The Really Bad Ideas Thread

[zenrat]

That'll teach me to skim things rather than reading them properly.

[kitnut617]

The Icelanders already do that don't they ?

[scooter]

They do, but not to the extent that NASA was thinking of doing.

And there's this blurb from the 2d link:

Second, the volume of water needed to cool such a large magma body would be enormous. Where would the water come from? Literally, you would need to pump the volume of a Great Lake into the magmatic system to even make a dent. Again, science fiction (and a resource impossibility at this point). And even if we did have the water, there is likely as great a chance that the water could make the eruption worse. The heightened explosively of the 2010 eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland was caused by the addition of water (from melting ice), so unless you get the balance just right, you can make the eruption more violent rather than quench it.

Now, the NASA "plan" tries to get around that problem by circulating water to keep things cool. This is something like your car's radiator, which moves heat out by sending coolant around the engine and bringing it to the front to cool down again. However, this assumes that no new heat is being added, such as new magma from deep below that would be fueling the potential eruption. In the short-term, we might get one heck of a geothermal power plant, but in the end, it would likely not be enough.

[perttime]

The Icelanders already do that don't they ?

USA is the biggest user of geothermal energy in the world - but Iceland surely has it as the highest percentage of their energy consumption. I doubt they actually get in touch with the magma.

If you did manage to quench a volcano, where would all the energy go?

[Old Wombat]

If you did manage to quench a volcano, where would all the energy go?

Into the atmosphere as heat.

[tigercat]

how about an actual Nuclear Football

[Weaver]

how about an actual Nuclear Football

PMSL

"GOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.....******"

[TheChronicOne]

I've had nutty thoughts of a piston engined F-15. Bonus points for radial!

[scooter]

I've had nutty thoughts of a piston engined F-15. Bonus points for radial!

I'm guessing you don't mean the photo-recon version of the Black Widow?

[TheChronicOne]

      Nope! 

But, I learned something new! I knew P-38 recon plan was the F-4 but I didn't know there were other "F"s. 

[PR19_Kit]

      Nope! 

But, I learned something new! I knew P-38 recon plan was the F-4 but I didn't know there were other "F"s. 

Lots of them, F-5s were also Lightnings, the later ones, plus.....

F-6 = P-51
F-7 = B-24
F-8 = Mosquito
F-9 = B-17
F-10 = B-25
F-11 = Hughes (the one that nearly killed Howard Hughes)
F-12 = Rainbow, THE best looking of the lot

and the list goes on and on.

[TheChronicOne]

I'll be dipped in dog doo doo.       That's cool stuff. I thought I was pretty 'up' on my WWII U.S. designations but NOPE! 

Agreed on the Rainbow.. 

[Weaver]

I've had nutty thoughts of a piston engined F-15. Bonus points for radial!

I'm guessing you don't mean the photo-recon version of the Black Widow?

Y'know, with a radar nose and the operator in the back seat, that'd make a great night-fighter...

[PR19_Kit]

I've had nutty thoughts of a piston engined F-15. Bonus points for radial!

I'm guessing you don't mean the photo-recon version of the Black Widow?

Y'know, with a radar nose and the operator in the back seat, that'd make a great night-fighter...

Now then H, you're just being silly now......... 

[perttime]

I've had nutty thoughts of a piston engined F-15. Bonus points for radial!

I'm guessing you don't mean the photo-recon version of the Black Widow?

Y'know, with a radar nose and the operator in the back seat, that'd make a great night-fighter...

Now then H, you're just being silly now......... 

Cannot have guns in the nose, then, but there's a plenty of room for them in the pod.



https://comradeloganov.deviantart.com/art/Northrop-P-61F-Mrs-Bonnie-Lt-Col-Dunham-478725040

"XP-61E    Two P-61B-10s (numbers 42-39549 and 42-39557) converted to daytime long-range escort fighters. Tandem crew sat under a blown canopy which replaced the turret, additional fuel tanks were installed in place of the radar operator's cockpit in the rear of the fuselage pod, and four 0.50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns took place of the radar in the nose (the 20 mm/.79 in ventral cannon were retained as well). First flight 20 November 1944, cancelled after the war ended. The first prototype was converted to an XF-15, the second lost in take-off accident 11 April 1945.

XP-61F    Abandoned conversion of one P-61C to XP-61E standard."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_P-61_Black_Widow#Variants