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PaperclipPerfector  3d ago (text post)   2350 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for August 23, 2026

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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The water numbers are wholly made up, but they would be a serious problem if true, and there's been a lot of people pretending that they're true. I can aggressively claim that AOC is a liar -- she's a politician, her mouth is moving -- and recognize that just because people believe her doesn't make them liars.

The electrical consumption and power density concerns are genuinely unusual: some of the larger AI-driven data center plans involve gigawatt values, compared to tens of megawatts for a conventional server farm data center or normal manufacturing plant. The only really comparable industrial plants are the biggest aluminum smelters, and the US has largely stopped anything on that scale. For the most part, this hasn't impacted rates themselves directly, but it's lead to a number of areas being under surge pricing over more of the day, and it's likely to take a few years to fix. Some of this is overstated, since it's been a hot summer and you'd expect increased surge pricing anyway, but the impact does exist.

That's sometimes lead to onsite gas turbine builds, which are genuinely loud.

Some of it's concern about corporation, rather than data centers specifically: see AOC v. Amazon in 2019 for less principled example that rhymes closely, but there have been genuine problems in much of the Rust Belt with various organizations promising a ton of great things in exchange for support today, and those great things getting sidelined with the next business downturn. AI coming after bitcoin and such doesn't help.

((A smaller number are video game fans who want to buy RAM sometime this decade.))

But it's mostly an objection to the technology using whatever arguments are available. Some of that's principled, if not necessarily a principle I agree with: there are genuine problems with the use of AI for spamware, scamware, and employment war crimes; there are some economic concerns that are serious; there's a lot of copyright and intellectual property claims that people make with a straight face. A larger number are anti-these-vibes. And others are just generically anti-big tech.

That's sometimes lead to onsite gas turbine builds, which are genuinely loud.

There of course is an obvious solution to this, but I am not sure we're allowed yet to say it aloud. It beings with "nu"... But ok, I can get this reason. Weird I never heard this complaint from DC haters before though... I hear water (which is largely BS) and power prices (which I assume is BS too, local utilities are usually under local control and can just ration the power if they want to)

A smaller number are video game fans who want to buy RAM sometime this decade

Nah nobody cares about those folks. I mean I feel their pain - a little, I haven't seriously gamed for over a decade now, but I get it still, it stings to have you hobby require high-priced accessories, I have hobbies like that too. But this wouldn't move the public opinion in any way.

And others are just generically anti-big tech.

I mean I can get it. Big tech behaves like a bunch of assholes, much worse than proverbial "robber barons" - those built schools, libraries and museums (many of which we're still enjoying today), techbros literally are destructively consuming our culture but of all ways to fix this having DCs built somewhere else seems the least productive.

There of course is an obvious solution to this, but I am not sure we're allowed yet to say it aloud. It beings with "nu"...

Unfortunately nuclear power (which IMO should have been built massively more worldwide) is not a solution because building a plant and getting it fully operable takes so many years.

I've read SMRs can be built with as little as 3 years. That seems to be a reasonable timeframe.

Is that "can be built, tested, certified and be fully ready for commercial operation in three years at some future point when the design has become commonplace and any kinks of practical implementations have been worked out" or "can be ready for use in three years starting right now"?

Don't get me wrong, I'd love SMRs to become common but currently building nuclear power has so many steps and hurdles on the way (that are in no way related to the fundamental reactor technology) that I don't see it being a short term solution for the current upcoming datacenter powering issues.

I guess the question is - is this data center thing a fad that will be gone in 5 years, or a long term trend, where a long-term investment would make sense?

There of course is an obvious solution to this, but I am not sure we're allowed yet to say it aloud.

This does seem to be the market the SMR folks were expecting. I hope it works out for them.

But even solar would be a start: it's not like cloud providers don't have expertise in dynamic billing rates. "Inference is cheaper when it's sunny in Nevada" is, uh, fine actually if most of your market is Bay Area tech bros during business hours. The "Claude is slow at certain hours" claims already exist. Maybe there is a market for "run this at some point tonight", too.

This does seem to be the market the SMR folks were expecting. I hope it works out for them.

As do I, but if there's one thing the green types hate more than AI data centers, it's nuclear power.

Believe it or not, Nuclear power has never been as disliked as datacenters currently are, never mind nuclear popularity right now.

Currently 61% of American are in favor of using nuclear power to generate electricity. 59% are in favor of building more plants.

but I am not sure we're allowed yet to say it aloud. It beings with "nu"...

I'm hoping it happens, but it's best-case scenario is multiple years out for new construction, and the power factor stuff can be difficult: AI data centers shouldn't be very prone to microsurges, but it seems like they're still fighting technical problems on that.

power prices (which I assume is BS too, local utilities are usually under local control and can just ration the power if they want to)

They can ration in the same sense that they can deny construction permits, but utilities boards are a lot less responsive to direct votes.

But this wouldn't move the public opinion in any way.

Fair.

That's sometimes lead to onsite gas turbine builds, which are genuinely loud.

This all made a lot more sense, after I learned the incremental source of gas turbines is converting 737 engines, because like RAM the manufacturers of gas turbines have their peodctuon sold for years.

https://www.wsj.com/business/energy-oil/how-jet-engines-are-powering-data-centers-b1c587a9

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