this post was submitted on 05 May 2026
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Science Memes
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Do solar panels operate in this way?
Yes, inside of every solar panel is water and tiny turbines. The sun heats the water, when it turns to steam it spins the turbines to generate electricity.
minas tirith lacks power! sound the turbines!
I must have edited my comment as you were typing yours.
It's always a relief when someone doesn't take everything so literally
just like wind turbine right?
You’ll never believe where wind comes from…
Wind turbines use whales and birds, I think it is like in Norse mythology where the wolves Sköll and Hati chase the Sun and moon. But with wind you have whales chasing birds while they are strapped to the blades, this causes them to spin and that generates wind, which fans the flames of fires to boil water and that creates steam.
Depends on the type of solar panel. PV, no. Otherwise, yes.
Solar, wind, tidal, RTG, DEC fusion are all options without steam
Does hydropower count as cold steam?
Well I guess all wind power is also steam at a very low concentration heated by a fusion reaction.
the steam part is in the rest of hydrological cycle
Hydropower gets its energy from evaporated water rising to the big steam in the sky.
Wind and tidal is still just turbines.
Yeah. One uses the passage of a gas over rotating blades. The other uses water as it flows.
Neither use the passage of gaseous water, so theyre totally different!
/s
We never moved away from windmills basically. Only solar is completely different, besides niche impractical things like piezo crystals
In a way. The energy is, in part, used to cook my food which creates an proton gradient across the inner membrane of my mitochondria which then forces those protons through a turbine.
this is so stupid we should just bioengineer injectable chloroplasts for our skin and power ourselves directly with the sun
(yes i am currently hungry but don't feel like cooking how can you tell?)
I WISH
Mitochondria + Chloroplast and accompanying UV damage repair systems would be poggers.
Imagine being able to take a nap and snack at the same time. Totally plant coded and root pilled.
humans: getting dunked on by corals and lichens, in this category
Those bastards got it easy ;-;
i wonder if living as a stationary animal or a plant feels similar to playing an RTS game
allocating energy for growth and shit
This is what my autism has been preparing me for.
Sure, imagine if everyone who has a vitamin D deficiency was now also chronically malnourished as well. In order for your plan to work, people have to be willing to go outside and spend time in the sun...
Solar panals provide direct electromotive force. Pretty sure wind and hydro do too. Solar furnaces boil water.
technically pv panels are also heat engines. this is why they need cooling