5 ms·

Lasers have much higher "antenna" gain. How about using an IR laser to remotely heat a steam engine which runs a generator... I bet overall efficiency is at le

Lasers have much higher "antenna" gain. How about using an IR laser to remotely heat a steam engine which runs a generator... I bet overall efficiency is at least an order of magnitude higher.

downrightmike 5y ago
Basically, the more things change the more they stay the same: https://history.howstuffworks.com/historical-figures/archimedes-death-ray.htm https://history.howstuffworks.com/historical-figures/archime...
- spacemark 5y ago
  Can we kill the "genius" trope already? In 15 years at the nation's best engineering schools and another 10 at companies and institutions that employ their graduates, I have yet to meet a nobel prize winner, CEO, professor, astronaut, politician, or other individual that is single-handedly "propelling global human advance." Perhaps these magical minds are hiding under some rock I haven't overturned yet, but it's much more likely that the "genius" model is just not a very good one. There are plenty of clever people around and there will always be a tail end of the bell curve, but the idea that these individuals are lifting up the rest of us is self-serving and ironically, demonstrably false. It's hero culture for intellectuals. There are plenty of humans with tail-end IQ, none of whom become anything without the rest of society getting up and going to work to support investment in their minds and the infrastructure that enables them to utilize their capacity. Einstein would have been nothing without cooperation from a wide range of scientists, mathematicians, family members, and hell his garbage man. /end rant Thank you for sharing that link, though - the bit about reproduction has some meat to it. I've wondered whether innovation will slow as global population levels off. We'll get better at being efficient with the capacity we have, to be sure, but I wonder if eking out efficiencies will also asymptotically stall.
  - downrightmike 5y ago
    I think that we don't meet many geniuses because they are off doing their own thing in research labs. Look at MRNA vaccines, just a few people toiling for decades have saved millions of lives. But fret not, innovation should only continue as more people are brought up and educated than we've ever been able to in the past. Incremental change will get more helpers. Plus we aren't stunting generations with lead poisoning by and large anymore, which certainly reduced the amount of minds that can handle super specialized endeavors.
ezconnect 5y ago
On paper this is already very inefficient and your proposal is definitely more efficient. I am wondering why they even built it. Test manufacturing process or there is just too much research money floating around.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
holoduke 5y ago
Depends on the medium. In vacuum yes. But in dense water vapor, certainly not.
eurasiantiger 5y ago
Winner winner, seagull dinner!
- yencabulator 5y ago
  While a laser might scorch a passing bird, I'd expect a microwave emitter of this size to warm it noticeably as a whole. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microwave_oven#Discovery https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microwave_oven#Discovery

Lasers have much higher "antenna" gain. How about using an IR laser to remotely heat a steam engine which runs a generator... I bet overall efficiency is at least an order of magnitude higher.

downrightmike 5y ago

Basically, the more things change the more they stay the same: https://history.howstuffworks.com/historical-figures/archimedes-death-ray.htm https://history.howstuffworks.com/historical-figures/archime...

spacemark 5y ago
Can we kill the "genius" trope already? In 15 years at the nation's best engineering schools and another 10 at companies and institutions that employ their graduates, I have yet to meet a nobel prize winner, CEO, professor, astronaut, politician, or other individual that is single-handedly "propelling global human advance." Perhaps these magical minds are hiding under some rock I haven't overturned yet, but it's much more likely that the "genius" model is just not a very good one. There are plenty of clever people around and there will always be a tail end of the bell curve, but the idea that these individuals are lifting up the rest of us is self-serving and ironically, demonstrably false. It's hero culture for intellectuals. There are plenty of humans with tail-end IQ, none of whom become anything without the rest of society getting up and going to work to support investment in their minds and the infrastructure that enables them to utilize their capacity. Einstein would have been nothing without cooperation from a wide range of scientists, mathematicians, family members, and hell his garbage man. /end rant Thank you for sharing that link, though - the bit about reproduction has some meat to it. I've wondered whether innovation will slow as global population levels off. We'll get better at being efficient with the capacity we have, to be sure, but I wonder if eking out efficiencies will also asymptotically stall.
- downrightmike 5y ago
  I think that we don't meet many geniuses because they are off doing their own thing in research labs. Look at MRNA vaccines, just a few people toiling for decades have saved millions of lives. But fret not, innovation should only continue as more people are brought up and educated than we've ever been able to in the past. Incremental change will get more helpers. Plus we aren't stunting generations with lead poisoning by and large anymore, which certainly reduced the amount of minds that can handle super specialized endeavors.

ezconnect 5y ago

On paper this is already very inefficient and your proposal is definitely more efficient. I am wondering why they even built it. Test manufacturing process or there is just too much research money floating around.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

holoduke 5y ago

Depends on the medium. In vacuum yes. But in dense water vapor, certainly not.

eurasiantiger 5y ago

Winner winner, seagull dinner!

yencabulator 5y ago
While a laser might scorch a passing bird, I'd expect a microwave emitter of this size to warm it noticeably as a whole. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microwave_oven#Discovery https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microwave_oven#Discovery