Like, would a skyscraper-style datacenter be practical? Or is just a matter of big, flat buildings being cheaper?

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[–] 22 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (7 children)

Solution: construct the buildings upside down, so the foundations are up in the air and the roofs are underground. That way, the electricity will flow down instead of up.

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  • [–] 19 points 9 months ago (6 children)

    But then the roof has to support the entire weight of planet Earth on top of it, which is a much harder engineering challenge than pumping the electricity in the first place.

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  • [–] 7 points 9 months ago (5 children)

    No, it's not. It's all empty space under the foundation. There's nothing to create crushing force against the building.

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  • [–] 8 points 9 months ago (3 children)

    You are failing to account for the weight of the atmosphere on the foundation

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  • [–] 10 points 9 months ago (2 children)

    The atmosphere is just air. Air doesn't have mass or weight, that's why it floats.

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