If you invert the question "why aren't people having kids" to "why did people want kids in the first place" then the fertility crisis makes more sense.
Kids were free labor and old age insurance.
Now they are extremely expensive pets. Materially they are a net negative in a modern society.
I got out of software and into physical products a couple of years ago. I wish I could say I was prescient, but honestly it's just so much easier to sell physical items.
Margins are worse, but selling is easier. If you've got a thing you can be sure that someone somewhere will give you money for it.
Give a kid a phone with TikTok on it and observe them for a while. It's genuinely upsetting.
They'll spend hours with their heads down just silently looking at the thing. All desire to do anything else just vanishes. Then they freak out when you try to take it away from them.
The only obvious difference between them and someone on fent is the verticality of their posture.
It seems straightforward to you because you're ignoring everything that makes this not work.
Here's a big one: you can't put radiators in shadow because the coolant would freeze. ISS has system dedicated to making sure the radiators get just enough sunlight at any given time.
It seems straightforward to you because you're ignoring everything that makes this not work.
Here's a big one: you can't put radiators in shadow because the coolant would freeze. ISS has system dedicated to making sure the radiators get just enough sunlight at any given time.
Space is not empty. Satellites have to be boosted all the time because of drag. Massive panels would only worsen that. Once you boosters are empty the satellite is toast.
Shading does work; JWST does this. However I don't see how you can make it work for satellite data centers. You would constantly be engaging attitude control as you realigned the panels to keep the radiators in shade. You'd run out of thruster fuel so fast you'd get like a month out of each satellite
ISS radiators run on water and ammonia. Think about how much a kg costs to lift to space and you'll see the economics of space data centers fall apart real fast. Plus, if the radiator springs a leak the satellite is scrap.