Re: [cdn-nucl-l] A Sucker Born Every Minute?

[Bill Garland <garlandw@mcmaster.ca>]

Actually, it will work in a sense, as opposed to cold
fusion.  We all know that moving charges are a --er--- harumph ---a
source of electricity.  But, I'll stick to my wind-up radio though;
it is way more efficient.  Maybe though, the reporters
misunderstood.  It could be that the profs were focussed on nano
engines or something and were looking for a way to harness current on a
very small scale.  (I am trying to be generous here).

Meanwhile, let's all rub our hands together and yell Eureka! I have
created heat!  I think I will go have a cup of coffee - Maxwell
House, of course.

Bill

At 09:45 AM 21/10/2003 -0600, Duane Pendergast wrote:

> Is
> PT Barnum alive and well and writing editorials or are we re-living cold
> fusion? The following story is consistent with the reporting of this on
> TV. It would be nice, but dull, if reporters would actually try to read
> the original source at the Institute of Physics.   There is
> another possibility. This may have been originally prepared on April 1
> and was just waiting for an opportune moment.
>
>  
>
> I know I have no sense of humor and I m
> certainly disappointed with  this story blown out of proportion from
> work done at my alma mater. 
>
>  
>
> Duane Pendergast
>
>  
>
>  
>
> A shockingly simple source of
> electricity 
>
>  
>
> Story Type: Editorial
>
>  
>
> Two researchers at the University of
> Alberta have achieved what no one else has been able to do. Professors
> Daniel Kwok and Larry Kostiuk have
>
> discovered a new way to make electricity
> simply by forcing water through tiny holes in ordinary, non-conducting
> solids such as glass, ceramic or
>
> stone. 
>
>  
>
> We can only wonder at what this
> astonishing new development will mean to mankind. Their discovery --
> announced Monday by the London-based Institute
>
> of Physics -- means a clean source of
> renewable energy involving no moving parts. In theory, a closed system
> using pure water could be used to make
>
> electricity indefinitely.
>
>  
>
> At present, the research team members
> are discussing practical applications with inventors now that their
> device has been patented. They imagine their "water
>
> batteries" could easily power cell
> phones, Palm Pilots or calculators. But who knows where this new
> technology will lead us? Advances in modern technology develop at
> breakneck speed, quickly outstripping scientific discovery.
>
>  
>
> It's hard to believe Allesandro Volta
> discovered the electrochemical effect now used to make batteries back in
> 1800. Michael Faraday discovered electromagnetic induction used in
> electric generators in 1831. The photovoltaic effect now used in solar
> cells was discovered by Edmon Becquerel in 1839, the same year Sir
> William Grove came up with proton exchange technology now used in fuel
> cells. But since that time, no one has come up with anything as promising
> or as simple as what Kwok
>
> and Kostiuk have discovered. 
>
>  
>
> Rather than generating electricity by
> heating water, as thermo-electric and nuclear generators do, this new
> process creates electricity directly, as do solar cells. So it looks as
> though technology will have one more method of "clean"
> electrical generation to add to photo-voltaic cells, wind generation and
> water power. Canadians can take pride the discovery was made in this
> country. We should also be glad Professor Kwok had been lured back to
> Canada from MIT by one of the federal government's research chairs. As
> has been shown time and again, Canadian researchers can make discoveries
> that will benefit all of mankind -- they just need the environment and
> the tools to do the work.
>
>  
>
> What this country needs is to have more
> research done in these "green" or "clean" power
> generation technologies, rather than have any more billions of dollars
> wasted on nuclear power stations. One of the more promising possibilities
> may lie in the future use of water purification plants -- which filter
> large amounts of water daily -- to produce not only clean water but
> electricity as well.
>
>  
>
> We now know there are alternatives that
> can provide the power we will need without polluting our environment. We
> no longer have to believe our only hope lies in nuclear power or in
> burning coal. Running water through a glass or ceramic filter is much
> less costly than using uranium, let alone coal or natural gas. Further
> research should involve nowhere near the high cost of developing nuclear
> power. Let's hope this new technology is as effective as it promises to
> be. 
>
>  
>
>  
>
>

Bill Garland  http://engphys.mcmaster.ca/faculty_staff/faculty/garland/  http://nuceng.mcmaster.ca  http://canteach.candu.org
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