Here's a more detailed article about the device from The Economist: http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/2167761...
This Device Could Provide a Third of America's Power
41–48 of 48 posts
Re: This Device Could Provide a Third of America's Power
#42This is a magnetostrictive generator. It's not "no moving parts", it's flexures instead of rotational joints. Historically, magnetostriction was a weak effect, but some new materials have improved the efficiency.[1] Still, operating at the ocean surface is usually a high-maintenance headache.
A no-moving-parts solution would be taking power from an ocean current by using it as the working fluid in a magnetohydrodynamic generator. That's a totally submerged system. The concept has been used in reverse to drive a ship, so this can work in seawater.[2] But it requires superconducting magnets, and all the cryogenics which go with that. If we ever get room temperature superconductors, this might be useful.
[1] http://revolution-green.com/magnetic-energy-harvesting-using... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamato_1
Re: This Device Could Provide a Third of America's Power
#43Earlier quoted context omitted.
All species self-regulate. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Matthew_Island#Mammals Also really fun comic about this: http://www.stuartmcmillen.com/comics_en/st-matthew-island/ happy to admit I'm wrong. There you go. Now before you start blaming developed nations about their energy usage, it is good to review the data persented here: http://visualizingeconomics.com/blog/2007/12/09/comparing-po...
Here's an example of notable research, "Why most published research findings are false" - note that it's been cited over 3000 times: https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cluster=15681017780418799... In my opinion, the event you references is not notable research.
I do not know where you live, so your exposure to the actual wilderness might be limited, but if you had any real exposure, you would know that without big predators (like wolves in the northern part of the world) or hunting, the herbivores would bread to use all the available resources they can get.
Yes, ecosystems (that is, set of different species including plants) self regulate themselves, but species try to maximize their numbers. If their numbers get too big, they starve and by some unlucky coincidences, they my become extinct due to resource exhaustion.
I actually hope that humans would be better in this.
Re: This Device Could Provide a Third of America's Power
#44Earlier quoted context omitted.
The first page of results* from your own recommended search will provide you an answer: ecosystems self-regulate. Animals starve. It's not quite the same thing as the wise and forward-looking animals of the forest that you appear to be arguing for. *I realize that my first page might not be your first page - perhaps based on our differing search histories.
Yes, I'm aware of that search result, and for the matter the concept; sometimes being direct is less useful than being indirect. Expecting all animals to be wise in my opinion is unreasonable, I would hope that some animals are able to be reasonable. Cyanobacteria is the only animal I am aware of (beyond homosapiens) that has been responsible for a significant extincion event on Earth.
Cyanobacteria was just lucky. Give the deer a change and it would put everything out of this planet including themselves.
Luckily for us, this stupid animal can only flourish under very limited conditions.
This is an excellent example: "the residents of Long Island on Lake Winnipesaukee wanted to eliminate hunting deer so they could enjoy these beautiful animals. A few years later, the deer had eaten all the wild shrubs and trees, and began invading the homeowners' property on the island to sample the flowers and shrubs of the residents.". [0]*
[0] http://www.seacoastonline.com/article/20140407/SPORTS/404070...
* remind you, I am not advocating of killing off all the deer because how else will the big predators get enough of food and how else we can get all the tasty deer meat sausages.
Re: This Device Could Provide a Third of America's Power
#45Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, I'm aware of that search result, and for the matter the concept; sometimes being direct is less useful than being indirect. Expecting all animals to be wise in my opinion is unreasonable, I would hope that some animals are able to be reasonable. Cyanobacteria is the only animal I am aware of (beyond homosapiens) that has been responsible for a significant extincion event on Earth.
Cyanobacteria was just lucky. Give the deer a change and it would put everything out of this planet including themselves. Luckily for us, this stupid animal can only flourish under very limited conditions. This is an excellent example: " the residents of Long Island on Lake Winnipesaukee wanted to eliminate hunting deer so they could enjoy these beautiful animals. A few years later, the deer had eaten all the wild sh…
Very possible you'd learn something by reading this:
http://www.all-creatures.org/articles/act-c-sh-mythreality.h...
Re: This Device Could Provide a Third of America's Power
#46Earlier quoted context omitted.
Cyanobacteria was just lucky. Give the deer a change and it would put everything out of this planet including themselves. Luckily for us, this stupid animal can only flourish under very limited conditions. This is an excellent example: " the residents of Long Island on Lake Winnipesaukee wanted to eliminate hunting deer so they could enjoy these beautiful animals. A few years later, the deer had eaten all the wild sh…
Very possible you'd learn something by reading this: http://www.all-creatures.org/articles/act-c-sh-mythreality.h...
While the link I posted was clearly a propaganda of one side, it consisted at least few facts. This one seems to contain only opinions.
I agree with one of them, killing other species should not be regarded as sport.
Edit: For more balanced opinion: http://www.koryoswrites.com/nonfiction/white-tailed-deer-ove...
Edit2: The site listed above is actually full of fascinating animal behaviour.
Re: This Device Could Provide a Third of America's Power
#47Earlier quoted context omitted.
Very possible you'd learn something by reading this: http://www.all-creatures.org/articles/act-c-sh-mythreality.h...
While the link I posted was clearly a propaganda of one side, it consisted at least few facts. This one seems to contain only opinions. I agree with one of them, killing other species should not be regarded as sport. Edit: For more balanced opinion: http://www.koryoswrites.com/nonfiction/white-tailed-deer-ove... Edit2: The site listed above is actually full of fascinating animal behaviour.
Facts in that story are factually wrong:
http://www.deerfriendly.com/decline-of-deer-populations
Re: This Device Could Provide a Third of America's Power
#48Earlier quoted context omitted.
While the link I posted was clearly a propaganda of one side, it consisted at least few facts. This one seems to contain only opinions. I agree with one of them, killing other species should not be regarded as sport. Edit: For more balanced opinion: http://www.koryoswrites.com/nonfiction/white-tailed-deer-ove... Edit2: The site listed above is actually full of fascinating animal behaviour.
Facts in that story are factually wrong: http://www.deerfriendly.com/decline-of-deer-populations
I think that people from Deer Friendly intentionally manipulate with the data visualization. They smooth the graph elsewhere and only show the population plummeting when it satisfies their agenda.
For example the graph here about NY looks more honest [0].
Also I am not fully convinced about their argument related to the sampling methods. [0] seems to be again more honest in this case.
Also they do not mention increasing numbers of feral hogs that hunt the deer fawn as a predatory balancing factor to the possible cause of deer number decline.
This still does not mean that deer do not cause damage to the other species and biodiversity and that they do not increase their numbers over the resource exhaustion which were the the main claims of [1].
Anyway, the deer example was a counter example to the claim that "all species self-regulate".
Even more generally, in their niche they are a fine example of "trying to exploit in an entire ecosystem for the benefit of a single species". They do not live in harmony with diverse range of other species in their habitat.
[0] http://hvfarmscape.org/mammals
[1] http://www.koryoswrites.com/nonfiction/white-tailed-deer-ove...