this post was submitted on 07 Oct 2025
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Showerthoughts
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A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. The most popular seem to be lighthearted clever little truths, hidden in daily life.
Here are some examples to inspire your own showerthoughts:
- Both “200” and “160” are 2 minutes in microwave math
- When you’re a kid, you don’t realize you’re also watching your mom and dad grow up.
- More dreams have been destroyed by alarm clocks than anything else
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- All posts must be showerthoughts
- The entire showerthought must be in the title
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- If your topic is in a grey area, please phrase it to emphasize the fascinating aspects, not the dramatic aspects. You can do this by avoiding overly politicized terms such as "capitalism" and "communism". If you must make comparisons, you can say something is different without saying something is better/worse.
- A good place for politics is c/politicaldiscussion
- Posts must be original/unique
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If you made it this far, showerthoughts is accepting new mods. This community is generally tame so its not a lot of work, but having a few more mods would help reports get addressed a little sooner.
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Atoms are surprisingly bad at removing heat. Being hit with slower atoms and transferring that energy ((like newton's cradle with mismatched swings opposing each other) transfers energy much, much faster than what happens naturally in the vacuum of space. Most spacecraft have more of issue with overheating than freezing. The rate at which radiation is emitted is very low when you get to sub-human temperatures. There's also tons of heat sources around us in space, so the last few degrees are so, so hard to shed.
Keeping a fridge stocked increases the thermal capacity of the coldness. Air falls out quickly and is subject to rapid temperature change when the door is open. Keeping a bunch of solid/sealed masses in there will bank the lack of heat. You'll likely lose more air and the falling not-so-cool air will impart heat into your 24 pack of beer, but you'll have a bunch of distirbuted cold objects to re-cool the air once the door is closed instead of relying on air circulation alone. Instead of raising the air temp by, say, 5 degrees once settled, it'll only go up maybe 2 degrees - much better for food storage. But the fridge will still have to re-cool those beers, too.
"Spacecraft have more of an issue with overheating than freezing" is a really really ~~cool~~hot fact. Do you have an easy source, maybe somewhere that discusses techniques/history?
This is less of a source and more like a compilation of resources, but for anything spacecraft related I can always recommend Atomic Rockets. For this specifically, the page on Heat Radiators.
Thank you! ( ~~I think the second link lost a 'p' at the end.~~ Fixed!)
Edited my comment to fix, thanks!