Spyke

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memes

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classic dilemma

billionaires are a cancer of society and need to be cut out. they think of nothing but their own growth and will damage all of the system because of it. we need to get rid of them before it's too late.

Edit: better yet, we need policies that disencourage their behavior.

energy

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solar PV → heat pump → water heater; direct, no A/C or intermediate components. Practical? Feasible?

IIUC, it’s variable D/C which must be regulated and/or inverted to A/C involving more hardware, conversion, and waste.

Actually, I had a discussion about this with someone who really knows this stuff recently, and we figured that the inversion process isn't actually that inefficient. The efficiencies achieved are often >95%, so there isn't actually a lot of loss.

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Young Adults Are in Crisis

young adults have been forsaken by the society in favor of "the economy" and yet another bullshit.

we need an end to economic growth on earth. we need an end to investment, to innovation, to unnecessary scarcity, to the 40-hour work week, to young people spending large part of their lives in schools. we need a social system, we need communal construction and transport, we need free education and healthcare, 20-hour work weeks for all (including adults and school-goers). we need technological prowess for the benefit of society, not for some rich greedy assholes.

energy

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Elements of Renewable Energy

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yes, and more importantly, normal Hydro plants could be updated to release water at selected times, to create "on-demand power". The energy is stored in the water behind the dam. So conventional, already-existing hydro dams can perform a two-sided function: Storing water, and to release it on-demand. Like a battery that is refilled by nature.

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where have all the insects gone? | Financial Times

So, I have comments/questions:

  • insects just like any other lifeform is sensitive and needs protection. they lay their eggs underground, where they're protected from direct sunlight and the cold winter. if we plough through the dirt every year, it's obvious that we'll disrupt that generational hibernation, and that disrupts the cycle of death and rebirth for the insects, that's why they vanish. I think ploughing is the biggest reason for insects disappearing, though it wasn't listed in the article (or i missed it)

“We could not feed the global human population without [insect] pollinators,”

(that's a quote from the article). I think that's wrong though. Most calories are provided by cereals, and cereals are wind-pollinating, AFAIK.

energy

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Hydrogen Policy’s Narrow Path: Delusions And Solutions

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actually, that's not true. I built a hobby-grade hydrolysis machine in my garage for a total of $3. I can't imagine hydrolysis machines to be significantly expensive in general.

The reason why they're expensive today is because they're completely over-engineered. But that's not physics' fault. It's just someone seeking the "highest-quality product" instead of one that makes economic sense.