• burliman@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    33
    ·
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    Why limit to fusion? Ask for the optimal energy production solution, period. Might be something we never thought of.

      • Synnr@sopuli.xyz
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        4
        ·
        edit-2
        1 year ago

        What’s the most efficient design for an energy generation device that fits in an area smaller than 1 cubic mile, uses materials found on Earth or nearby planets/passing comets, and if it outputs particle, waves, or any combination thereof that destroy the atmosphere or DNA/life, contains the destroyers?

        But if we’re dealing with a demon or a genie or aliens, we won’t like the answer. Fuckin’ tricksters.

        • Buddahriffic@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          5
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          1 year ago

          Gather solar energy over millions of years and accumulate it as a thick liquid. Then, to unlock the energy, simply burn that liquid. Or process it into other forms and burn that.

      • CoderKat@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        Yeah, a Dyson sphere is arguably pretty optimal (or one of the even more outlandish interstellar level theoretical solutions). Why deal with fuel when stars are already there? There’s even a classification system for how advanced a species is, which measures efficiency of energy consumption. In that, harnessing the power of a single star is a type 2 civilization (humans are generally considered on the scale of type 0.7).

        But yeah, knowing that maybe it’s theoretically possible does nothing to help us actually make such a thing. Even if we were to also be told exactly what materials it would take and an exact blueprint of what to do, the scale of construction is pretty much beyond current human levels.