Mass_Driver comments on A proposal for a cryogenic grave for cryonics - Less Wrong

17 [deleted] 06 July 2010 07:01PM

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Comment deleted 06 July 2010 08:13:25PM [-]
Comment author: Mass_Driver 06 July 2010 09:29:36PM 3 points [-]

radioisotope thermal generator.

[grin] I wasn't sure if those were sci-fi or not.

the tanks would be buried under the ground

Sure, for starters, but it's hard to say what will and won't be permafrost in 100 years, what with the non-trivial risk of catastrophic climate change and all. If the tank is built right, I think rolling, although unlikely, would still be one of the top 5 most likely failure modes; it is an easy enough flaw to fix.

Even municipal water towers, e.g., aren't perfect spheres, and nobody expects those to fall off their columns and plow through downtown Suburb Beach.

Comment author: gwern 07 July 2010 02:11:55AM 6 points [-]

Far from being sci-fi, they are quite common (if we're talking about the same thing): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioisotope_thermoelectric_generator#History Common enough that they're the main reason NASA has been targeted by green groups, even.

Comment author: Mass_Driver 08 July 2010 03:48:57AM 0 points [-]

Cool!

Comment deleted 06 July 2010 09:47:08PM *  [-]
Comment author: kraryal 07 July 2010 03:57:08AM 5 points [-]

I can verify that these places are accessible, and that the permafrost extends quite a bit farther south than one might expect. I used to live just south of the Yukon territory.

There are regular long-haul trucks that go up there all year round; if you go in winter, you can use an ice road to get to the very cold and remote places. Given the regular volume of traffic, I'd say the cost is not prohibitive. I can get precise figures if you'd like.

Comment deleted 07 July 2010 11:15:21AM [-]
Comment author: John_Maxwell_IV 07 July 2010 06:00:06PM 1 point [-]

Hits on google for "coldest place on earth" seem unanimous that it's somewhere in Antarctica. Here's an interesting newspaper article:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/antarctica/6121866/Scientists-identify-coldest-place-on-earth.html

This sounds like it could be a lot of fun.

Comment author: D_Alex 08 July 2010 05:16:54AM 1 point [-]

This place is much colder...

http://gcaptain.com/maritime/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/inside-lng-tank.jpg

If you could only get permission to use it...