• WoodScientist@lemmy.world
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      15 hours ago

      During WW2, guards in the New York City subway system had a standing order to shoot on site anyone who came down a certain elevator holding a bucket of sand.

      The subway is powered by DC rather than AC electricity. Today solid-state converters are used. But back then, the only option was direct mechanical conversion. Literally a giant AC motor connected to a DC generator. An AC motor was powered by the grid, and its drive shaft was joined to the shaft of a DC generator, which energized the lines of the subway.

      But it represented a single point of failure. This one crucial machine was powering the whole subway system. And all it would take is one person throwing a single bucket of sand into the contraption to cause the whole NYC subway system to grind to a halt. Oh, and NYC was the primary port city for American troops and supplies going back and forth to Europe.

    • JustAnotherKay@lemmy.world
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      14 hours ago

      I don’t think it’d even work. I wouldn’t be surprised if their cooling water is distilled in the process, so the salt would just get filtered out.

      On boats we literally use sea water to cool things and distill it on the ship. Data centers can surely do the same thing