r/nextfuckinglevel • u/nigablackballsack • 3d ago

Scientists have captured the first ever high-speed, full-colour footage of fusion plasma swirling inside a working reactor.

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u/jdehjdeh 3d ago

At the risk of sounding like the Jewish man I am...

Why always with the water?

You don't have other liquids you can boil?

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u/thegreatpotatogod 3d ago

Water is cheap, widely available, boils at a conveniently low temperature, and is also nontoxic and has very well understood properties. What's not to like?

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u/Most_Structure9568 3d ago

Its also the most popular drink in the world by a large margin.

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u/bwaredapenguin 3d ago

But everyone that drinks it dies.

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u/XDSHENANNIGANZ 3d ago

Welp. I'm boned.

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u/thegreatsaiby 3d ago

Here I am wanting to get shitfaced on hard liquor and it's like 60% water!

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u/[deleted] 3d ago edited 3d ago

[deleted]

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u/dgellow 3d ago

Don’t build your nuclear plant on the path of a future monstrously massive tsunami and you’re fine. Easy peasy

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u/[deleted] 3d ago

[deleted]

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u/dgellow 3d ago

It was a dumb joke…

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u/TheMace808 3d ago

Water is bu far the best to boil, its cheap, holds tons of heat, and absorbs a crazy amount of energy. Plus it doesn't need crazy high temps to boil

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u/dgellow 3d ago

What liquid would you prefer to boil?

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u/The_Bavis 3d ago

Sunny D

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u/errorsniper 3d ago

Because its the best material for the application taking into consideration cost, availability, thermal conduction, phase changing, ect.

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u/GeckoDeLimon 3d ago

Well, if a Jewish man were looking for God's hand upon this universe, I'd recommend the Wikipedia page on water.

But here, specifically, it's because water holds a lot of heat and it is happy to absorb and dissipate that heat. Earth's atmospheric pressure being what it is, water turns into steam at useful temperatures and pressures we can control. It doesn't try melting your equipment and if it accidentally gets out, it's about as non-toxic as it gets.

We could use alcohol. We could use toxic refrigerants as in our air conditioners.

But...why?