The how does that work (you can't explain that) thread - Ask here.

[pErvinalia]

Narwhal tusks. What's the point of them? You can't explain that.

[NineBerry]

Narwhals were once unicorns. They fled into the ocean to be safe from humans hunting them.

[Brian Peacock]

Don't be silly. Because Narwhals have flippers for limbs they use the tusk to carry their bagels home from the bakery.

[Tero]

How do they heat skyscrapers? There's not a big boiler and a bunch of radiators.

All my midwest apartments had either forced air (gas) or steam radiators low to the floor. Under window room AC.

My 2 California apartments had electric radiators and no AC.

[JimC]

The heat released by all those over-active brains, forever scheming how to win in office politics...

[Tero]

That part is true. Public events such as concerts only require air circulation. 30 000 bodies in one place is plenty of heat.

[Cunt]

I've often thought about sending remote submersibles around the world. It would probably be very challenging, and I'm sure there are legal considerations too.

A sub-tech pal told a story of a group installing surveillance equipment under the water. This apparently gives them intel from all over the ocean, including stuff that used to be secret.

The group was a Canadian Coastal university. They put listening devices in the Pacific (or that Strait) and opened it up to the internet. I bet the live feed is riveting.

When I think of the arctic divers and what they charge, I have to wonder how many sub-drones are around here. Could one run under the ice, on solar power, autonomously, and send me high-quality bathometry? Exploration companies piss away GIANT money up here...

[Brian Peacock]

How do they heat skyscrapers?

Thermite in the girders

[Tero]

Apparently heat pumps are used to some extent. It is obvious that the cooling system is in place so heat pumps could heat.
https://donnellymech.com/blog/how-hvac- ... buildings/

[Tero]

They tend to be like very regular cliamates, only going to Toronto, Montreal or so. This one is up North
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lakhta_Center
daily Jan mean temperature -5C, so not very cold. Heat pump should work.

[macdoc]

A team of University of Arkansas physicists has successfully developed a circuit capable of capturing graphene's thermal motion and converting it into an electrical current.

"An energy-harvesting circuit based on graphene could be incorporated into a chip to provide clean, limitless, low-voltage power for small devices or sensors," said Paul Thibado, professor of physics and lead researcher in the discovery.

The findings, published in the journal Physical Review E, are proof of a theory the physicists developed at the U of A three years ago that freestanding graphene—a single layer of carbon atoms—ripples and buckles in a way that holds promise for energy harvesting.

The idea of harvesting energy from graphene is controversial because it refutes physicist Richard Feynman's well-known assertion that the thermal motion of atoms, known as Brownian motion, cannot do work. Thibado's team found that at room temperature the thermal motion of graphene does in fact induce an alternating current (AC) in a circuit, an achievement thought to be impossible.

more
https://phys.org/news/2020-10-physicist ... PGVjxq1E4s

[Cunt]

It never sounds safe to fack with Feynman...even NASA bureaucrats couldn't 'hide the ball' from that guy. Maybe now that he's dead, it will be easier to outwit him....

[macdoc]

He's far from infallible

blogs.scientificamerican.com › guest-blog › the-key-to-...
Nov 13, 2012 — . He now admits that climate change is caused by human activity.

[rainbow]

How do they heat skyscrapers?

Thermite in the girders

Exactly.
I believe that you can make a thermite out of aloomynumb and teflon.

How would one go about grinding up an old non-stick frying pan?

[macdoc]

https://www.geekwire.com/2021/watch-epi ... n-seattle/