kurt@fluke.UUCP (Kurt Guntheroth) (03/27/85)
Give me a BREAK folks. How can you even for a second be taken in by some of
these myths.
Myth #1: Corporations buy up patent rights and supress the invention.
Wrong. First, patents are filed in the public record, and if this were
a fact instead of a myth, people would be able to report specific
examples and give details. The fact that they cannot should convince
you of the falsity of this myth. Second, patents only protect the
invention for a few years. Sometimes the patent can be renewed, but
not, I suspect, if it isn't being used. The patent rights are meant to
give innovators a headstart, and not a monopoly on new ideas. As if
that weren't enough, countries which do not respect our patents (USSR
is probably the best example) would have instances of these alleged
inventions, not to mention propoganda about how the capitalist dogs
deprive their people of these great inventions. Enough said?
Myth #2: Magic pills, carburators, etc for gas milage.
Same thing as the beachfront property in Arizona, free car if you buy
vitamins, or any other scan. Is it a conspiracy that these things
don't exist? You bet it is. The conspirators are the guys who make
this stuff up and get rich off the mail orders until the Postal Service
catches up with them.
Myth #3: We could all be burning hydrogen.
Where does this hydrogen come from, Jupiter? No, it comes from water,
and must be separated electrically. In fact the net efficiency of
nuke/coal/hydro plants producing hydrogen, and the hydrogen being
'burned' in a fuel cell may indeed be higher than burning fossil
fuels. However, it isn't free. And consider the costs. Liquid
hydrogen at something like 4 degrees K at 1 atmosphere. Or under
fantastic pressure. Imagine what happens to the freeway fenderbender
when you add the possibility of rupturing tanks of highly pressurized,
supercold, wildly volatile hydrogen. Imagine how much fun a fire at
your corner gas station becomes when it contains 30,000 gallons of
liquid hydrogen. Not to mention how expensive the fuel cells that burn
hydrogen are. You wouldn't mind paying about $35,000 for an 'economy'
car would you? (Yes, I know about economies of scale. Don't remind
me.)
Myth #4: Broadcast Power
Will never be practical because it must obey the inverse square law even if
it is focused in a flat field over the ground. The energy density decreases
rapidly with distance. There are also questions of whether it is safe to
live in a field of high rf energy density.
A final note of caution about drawing energy from the earth's magnetic
field.
The magnetic flux of the earth's magnetic field is not very great. It would
take an enormous collector to obtain much energy from it. Furthermore, even
if it were possible/feasable/worthwhile, it is stupid. The energy tapped
from the earth's magnetic field is stored in the earth's rotational energy.
Tapping this energy would cause the earth to rotate more slowly. Thus there
is only a finite amount of energy, and the ultimate cost of obtaining it is
an ecological disaster that makes nuclear winter look like a rainy day by
comparison.
--
Kurt Guntheroth
John Fluke Mfg. Co., Inc.
{uw-beaver,decvax!microsof,ucbvax!lbl-csam,allegra,ssc-vax}!fluke!kurtrfg@hound.UUCP (R.GRANTGES) (03/28/85)
[] o.k. Tell us about hydrides? (solid hydrogen, sort of). -- "It's the thought, if any, that counts!" Dick Grantges hound!rfg