with their waste? People overestimate the impact of individuals on the planet. Which is a game corporations play so you underestimate the impact of their profits on the planet.
This would be valid if it was a small natural amount of sewage from a few humans, not tens of millions of gallons. Penguins shit somewhere, so the ecosystem probably won't mind if a few humans shit where a few penguins shit. But this is like noticing a few burger wrappers on the side of the road so you dump your commercial trash bin there every week.
Re: South Pole Water Infrastructure
#47A friend working up North said they collected the meteorites after melting the snow they used for water.
I wonder if there is a little pile of meteorite dust at the bottom of the rodwells.
Re: South Pole Water Infrastructure
#48Earlier quoted context omitted.
Given the extent of human impact on the planet, these aliens can probably deduce this whodunnit.
Not so sure about that. My implied scenario had an implied ice age, and the last one scoured the land clean to bedrock. Sure, I suppose there'd be some evidence, but in millions of years everything would be fallen, dozens of ice ages would have happened, plants and animals would have grown over everything, and so on. We've found structures thousands of years old, but not millions. We've found fossils that are quite o…
Wouldn’t nuclear war leave a distinctive layer in the geological record?
Re: South Pole Water Infrastructure
#49I was shocked that such a scientific station is using Fahrenheit to measure the temperature of the water
Wait until you find out what PSI means
Re: South Pole Water Infrastructure
#50Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's otherwise uninhabitable. Aside from that what do you think our ancestors did with their waste? People overestimate the impact of individuals on the planet. Which is a game corporations play so you underestimate the impact of their profits on the planet.
This would be valid if it was a small natural amount of sewage from a few humans, not tens of millions of gallons. Penguins shit somewhere, so the ecosystem probably won't mind if a few humans shit where a few penguins shit. But this is like noticing a few burger wrappers on the side of the road so you dump your commercial trash bin there every week.
Humans have been living in cities for thousands of years yet we've only very recently began treating our waste. Humans outside of cities have been using septic systems for centuries.
"Tens of millions of gallons" of human waste sounds significant, but, it likely isn't. I also feel that equating the unavoidable byproduct of human scientific research in remote locations with road side burger wrappers is bordering on luddite hyperbole.