carpoftruth

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[–] carpoftruth@hexbear.net 9 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

There's not really a reason it couldn't be captured and reused

The reason is that helium capture and storage is really hard and inefficient, helium is a tiny atom that is good at leaking out of stuff. Why don't you have a diaper that captures your farts and generates power by burning the methane? Economy of scale or lack thereof is a real reason for why every lab doesn't have a capture storage recycle system

[–] carpoftruth@hexbear.net 14 points 4 weeks ago (3 children)

That subthread is just a few hours old, if you want to talk about it, reply in the subthread

[–] carpoftruth@hexbear.net 3 points 1 month ago

the AAA gaming studio model

[–] carpoftruth@hexbear.net 6 points 1 month ago

see subthread here: https://hexbear.net/comment/7055009

also, post links to news, ideally the source (NPR) not the linker (Dropsite)

[–] carpoftruth@hexbear.net 20 points 1 month ago (4 children)

there was a lot of hiring from all these tech companies from 2020-2024. some staff are being cut because AI is stupider/less profitable than hoped, some staff are being cut because use of chatgpt can reduce headcount needs, but there's also some garden variety overly optimistic expansion plans made by tech company execs that are not panning out. a good chunk of the firings are not directly AI related, but 'blaming firings on AI' is an easier message for tech company execs to state than 'we thought money would be cheap forever'.

[–] carpoftruth@hexbear.net 14 points 1 month ago (1 children)

dear god I hope not. you're describing a dirty bomb.

[–] carpoftruth@hexbear.net 28 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Related, analysis of the likelihood that Iran moved HEU to Isfahan before the June 2025 US-Israeli airstrikes on Iran. This is an interesting procedural of satellite image assessment and detective work too.

https://thebulletin.org/2026/03/analysis-iran-likely-transferred-highly-enriched-uranium-to-isfahan-before-the-june-strikes/

Note the difference in weight between the HEU and the containment vessels as well - there's an order of magnitude more vessel than HEU for moving this stuff around. This isn't a bank robbery where you stuff all the money in a sack, these are cubic meter or so containers that each only contain tens of kg of HEU, depending on the enrichment level.

[–] carpoftruth@hexbear.net 44 points 1 month ago (5 children)

An interesting piece from the archives, from 1994 when Kazakhstan cooperated with the US to hand over about half a tonne of highly enriched uranium

https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB491/

The documents describe an extraordinary secret mission: In the autumn of 1994, the team of 31 Americans slipped quietly into a remote area of Kazakhstan to secure the 1,320 pounds of weapons-grade uranium and airlift it safely out of the country to the United States. From Oct. 14 to Nov. 11, 1994, working six days a week, 12 hours a day, the teams repackaged the uranium into 448 shipping containers. On November 20-21, two U.S. Air Force C-5 Galaxy airlifters carried the dangerous material and the team to Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, with several aerial refuelings. The uranium was then trucked to the Y-12 plant at Oak Ridge, Tennessee to be blended down.

So, about a month of work for 30 nuclear experts to pack this material up and get it out. Not exactly a fly by night, delta force smash and grab.

[–] carpoftruth@hexbear.net 20 points 1 month ago

"My brain contains multitudes of nuance and context"

[–] carpoftruth@hexbear.net 7 points 1 month ago

Their recent episodes on Iran have been good.

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