Guest GhostRanger Posted October 2, 2006 Share Posted October 2, 2006 AN AERONAUTICS and astronautics boffin at MIT has come up with a cunning plan to stick a jet engine in a laptop. According to the Star, Alan Epstein wants to stick micro jet engines to power electronic devices from laptops to radios. His idea involves sticking together six silicon wafers, which are etched so that the spaces between them produce a gas turbine engine. Epstein says that his laptop would run somewhere between 15 and 30 hours on jet power. So far Epstein and a team of about 20 have created and tested each of those six wafers, a miniature compressor, combustion chamber, turbine, generator and the like. The next trick is to get them to work as an integrated unit. When it works he thinks it will generate between 10 and 100 watts of power. Apparently, Epstein dreamt up the whole thing while he was bored during jury service, we just hope that someone didn't get the death penalty when he had his breakthrough. And for those who don't like The Inquirer here's a longer source that is probably more legit. Well, maybe more legit. Who knows really. Jet Powered Laptops Can you imagine 15-30 hours of laptop battery time? Very rarely would you even have to take chargers with you unless on a long trip or something. That would be fantastic. The Star article said something about $30 million but I wasn't sure what that meant. I'm not much for details... (yes, I realize that I am the one posting the thread and should probably at least read all of the article :P) Note: I usually forget to preview my posts before I submit them - good thing I did this time. I had a typo that made the subject of this thread "Jew Powered Laptops." :wink: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
____ Posted October 2, 2006 Share Posted October 2, 2006 Pft, you can smell butane as well. Other than that, interesting read... and this made me lol: "If your objective is to convert fuel into power, why do it with a jet engine?" Epstein wonders rhetorically. "Why not do it with an internal combustion engine or a steam engine or something else? I can give you two answers to that: the technical answer and the honest answer." Technically, you could try any number of engine varieties, each with their own advantages and disadvantages, although gas turbines tend to be simpler. "The honest answer is, I'm a gas turbine guy and it was my idea. So when my colleagues say, `Why don't you do a piston engine?' I say, `Those guys are on the floor below me. I got the money. If you want to work with me, we're going to build a gas turbine.'" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tigra00 Posted October 2, 2006 Share Posted October 2, 2006 I don't even want to know how a Jew powered laptop would work. :lol: I have no idea what they're talking about, but *shrug*. Silly MIT go-ers...Always being smart and doing random things just because they're smart enough to! The popularity of any given religion today depends on the victories of the wars they fought in the past. - Me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anesthesia Posted October 2, 2006 Share Posted October 2, 2006 Aren't times like that to be expected with fuel cells though? Some people are changed by being a moderator. I wouldn't be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
assassin_696 Posted October 2, 2006 Share Posted October 2, 2006 I'm sure you'd have some kind of overheating problem there :P "Da mihi castitatem et continentam, sed noli modo" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jak722 Posted October 2, 2006 Share Posted October 2, 2006 I don't even want to know how a Jew powered laptop would work. :lol: I have no idea what they're talking about, but *shrug*. Silly MIT go-ers...Always being smart and doing random things just because they're smart enough to! Who exactly is being silly here Tigra? :lol: The Enrichment Center reminds you that the weighted companion cube will never threaten to stab you and, in fact, cannot speak. In the event that the weighted companion cube does speak, the Enrichment Center urges you to disregard its advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now