Saudi Arabia’s wildly ambitious plan to build 500m tall, mirrored, 170km long parallel skyscrapers, forming a 1.5M population desert city has been curtailed to 2.4km long.

The news was broken by the financial news publication Bloomberg, which said that Saudi Arabia’s government had “scaled back its medium-term ambitions” for Neom, of which The Line is the most significant sub-project.

The Saudi government had hoped to have 1.5M residents living in The Line by 2030, but this has been scaled back to fewer than 300,000, according to the report. It is unclear how it intends to house a higher concentration of people considering the proposed length (and therefore area) has been massively slashed.

  • @disguy_ovahea
    link
    8
    edit-2
    7 months ago

    The Chinese government announced the fusion consortium on Jan. 9, 2024 according to the first article I posted.

    17 minutes of 158M°F heat is a success. The previous record was 17s, and required maintenance and repair after fusion. With improved capture and storage, this version can work in modulation.

    From the article:

    The Chinese government has set the goal of building the first industrial prototype fusion reactor, which it has dubbed an “artificial sun,” by 2035. Officials hope to begin large-scale commercial production of fusion energy by 2050.

    So yeah, it’s an exciting prospect in the development of stable nuclear fusion.

    • Flying Squid
      link
      -97 months ago

      Cool. I set goals all the time too. That doesn’t make them achievable.

      • @disguy_ovahea
        link
        87 months ago

        Sure, not with that attitude. You seem pretty determined to discredit the success here. How heavily are you invested in fossil fuels?

        • Flying Squid
          link
          -57 months ago

          I didn’t realize the only two options available were fusion power, which is not yet practical, or fossil fuels.

          I was sure there were lots of other ways to generate electricity.

          I guess not.

          • @disguy_ovahea
            link
            57 months ago

            I thought you wanted clarity, but clearly you want a debate. Find someone else to argue with.

            • Flying Squid
              link
              -37 months ago

              I thought you wanted to clarify, but instead you accused me of being invested in fossil fuels.

              And to clarify that, I’m not invested in anything. Unlike you, apparently, I can’t afford to invest in things.

              • @glimse
                link
                67 months ago

                Man, I don’t think fusion is coming any time soon either but I just read this entire exchange and you have been undeniably insufferable the whole time. There are a thousand ways to discuss this disagreement and you chose the combative one.

                I’ve argued with people like you before. You accuse and accuse and accuse them when the other person realizes it’s not worth their time and throws a parting jab, you play victim. It’s embarrassing and everyone sees right through it.

                • Flying Squid
                  link
                  -37 months ago

                  Well I’m sorry you feel that you see through my pointing out that they kept saying things that weren’t true in response to me, but I’m going to point it out and not just accept it as if it actually is true.

                  I also don’t see why I should accept the accusation that I invest in fossil fuels. Would you accept that if it was leveled at you as if it were the truth (and I hope it isn’t)?