4 ms·
Every time I read one of these, I am amazed by how much stuff superconductivity allows, and how limited we are because it needs ultra low temperatures.
by d--b 7mo ago
Every time I read one of these, I am amazed by how much stuff superconductivity allows, and how limited we are because it needs ultra low temperatures.
- M95D 7mo agoThe disadvantages of water-based life.
- saalweachter 7mo agoSo it's hard to imagine biological life (chemical life?) without water or carbon, since they're such good solvents and building blocks, but we can at least imagine electronic or mechanical life which don't require them. But what you can't get away from is heat dissipation. Any life will use energy will generate heat will need to dissipate heat to maintain homeostasis. Could you dissipate enough heat to exist at <10K, to maintain a technological civilization? Or would you be reduced to supercooling your entire environment? Are there naturally occurring pools of liquid helium out there in the universe, maintained by natural processes, or are you left with vacuum relying on radiative cooling?
- M95D 7mo agoMethane based life is considered a possibility.
- saalweachter 7mo agoMethane only gets you to 100K.