Amy asks...
"If the universe is made of mostly Dark Energy...can We use it to run Our cars?"Well not sure about THAT but how about THIS? (Seems we missed this one)
The thorium-powered car: Eight grams, one million miles(http://www.caradvice.com.au/thumb/640/321/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/cadillac-world-thorium-fuel-concept-1-625x320.jpg)
QuoteBy Tim Beissmann | August 16th, 2011
A US company says it will have a nuclear-powered prototype vehicle on the road within two years.
Laser Power Systems from Connecticut is developing a method of propulsion that uses thorium to produce electricity to power a car engine.
Thorium is an element similar to uranium and because it is such a dense material it has the potential to produce massive amounts of heat.
According to Laser Power Systems CEO, Charles Stevens, just one gram of thorium produces more energy than 28,000 litres of petrol. Mr Stevens says just eight grams of thorium would be enough to power a vehicle for its entire life.
(http://cdn.caradvice.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/thorium.jpg)
QuoteIn an interview with Ward's Auto, he explained small pieces of thorium were used to generate heat and were positioned to create a thorium laser. The lasers heat water to produce steam and power a series of mini-turbines.
Mr Stevens said an engine weighing approximately 227kg would be light enough and compact enough to fit under the bonnet of a conventional car.
If it were that simple though, petrol would already be a thing of the past.
(http://cdn.caradvice.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/cadillac-world-thorium-fuel-concept-3.jpeg)
QuoteMr Steven said developing turbines and generators that were usable and portable was much more difficult than making the thorium lasers.
"How do you take the laser and put these things together efficiently?" This is the question Mr Stevens and the 40 workers at Laser Power Systems are currently trying to answer.
If they can get the technology to work, however, Mr Stevens says thorium-powered cars could "run for a million miles".
(http://cdn.caradvice.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/thorite.jpg)
QuoteIf thorium does become a major power source of the future, Australia would be well placed to become a global energy giant.
According to the US Geological Survey, Australia has the second highest level of thorium in the world with 333,690 tonnes – accounting for somewhere between one quarter and one sixth of the world's thorium reserves.
The concept of the thorium-powered car is not brand new. In 2009, Loren Kulesus presented the Cadillac World Thorium Fuel Concept (or the WTF as it became affectionately known).
(http://cdn.caradvice.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/cadillac-world-thorium-fuel-concept-2-625x390.jpg)
QuoteKulesus said apart from adjusting the Cadillac WTF's 24 tyres every five years, not one element of the vehicle would need to be added or subtracted in 100 years.
http://www.caradvice.com.au/132921/the-thorium-powered-car-eight-grams-one-million-miles/
Heck i was hoping to find that Minelab had a battery operated detector to find this stuff with my first web search opnly to pull up an article from 1958 Sheesh >:(
Detection of Thorium and Uranium
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ac60138a002
Not to toot my own horn, but I think this news here
is also of great importance to the idea :)
Maxwell's Demon; An INFERNOS Project Nanoscale Experiment
Amy, this is your perpetual warm cup of tea.
http://www.thelivingmoon.com/forum/index.php?topic=5516.msg75314;topicseen#new
Quote from: burntheships on October 17, 2013, 07:07:26 PM
Not to toot my own horn, but I think this news here
is also of great importance to the idea :)
Maxwell's Demon; An INFERNOS Project Nanoscale Experiment
Amy, this is your perpetual warm cup of tea.
http://www.thelivingmoon.com/forum/index.php?topic=5516.msg75314;topicseen#new
I tried to post this in your other thread BTS.
I find this very interesting :O
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxwell%27s_demon
QuoteIn the philosophy of thermal and statistical physics, Maxwell's demon is a thought experiment created by the physicist James Clerk Maxwell to "show that the Second Law of Thermodynamics has only a statistical certainty".[1] It demonstrates Maxwell's point by hypothetically describing how to violate the Second Law: a container of gas molecules at equilibrium, is divided into two parts by an insulated wall, with a door that can be opened and closed by what came to be called "Maxwell's demon". The demon opens the door to allow only the faster than average molecules to flow through to a favored side of the chamber, and only the slower than average molecules to the other side, causing the favored side to gradually heat up while the other side cools down, thus decreasing entropy.
OMFoookingGOD! That is a seriously interesting car. 8)
Do you think we can use thorium to power antigravity craft? :o
Quote from: Somamech on October 17, 2013, 07:31:58 PM
I find this very interesting :O
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxwell%27s_demon
Ah, yes...well I posted this over yonder and did so
with the hope of a broad audience....and I snagged
some good info, by none other than bedlam.
Going to post this up, checking with Z.
Monkey Madness....
Why the NEED for Energy Based Systems when there are other ways, involving "transport", "manufacture",
"lighting", etc. which is a little more direct, than having to go through a number of "phases" to achieve something.
I suspect we will discover more about this in the Future.... :)
So what happens when we have a crash? Little nuke meltdowns?
Quote from: deuem on October 18, 2013, 06:15:33 AM
So what happens when we have a crash? Little nuke meltdowns?
Interesting question, deuem; but it makes one wonder... 8 grams probably would not reach critical mass, but who knows?
I do seem to remember a piece on thorium reactors on the Fukin'shima mega thread over at Spookz detailing how they would be far safer that what is currently being used...
seeker