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by bottleslingguy » Sat Nov 22, 2008 6:34 am
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The kid said there were some problems or loss of efficiency after it got to a certain size larger. At this point he was looking at smaller size applications like using it to power ventilation monitors throughout buildings making the HVAC systems more efficient. It's a great idea being low tech. I always wondered if you could somehow utilize the swaying of trees and the piezoelectric effect and wire up forests.
I first thought of this principle (I'm not saying I had this exact idea) when I realized a flat piece of wood would hum if you tied it to a string and swung it around. Also flags snapping in the wind gave me similar ideas. Imagine long sheets of special fabrics that can convert the wave motion into power. Hoist them up with balloons.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paxI4y_WmZI
I first thought of this principle (I'm not saying I had this exact idea) when I realized a flat piece of wood would hum if you tied it to a string and swung it around. Also flags snapping in the wind gave me similar ideas. Imagine long sheets of special fabrics that can convert the wave motion into power. Hoist them up with balloons.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paxI4y_WmZI
by Scrupulous » Sat Nov 22, 2008 3:32 pm
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Yeah that would be cool.
Remember, we're talking about going off the grid, which will save you $200-$300 bucks a month at most, depending on your needs. Power companies don't want to break the average consumer, they just want to keep the consumer pre-occupied.
From a martial-law standpoint, where there really are no more rules, having your own source of electricity would be one of the bigger advantages. That, and a firearm for every citizen (a good one).
Remember, we're talking about going off the grid, which will save you $200-$300 bucks a month at most, depending on your needs. Power companies don't want to break the average consumer, they just want to keep the consumer pre-occupied.
From a martial-law standpoint, where there really are no more rules, having your own source of electricity would be one of the bigger advantages. That, and a firearm for every citizen (a good one).
by Scrupulous » Sat Nov 22, 2008 3:42 pm
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end3 wrote:On the cheap electricity thing....I read about a young man from MIT that built a device out of kite tail material. Basically, he stretched the material between two fixed points. When you aim the edge of the material into the wind, it does the same thing as the bridge movie that we all watched in physics class. He then attached magnets on the strap towards each end so they move in and out of small coils....It generates electricity with small wind speeds. I built one, but only got as far as making it vibrate. I don't understand electricity very well, so the thing is laying in my yard as I type.
That's funny.
The electro-magnetic thing is actually pretty simple.
Anytime you run an electric current through a loop of wire (conductive material) you make a magnetic field (which is perpendicular to the plane of the loop).
Antyime you change the cross-section of a magnetic field within a loop of wire (conductive material) you create a current in that loop (even if the magnetic field is not perpendicular to the loop).
So, in that kid's experiment, he was using wind power to ultimately move a magnet(ic field) in and out of loops of wire, resulting in changes in the cross-sectional area of the magnetic field within each loop of wire. (This would create and alternating current.)
Now, what's interesting is that, if that vibrating strip of his was made out of a conductive material (ie. metal) and it was part of a complete loop, then the vibrating material would create a current thru that loop whenever it was held at the correct angle with the earth's magnetic field...
Re:
by tblount » Fri Feb 19, 2010 11:14 pm
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bottleslingguy wrote:uhhhhh, a clean slate? more free land? less competition for resources? they'll still have re-runs, so what's the big deal losing a couple billion people?
"THEY" will also have less minions to do their heavy lifting.
Re: Hey, WTF
by bottleslingguy » Sun Feb 21, 2010 3:57 pm
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bottleslingguy - Black Belt
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Also less people "they" have to feed and keep alive. I've heard stories of "alien civilizations" using humans as slaves and wonder why, if they have advanced technologies, they would need slaves to do anything. And there is that nagging moral issue of whether a civilization can be considered advanced if they use slaves. So if they make slaves, pollute the environment and war between themselves what makes "them" superior?
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