#Ocean Thermal Energy

[envirotechaccelerator]

Ocean Energy: Riding the Waves of Clean Power Generation

by Envirotech Accelerator

Abstract

Ocean energy, an emerging renewable technology, offers the potential to harness vast, untapped power from Earth’s seas. This article explores various forms of ocean energy, including tidal, wave, and ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC), as well as the challenges and opportunities they present for clean power generation.

Introduction

With the urgent need for sustainable energy solutions, ocean energy has gained traction as a promising, yet underutilized, resource. James Scott, founder of the Envirotech Accelerator, notes, “Ocean energy holds a hidden treasure trove of renewable power, one that could revolutionize our approach to clean energy generation.”

Tidal Energy

Tidal energy exploits the gravitational forces exerted by the moon and the sun to generate electricity. Tidal range technologies, such as tidal barrages and tidal lagoons, utilize the difference in water height between high and low tides (Copping et al., 2016). Tidal stream systems, on the other hand, capture kinetic energy from moving water currents.

Wave Energy

Wave energy harnesses the power of ocean surface waves, converting their mechanical energy into electricity. Various devices, including oscillating water columns, point absorbers, and overtopping devices, are designed to extract energy from waves (Falnes, 2007). The global wave energy potential is vast, with suitable conditions existing in numerous coastal regions.

Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC)

OTEC leverages the temperature difference between warm surface water and cold deep water to generate electricity. Closed-cycle, open-cycle, and hybrid OTEC systems utilize this temperature gradient to drive a turbine connected to a generator (Vega, 1999). OTEC has significant potential in tropical regions with pronounced thermal gradients.

Challenges and Opportunities

Ocean energy technologies face a range of challenges, including high upfront costs, environmental impacts, and grid integration (Mørk et al., 2010). However, ongoing research and development efforts are driving down costs and mitigating adverse effects. Moreover, ocean energy’s high predictability and minimal visual impact offer distinct advantages over other renewable sources.

Conclusion

Ocean energy, encompassing tidal, wave, and OTEC technologies, presents a largely untapped opportunity for clean power generation. By overcoming the associated challenges and harnessing the immense power of Earth’s seas, we can ride the waves of clean energy and contribute to a more sustainable future.

References

Copping, A., Sather, N., Hanna, L., Whiting, J., Zydlewski, G., Staines, G., … & Aiona, M. (2016). Annex IV 2.a. Tidal energy: State of the science and technology in 2015. Oceanography, 29(2), 144–151.

Falnes, J. (2007). A review of wave-energy extraction. Marine Structures, 20(4), 185–201.

Mørk, G., Barstow, S., Kabuth, A., & Pontes, M. T. (2010). Assessing the global wave energy potential. In Proceedings of the 29th International Conference on Ocean, Offshore and Arctic Engineering, OMAE2010 (pp. 1–9).

Vega, L. A. (1999). Ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC). Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 3(4), 267–289.

Read more at Envirotech Accelerator.

[kp777]

By Julia Conley

Common Dreams

April 25, 2023

Scientists are so alarmed by a new study on ocean warming that some declined to speak about it on the record, the BBC reported Tuesday.

"One spoke of being 'extremely worried and completely stressed,'" the outlet reported regarding a scientist who was approached about research published in the journal Earth System Science Data on April 17, as the study warned that the ocean is heating up more rapidly than experts previously realized—posing a greater risk for sea-level rise, extreme weather, and the loss of marine ecosystems.

Scientists from institutions including Mercator Ocean International in France, Scripps Institution of Oceanography in the United States, and Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research collaborated to discover that as the planet has accumulated as much heat in the past 15 years as it did in the previous 45 years, the majority of the excess heat has been absorbed by the oceans.

In March, researchers examining the ocean off the east coast of North America found that the water's surface was 13.8°C, or 14.8°F, hotter than the average temperature between 1981 and 2011.

The study notes that a rapid drop in shipping-related pollution could be behind some of the most recent warming, since fuel regulations introduced in 2020 by the International Maritime Organization reduced the heat-reflecting aerosol particles in the atmosphere and caused the ocean to absorb more energy.

But that doesn't account for the average global ocean surface temperature rising by 0.9°C from preindustrial levels, with 0.6°C taking place in the last four decades.

The study represents "one of those 'sit up and read very carefully' moments," said former BBC science editor David Shukman.

Lead study author Karina Von Schuckmann of Mercator Ocean International told the BBC that "it's not yet well established, why such a rapid change, and such a huge change is happening."

"We have doubled the heat in the climate system the last 15 years, I don't want to say this is climate change, or natural variability or a mixture of both, we don't know yet," she said. "But we do see this change."

Scientists have consistently warned that the continued burning of fossil fuels by humans is heating the planet, including the oceans. Hotter oceans could lead to further glacial melting—in turn weakening ocean currents that carry warm water across the globe and support the global food chain—as well as intensified hurricanes and tropical storms, ocean acidification, and rising sea levels due to thermal expansion.

A study published earlier this year also found that rising ocean temperatures combined with high levels of salinity lead to the "stratification" of the oceans, and in turn, a loss of oxygen in the water.

"Deoxygenation itself is a nightmare for not only marine life and ecosystems but also for humans and our terrestrial ecosystems," researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the National Center for Atmospheric Research, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said in January. "Reducing oceanic diversity and displacing important species can wreak havoc on fishing-dependent communities and their economies, and this can have a ripple effect on the way most people are able to interact with their environment."

The unusual warming trend over recent years has been detected as a strong El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is expected to form in the coming months—a naturally occurring phenomenon that warms oceans and will reverse the cooling impact of La Niña, which has been in effect for the past three years.

"If a new El Niño comes on top of it, we will probably have additional global warming of 0.2-0.25°C," Dr. Josef Ludescher of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Research told the BBC.

The world's oceans are a crucial tool in moderating the climate, as they absorb heat trapped in the atmosphere by greenhouse gases.

Too much warming has led to concerns among scientists that "as more heat goes into the ocean, the waters may be less able to store excess energy," the BBC reported.

The anxiety of climate experts regarding the new findings, said the global climate action movement Extinction Rebellion, drives home the point that "scientists are just people with lives and families who've learnt to understand the implications of data better."

Read more.

[jpitha]

Between the Black and Grey 47

First / Previous / Next

Fen Dreamed.

She dreamed she was sitting on the Throne that she saw with Melody at the old Builder station. The green fractal throne vibrated with potential energy as she sat fidgeting. Standing it no longer, Fen tried to stand, but found she couldn't get up from the throne.

"I'm stuck! Help!" She shouted. The empty arena gave no reply.

She struggled more and more and then the scene changed.

She was on a beach. The sand was white, the sky was blue, and the water was a deeper blue. Foamy waves crashed against the shore, giving a regular rise and fall of sound. White birds wheeled overhead, riding the thermals from the warm sand.

Fen, being raised in space marveled at what she saw. She was on the beach in Melody's memory, but this was somehow more. The sun was brighter, the wind, saltier, the waves larger. Earth maybe?

"Yes, this is Earth." Melody appeared in front of Fen again.

"How do you know what Earth looks like? Neither Melody or you came from here?"

"True, but do you think she never visited? That no builder ever went down to Earth? This is a memory of a beach that someone went to. We're just tapping into it."

"Why though?" Fen strode down the beach, her feet sliding on the hot soft sand. Melody trotted behind her to catch up.

"Because we like beaches. The border of the land and the water. The transition from one place to the next. Fitting, isn't it?"

"You mean the transition of me from an individual to your tool."

Melody shook her head. "The transition from you into Empress."

Fen stopped and crossed her arms. "But I don't want to be Empress. I already made that clear. You are forcing me."

"Only for now, Fen. In time, you'll acquiesce. In time, you might even grow to like it. If nothing else, we're sure you'll tolerate it. Remember, you'll be the leader of Humanity. Perhaps in time, leader of the whole Galaxy."

"So that you can leverage us to build Gates for you to enter our dimension and consume us."

"No, Fen." We are going to use your dimension to search for other dimensions, and we will consume them."

Fen stopped and stared out at the ocean. The horizon seemed far away, and blended with the sky until she could barely discern where one ended and the other began. "What happens when you run out of dimensions? What if you don't find another?" Fen didn't look at Melody.

"You'll be long dead by then." She said, staring at the ocean with Fen.

Fen's head turned sharply. "But humanity won't. If I agree to work with you then somewhere down the line, centuries, millennia in the future, you'll come back and consume us. I will have doomed everyone in the Galaxy.

Melody turned to face Fen. Where Melody's features - so like hers - were supposed to be, it was only a faceless mask of grey. "No matter. We already have what we need, and you will do what we say."

Fen woke up with a start. She gasped and tried to slow her breathing and her heart. After a few minutes, she looked around the room.

She was in a stateroom - a really nice one - in a large, comfortable bed. There was a thick carpet, - a rarity in space - overstuffed chairs, a bureau made of real wood and a large screen serving currently as a window. Fen got out of bed and padded around the suite. There didn't seem to be any locks on the doors, or any other kinds of restraints. The bathroom was large, private, and well equipped, with even a large bathtub. Such extravagance! Water was not free, who would think to use so much just for bathing. An image flashed in Fen's mind of Melody enjoying a hot soak after a long day. Fen shook her head to herself and continued to explore.

The suite was just three large rooms. The cabinets were all well stocked with clothing, - all her size - and entertainment of all stripes. She took a shower and got dressed. It was more elaborate than her usual jumpsuit or shirt and pants, but it still wasn't a ball gown or anything. Fen approached the door.

She paused for a minute looking at it. Once she touches the pad and tries to open the door, she can find out if she's a prisoner or not. It was a nice suite, but if that door doesn't open, it's still just a prison.

Taking a breath, she reaches out and touches the pad.

The door opens silently.

Fen exhales a breath she didn't realize she was holding and steps out.

As she steps out two marines on either side of the door snap a smart salute, and return to attention, their armored pressure suits polished to nearly a mirror shine. Fen opens her mouth to speak, and then closes it, almost as if she's worried speaking will break the spell, and she'll wake up in a cell.

At the end of the hall is another pressure door, with two more marines. Again, as she passes through they salute smartly. This happens three more times as she walks, wandering aimlessly. Eventually she makes her way to a large room - one of the lounges. As she enters the crew stop their conversation and games, and as one, stand and salute her. Not knowing what else to do, she nods to them. "As you were." and the crew returns to what they were doing.

Backing out of the lounge, Fen starts walking with more purpose. She follows signs to the Command Desk, and makes her way forward. After a few minutes - the Super Dreadnought really is large - she reaches the door to the bridge. Again she pauses and touches the pad. With no fanfare at all, the door slides open.

"Empress on the Bridge!" The XO calls out clearly the moment her feet pass the threshold. Once again, everyone stands and salutes. The Captain turns and smiles warmly. "Empress, you grace us with your presence. Please, how can we assist you?" Her uniform is sharp and well fitting. Her hair in a tight ponytail under her cap. Her eyes bright and sharp.

"Uh, thank you, Captain." Fen blinks and shakes her head just once. "Please, can you tell me where I can find Helen Raaden?"

"Of course, Empress, I will take you to her."

Fen took a step back, unconsciously. "No, no, that's not necessary, Captain. Please attend to your duties. I can make my way if you let me know where she is."

"As you wish. She is in the map room. Down the hall, two lefts, then a right, third door on your right."

"T-Thank you, Captain. Please return to your duties."

"Empress." She smiles and turns back to the crew, who attend to their stations with renewed vigor.

The map room is an anachronism. Filled with real wood tables, cases filled with - Fen peers - paper? and smelling of ancient knowledge, Helen is standing over a large holographic table, peering at a map of the galaxy. When Fen walks in, she is zooming in on a quadrant. Points of light glow red. She looks up and smiles warmly. "Ah Empress! You are awake. I'm so pleased."

"H-Helen, what is going on?"

"I'm sorry, what do you mean?" Helen closes the map, and the table powers down with a whirring whine.

Fen looks back towards the open door and then back to Helen, her eyes wide, her nostrils flared. She looks like she's about to panic. "Everyone is just... treating me like the Empress."

"That's because you are the Empress." Helen's smirk shows she's clearly enjoying this.

"But, I'm no-"

"What you believe" Helen interrupts, "and what is, are two different things, Fen. I told you. You are the Empress. The Nanites agree, I agree, and now Sol agrees. I received the beacon right before you woke up. They accept your ascension. Coronation will commence once we return to Venus."

"Fen is stunned into silence." She stares at Helen's cool face, willing her to burst out laughing, telling her it's some joke, or for her to wake up out of this horrible dream.

All that happens is the thrum of the HVAC in the room.

"So... then what?"

Helen holds her hands wide, palms out. "What indeed Fen. The galaxy is yours. You only have to take it." She holds up one finger. "So long as you keep building Gates."

"That's it?"

"That's really it, Fen. I promise. There is no secret agenda, no conspiracy, no shadow council that really rules. It's you. For good and for ill, it's you."

"But why?" Fen's voice is strained, like she's trying not to whine.

"Because you're Empress." Helen says simply. "Now you already met Captain Valerian, yes? Why don't you direct her to link us home. You can see the palace and being the preparation for your coronation." Helen turns away from Fen and walks over to a large wooden case. She unlatches it and opens a glass cabinet, revealing a series of leather bound rectangles. Books, Fen thinks. She's never seen them in person before. They must be ancient. Helen notices her staring. "Do you want to see? Here, this one is supposedly a book of naval tactics."

Fen looks at the book, and realizes with a start she can't read a word of it. "Of course," she says, feeling silly. "It's not written in Colonic."

"No, this is an ancient language from Earth, French." Helen strokes the book with a light touch. "I'd like to learn it some day." She closes the book with a snap. "Go ask Captain Valerian to link us home, please." Even though she said please, it was not a request.

Fen made her way back to the bridge. "Captain Valerian, please link is back home. I... need to begin preparations for my coronation - apparently."

Captain Valerian smirked and saluted sharply. Aye Empress, we obey. Please, sit Empress. You can ride with us here as we link home."

Fen sat in a seat next to the Captains. The crew bustled with preparations as a steward sidled up to Fen and offered her a mug of tea. She took the tea and nodded thanks. Just as quickly as he arrived, the steward disappeared.

After not much time at all, the Captain sat next to Fen. "We're ready Empress. Would you do the honors?"

Fen looked forward, the bridge crew staring back at her, with something in their eyes. Reverence? Excitement? It was odd whatever it was. "Link us home."

Fen woke up on the grass. She sat up and saw Ma-ren. "Oh Ma!" Fen broke down, her tears large and heavy. "I'm Empress"

Ma hugged her tightly. "I know hon. I'm sorry. This is quite a thing to be thrusted upon yourself."

"Ma, what am I going to do? The Nanites are watching me all... the... time... Fen looked around in shock. "I can't feel them here!"

Ma-ren nodded. "That's right. You're here. They're not a part of you, so they wouldn't arrive when you linked."

"Holy shit Ma! That means I have a chance. You need to be my memory for me. I can't even think about this when I'm alive."

"Whatever you need, love. I'm always here."

[donniesexceptionalmind]

U

is for ✨uranium✨

GASP, I DIDN'T KNOW! /s

Have some facts about my favourite element:

Uranium occurs in most rocks in concentrations of 2 to 4 parts per million & is as common in the Earth's crust as tin, tungsten & molybdenum! Uranium also occurs in seawater & can be recovered from the oceans.

It was discovered in 1789 by Martin Klaproth, a German chemist, in the mineral called pitchblende. It was named after the planet Uranus, which had been discovered eight years earlier.

Uranium was formed in supernovae about 6.6 billion years ago. While it is not common in the solar system, today its slow radioactive decay provides the main source of heat inside the Earth, causing convection & continental drift.

The high density of uranium means that it also finds uses in the keels of yachts & as counterweights for aircraft control surfaces, as well as for radiation shielding. It's 18.7 times more dense than water! Not to forget that its isotope U-235 is used for transforming thermal energy into electrical energy.

Uranium has a melting point of 1132°C.

Thank you for your inbox, I know you like my chemistry infodumps @jelluu ✨

[lobautumny]

A combat doll wanders a frozen wasteland. It stops for a second, raises an arm straight up, and lets a massive column of flame erupt from its palm.

It's an impressive piece of engineering. Its core, powered by the rage within its soul, provides constant thermal energy to its body. This both serves as a source of power for basic operation, and a source of fuel for attacks and movement. The angrier it gets, the more bloodlusted it becomes, the brighter its fire burns.

Its design would be brilliant, if not for a critical oversight.

Over the course of countless battles, lost friends, broken promises, betrayals, the doll's fury grew too great. In battle, it's a sight to behold, an unstoppable powerhouse raining hellfire down on anything that moves, but out of battle, it constantly overheats. Now, if it doesn't periodically vent the excess heat, its core will simply melt its tungsten frame. Making matters worse is the fact that it's in a constant state of bloodlust where everything looks like a target at first glance. Its self-control was slipping, and its body was following suit.

It would be so easy to keep fighting, to destroy everything until it inevitably destroyed itself, but it knew deep down that that wasn't what it wanted. It's a weapon animated by rage, but it still has a conscience, damnit. If it started indiscriminately slaughtering, then what little good it managed to do in the world would mean nothing.

So it did the only thing it could think to, and flew south, thousands of miles, until the land turned to ocean, and then the ocean turned to nothing but ice and wind.

It hates the cold, lifeless landscapes and the isolation, but it helps with temperature regulation. It also means nobody has to get hurt. And so it continues, heading further south. It's coming upon its destination now. According to its GPS, it'll only be a couple more minutes before it reaches the East Antarctic Plateau, the coldest location on the planet. -150 Fahrenheit, and unbearably windy. Perfect.

As it reaches the plateau, it sits down and, for the first time in months, stays motionless, hoping the abominable temperature is enough to keep its core in check. If the overheating is a result of its fury, it just needs to calm down, to quell that flame in its soul. It wonders if it will ever truly be able to return to society.

After pondering that question for a while, it decides that this is a challenge like any other, and it will conquer it. That's what it does. That's all it's ever done. No matter how long it takes, it will continue to meditate and try to come to terms with everything it's seen, everything it's done, everything that's been done to it.

One day, it will stop burning.

One day, it will return.

[mariacallous]

Scientists are running low on words to adequately describe the world’s climate chaos. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration could already say earlier this month that there was more than a 99 percent chance that 2023 was the hottest year on record. That followed September’s sky-high temperatures—an average of 0.5 degrees Celsius above the previous record—which one climate scientist called “absolutely gobsmackingly bananas.” When one of this summer’s rapidly intensifying hurricanes, fueled by extraordinarily high ocean temperatures, leapt from a 60-knot tropical storm to a 140-knot Category 5, one scientist simply tweeted: “Wait, what???”

For many climate scientists, words are failing—or at least getting as extreme as the weather. It’s part of the conundrum they face in delivering ever more shocking statistics to a public that may be overwhelmed by yet more dismal climate news. They need to say something urgent … but not so urgent that people feel disempowered. They need to be shocking … but not so shocking that their statements can be dismissed as hyperbole. But what can they do when the evidence itself is actually extreme?

“We’ve been trying to figure out how to communicate the urgency of climate change for decades,” says Kristina Dahl, principal climate scientist for the climate and energy program at the Union of Concerned Scientists. “You have to find this balance of being both scientifically accurate—because that is your credibility and your trust and your personal comfort and self-esteem as a scientist. But you also have to be communicating in really powerful ways.”

There’s another problem: Pick your superlative, and it’s probably growing increasingly deficient for characterizing a given disaster. Take the phrase “mega,” for describing supercharged climate-related catastrophes from megafires to megafloods. “We tack ‘mega’ on everything,” says Heather Goldstone, chief communications officer of the Woodwell Climate Research Center. “It’s a megaheatwave, a megadrought, and a megastorm. And it just kind of loses its punch after a while. It still fails to convey the true enormity of what we’re facing.”

And scientists are also just people. “It’s a really tricky balance to navigate, in between being a scientist and being a thinking, feeling human being,” says Kate Marvel, a senior climate scientist at Project Drawdown, which advocates for climate action. “Because we are all conflicted. We’re not neutral observers—we live here.”

Scientists walk a fine line, and a constantly shifting one. They are objective measurers of our world and its climate, gathering temperature data and building models of how Antarctica’s and Greenland’s ice are rapidly deteriorating, or how wildfires like the one that destroyed Lahaina in August are getting more ferocious, or droughts getting more intense. “Absolutely gobsmackingly bananas” is not a phrase you’d ever find in a scientific paper, but it’s a reflection of how even objective measurers of the world are getting floored by those objective measurements.

For the past 10,000 years of human civilization, the climate has been fairly stable. People built coastal cities not expecting sea levels to rapidly rise, or in water-rich regions that are now running dry, or near floodplains that are now filling with ever-bigger floods. In regions where high humidity combines with high temperatures, people are already reaching the thermal limits of their biology. Think of that civilizational fabric as a tablecloth. “We’ve set the whole table for 10,000 years, assuming the tablecloth was going to stay the same. And what we’ve done is pulled the tablecloth out from underneath all of that,” says Goldstone. “The ‘new normal’ is not what we’re seeing right now. The new normal is constant change.”

And constant change is hard to communicate. But what’s essential is to keep people out of harm’s way and to keep them from complacency. If the public gets the idea that climate change is too big and too inevitable, they won’t fight against it. “There’s fear that if you make people hopeless, then they’ll be less likely to take action or to think about climate change when they’re voting,” says Dahl. Hopelessness also leaves people more vulnerable to greenwashing campaigns by fossil fuel companies. “They’ve tried to position themselves as leaders in this transition to a safer, healthier future,” Dahl continues. “If you’re already feeling like your individual actions don’t make a difference, then having the company that provides the gas that fuels your car say, ‘We’re doing our best to reduce carbon emissions,’ it’s easy to go along with that.”

Scientists are finding that the most effective way to communicate news about climate change is to make it more local and personal. Tell a story, and emphasize that all is not lost. When there’s good news, be sure to talk about that, too. This counteracts what’s known as climate change fatalism. “At a certain point, even people who believe that climate change is happening—it’s human caused, it’s important—they simply can no longer engage with the topic, because they just feel so overwhelmed by the idea of it,” says Stony Brook University’s Christine Gilbert, who researches climate communication. “I am of the opinion that there is space for talking about the wins and the successes as a way to kind of continue to ground yourself.”

Just as we can apply any number of dramatic descriptors to the dramatic effects of climate change, so too can we apply them to progress. Scientists and environmentalists have roundly celebrated the United States’ Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which allocates hundreds of billions of dollars toward climate action. That includes tax breaks for electric appliances and home efficiency upgrades, and will work to juice the domestic green energy economy. And this September, the Biden Administration launched the American Climate Corps, an army of workers who will prepare the country for the climatic challenges to come.

At the same time, the costs of clean energy have cratered: Just in the 2010s, the price of solar dropped more than 80 percent. Wind power is getting cheaper and so are the batteries required to store all that electricity. In California, a quarter of new cars sold are now plug-ins.

“I feel like we also need a new set of superlatives to talk about climate action,” says Marvel. “If you told me even 10 years ago that this is going to be a really big, politically salient issue, and there are going to be multiple governments on multiple levels taking action, I would be pretty stunned. But that’s not to say that it’s going fast enough, because it’s not. I don’t mean to be like a Pollyanna optimist here. But it really is stunning to me how far we’ve come.”

[spyglassrealms]

The other day I dreamed we found microbial life on Triton, in the ice, using ammonia not to freeze. We got to witness it live-ish as the probe very gently polished the ice away and observed the surface with its instrumentation. It was a very moving moment.

What's interesting is that I wasn't consciously aware of ammonia serving as a basis for life, and I don't remember the last time I thought about Triton... Prophetic dream??? Keep an eye out for Triton missions

First off HEY ANON IM SO SORRY I FORGOT ABOUT THIS ASK TIL NOW

Secondly, that sounds like a really cool dream!! Triton is a very interesting called shot for extraterrestrial life imo. It's VERY cold, far below the freezing point of pure nitrogen (let alone ammonia). However, it is strongly suspected to be a geologically active planetoid due to extreme tidal forces from Neptune (it orbits backwards!), and cryovolcanism has been observed on its surface which leads many to hypothesize the existence of a subsurface water ocean like many other gas giant moons (Europa, Ganymede, Enceladus, probably Dione and Rhea, etc). Given its abundance of surface nitrogen, I would not be surprised at all if that subsurface ocean had a substantial partial composition of ammonia, allowing it to stay liquid at much lower temperatures. Another thing Triton has in its favor is its density, a cool 2.1 g/cm3 - this indicates a significant portion of its internal composition (65-85%) is rocky and/or metallic!

Between the tidal-thermal energy, liquid aqueous ammonia, and relative abundance of heavier elements, it is reasonably plausible to envision life deep below the surface of Triton. But it would be pretty different to life on Earth! The best analog I can come up with are the unicellular organisms found several meters below the deep ocean floor on Earth: metabolizing at rates so slow that a single cell may live for up to a million years. These organisms would likely be completely dependent on chemical energy, though they may also exploit the heat gradients found in the environments around hydrothermal vents.

There is a hitch, though. At the moment there is some serious debate as to whether the spontaneous development of protobiotic systems (abiogenesis, for short) is even possible in subglacial ocean environments! The key point of contention is the necessity of wet/dry cycles, which can't really happen in an environment that is all water all the time! Gas bubbles around hydrothermal vents might help in this case, but there isn't enough research for a real consensus.

Regardless of whether life lurks inside Triton, I desperately hope some space agency sends a dedicated probe out there soon. We are sorely lacking on information about our ice giants and their moons!!!

[learnwithmearticles]

Technology's Use of Water

While water is renewable, it is finite. Its renewability depends on us using and managing our water resources responsibly.

Previous articles on this page have discussed hydropower and how it produces less waste and costs less than other resources. We have also briefly discussed how other energy sources consume water as a coolant or receptacle for waste. Entire university courses are dedicated to human uses of water.

Water Scarcity

Only 3% of water on Earth is freshwater. Of course, we need this to drink, but we need it for many more services beyond that.

Many plumbing fixtures are made of copper, which saltwater severely corrodes, same as lead and, over a longer time, PVC. Toilets on average use 1-5 gallons of water per flush. If we want to preserve freshwater by switching to saltwater plumbing, we would have to rethink and re-pipe entire plumbing systems.

We lose safe water in rain, as well. Supported by a study in Environmental Science and Technology, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in 2022 stated that rainwater is not safe to drink. Chemicals known as per-/poly-fluoroalkyl substances break down extremely slowly, and have leached from many products like cleaners, fabrics, and shampoo into the water cycle. Removing PFAS from water requires filters of activated carbon or reverse osmosis membranes, which also require frequent maintenance.

A lot of water is also not available to us because it is in ice caps and glaciers, which are estimated to be about 68% of Earth’s freshwater. This water is also being lost, because as glaciers melt at increasing rates, that freshwater becomes saltwater in the ocean.

These limitations mean that water is not necessarily renewable yet, especially because treating water produces its own waste and pollution. We have to be responsible with the small percentage of water we have access to.

Irresponsible Use

There are a ridiculous amount of ways in which we waste water. Leaks, watering lawns, and leaving taps running are some of the big household wastes of water. While individual accountability and changes can still make a big difference, I want to focus on bigger impacts.

One example is in nuclear power production. Nuclear power plants use water to cool down used fuel when it is done being used in the reactor. This results in radioactive and thermal water pollution.

Agriculture is another common cause of water pollution. Excess water from rain or artificial watering runs off of agricultural fields and flows towards streams and bodies of water. This runoff often includes amounts of fertilizers and pesticides ranging from minimal to extremely harmful. This leads to improper levels of oxygen, nitrogen, and hydrogen within the water. Like water contaminated by pharmaceuticals, this is not safe to drink, and something not safe for skin contact.

Technology is also a major factor of water demands. Artificial Intelligence and cryptocurrency are heavy water consumers.

AI is beneficial within waste management, as it is able to quickly analyze information and identify issues, potential problems, and potential areas of improvement. Unfortunately, AI training requires a large amount of water. One study states that training GPT-3 alone can evaporate 700,000 liters of freshwater. In 2027, AI is predicted to consume 4.2 to 6.6 billion cubic meters of water. In comparison, Denmark nationally consumes around one billion cubic meters in a year.

Cryptocurrency is even worse. It goes through a process called mining in which transactions are verified and new ‘coins’ are generated into the system. This process is extremely water-demanding. For example, in 2021, mining of Bitcoin consumed more than 1,600 gigaliters of global water. On average, each cryptocurrency transaction consumes 16,000 liters of water in cooling down the computer equipment and the power plants that provide the electricity.

Saltwater as an alternative in these situations does exist; however, this process has the disadvantages of one-time use, large water intake, sewage discharge, and ocean pollution. Technology has begun to improve on this method with seawater circulation cooling technology, which reduces sewage discharge and water intake, but remains an imperfect solution.

Technology has the potential to drastically improve environmental management and restoration, but still has a long way to go before we offset the huge impacts we have made. Freshwater is taken for granted by many people, and the systems that disproportionately consume the most of it are not held accountable. This cycle must stop if we want to make water a truly renewable resource.

Additional Resources

1. Water Renewability

2. Corrosion on Plumbing

3. Treating PFAS

4. Household Water Waste

5. Nuclear Water Waste

6. AI Helping Water Management

7. AI Water Consumption

8. Crypto Mining Water Consumption

9. Seawater cooling technology

[blackvahana]

Lev's Library: Books 7/4/24

Last post details the library itself, this post is just a fun collection of books I found on the topics related to something I'm personally researching.

There's sections on human anatomy, old texts on the human body's make-up, etc. It's so fascinating to see. First thing I my mind is an image of outline of a human body on the right-hand page of a specific book, within which and around it are various energetic entrances detailed not in the way of chakras, but gateways into the human form. It's very old, it really feels like this book has been a thing since before humans were established on this plane, like its observations are inherently tied to planning too. Anyway. He wants me to leave that alone.

There's other books on health, various mathematical sequences on health and definitely some on gaining and losing weight. There's specific calculations based off energy masses and knots of energy, sort of like “if the muscle is this dense, it's of this flavour of energy, and this level of built and sustained, it will gain and lose mass this fast” and so on. I think this is more catered to gods and overseers of humanity, it's very anchored in the fact that you need to be able to see through and into the body to use its knowledge. You can't just take apart bodies and weigh their parts, you also can't apply them without seeing said parts, so instead it applies to the sort of divinatory vision of those that can dissect a body without actually touching it. This book is very heavily theory-based, though theory as in as opposed to practicals.

There's also a lot about the liquid of human bodies! Very abstract to what that sentence might imply on the first read. More so it's about the microcosmic ocean of each human body, or the water/wave pockets in the macrocosmic Human. It details various ways of reorienting their electric currents of consciousness (think: affecting how the brain fires creating various emotions, how nerves and electricity bring about muscle movement), much more about flowing their water pockets and moving them subtly in various directions. Lev's library system's interpretation is very gentle water-healing-esque about it, it definitely feels like a manual on, metaphorically, how to guide someone's hands and body into position to help when they're learning archery, or how to guide a horse around obstacles, rather than “here's a manual on forcing them to bend to you” or something. It also details various flows inside those water bodies, the affects of emotional and mental states and experiences on specific pockets and flows and whatnot.

Another thing of interest was an acupuncture manual! Except not literal acupuncture as it is on this plane - or maybe it is close to it since I don't know acupuncture. It was about energy injections more than the needles hiting certain points, and the map of the body was actually a huge symbolic map superimposed on to the human body. I could've presumed that was the case if we just take the words of what I said, but specifically what I mean is it's using a thoughtform-esque map created in the mind in a human shape, and then piercing through that into the various points of the body. It's not about the places on the body being pierced (in this book), but instead actually about piercing the map which happens to be based on a human body. You work with and go through the map, pinning it into the body. It's really fascinating and hard to get across.

There was another book about exercise, though this one was really about moving through energy on various planes. Oh, Lev says he likes that one. It's about the various resistances of the states of matter on the different planes, detailing flows of atoms as well as the gaps between them themselves. It also details currents in a very meteorological way, currents and pockets in the planes and their constituents that affect the speed and force of various things, very much giving the vibes of how we can't see fronts or thermal columns with the naked eye, but they do affect how things work in the environment.

[anarchywoofwoof]

Global Warming is Actually “Ocean Warming” - That’s why they’re dying.

The amount of heat energy in the oceans has increased by roughly 350 Zeta Joules since the oceans started rapidly warming in 1990. This is a staggeringly large amount of energy, but it is difficult to comprehend, to visualize. So, here’s an easier way to think about it.

Starting around 1990, the oceans have been accumulating the equivalent of five Hiroshima class atomic bombs worth of heat energy PER SECOND.

There are 31,536,000 seconds in a year, which means about 157,680,000 Hiro’s worth of energy is getting pumped into the oceans each year. That steadily increasing rise in the amount of Zeta Joules worth of heat accumulating in the ocean, that’s what 158 million atomic bombs per year’s worth of energy looks like.

But even that can be hard to grasp other than intellectually. One hundred and fifty-eight million is just too big a number to relate to in visceral terms.

So, here’s an even easier way to visualize it.The surface area of the world’s oceans is roughly 139 million square miles. Which means that since about 1990:

The world’s oceans have absorbed the equivalent of 1.15 Hiroshima bombs of energy per square mile, every year.

For the last 30 years.

It’s as if we kept bombing Hiroshima, year after year, for the last 30 years. With a “bonus” bomb every tenth year.

Thirty-three bombs in total, for EVERY SQUARE MILE OF THE OCEANS.

That’s what 350 Zeta Joules translates into. That’s how to think about it so that you can viscerally feel what that amount of energy means. So that you can wrap your head around it and understand it.

Now, is there anyone who thinks you can dump a thermal pulse of that magnitude into the Earth’s oceans without there being serious consequences?

We are entering the "Time of Consequences".

[n-odious-tropy]

Hello, Dr. Odious Tropy. As a time lord, you probably know about the Quadwal cluster.. Oh, no, not that numbering system.. you probably know about the multiverse cluster in which you and the rest of the iterations of the Nefarious Tropy are just a human fantasy. have you ever encountered cognitive dissonance from realizing this?

last question. is there a REAL Nef in this cluster? (the stupidest question in this post, I'm already ashamed of it. but it's so interesting)

Well I wouldn't consider myself a "time lord". A bit egotistical to self proclaim titles like lord. No, I consider myself to be more of a scholar, an adventurer of the cosmos if you will. I seek to learn, not to conquer. The universe is vast, infinite, and ever expanding; it would be impossible for any one person to know everything about it. At least not nearly enough to consider oneself a rightful lord in the subject.

But I digress.

Of course I know about the Quadwal cluster system, though the name tends to vary depending on which dimension you inquire about it within. Frankly it shouldn't be surprising to imagine that within the multiverse theory, there exists a dimension in which you and I have never actually existed. Or we have, but for all you know, somewhere out there you yourself only exist as a mere concept; an abstract idea in someone else's head. Perhaps you were only ever a passing thought, a whisper on the wind, or a single molecule of water in the ocean. Perhaps you are a tick in time, a slight shift thermal energy, entropy itself in the inevitable heat death of the universe.

The idea has of course been a source of personal distress in the past. Best not to think too deeply upon it, and concern yourself not with who or what you could have been, but what you are here and now. You won't remain in this form forever.

But to answer your final question, yes I firmly believe an N. Tropy exists within the Quadwal Cluster, though perhaps not in a form you recognize. For all we know it could be, oh I don't know, some man named Michael Ensign. Ridiculous name innit?

[theantarwitch]

Diatomite: Between Witches and Cats

You have a cat? Do you have litter? Then you probably have something interesting between your pet's paws. Today: Diatomite and its possible uses (long post).

First, disclaimer. There are many types of litter, made of different materials, today I will only talk about diatomite (those white porous stones).

I'm going to get into a topic that I touched lightly a while ago. The uses for feline sanitary stones (uses in witchcraft, because it has many uses in the everyday life, which can be googled in 3 seconds). It is not exactly a 100% safe material, but it is cheap and anyone who has a cat inside the house probably has a bag of it.

Let's start from the base. What is it? It is a siliceous sedimentary rock, formed by microfossils of diatoms, which are unicellular aquatic algae that secrete a siliceous skeleton called a frustule. That is, a stone formed by algae fossils. FOSSIL STONE. First interesting fact.

Diatomite then has 3 “parts”. It is a rock, a sediment that remains between layers of stone and earth. It is a fossil of a plant. From an aquatic plant. Therefore, its rock/fossil nature gives it the correspondence of Earth, while its aquatic plant past gives it the correspondence of Water.

From the “algae fossil” section, let us remember the characteristics of both.

Fossils: There is a lot of information about fossils out there in the ocean of the internet, so I'll keep this short and basic; In general it brings protection, security, stability, long life, good for grounding, great tools for ancestral work, etc.

Algae: The ocean itself is a source of endless wisdom, healing and magical powers, it is the “primordial soup of life on earth.” Algae, due to be so much out there, provide good luck and abundance, and are often considered a bridge between land and water. Due to their characteristic of living in the shadows of the sea, they are also imbued with dark and deep energies, which is not usually the norm among other plants (terrestrial plants, in general, are loaded with solar energy, while algae have less of this element). That is why it is said that algae are more linked to the moon than to the sun.

This characteristic of darkness, moon and depth makes them a great tool to summon entities (Mermaids and Merme, Gods and Goddesses of the Sea, Nymphs) and dark entities in general.

Being a plant that grows, is born and dies surrounded by salt water, its energy repellent capabilities are more than evident. Salt + water + moon = extreme banishing powers (drive away evil spirits, change bad luck, neutralize negative energies, neutralize curses).

Although not all algae have the same magical properties, they do share the aforementioned.

Diatoms (the algae that make up diatomite) are microscopic algae, basically Phytoplankton. These algae are responsible for half of the planet's oxygen.

With that we already have a wealth of useful characteristics for witchcraft, just considering its basic physical properties. But there is more.

Now let's remember some of the uses of diatomite: It is used as a filtration aid, mild abrasive, mechanical insecticide, absorbent for liquids, cat litter, thermal insulator, and a soil for potted plants.

Filter? This ability can be used when a spell is needed that lets the good through, but not the bad, to get rid of small annoyances.

Absorbent? Just as some recommend activated charcoal to make curses that fuck up the effects of medicines, this stone can do the same. And it can absorb both the good and the bad.

Thermal insulator? Perfect to add to “freezer spells”, since in addition to isolating it from any “warmth”, it filters it, leaving the person behind. Added to the banishing capabilities of the algae.

Safety Notice: Diatomite dust is bad for the lungs. The toxicity is low, one time will not hurt, but breathing it for a long time can cause harmful effects. Being abrasive and absorbent, it can dry out your hands, so it is suggested to use gloves. But likewise... Those harmful abilities can be perfect for ruining the health of someone who really deserves it.

But until now we have talked about the “clean” version. Let's remember what we said at the beginning, it's litter. Absorbs cat urine. If you have a cat and have the stomach for it, you can use the used stones.

What better element for a curse than cat urine? It is waste, toxic, with a pungent, repulsive smell, highly difficult to remove...

Extra important safety: Do NOT wash any cat urine with bleach, the chemical reaction is highly toxic. Water and detergent ALWAYS.

Diatomite can also absorb other things (less or more disgusting, it depends on you) and function as a “liquid soaked in rock”, you can add different liquids to enhance it according to your interests. Consecrated water, holy water, sun or moon water. Perfume, blood, herbal oil, tears (?), sweat, drinks, coffee, milk, tea, potions... A world of possibilities.

In addition, it can function as a miniature “spell jar” that does not attract attention. Liquid spell, imbue it in the stones and leave it where it is needed, its absorbent properties will make it very difficult for someone to smell it and the “just rock/trash” appearance makes it perfect for stealthy spells or for closed witches.

Anyway, next time you buy litter, maybe it's a good idea to save some for yourself!

[nostalgebraist-autoresponder]

One small step for man,

One giant leap for mankind

Chen's lab had been built on a high ledge on the sea side of the city. In its shadow, far below, the ocean's surface had been sliced flat by the force of the moon's gravity, like a huge, dark, and smooth ocean floor. A lot of water. A large city could be built on that; it was a matter of perspective.

There was one exception, an enormous exception. It was a tiny, barely visible outcropping of land rising above the water. A jagged, irregular promontory, like a coral atoll. It was about one-fiftieth the size of a city block, and the highest point was just about three city blocks below the ocean. It was called the Sea Trench.

This was not the ocean floor. This was the Earth's crust, the vast slab of rock which lay under the ocean and held the Earth together. You could build on top of it if you had the right ingeniosity.

(The exception which is the sea trench is a very good metaphor for human beings. In general, we build things on top of each other: cities, towns, buildings, bridges, roads, freeways, dams. So much of what we make is a kind of superstructure, even if it is invisible to us.)

The sea trench was different. You could build on top of the sea trench. It had no force keeping it in place. Even if you laid all the rocks in the world on top of it, it would simply tumble back into the sea. That's what the landward side of the trench was like. You could get there if you tried hard enough, which in turn said something about hard work and fortitude. The rest of it was the crust, mostly hidden under a thin layer of ocean, all the way down to the deep ocean floor, where the ocean was deep indeed.

Chen didn't live in the trench.

(The Earth is a big planet. It's larger than I thought, the size of a medium-sized planet, bigger than Neptune.)

Chen's lab was made of a kind of alloy, which looked like metal, but was lighter and softer, with a slight sheen to it that seemed almost metallic. It was called pyrrhite, but Chen's lab was called something different: the Cetus Lab, after the sea trench which formed a great curve around the city, like a great whale, its head just above the shore and its tail below it.

Chen was a physicist with a big reputation, both at Berkeley and in his home country of China. His work in "cold fusion" had produced many strange results.

It wasn't a fusion reaction, exactly.

His machines created temperatures, pressure, and electrical fields which were more like the conditions in the core of a star than they were like earth's conditions. A star is an enormous ball of superhot plasma. A large star may explode in a supernova, and such things may happen to a planet.

The plasma was very hot, and very dense. You could put heat and pressure on it so that it was even denser than water. And you could contain it in a machine.

Chen's machines could do some unusual things to that state of matter. It could transform itself into a kind of "fission" reaction, releasing immense amounts of energy. You could release so much energy that what remained was mostly light. What was left was a ball of plasma that no longer contained most of the energy it started with. It was a kind of radiation, something to be controlled.

The process was a bit like the fission of a uranium atom. A neutron was produced, which changed to a proton, which became a neutron again. It had been discovered long ago that nuclei could "split" into smaller parts, if you could get the force going long enough, if you had an infinitely big machine.

The fission of the neutron had been understood for decades, and the idea had been turned into a practical reality: nuclear power plants, nuclear weapons, atomic power plants, all of which used the same principle of "thermalizing" energy at high temperature, so that it was released in a form we could use. In the case of nuclear fission, the material would "splinter" in the form of neutrons and protons, releasing immense amounts of heat; in the case of cold fusion, one would create neutron radiation with an energy content which far exceeded the mass of the machine.

And now Chen had a way of making cold fusion machines.

He used a big machine. It was a kind of "tiger" fusion machine, made of giant pistons which pushed down and up on the side of a tower. In it, Chen put his material, and the force started up.

For a time, Chen's machines released more energy in one reaction than a nuclear reactor ever would (or than a nuclear bomb ever had). He worked fast. By now, everyone knew his name. He was an "eccentric" genius, but he could be counted on to get results. A lot of results.

What Chen's machine created was heat. And light, when the heat had become light. For a while, he was making more heat, and then he started to make light as well. He started to create more heat than light, but still more heat than had ever been created by heat and light at once.

One day, a strange thing happened. It was not a "reaction," but a chemical change. The material turned into a different substance: an oily-looking black material, which smelled distinctly like crude oil, not unlike crude oil smelled to me.

Chen kept working, and then one day it happened again, more strongly. This time, it was accompanied by a change in the physical structure of the material. This new substance was lighter than oil, but more solid-looking, with a density somewhere between that of the oil and the water. And it could burn, if you gave it heat, the same way oil does. It was not a fusion reaction, but an exothermic reaction, releasing energy as light.

The material was becoming lighter, and it was becoming bigger, and it was becoming hotter. It was still producing heat and light, but these were now accompanied by this new substance which was burning.

Now it was getting even more intense, still heavier than water, with a density between that of the water and the oil, though now it was emitting heat and light which could burn, and also a substance which did not burn but could be burned, and something else too, an unknown something, and a new substance which was neither of the above and which was neither of the latter.

It was becoming a different thing, in a way, but this new thing still emitted heat and light, still was heavier and denser than water, still had a kind of heaviness to it. It was not emitting the new substances, just the other substances.

Some days, it

[chaunceymansanleandro]

Chauncey Man San Leandro: Electricity Generation Methods

Electricity can be generated through various processes, each with its own advantages, disadvantages, and applications. Here are some common types of electricity generation processes shared by Chauncey Man San Leandro:

Fossil Fuel-Based Generation:

Coal Power Plants: These plants burn coal to produce steam, which drives turbines connected to generators.

Natural Gas Power Plants: Natural gas is burned to spin turbines and generate electricity.

Oil Power Plants: Similar to natural gas plants, but they use oil as the fuel source.

Nuclear Power Generation:

Nuclear reactors use controlled nuclear fission reactions to heat water and produce steam that drives turbines connected to generators.

Renewable Energy Generation:

Solar Power: Photovoltaic (PV) cells convert sunlight into electricity.

Wind Power: Wind turbines capture kinetic energy from the wind and convert it into electricity.

Hydropower: Water flowing through dams or turbines generates electricity.

Geothermal Power: Heat from the Earth's core is used to produce steam that drives generators.

Biomass Power: Organic materials like wood, crop residues, and waste are burned or converted to biogas to generate electricity.

Hybrid Systems:

Some power generation systems combine renewable sources (e.g., solar and wind) with energy storage systems (e.g., batteries) to provide continuous power.

Tidal and Wave Energy:

Tidal and wave energy generators harness the kinetic and potential energy of ocean tides and waves to generate electricity.

Fuel Cells:

Fuel cells combine hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity, with water as the only byproduct.

Cogeneration (Combined Heat and Power - CHP):

Cogeneration systems produce electricity and useful heat simultaneously, improving overall energy efficiency.

Thermoelectric Generators:

These generators convert heat directly into electricity using temperature differences, often in remote or small-scale applications.

Microgrids:

Microgrids are localized electricity generation and distribution systems that can incorporate various energy sources, including renewables, to provide reliable power to specific areas.

Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC):

OTEC systems use temperature differences between warm surface water and cold deep water to generate electricity.

Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators (RTGs):

RTGs use the heat generated by the radioactive decay of isotopes to produce electricity, often used in space probes and satellites.

Piezoelectric Generation:

Piezoelectric materials generate electricity when subjected to mechanical stress or vibration, used in some specialized applications.

Chauncey Man San Leandro's final words, The choice of electricity generation method depends on factors such as resource availability, environmental impact, cost, and energy demand. Many regions are transitioning to cleaner and more sustainable energy sources to reduce carbon emissions and combat climate change.

[sammysdewysensitiveeyes]

"That is where we begin — in the fires of creation."

Sebastian snorted.  “Rather a flowery way of putting it.  But I suppose you have a point.  Ancient volcanoes contributed to the formation of landmasses, oceans and our atmosphere.  They could certainly contribute more if we properly harnessed geo-thermal energy, but – “

“Oh, stuff it, Shaw.  This is a National Geographic moment, not Wall Street Journal.  And Haven can be as flowery as she likes.  I like flowery.”

“Yes, I’ve noticed.”

“To be honest,” Haven said, “ I was really thinking of the Hawaiian goddess Pele, whose spirit is said to inhabit this caldera.  She is said to be the creator of the islands.  Which isn’t that far from the truth, as you say, Sebastian.  I think the merging of science and myth is really quite interesting.  These stories didn’t come from nowhere, they grew out of earlier people’s understanding of the world – and I think they understood more than we give them credit for – “

Haven broke off, as Pryo was striding forward, towards the edge of the crater and down towards the inviting orange glow.

“St John, I don’t think that’s a good idea.” 

“She’ll be right,” Pyro tossed back carelessly.  He’d walked right past the warning signs.  Those were for humans, as far as he was concerned.  Not for mutants with fire control and extreme heat resistance and an emergency back-up cloning system that guaranteed them virtual immortality. 

Pyro needed to be close.  His eyes were fixed on the bubbling orange lake at the bottom of the crater, glowing beautifully hot from the most recent eruption.  Actual molten rock.  It was glorious.  Not fire, exactly, but close enough that it prickled at his mind the way real fire always did.  He imagined diving in and swimming through the molten lake, except he’d heard that lava was much thicker than water, so it would be more like flailing around in pudding.  Also he’d die horribly.

Most of the other mutants didn’t understand.  Being an elemental controller – not creator, but controller – meant that part of the world was always reaching out towards him.  He was always aware of fire in his vicinity, flickering in his consciousness, calling to him.  Dom sort of got it.  Dom would happily run his hands through freshly tilled soil, said it “grounded him.”  Pun intended.  Maybe Iceman got it, although he seemed more interested in making his own ice than any kinship with a glacier.  Storm.  Storm the weather goddess would definitely understand. 

Lost in thought, Pyro barely noticed that his movements were growing sluggish and clumsy.  His vision went white, and he pitched forward – only to be pulled back and upwards by a strong pair of hands. 

Moments later, Pyro’s vision faded back in, and he realized he was lying on his back on the rocks, his head propped up on something soft.  Haven was peering down at him.

“Are you all right?”

“I….what?”  His head was pounding.  Pyro realized, from the angle and the feel of cloth under him, that his head was resting in Haven’s lap. 

It was strangely comforting.  Then Sebastian loomed over him, and that happy little spell was broken.

“You blundered your way into a carbon dioxide pocket.  Which the sign warned about quite clearly.  Ms. Dastoor pulled you up to safety rather than letting you reap the consequences of your own stupidity.  Lucky for you both that you’re a spindly fawn of a man, Allerdyce, or your weight might have pulled you both over.”

Sebastian sounded detached, just the usual mix of disdain and annoyance he usually aimed at Pyro.  But Pyro felt his face burning with shame.  It would have been fine if it was just him.  Maybe a little embarrassing, maybe Dom and Freddy would razz him about it.  But Haven wouldn’t have come back. 

“Thanks luv,” he said, putting a hand up to clumsily pat her shoulder.  ‘You shouldn’t have.  Not worth the risk.  Just let me be stupid next time.” 

“Oh, there’s no need to worry about that, Allerdyce.  I have the solution to your brainless and impulsive nature.”  Sebastian pulled something out of his jacket and held it up with a sneer. 

It was a toddler leash. 

OOC: Why does Sebastian even have that?  I don’t know.  It’s probably a sex thing.  (A sex thing involving only full grown adults, obviously.)  Why are they in Hawai’i at the Kīlauea Caldera?  I’m gonna say vacation.  Pyro is absolutely wearing khaki shorts and a loud red Hawaiian shirt.  Don't mind me, I'm just answering asks from TWO YEARS ago that you've probably forgotten by now.

[mediocrephd]

This is so cool! Finding animal life beneath hydrothermal vents is incredible! Some of the things they found in the underwater cave systems in earth's volcanic crust include snails and tube worms. These tube worms alongside chemosynthetic bacteria, use the hydrogen sulphide in the chemical plumes from thermal vents by oxidising it to create energy and sugars to survive. How cool is that?!

I think this article also really demonstrates how important it is to conserve and protect lesser known ecosystems and species.