Science!

[sgreenwell]

That's the first podcast I've ever listened to. It was a very interesting story / conversation. What a lab rat really is after years and years of inbreeding is, basically, a clone — and no way comparable to a wild rat in the subway — or the big ****ers in the old Sun building in San Berdoo.

If you liked that, I'd recommend The Disappearing Spoon. It's 15 to 30 minute episodes, very digestible.

https://samkean.com/podcast/

 

[Neutral Corner]

I have no idea how reliable this source is, but if it's true it's a huge discovery. This article may be sunshine pumping, but the basics seem to be real.

https://www.uaf.edu/acep/files/media/Hydrokinetic_Turbine_Design_EETF.pdf



[H1]Goodbye to energy dependence – Alaska discovers more than 1,100 TWh hidden under the ice, and the find could change the world[/H1]

https://eladelantado.com/news/alaska-hydrokinetic-energy-ice-discovery/
"Scientists have confirmed that under the surface of rivers like the Yukon, even when frozen over for months, the water keeps flowing. And with it, a massive, untapped stream of energy. The kind of energy that doesn't need to be mined, fracked, or imported. In fact, this kind of energy just keeps going.


According to recent studies led by the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF), these rivers could provide access to over 1,100 terawatt-hours (TWh) of renewable electricity per year —a third of the United States' total annual electricity usage.

 

[TrooperBari]

The site has no contact info or About Us page, but it appears to be an English-language offshoot of a paper from Segovia, Spain. According to The Font of All Knowledge, it's had a bunch of layoffs and mostly runs agency copy now (also, journalists felt forced to be nice to the conservative political party supported by the owner).

As for the science content itself, it seems like a mixed bag. The federal grant exists, Alaska-Fairbanks is doing work on hydrokinetic energy, but as best I can tell the 1,100 terawatt hour figure first appears in a 2021 National Renewable Energy Laboratory study of marine energy resources in the 50 states and US territories. Alaska's total potential is 1,100 TWh/year, and even that is shared between wave, tidal, and rivers (see pp 8-9) -- and that's to say nothing of how you'd get all that power from Alaska to the lower 48 in an economically viable way in the first place. While I'd love to see greater embrace of hydropower in the US, this has a strong whiff of a freelancer misinterpreting or deliberately misusing an impressive-sounding figure to hit their quota.
https://www.energy.gov/nepa/articles/cx-033382-under-ice-hydrokinetics-alaskahttps://www.uaf.edu/acep/facilities/tanana-river-hydrokinetic-test-site.phphttps://www.hydro.org/powerhouse/article/unlocking-alaskas-water-power-potential/

 

[Shropshire Slasher]

There are thousands of free flowing rivers in the Lower 48. If this technology was viable, how come it’s not widespread by now?

 

[2muchcoffeeman]

There are thousands of free flowing rivers in the Lower 48. If this technology was viable, how come it's not widespread by now?

Because nobody thought about it and would rather burn coal?

 

[Neutral Corner]

https://techcrunch.com/2025/06/19/t...ght-just-revolutionize-energy-if-he-succeeds/

 

[qtlaw]

https://techcrunch.com/2025/06/19/t...ght-just-revolutionize-energy-if-he-succeeds/

That's very interesting…thanks for sharing

My son is an aerospace engineer and will share his thoughts upon receipt.

 

[Neutral Corner]

Physics

https://phys.org/news/2025-06-theory-dimensions-space-secondary-effect.html

 

[swingline]

Interesting article. Not peer reviewed in a leading journal, but an interesting concept.

 

[2muchcoffeeman]

Physics

https://phys.org/news/2025-06-theory-dimensions-space-secondary-effect.html

That’s a hypothesis, not a theory.

I should send them my resume.

 

[Neutral Corner]

https://www.scientificamerican.com/...ions-backed-by-science-in-these-handy-charts/

 

[Neutral Corner]

 

[Neutral Corner]

 

[qtlaw]

Wait so there’s water on Pluto?

 

[Neutral Corner]

There is frozen liquid on Pluto. There may be some water ice, but frozen methane and nitrogen are more likely.

 

[Here me roar]

There is frozen liquid on Pluto. There may be some water ice, but frozen methane and nitrogen are more likely.

I want Pluto back as a planet

 

[da man]

Wait so there’s water on Pluto?

Yes, there is water ice on Pluto:

Pluto’s Widespread Water Ice

In fact, there is evidence that suggests Pluto has an ocean of liquid water beneath its surface:

Pluto Has an Ocean of Liquid Water Surrounded by a 40-80 km Ice Shell

 

[qtlaw]

Yes, there is water ice on Pluto:

Pluto’s Widespread Water Ice

In fact, there is evidence that suggests Pluto has an ocean of liquid water beneath its surface:

Pluto Has an Ocean of Liquid Water Surrounded by a 40-80 km Ice Shell

Isn't water the key to a potential habitable place for humans?

 

[SixToe]

Incredibly cool images. Nine years? Dang. That’s remarkable.

 

[MileHigh]

Keep politics on the politics thread, please.

And yes, super cool images. Remarkable achievement.