And a loud RIP was heard as they created a new tear in the fabric of space-time.

Perhaps the gods were aliens. That's why they seemed god-like in their powers. Yep, it was aliens.

It was aliens, they were here first. Messed with our ancestors. Left a calling sign or two...

ALL power plants require external power for cooling once they're tripped. In big plants like that, if you don't shut the system down correctly and cool the boiler off in a controlled fashion, you're going to cause all kinds of damage. This can include catastrophic failure of the boiler. Only difference is a coal fired boiler doesn't contain nuclear fuel and radioisotopes.

Fukushima was a cluster fuck. American plants apparently have more redundancy on the emergency generators than Japan requires. In addition, there are emergency cooling systems, even in the older designs, that use (for example) the steam generated by the plant itself to turn pumps. In Japan, they'd never tested those systems; so, didn't know if they were working or not (they were not).

I would like to see the plants all upgraded to newer designs myself but that's going to take decades; and, in the current societal and political climate may not happen.

What you're describing is true of any power plant, disconnect the load and you have to stop feeding the turbine and dump the steam or you'll destroy the generator and turbine. This is a standard capability built into any plant, coal, gas, or nuclear. The gotcha is in shutting down the reactor, which can take longer to bring up than a coal plant -- which takes 1/2 day instead of several days.

This story is being way overblown. Yes, it's a bug. Yes, it should be fixed. However...

248 days of continuous operation is well past the scheduled major maintenance for the aircraft. By this point, a 787 would have to go through many minor maintenance cycles which would have required shutting down the electrical system. In addition, loss of all 4 generators would not result in a loss of vehicle because there are batteries, an APU (a backup generator) and Ram Air Turbines (RATs), generators that deploy from the wing if the APU won't start. To have to rely on any of these would not make for a good day for the pilots; but, they would certainly provide the necessary power to safely land the aircraft at the nearest airport. They might even be able to continue on and finish their flight if they successfully reset the generators.

This is not the OMG Planes Are Going to Fall From The Sky! event the media is making it out to be.

It's a failsafe mode for the controller and generator. There are four (4) of them. There is more than enough redundancy.

If it ever happened on a plane, then it means that the maintenance was intentionally skipped. If they reach 248 days of continuous operation then a number of significant maintenance cycles have been skipped (some 23-25 inspection / maintenance cycles that generally require shutting down the electrical system). The generators in question are attached to the engines. The engines have a overhaul schedule that is shorter than 248 days of continuous operation. If they managed to reach this point, then the major maintenance cycles have been skipped and the engines are long overdue for a tear down inspection and overhaul. Any plane which could reach this point, 248 days of continuous operation missing all of the required maintenance; this is not a plane (or an airline for that matter) which anyone should be flying on.

So perhaps the astronauts shouldn't spend all their time standing naked out on the airless surface of Mars, letting the universe blast their noggins with relativistic oxygen and titanium ions (yes, I read the article). If you don't want to get wet, you have to come in out of the rain.

Good for them. Make them learn something... Why, back in my day I had to come home from school, split fire wood, then study by candle light. 9 planets or 90. If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, don't call it a chicken.

We're saying the same thing. You directly, me via subtle sarcasm. However, This is clearly an indirect attempt to influence the science, which I oppose.

Pluto got the shaft. Pluto is round, having reached a hydrostatic equilibrium due to it's own gravity. It orbits the Sun. It's a planet!

If they're going to create such a rule for EPA, then it should also apply to NIH, FDA, DOE, and so on. If they don't make it universal, then they're showing an obvious bias and clearly pushing an agenda which is attempting to influence specific science.

why, it's simply the length of your foot. So, use of this unit of measure should be easy for most anyone... Just pace the distance off.

Unfortunately, for you, it will mean exactly what the parent poster said... SWAT will come and drag you away, alive or dead depending on how you behave. Since you have "endangered your children", they will be taken away and given to foster care. Under foster care they will be given medical examinations, which will include any vaccinations they've missed. You'll lose, possibly both your life AND your children.