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> The scientists found that birds experiencing the “migration” condition had more mitochondria, and that those mitochondria had a greater capacity to make energ

> The scientists found that birds experiencing the “migration” condition had more mitochondria, and that those mitochondria had a greater capacity to make energy (opens a new tab), compared to those in the “nonmigratory” birds. This suggested that during migration, the birds’ mitochondria are “turbocharged,” Coulson said. So this isn't too terrible. It's a bit more like overclocking than turbocharging. A typical ICE turbocharger is a recycler - the exhaust gases are used to spin the turbo which in turn forces air/oxygen into the combustion chamber (cylinder) at a faster rate, which can be tuned alongside fuel intake for increased power. Of course, this tends to be harder on the engine and must be accounted for in engine design. It's not free, and you don't want every engine to be turbo. And rather than be good for endurance it's really good for bursts of power.

hinkley 1y ago
Rocket engines have turbochargers that run before primary combustion. Just to make things more confusing.
- neogodless 1y ago
  Presumably not off exhaust? In automobiles, if they are powered by something other than exhaust (e.g. electricity) are called "superchargers." Ah quick web search, I believe they do run off exhaust using "pre-burners" that burn before the burn.
  - hinkley 1y ago
    They make their own exhaust in a little combustion chamber and use it to blast fuel into the primary at ridiculous volumes. SpaceX is unique in that none of the pre burn is wasted. It all ends up back in the bell instead of leaving out the side. The soviets invented it but it never made it to production. I think it flew once and exploded.
    - mulmen 1y ago
      I’m not sure I would say the exhaust is wasted just because it doesn’t go into the main combustion chamber. The exhaust of the turbo fuel pump on one Saturn V F-1 engine provides more thrust than an F-16 in afterburner. The Raptor is the first operational Full Flow Staged Combustion rocket engine. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staged_combustion_cycle#Full-flow_staged_combustion_cycle https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staged_combustion_cycle#Full...
    - MalbertKerman 1y ago
      Combustion cycles that run the turbopump exhaust into the main combustion chamber are called "staged combustion." The Soviets had staged combustion engines putting payloads in orbit in 1960, and the US flew its first in 1981. SpaceX's advance was going from oxygen rich (where all of the oxidizer and a fraction of the fuel run through the preburner and turbine, as used in the Soviet/Russian engines) or fuel rich (vice versa, used in the Space Shuttle) to full flow (which has both oxygen- and fuel-rich preburners and all of the propellants flow through one turbine or the other).
  - MalbertKerman 1y ago
    The rocket folks call them "turbopumps" rather than "turbochargers," and most of them are powered by a separate combustion apparatus (with non-obvious terminology: if, after going through the turbine, the gas will then end up in the main combustion chamber then it's called a preburner, but if the gas will be discharged outside the main combustion chamber then it's called a gas generator). There is one type that comes closer to a turbocharger's operation: the "tap-off cycle" runs the turbine on gas drawn from the main combustion chamber rather than using a separate combustor. Tap-off cycle engines aren't common but Blue Origin and Firefly are using them.
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]

hinkley 1y ago

Rocket engines have turbochargers that run before primary combustion. Just to make things more confusing.

neogodless 1y ago
Presumably not off exhaust? In automobiles, if they are powered by something other than exhaust (e.g. electricity) are called "superchargers." Ah quick web search, I believe they do run off exhaust using "pre-burners" that burn before the burn.
- hinkley 1y ago
  They make their own exhaust in a little combustion chamber and use it to blast fuel into the primary at ridiculous volumes. SpaceX is unique in that none of the pre burn is wasted. It all ends up back in the bell instead of leaving out the side. The soviets invented it but it never made it to production. I think it flew once and exploded.
  - mulmen 1y ago
    I’m not sure I would say the exhaust is wasted just because it doesn’t go into the main combustion chamber. The exhaust of the turbo fuel pump on one Saturn V F-1 engine provides more thrust than an F-16 in afterburner. The Raptor is the first operational Full Flow Staged Combustion rocket engine. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staged_combustion_cycle#Full-flow_staged_combustion_cycle https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staged_combustion_cycle#Full...
  - MalbertKerman 1y ago
    Combustion cycles that run the turbopump exhaust into the main combustion chamber are called "staged combustion." The Soviets had staged combustion engines putting payloads in orbit in 1960, and the US flew its first in 1981. SpaceX's advance was going from oxygen rich (where all of the oxidizer and a fraction of the fuel run through the preburner and turbine, as used in the Soviet/Russian engines) or fuel rich (vice versa, used in the Space Shuttle) to full flow (which has both oxygen- and fuel-rich preburners and all of the propellants flow through one turbine or the other).
- MalbertKerman 1y ago
  The rocket folks call them "turbopumps" rather than "turbochargers," and most of them are powered by a separate combustion apparatus (with non-obvious terminology: if, after going through the turbine, the gas will then end up in the main combustion chamber then it's called a preburner, but if the gas will be discharged outside the main combustion chamber then it's called a gas generator). There is one type that comes closer to a turbocharger's operation: the "tap-off cycle" runs the turbine on gas drawn from the main combustion chamber rather than using a separate combustor. Tap-off cycle engines aren't common but Blue Origin and Firefly are using them.
deleted 1y ago
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