16 minutes ago, birdguy said:

Maybe they don't have to hide because they might look just like us.

Noel

 

Well some would say that because evolution relies on a multitude of random mutations, that aliens would look nothing like us.

But actually, your suggestion, and the Star Trek notion of looking like us but with just a few ridges on the forehead, or in the case of Klingons, a Cornish Pasty on the head, might have some validity. There is a principle called "convergent evolution", where nature tends to find the same solution for a given problem. 

For our American friends who have never tasted the delights of the Cornish Pasty...

 

 

The recipe comes from Cornish tin miners. They used to deal with some pretty toxic chemicals, so the Cornish pasty had a crusty bit around one edge to act as a handle, so they weren't polluting the tasty bit with toxins. True story! 

And yes, a Klingon's forehead often looks like a pasty. 

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/article/d566da63-c9f5-42aa-a839-f42af77d5d3b

 

 

 

 

Edited February 2, 20224 yr by martin-w

You wouldn't want an accident to happen during a launch that would spread nuclear dust over a very large area, knowing how stupid humans are we are likely to do that too. I think we are still a few decades away from better launch systems for that sort of thing to become more common. The current stuff being buried will just remain there for good

They look like apple turnovers Martin.

 Noel

11 hours ago, martin-w said:

 

Hmm... I wonder what would happen if the trillions of dollars that's given to the fossil fuel industry every year was given to renewable energy instead? Ignore the half a trillion below, its more like 5.9 trillion if you include environmental damage. 

 

 

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-02847-2

You're not going to believe this...but I agree with you.

At a minimum, the subsidies should be equal.  I actually don't believe the oil industry needs any subsidies at all.

Dave

1 minute ago, Matthew Kane said:

The current stuff being buried will just remain there for good

Only if the geology is right.  You don't want it leaching into ground water.  But proper containment and bring it underground as Canada proposes and in salt beds as they are currently doing with the WIPP project in New Mexico should contain it until the human race wipes itself out or the comet arrives, whichever comes first.

Noel

On 2/1/2022 at 2:53 PM, birdguy said:

Tell us what will work.

The waste should be launched into space towards the sun.

A very long sloped electromagnetic rail launcher, or something like the centrifugal launcher being tested, would launch waste pods into very low orbit and then a rocket booster would provide the necessary thrust to escape velocity and into the sun.

This would be expensive, but would solve the problem.

Dave

On 2/1/2022 at 3:53 PM, birdguy said:

Unless you have a better plan

Why don't we start by not making more of the stuff?

Cheers

Luke

PS: There's no way in this universe's lifetime that Ontario voters will ever allow a nuclear waste dump 100km upwind of the country's largest city.

Edited February 2, 20224 yr by Luke

13 minutes ago, Luke said:

PS: There's no way in this universe's lifetime that Ontario voters will ever allow a nuclear waste dump 100km upwind of the country's largest city.

It would be a better option than the current locations at the power plants just down the waterfront. And one of the proposed locations is a lot further than 100km from Toronto.

3 hours ago, birdguy said:

Only if the geology is right.  You don't want it leaching into ground water.  But proper containment and bring it underground as Canada proposes and in salt beds as they are currently doing with the WIPP project in New Mexico should contain it until the human race wipes itself out or the comet arrives, whichever comes first.

Noel

I agree I figure mankind won't last that long either, Planet Earth will filter all remnants of mankind in around 30,000 years after we are gone, which is a very short time period in its 4.543 billion years it's been here. We are barely a spec in that timeline and the damage we've done will be filtered away by Mother Earth over time, she is our landlord and eventually she's going to evict us 

3 hours ago, Luke said:

Why don't we start by not making more of the stuff?

We know that's not going to happen.  And we a boatload of stuff to get rid of now.  Shouldn't we be finding ways to get rid of what we already have and then have the plan in place if/when there is more?

Noel

Edited February 3, 20224 yr by birdguy

1 hour ago, birdguy said:

And we a boatload of stuff to get rid of now.  Shouldn't we be finding ways to get rid of what we already have and then have the plan in place if/when there is more?

Some old-fashioned wisdom: When you're in a hole, the first thing to do is stop digging.

Cheers!

16 hours ago, birdguy said:

For all we know there may be a lot of advanced civilizations out there exploring.

 

Or none.

Or, given that the universe appears to be geometrically flat, thus infinite, an infinite number of me's and you's and planet Earth's and well, everything. Because atoms can only arrange themselves in a limited number of ways, so ultimately the same patterns have to repeat.

It's official, infinity is weird. 

12 hours ago, birdguy said:

They look like apple turnovers Martin.

 Noel

 

No Noel, they are nice and meaty inside. Yum, yum. But don't tell the vegans. 

12 hours ago, dave2013 said:

You're not going to believe this...but I agree with you.

At a minimum, the subsidies should be equal.  I actually don't believe the oil industry needs any subsidies at all.

Dave

 

Oh my god no, I'm hallucinating again. That didn't just happen. It's an illusion. 😁

3 hours ago, Rob_Ainscough said:

IMHO, we really only have ONE viable future energy source that is consistent, cheap, very little waste ... that's solar (solar panels can be recycled as can batteries).  Solar will certainly buy us time until we can hopefully figure out alternatives that don't kill us slowly.

Cheers, Rob.

 

 

Well said Mr Rob. And solar power research continues. Wouldn't surprise me at all if we pass the Shockly-Queisser efficiency limit. There are all manner of developments in the lab that allow photovoltaic cells to utilise additional wavelengths. Nano-dot technology, Perovskite and all manner of promising approaches.

But I wouldn't say "only one viable future energy source". Its predicted that wind might diminish over time as the climate warms, but not significantly enough for it to no longer be a viable energy source. Geothermal isn't going away and neither is wave or tidal power. In fact we need to develop the last three and bring them on-line ASAP!  

Edited February 3, 20224 yr by martin-w