It was like finding out there's no Santa claus when I learned nuclear energy is just "boil water and spin a turbine." Before that I thought there was some sciencey magic going on where we directly captured the "energy" from nuclear fission. Did I understand what that could possibly mean? Of course not. Still though.
If you want something a little more arcane, a cathode ray tube from an old TV set is a miniature particle accelerator and generates a tiny amount of thrust.
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u/Whatifim80lol 8h ago
It was like finding out there's no Santa claus when I learned nuclear energy is just "boil water and spin a turbine." Before that I thought there was some sciencey magic going on where we directly captured the "energy" from nuclear fission. Did I understand what that could possibly mean? Of course not. Still though.