The Very-Many-Questions-Not-Worth-Their-Own-Thread Thread XL

[Synobun]

can the human brain run out of hard drive space?

Practically or literally?

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

I'm not actually sure.

 

[Birdjaguar]

can the human brain run out of hard drive space?

Space might be less of a problem than retaining access.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Someone said they need access to space?

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Space might be less of a problem than retaining access.

So it's not a matter of space, but the hard drive going bad over time?

 

[The_J]

This is probably also why we forget things: To make space.
But there are people with photographic memory...might be worth checking with them .

 

[Kyriakos]

There is no reason to think that the actual consciousness can not reach a space issue, I suppose very dependent on IQ. But there is always a difference between normally thinking something with (let's say) 5 conscious parameters, and something with a large multiple of that.
The brain is controlling vastly more than just consciousness, which means that you, as consciousness-dwelling, won't ever occupy a significant percentage.

 

[H4run]

So it's not a matter of space, but the hard drive going bad over time?

A bad sector, and you need some defrag, but how to defrag the brain?

 

[Synobun]

A bad sector, and you need some defrag, but how to defrag the brain?

I've got a hammer.

 

[cardgame]

A bad sector, and you need some defrag, but how to defrag the brain?

What do you think sleep is for?

 

[Synobun]

What do you think sleep is for?

Anxious thoughts and existential dread?

 

[H4run]

What do you think sleep is for?

This is, sadly, very true.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

What do you think sleep is for?

It's FOR THE WEEK.

 

[Gori the Grey]

Could one make a solar-powered air-conditioner that also converted the heat produced in air conditioning to some other form of energy, scale up, just run the things, and reverse global warming?

Or rather, why can't you? (cuz I can't be the first person to think of this)

 

[Kyriakos]

Could one make a solar-powered air-conditioner that also converted the heat produced in air conditioning to some other form of energy, scale up, just run the things, and reverse global warming?

Or rather, why can't you? (cuz I can't be the first person to think of this)

How are you going to reverse global warming with a machine that mostly releases heat into the atmosphere?

 

[Gori the Grey]

That was the second part: convert air-conditioner's heat to some other form of energy.

 

[Kyriakos]

That was the second part: convert air-conditioner's heat to some other form of energy.

Wouldn't it be more practical to first not create more heat?
Ie if a machine could reduce heat (without emitting more heat, just not in the small space you care about), it would find plenty of heat around, no need to produce more so as to transform that into heat-reducing output.

Granted, I am not much into physics - including thermodynamics - but I can't imagine any machine which would first create a heat deficit in a space, so as to suck heat there from the outside. It would take energy to create the heat deficit, which would produce more heat already.

An interesting book, about a hypothetical "reverse universe", presents the agents there having massive amounts of heat, and since things are reversed they cause a heat loss with every new work (eg a collusion). But in essence it is the same universe, just viewed from an angle where the future is the past.

 

[Gori the Grey]

Well, it's because I know nothing about physics that I'm asking. Extremes of heat, you can turn into a different form of energy: steam power turning a turbine. We transfer kinds of energy in other ways: braking into battery charge in hybrid cars.

 

[Kyriakos]

Well, it's because I know nothing about physics that I'm asking. Extremes of heat, you can turn into a different form of energy: steam power turning a turbine. We transfer kinds of energy in other ways: braking into battery charge in hybrid cars.

I am not sure if it is the actual extreme of heat that features as energy production (unless we go into different scales - not familiar with this either). Afaik energy is produced by work (eg a wind turbine or a windmill, or a water dam, or nuclear etc), and all work has heat as a byproduct. It is why nuclear reactors can melt if the heat isn't checked. There isn't any type of energy production which doesn't give some heat as a byproduct. This heat then stabilizes with the rest of the closed system (in our case, the Earth, cause we have an atmosphere), and this is why heavy industrial work can be responsible for global warming (along with other factors, such as emissions of some materials? We need some physics guy here, or at least a lowly engineer )

 

[Sarin]

Could one make a solar-powered air-conditioner that also converted the heat produced in air conditioning to some other form of energy, scale up, just run the things, and reverse global warming?

Or rather, why can't you? (cuz I can't be the first person to think of this)

Utilizing waste heat like that is incredibly difficult, if not impossible. The difference between ambient temperature and heated air expelled by AC is too low to be utilized by mechanical means. Use of piezoelectric and thermoelectric materials is still in infancy and usually tends to end up with negative energy balance when you factor in production and recycling costs against the useful energy generated over their lifetime.

And remember that no energy transfer or transformation is 100% effective. You always end up wasting some in form of heat.