Human Power For Human Upgrades 23
Dozix007 writes "The human body, like any other machine requires energy to operate.
However, during operation we release residual heat which can be used
for power. Many people who rely on pacemakers and other artifical
devices in their bodies may recieve 'upgrades' to avert the many surgeries per. year to replace dead and dying
batteries. Not quite the Matrix yet, but we are getting there."
Duplicate (Score:2, Informative)
Matrix semi-ignorant (Score:1)
(I have seen only the first movie).
Re:Matrix? (Score:1)
Maximum efficiency when.... (Score:2, Funny)
The Human Body Is An Endothermic Reaction. (Score:1, Informative)
Re:The Human Body Is An Endothermic Reaction. (Score:1, Informative)
Duh! Its amazing how often people speak of the second law of thermodynamics: In order to keep the entropy of our bodies constant heat must be rejected from the system (it is a machine operating in a cycle after all) and no conversion of energy from one form to another on a macroscopic scale can be 100% efficient unless the second form is heat.
The Human Body as a Heat Engine (Score:3, Informative)
But I really doubt the 100 microwatts of power they are trying for will be significant enough to be noticed--your body gives off about 100 watts of radiation as it is.
Re:The Human Body Is An Endothermic Reaction. (Score:4, Interesting)
That doesn't sound right to me, I thought deep body temperatures were more like 100 F and that 98.6 was just an orifice temperature. But that aside, the point is that generally speaking we produce more heat than we need. This is true except when the ambient temperature drops below a certain point, of course, but in general we're radiating heat like crazy. It only makes sense to make use of this heat loss when possible.
Re:The Human Body Is An Endothermic Reaction. (Score:3, Interesting)
Well, since majority of the body heat is released through the head, it will make for some interesting contraptions...
Re:The Human Body Is An Endothermic Reaction. (Score:2, Insightful)
But that heat ultimately is paid for, in the form of groceries.
The point is, you could not farm the radiant energy of off humans, because you would expend more energy keeping them alive.
Re:Matrix (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Matrix (Score:2)
You know, they used to use Plutonium [orau.org] to prevent this sort of problem. It was only after the whole Chernobyl scare that companies stopped producing pacemakers with long-life power sources. Sometimes I wonder how much of our technological "progression" is nothing more than an illusion.
Re:Matrix (Score:2)
Don't think of it that way...think of it as a potential weight loss method, like making you pedal a stationary bike to generate the energy to run your laptop or Game Boy.
Oh nooooo! (Score:4, Funny)
Oy, and I thought the world was a strange place already.
Re:Oh nooooo! (Score:1)
Because you're a strange, sick little man.
Interesting idea... (Score:2)
Re:Interesting idea... (Score:2)
It would be bad, of course, but it wouldn't have anything to do with the topic under discussion. The heat source that powers a generator doesn't have an electrical connection to the generator.
We are the borg... (Score:1)
Re:We are the borg... (Score:2)