SewBlue on Nostr: Mechanical engineer here. I find rather ironic on a certain level that we have never ...
Mechanical engineer here.
I find rather ironic on a certain level that we have never moved past the use of steam to generate power. Even nuclear fusion, the forever the tech of the future, conceptually uses a steam turbine.
Fancier and fancier ways to heat water is all we have done is almost 150 years year.
We essentially plateaued in 1884. Nuclear, natural gas, oil, coal all turn steam engines. Only except is a natural gas turbine, but they don't scale well to this kind of power output. Still a turbine, but at least skipping a steam intermediary. 😉
Beyond that, ugh - I can't imagine how nerve-wracking this phase of construction is. Those things are delicate. Must have been a long slow process.
I find rather ironic on a certain level that we have never moved past the use of steam to generate power. Even nuclear fusion, the forever the tech of the future, conceptually uses a steam turbine.
Fancier and fancier ways to heat water is all we have done is almost 150 years year.
We essentially plateaued in 1884. Nuclear, natural gas, oil, coal all turn steam engines. Only except is a natural gas turbine, but they don't scale well to this kind of power output. Still a turbine, but at least skipping a steam intermediary. 😉
Beyond that, ugh - I can't imagine how nerve-wracking this phase of construction is. Those things are delicate. Must have been a long slow process.