this post was submitted on 16 May 2024
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Science Memes

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[–] [email protected] 71 points 6 months ago (2 children)

Actually, it's a lot better to dig, free radiation shield!

[–] [email protected] 25 points 6 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 9 points 6 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 33 points 6 months ago (2 children)

Mood debuff from the game Rimworld where if you spend too long without going outside, you get a severe penalty.

In other words, being underground for long (or indefinite) periods would probably have a profoundly negative effect on people's moods.

[–] [email protected] 25 points 6 months ago (1 children)

That’s why it is important to do sociological testing on earth first. Putting groups of humans in, let’s call them vaults, to test reactions to isolation and lack of surface contact.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Yes, yes and then we do experiments on them without their knowledge to gauge how they react as opposed to control vaults. We should also name this department something fitting. Since they're working on new technologies with vaults maybe something like.. Vault-tec

[–] [email protected] 17 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (2 children)

I see, what's the mood debuf for radiation poisoning? :)

[–] [email protected] 9 points 6 months ago

Depending on the severity the mood should switch back to zero rather quickly

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Ironically, it's called toxic buildup and it can be less than being underground :)

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago

Except when you die

[–] [email protected] 6 points 6 months ago

My plan is to use concentrated sunlight to tunnel directly through an asteroid and use the material to build a small O'Neill cylinder inside. The rest of the rock would provide radiation shielding so the cylinder would be cheaper to construct, and we can send sunlight into the cylinder from either end using the same mirrors we carved the asteroid with.

[–] [email protected] 30 points 6 months ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 10 points 6 months ago (1 children)

How did you get friends from space?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 6 months ago

Met one on an airplane, actually

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Are you by chance the author?

[–] [email protected] 7 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I don't think so but I can check my driver's license

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago
[–] [email protected] 22 points 6 months ago (5 children)

... I don't get this comic. Is it satirical, or is it just not saying anything?

[–] [email protected] 16 points 6 months ago (2 children)

Seems to be making the point that it would be kind of dumb to spread across the solar system just making the other planets just as messed up as what we are currently doing on Earth.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 6 months ago (1 children)

There's not so much to mess up on, say, Mars. I mean the terrain is interesting in its way but it's not like we'd be annihilating complex ecosystems like we are here on earth. We would have to establish significant ecosystems anywhere we settled, in fact.

[–] hex 5 points 6 months ago

Honestly making all our corporate bullshit buildings on other barren planets would be way better than acting like a cancer on the ecosystem on earth. If we manage to become space fairing, I hope they can restore earth and reduce our spread on it. We don't need concrete jungles.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago

It would be dumb unless we leave earth and turn it into a nature preserve

[–] [email protected] 9 points 6 months ago

It is funny. I am not sure why or why the why matters

[–] [email protected] 8 points 6 months ago

The joke is that Venus is special.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 6 months ago

Do you not like balloons?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

What is saying is that our style of life is stupid and boring compared to our ambitions. It's why I don't bother traveling. Little bit of different geography and I'm still just hanging out inside for comfort and amenities.

This kind of thing is why I'm most interested in abstractions and stuff like dancing.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 6 months ago (2 children)

Lol, we ain't making it off earth, especially not Venus

[–] [email protected] 53 points 6 months ago (4 children)

Ironically, between Venus' earth-like gravity and high atmospheric density, it might actually be easier to build cloud colonies on Venus than ground colonies on Mars.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 6 months ago (4 children)

Except that venus is just absolutely hostile to everything

[–] [email protected] 24 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Nah, we just need to crash Mercury into the surface of Venus, get the rotation sorted out and a moon going. After that, buildings.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Now you bring this home, add some broth, a potato, baby, you've got a stew going.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 6 months ago (2 children)

Yep, yet it's my understanding that it'd be easier to colonize Venus than Mars. Venus is closer, Venus' gravity is similar to Earth's, the air is extremely dense which means balloons would be very effective, iirc Venus has more opportunities for inter-planetary transit, high-altitude temperatures (where the balloons would float) are more similar to Earth's, etc.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Yeah what would be the benefit to colonies Venus vs just living in space? Gravity?

[–] MajorHavoc 4 points 6 months ago

I think the theory is that it proves that ones favorite -ism that starts with c- is objectively superior to ones least favorite -ism that starts with c-.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 6 months ago

That's why balloons! You can have sick blimps on Venus and IIRC you can capture atmospheric gasses to burn as fuel for them and to create water too.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

The hard part would things like water and raw building materials, one of the benefits of ground is that it’s mostly iron, oxygen, and other metals, while basically everything on Venus would need to be shipped in from off world.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago

In the long term, it's also possible to alter the atmosphere on Venus until it's approximately the same as Earth. It would be a massive undertaking, but a hell of a lot easier than getting Mars to a comfortably habitable state. And you could potentially get an entire habitable planet out of the deal, which would be nice.

Kurzgesagt had an interesting video on the topic.

Obviously it would take a significant investment of resources that would benefit some future generation, but not our own. So, back to being impossible, at least for now.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Right cause getting food/oxygen/water is so easy while in fucking hot air balloons.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 6 months ago (3 children)

They've come up with a way they could do it. I dunno why you're mad about that, I was just wanting to share an interesting tidbit I'd learned.

My understanding is that the reason why scientists like playing with the idea is that it's more feasible than it immediately seems, and it'd solve some of the issues that a Mars colony would have (increased solar radiation due to low atmospheric density and weak electromagnetic field as well at very low gravity).

Would it be expensive? Yeah. We're talking about colonizing another planet though. It already is going to cost hundreds of billions if not trillions to do.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago

Fascinating! Thanks for sharing :)

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I remember reading some old sci-fi that thought Venus was going to be paradise. The next earth.

Then they found out how awful it really was.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Yeah, lot of "Alien from venus!!" stuff. Too bad all the planets and moons are FAR from hospitable, we'd be better off fixing our own planet than trying to build a new one from scratch

[–] [email protected] 5 points 6 months ago

Yeah but people and corporations would have to change and that's too difficult instead we should do something easy like colonize another planet. /s

[–] [email protected] 5 points 6 months ago (1 children)

City planners wouldn't allow more buildings on Earth...

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago

But we need to build more pylons (into space)!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Most vermin on this planet reflexively build nests all over the place to accommodate population growth. Its a sickness

[–] [email protected] 11 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Human bad

There. Saved you a few words