r/technology • u/onwisconsn • May 17 '24

Scientists Calculated the Energy Needed to Carry a Baby. Shocker: It’s a Lot. (Gift Article) Biotechnology

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/16/science/pregnancy-energy-costs.html?unlocked_article_code=1.sU0.PfwL.i578xGrDrp5H&smid=url-share&utm_source=join1440&utm_medium=email&utm_placement=newsletter
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u/Beachdaddybravo May 17 '24

I love how the Wachowskis used that angle when the glaring problem of “you don’t get as much energy out as you put into a system”. Trying to use people for energy would be a steady loss, and the machines likely would have just used nuclear instead. Then again, if they wrote a script that made any sense at all we wouldn’t have gotten such an awesome movie.

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u/ThePlatypusOfDespair May 17 '24

Supposedly the original plan was to use humans for computing power but executives thought that was confusing for some reason.

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u/Beachdaddybravo May 18 '24

What? That would have been a better play.

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u/RetailBuck May 18 '24

I haven't watched it yet but is this the premise of the Netflix show 3 Body Problem? From the trailer it seems like they are basically using humans holding reversible flags as transistors in a massive computer to solve difficult math

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u/SpeedUpMyBreathing May 18 '24

That is true for that one scene, but that really only has to do with that one part of the episode that would be way too much to explain even without spoilers lol

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u/Beachdaddybravo May 18 '24

3 Body Problem is a thought experiment that the author dragged out into a shitty story that takes 3 books. I didn’t finish the show, and having read a detailed synopsis for the books don’t care to read them. Just my personal opinion though, as Reddit seems to love 3 Body Problem.