So crazy it just might work
Diane finds a fascinating technological breakthrough. Well a potential one anyway.
[More posts daily at The Detroit News]
A Manhattan Beach start-up called Solaren Corp. seeks to launch an array of giant solar power collectors into orbit 23,000 miles above Fresno and beam the energy to Earth. PG&E has signed a contract to buy the power -- if Solaren can make the technology work. ...The initial array, hoped to be operational by 2016, would deliver "about half the output of a modern natural-gas-fired plant" diectly from space. Hey, it sounds crazy to me too, but they laughed at Alexander Graham Bell, and look what happened to the telephone. In any event it's good to see technology being developed for constructive uses instead of for more effective means of killing people in wars.
[More posts daily at The Detroit News]
Labels: energy, science, technology
posted by Libby Spencer at 10:36 AM
8 Comments:
Hmm, intriguing. I hope it won't work anything like how my brother used to fry ants with his magnifying glass. He used to blow up little green army men, too. See how old I am?
LOL Larkspur. I remember when kids did that too. How are you anyway? Long time no see.
I'm okay: peachy with a slice of keen. And you?
My favorite thing just happened yesterday: we were having a real sizzling hot spell, and yesterday afternoon it broke. Oh my, what a great feeling a good cool ocean breeze is. It's like a drink of pure cold water that fills you up starting with your toes.
Oh sounds lovely. Glad to hear you're well. I'm in a bit of tizzy myself. Planning a big move and don't feel ready at all to make it.
Big move. Big move.
OMG, BIG MOVE!
I'm getting a contact tizzy just thinking about it.
Can I help? I don't think you are switching coasts, but do you need stuff, or will you need stuff post-move? Or whatever?
Oh that's so sweet of you. Stuff I don't need. I'm trying to have less stuff. Just send a good thought for a smooth move. It's still a bit unsettled at the moment.
The idea of beaming power is about a hundred years old. As a kid, it seems every other issue of Popular Science had some scheme like that. Of course magazines back in the 20's were already predicting the use of directional microwave antennas ( which is what this is all about) not only as a power panacea, but as "death ray" style weapons, and of course that moonbat huckster Tesla loved the beamed power idea.
Beaming power does work to an extent, but there are losses involved and of course anything straying into that beam will be vaporised, or at the very least turned into something like popcorn and if the transmitter wobbles a bit, you might see half the state of Iowa popping corn right off the cob, or a rain of roast duck from the sky.
I sure as hell wouldn't want to live within 500 miles of one of these things.
Fogg, I'm clueless about this stuff but I do like the focus on constructive technology.
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