this post was submitted on 30 Nov 2025
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Science Memes

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[–] hades@feddit.uk 166 points 3 months ago (9 children)

Except solar. And wind. And hydro.

[–] OrganicMustard@lemmy.world 150 points 3 months ago (5 children)

Some solar is also boiling water

[–] stormeuh@lemmy.world 13 points 3 months ago (1 children)
[–] fartographer@lemmy.world 4 points 3 months ago

They did fix that pretty quickly, but what a classic mad scientist blunder that would turn a well meaning researcher into a villain in any action hero film.

[–] Redjard@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 3 months ago

And some fusion is direct to current in coils. The z-pinch style approaches mainly.

that's why IMHO it's more important to classify the core coupling mechanism (e.g. photoelectric effect, electromagnetic effect) instead of classifying the total energy in -> energy out types.

[–] psud@aussie.zone 2 points 3 months ago

My local solar steam generator was shut down years ago as it was no longer worth testing direct reflector material anymore — even if they had gotten perfect reflectivity they couldn't compete with photovoltaics anymore

[–] xx3rawr@sh.itjust.works 39 points 3 months ago (4 children)

Expect for solar, it's all just flowy stuff through spinny stuff: wind, water, steam. GRAAAAAAAAAA

[–] bjoern_tantau@swg-empire.de 19 points 3 months ago

Good ol' mill.

[–] M137@lemmy.world 9 points 3 months ago

Spinny stuff is basically the universe on all scales, so it makes sense. And that's fucking cool, IMO.

[–] rockerface@lemmy.cafe 9 points 3 months ago

Solar is very tiny flowy stuff through very tiny spinny stuff

you forgot the electrochemical battery

[–] Skullgrid@lemmy.world 20 points 3 months ago

And wind.

wind is just the effects of premade steam

[–] TachyonTele@piefed.social 7 points 3 months ago (1 children)
[–] hades@feddit.uk 24 points 3 months ago (2 children)
[–] someguy3@lemmy.world 49 points 3 months ago

Condensed steam.

[–] judgyweevil@feddit.it 18 points 3 months ago (1 children)

It's still the same turbine shit

[–] anomnom@sh.itjust.works 9 points 3 months ago

It’s all turbines, but quite dissimilar turbines.

[–] fullsquare@awful.systems 4 points 3 months ago (1 children)
[–] I_Has_A_Hat@lemmy.world 5 points 3 months ago (1 children)

And waves/tidal, but now we're getting into the really niche types.

[–] hades@feddit.uk 3 points 3 months ago

i knew i was forgetting something

[–] KittyCat@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago

And theoretically a massive proton exchange plant.

[–] Shanedino@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Isnt hydro in a small part powered by steam just post condensation steam.

[–] phlegmy@sh.itjust.works 2 points 3 months ago

I do enjoy a nice glass of post condensation steam on occasion

[–] JakenVeina@midwest.social 2 points 3 months ago (3 children)

I dunno if "power plant" quite fits for solar and wind. Definitely for Hydro, though.

[–] JasonDJ@lemmy.zip 13 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (3 children)

"Power Plant" won't be a fitting term until we can generate electricity (at a viable scale) from chloroplasts.

And wouldn't that just be solar with extra steps?

fun fact: chloroplasts generate an electric potential across the cell membrane during photosynthesis. essentially, they have membrane proteins in their chloroplast membranes that push electrons from one side of the membrane to the other side whenever a photon hits the protein. It's essentially a natural photovoltaic cell.

That electric potential is then used to create ATP in nature, while we just directly extract the electrical power through cables.

[–] fartographer@lemmy.world 3 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Even better if you can use it to power a humanoid robot for a real world plant golem.

[–] TachyonTele@piefed.social 2 points 3 months ago

Isn't that the goal?

[–] JATtho@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

You should look at mitochondria:

  • The power plant of the cell.
  • Runs on a proton-gradient.
  • ATP synthase is essentially a molecular turbine and a generator.
  • oh. a turbine. Damm thing spins ~18000 rpm at medium throttle, pumping out elec- ATP. ATP.

Oops.. it's turbines all the way down.

[–] JasonDJ@lemmy.zip 1 points 3 months ago

runs on proton gradient

So I can launch it from Lutris?

[–] dublet@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I dunno if “power plant” quite fits for solar and wind

Why not?

The First Law of Thermodynamics: Energy Cannot Be Created or Destroyed

Fossil fuel power plants merely convert chemical energy into another type.

[–] JakenVeina@midwest.social 3 points 3 months ago

Just that "power plant" I think most people associate with large enclosed facilities that house power generating equipment, which doesn't quite describe wind and solar farms. Hence that most people refer to them as "farms".

[–] HenriVolney@sh.itjust.works 1 points 3 months ago

Are these really power plants? I thought they were called field or farm or something else