Posts by freeman

18

Nerdy news of the day: Solar energy higher efficiency at parity with fossil fuels?

by darthfader in

http://www.ispyce.com/2011/03/solar-energy-telescopeare-are-efficient.html.

a university of arizona engineering team led by roger angel has designed a new type of solar concentrator that uses half the area of solar (pv) cells used by other optical devices and delivers a light output/concentration that is over 1000 times more concentrated before it even hits the cells.

this comes as a result of a broader goal to make solar energy cost competitive with fossil fuels (target = 1$/w) without the need for government subsidization.. .

freeman

Mad Sweeny:

I’m not sure of the practicality of producing electricity this way but yes it absolutely can be done. Pressure differentials on certain types of materials will in fact produce an electrical current. One such material is quartz crystal. Putting the big squeeze on it will directly make a small amount of DC electricity.

When earthquakes occur, sometimes huge deposits of quartz are compressed; this has resulted in intense electrical discharge at the site of compression and random generations of high voltage ball lighting. A little more power then we’re looking for, but that’s how it works.

I suggest arranging honeycombed sandwiched slices of quartz woven together using flexible carbon fiber thread as the conductor material and to tie it together. The edges of the carpet could be tied down with metal eyelets making contact with carbon fiber conductors as appropriate. Your feed lines would of course be tied from the metal eyelets to your charging / power storage device.

Voila, there you have it, free electricity! It even has the potential to correct an ongoing societal injustice. Yes I’m talking about discrimination against our plus size citizens.

No longer should their weight bring an overcast of darkness to their lives. In fact the more they weigh, the brighter the light will be. Proverbs 4:18

Freeman

18

Nerdy news of the day: Solar energy higher efficiency at parity with fossil fuels?

by darthfader in

http://www.ispyce.com/2011/03/solar-energy-telescopeare-are-efficient.html.

a university of arizona engineering team led by roger angel has designed a new type of solar concentrator that uses half the area of solar (pv) cells used by other optical devices and delivers a light output/concentration that is over 1000 times more concentrated before it even hits the cells.

this comes as a result of a broader goal to make solar energy cost competitive with fossil fuels (target = 1$/w) without the need for government subsidization.. .

freeman

I like the idea of a Stirling engine. I believe this is the very same device I experimented with when I was a kid but I didn’t remember it by that name. It works on temperature differentials, so solar powering it is one option, really anything that produced sufficient heat would work.

You are of course correct Dart, natural gas or any other hydrocarbon does produce undesirable emissions and there is a finite supply of it. But the supply we have here in the US is tremendous, more then most nations I believe. It can’t be the final solution for sure, but I could see it as a possible bridge until the technology breakthrough we all long for comes about. If nothing else, it could help us to move away from dirty coal and oil fired power plants right now without the sticker shock. Just a thought.

Freeman

18

Nerdy news of the day: Solar energy higher efficiency at parity with fossil fuels?

by darthfader in

http://www.ispyce.com/2011/03/solar-energy-telescopeare-are-efficient.html.

a university of arizona engineering team led by roger angel has designed a new type of solar concentrator that uses half the area of solar (pv) cells used by other optical devices and delivers a light output/concentration that is over 1000 times more concentrated before it even hits the cells.

this comes as a result of a broader goal to make solar energy cost competitive with fossil fuels (target = 1$/w) without the need for government subsidization.. .

freeman

I’ve been a big solar energy fan since I was a kid. I remember having a working solar thermo powered motor, photo voltaic cells wired all over the place and it was neat stuff to play with, but I found out when I wanted to power my bike that it was also not practical in the real world, a lesson that stuck with me. That was years ago when I was a kid, but even now many years latter I find most of the green energy h oopla is still more pipedream then reality.

Jeff is correct, no matter what the efficiency may be in the future; the raw photon energy concentrations per meter of space make sunlight derived power expensive and very limited. As a supplemental form of energy and for use in areas not well served by outside utilities, excellent I say go for it! But as for being any type of viable contender for fossil fuel, no chance whatsoever. It’s a simple matter of physics combined with economics.

IMHO a better idea would be to employ a smart use of old-school green technology combined with cheap and abundant fossil fuels. I suggest the use of proven fuel cell technology which has now advanced to the point of being able to burn not just pure hydrogen as before, but now can convert impure hydrocarbon fuels like natural gas and bio-gas directly into electricity.

Such devices are right now on the job producing electricity at less then the cost of commercial power utilities and with reduced emissions. A unit the size of an average parking space will power about 100 average size homes or one small office building. Such units have been on the job powering the likes of Google, Bank of America, Walmart etc. They report they are saving money.

Considering we have an abundance of natural gas reserves and the price of natural gas is well below that of other fules and trending lower, we could easily cut our dependence on imported fuels quite a bit and reduce our emissions all at the same time. And unlike many green alternatives, this is not a pipe dream, not a promise of some future breakthrough that never seems to come, but a practical working solution with real-world working examples right now.

And should the other green solutions one day become practical in the real world, great! We can always switch over to the new green technology as they become available.

Check out this fuel cell startup company as an example (Bloom Energy). http://www.bloomenergy.com/

Freeman

80

What Doctrines or JW Views Did You Not Find Too Believable?

by minimus in

jw
friends

the thought that a loving creator would violently destroy anyone not belonging to the jehovah's witness religion including billions of babies seemed just not right.. the fact that you could recieve some "acceptable" blood components but could not donate those same lifesaving yourself seemed strange.

you could recieve a blood fraction but you couldn't give it.. any others you can think of?

?.

freeman

I had a hard time with many of the doctrines, especially the ones created from passages that were clearly symbolic, but that they insisted were literal. The scientist within me keep fighting it, but the JWs had the one I loved in their clutches and I felt I could not tell it like it was without loosing her.

One of the projects I worked on at NASA was the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE). A project and satellite which for the first time 100% validated the Big Bang Theory as true and correct, but I could not say anything as they ridiculed the Big Bang at the meetings, as they belittled science fact as if it were science fiction with their sanctimonious and ignorant drivel.

I held it in for 10 years and then I just had to get off the merry-go-round. When I got off the merry-go-round, it was not good, I was not kind or tactful, I had enough and I opened up with both barrels blazing; a big mistake.

We are still together, but things have never been and will never be the same since I told her that I just can’t live the lie anymore.

Freeman

24

The fair and balanced reporting of Fox News

by keyser soze in

check out this clip from the bill o'reilly show.

supposedly it's of protesters at the capitol in wisconsin, designed to show how volatile they are becoming.

notice the palm trees in the background.

freeman

"What is truly bothersome, Freeman, is that you cannot see them for what they are."

Villabolo, I do see them for what they are, but unlike some, I don't hold a Fox-Pejorative mindset that limits my vision.

My mother-in-law has a similar thinking process.

I got in all kinds trouble once for saying how nice it was of Rupert Murdock to raise money for Hillary Clinton’s re-election in a fund-raiser put on near my home. That fact just blew her world view of Fox / Murdock, and then the venom flew at me. So I now tread lightly whenever anything related to Fox comes up. Come to think of it, Murdock also raised some money for Charles Schumer, another democrat. Me thinks I shouldn’t tell her that. I also think I should shut-up now.

Freeman

24

The fair and balanced reporting of Fox News

by keyser soze in

check out this clip from the bill o'reilly show.

supposedly it's of protesters at the capitol in wisconsin, designed to show how volatile they are becoming.

notice the palm trees in the background.

freeman

Beksbks:

I saw the warm weather short sleeve shirts, I saw the cop on horseback, I saw the palm trees, and understood it was related to the union protests,

I got the context and did not feel manipulated and was able sort it out, I but that’s just me.

Ok I accept that as your honest belief, I don't agree for the stated reason above.

That withstanding, I see a lot of the folks who lean a little left to have a tendency to be overly critical of fox. It is the only conservative leaning news stations we here in the states, so I guess it is a target. But so many see the boogie man in every story they run. I have heard many wishing, hoping, and even praying for its demise. It bothers me to think some people feel that way.

That said, I don’t think it is in any danger of being annihilated anytime soon. Fox does quite well because it fills a need, a vacuum, just like Rush Limburger does, that is why they are both number one at what they do, they fill the void, and I wish both of them well.

Freeman

61

Going Door to Door with Scrolls

by VM44 in

does anyone know where this anachronistic and propagandistic picture came from?.

did a watchtower artist draw it?.

.

freeman

This picture is the most amazing thing I have every seen from this gang. At first I thought it was a really funny joke, but then I realized they really are selling this stuff as a real factual occurrence.

Door to door service, bothering strangers unannounced, unexpected visits from people trying to change your religion, in that region of the world, during that time period, unbelievable!!

No regard for the prevailing local customs of the day, just so they could try and justify an unbiblical requirement of knocking on strangers doors, UN-F***ING believable!!!

Freeman

24

The fair and balanced reporting of Fox News

by keyser soze in

check out this clip from the bill o'reilly show.

supposedly it's of protesters at the capitol in wisconsin, designed to show how volatile they are becoming.

notice the palm trees in the background.

freeman

Sorry guys, but the evil Fox News actually wins this round (not on YouTube, not on the blogs) but in reality.

It’s all about context. Remember that context is king! Example: (ECCLESIASTES 9:5) does not mean what the witnesses would tell you it means when you read it in context.

Get a hold of the entire show and review it for yourself. The footage with the "palm trees" was of a violent union protest occurring in California and was clearly labeled “union protests” and also used in other Fox broadcasts (part of what is known as a b-roll in the industry. Bill O’ Smiley clearly identified the videos as collectively coming from all over the country early in his broadcast. The protest from Wisconsin is clearly labeled “Madison” should you care to look for yourself.

To be fair and balanced, (cough cough), I guess they could have or maybe even should have identified that they were at that very moment playing a portion of the b-roll film ( palm trees) while the voice narrative switched from union protests in general to specifically the one in Wisconsin.

For those who just tuned in and only saw that little damming segment, or maybe have a hard time following along the entire show, or perhaps have just a slight abhorrence of Foxxy News in general, I could see why you would think you caught them in an obvious blatant lie, sorry but you didn’t.

I’m just saying fair is fair and they shouldn’t be labeled as liars for this one. Now d

oes that make me a Fox ditto head for pointing this out?

Freeman

3

Scriptural proof on elders

by Joey Jo-Jo in

hi,.

is there any scriptural proof that the word elder in the ot and nt can refer to people of any age that have a duty of responsibility.

i believe it only refers to people of old age with wisdom but the insight book is trying to say otherwise, their scriptures quoted do not really point out to any real evidence.. .

freeman

See if this helps:

http://www.bible.ca/ntx-elders-pastors-bishops.htm .

freeman

34

Moscow officials to evict Jehovah's Witnesses from Moscow estate

by Mythbuster in

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20100203/157764392.html.

officials plan to evict a branch of the jehovah's witnesses from an 18th century estate in northern moscow, the prefect of moscow's northern district, oleg mitvol, said on wednesday.. mitvol claimed the mikhalkovo estate with nearly 100 hectares was illegally privatized by a moscow cotton factory and later sold to the jehovah's witnesses.

the estate is estimated to be worth $350 million.. "we have been receiving continual complaints from veterans that the historic building on mikhalkovskaya street currently houses a branch of the jehovah's witnesses," he added.. russia considers jehovah's witnesses a religious sect and its activities therefore illegal.

freeman

Wow those Russians don’t mess around.

This is not entirely related but it was announced that CBS News has now closed their Moscow bureau.

While small in stature and staff, the Moscow news bureau held a special place of importance to CBS. While the shuttering of the Moscow bureau was economic in nature, and not over any religious or philosophical differences (CBS News and the former soviets shared a kindred world view and spirit), the closure was nonetheless painful for all.

Freeman