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1. mcc (mcc@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 15-Aug-2024 07:24:22 JST mcc

   Hi, I'm a human! I decided to build my entire modern civilization on top of a type of machine that stops working completely if it comes into contact with water— the substance that covers two-thirds of the earth! Don't worry, I live on the other one-third, where there's no water at all

   • Foone🏳️‍⚧️ (foone@digipres.club)'s status on Thursday, 15-Aug-2024 07:24:20 JST Foone🏳️‍⚧️

     in reply to

     • Xandra Granade 🏳️‍⚧️

     @mcc @xgranade @dysfun now I'm wondering if there's any bodies in the solar system that have enough magnetosphere to be safe from cosmic rays but are also cold as shit. Probably not, because the molten iron core that makes the magnetosphere also warms the surface.

   • mcc (mcc@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 15-Aug-2024 07:24:21 JST mcc

     in reply to

     • Xandra Granade 🏳️‍⚧️

     @xgranade @dysfun Yeah turns out if you wanna build a datacenter, nothing beats just getting a big iron ball and spinning it until it forms a magnetosphere

   • mcc (mcc@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 15-Aug-2024 07:24:22 JST mcc

     in reply to

     I used to think computers would fricking love operating in outer space because they can just continuously run cold to the point of hovering near absolute zero, but then I found out vacuum is an extremely good insulator

   • Xandra Granade 🏳️‍⚧️ (xgranade@wandering.shop)'s status on Thursday, 15-Aug-2024 07:24:22 JST Xandra Granade 🏳️‍⚧️

     in reply to

     @mcc Also wow if radiation doesn't fuck with electronics. Turns out the atmosphere is remarkably good at filtering most cosmic rays out!

   • Foone🏳️‍⚧️ (foone@digipres.club)'s status on Thursday, 15-Aug-2024 07:28:41 JST Foone🏳️‍⚧️

     in reply to

     • Xandra Granade 🏳️‍⚧️

     @mcc @xgranade @dysfun Ganymede!
     Max surface temperature of −121 C, and it's the only moon with a significant magnetosphere.

     (it might be too close to Jupiter though, and is getting clobbered by Jupiter's magnetosphere, making it worse than open space. It is tidally locked though, so maybe you can find a spot that's not getting hit?)

   • mcc (mcc@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 15-Aug-2024 07:39:24 JST mcc

     in reply to

     • Foone🏳️‍⚧️
     • Xandra Granade 🏳️‍⚧️

     @foone @xgranade @dysfun Very light atmosphere, though, right? Is heat dissipation going to be difficult? It sounds like the cold liquid water patches inside are gonna be harder to get to than some other jovian objects…

   • Foone🏳️‍⚧️ (foone@digipres.club)'s status on Thursday, 15-Aug-2024 07:39:24 JST Foone🏳️‍⚧️

     in reply to

     • Xandra Granade 🏳️‍⚧️

     @mcc @xgranade @dysfun light atmosphere yeah, but you don't need a thick atmosphere for that. You've got cold rock to use as a heatsink (like geothermal power but used backward).

     You'd either pressurize your datacenter and then run the air through a heat exchanger or you use liquid cooling.