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unless... the compute happens also in space? Given how dirt cheap solar has become, how cheap shipping stuff to space is becoming and how little there are cloud

unless... the compute happens also in space? Given how dirt cheap solar has become, how cheap shipping stuff to space is becoming and how little there are clouds and nights in the space making solar power production intermittent, it sounds like it might be economically feasible in not so distant future. (no, I haven't done any math on this. If it checks out, feel free to steal the idea)

rockemsockem 2y ago
Heat dissipation in space is hard.
- ben_w 2y ago
  And the Earth is in space, so if we get to the power consumption level where Earth governments need to care about the direct planetary heating effect of the energy source, it's still a win to do the hard thing (dissipation) somewhere else, like the Moon or something.
exe34 2y ago
Ugh solar wind and cosmic rays. You'd need to use very inefficient CPUs with enormous features instead of the latest small node.
- rockemsockem 2y ago
  Also true!!
- actionfromafar 2y ago
  On the other hand, there's a lot of space... in space.
  - exe34 2y ago
    The issue with large components (we're talking microns instead of 20nm), is the launch weights (coming down), and power (also coming down). Large components also mean larger silicon dies which are much more expensive, and/or fewer components per die, which means now the CPUs are on different chips and need interconnect, which increases latency and interference. Not impossible, just a load of min-max-ing to do.
    - actionfromafar 2y ago
      You would make the stuff in space, too. Give it a gentle shove off the factory loading dock (factory is on an asteroid) and a couple of years later it shows up in earth orbit, if you get your orbital calculations right…
      - adrianN 2y ago
        Getting stuff from the asteroid belt to earth orbit is about as hard as the other way round. Definitely more than a gentle push
        actionfromafar 2y ago
        Not literally a gentle push, but very little rocket action is needed. The gravity well of an asteroid is tiny. The rest can be done with the correct slingshot maneuvers, the problem is calculating it. I am sure I have read something or other from NASA about it.
        exe34 2y ago
        It's not the asteroid gravity that's the issue, it's the solar gravity field, you still have to perform an orbital transfer from the asteroid orbit to Earth orbit unless you want to leave the computer there and do batch jobs with significant latency.
- octopoc 2y ago
  Your comment got me wondering if it's possible to stay in earth's shadow continuously without constant fuel expenditure, but apparently that's not possible: https://space.stackexchange.com/questions/55271/are-any-earth-orbits-in-continual-shadow-of-the-earth https://space.stackexchange.com/questions/55271/are-any-eart...

rockemsockem 2y ago

Heat dissipation in space is hard.

ben_w 2y ago
And the Earth is in space, so if we get to the power consumption level where Earth governments need to care about the direct planetary heating effect of the energy source, it's still a win to do the hard thing (dissipation) somewhere else, like the Moon or something.

exe34 2y ago

Ugh solar wind and cosmic rays. You'd need to use very inefficient CPUs with enormous features instead of the latest small node.

rockemsockem 2y ago
Also true!!
actionfromafar 2y ago
On the other hand, there's a lot of space... in space.
- exe34 2y ago
  The issue with large components (we're talking microns instead of 20nm), is the launch weights (coming down), and power (also coming down). Large components also mean larger silicon dies which are much more expensive, and/or fewer components per die, which means now the CPUs are on different chips and need interconnect, which increases latency and interference. Not impossible, just a load of min-max-ing to do.
  - actionfromafar 2y ago
    You would make the stuff in space, too. Give it a gentle shove off the factory loading dock (factory is on an asteroid) and a couple of years later it shows up in earth orbit, if you get your orbital calculations right…
    - adrianN 2y ago
      Getting stuff from the asteroid belt to earth orbit is about as hard as the other way round. Definitely more than a gentle push
      - actionfromafar 2y ago
        Not literally a gentle push, but very little rocket action is needed. The gravity well of an asteroid is tiny. The rest can be done with the correct slingshot maneuvers, the problem is calculating it. I am sure I have read something or other from NASA about it.
        exe34 2y ago
        It's not the asteroid gravity that's the issue, it's the solar gravity field, you still have to perform an orbital transfer from the asteroid orbit to Earth orbit unless you want to leave the computer there and do batch jobs with significant latency.
octopoc 2y ago
Your comment got me wondering if it's possible to stay in earth's shadow continuously without constant fuel expenditure, but apparently that's not possible: https://space.stackexchange.com/questions/55271/are-any-earth-orbits-in-continual-shadow-of-the-earth https://space.stackexchange.com/questions/55271/are-any-eart...