News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Could we stop Yellowstone from erupting with a giant geot... by SV_BubbleTime on Tuesday April 25, 2023 @02:01PM (#35704263)
Betteridge's law of headlines aside. I feel like the scale of the topic is almost completely human inconceivable when trying to tie it to a realistic engineering task. It seems like a fun what-if, but when you do that you are using making giant hand waving excuses, and not anything that looks like a factual claim.
Re:Could we stop Yellowstone from erupting with a giant geot... by m348e912 on Tuesday April 25, 2023 @02:02PM (#35704281)
Agreed. Geothermal energy can be cheap and awesome, but there are reasons why it's only practical in certain parts of the world.
Re:Could we stop Yellowstone from erupting with a giant geot... by Clamchop on Tuesday April 25, 2023 @02:27PM (#35704635)
The article states that the JPL plan only considers the energy generation to be a useful byproduct.

If the risk were truly imminent and quantifiable, I assume it would be pursued however absurdly exotic and fanciful it seemed on its face.

On the other hand, defusing a volcano on a timeline of a thousand years or longer would be politically challenging. That might see the dissolution and construction of multiple states (here, electric power generation may help assure survival). Add in that civilization can't seem to get its head on straight about comparatively faster-acting climate change, for example, and can barely prepare for an earthquake.

At least imagining an exploding apocalyptic supervolcano may elicit more visceral emotions.

Still, it doesn't appear there's much cause for worry so it's only a brainstorm.

Re:Could we stop Yellowstone from erupting with a giant geot... by anecdotal1 on Tuesday April 25, 2023 @02:12PM (#35704416)
We should be able to use the latest horizontal drilling tech from fracking to tap Yellowstone from miles away
Re:Could we stop Yellowstone from erupting with a giant geot... by rcoveson on Tuesday April 25, 2023 @02:12PM (#35704413)
> Betteridge's law of headlines aside.

Godwin-Bettridge-Graham law: Any headline that ends in a question mark which is posted to HN will have Bettridge's law of headlines mentioned at least once in its first dozen comments.

Re:Could we stop Yellowstone from erupting with a giant geot... by its_ethan on Tuesday April 25, 2023 @02:47PM (#35704906)
What's the law for when someone has to point this out too, I wonder?
Re:Could we stop Yellowstone from erupting with a giant geot... by xh-dude on Tuesday April 25, 2023 @07:33PM (#35708093)
The “Why?” Combinator