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Comment Re:Cool insight... (Score 1) 138

I believe that infinitely more insight on what the human body will accept and reject comes from clinical studies and research on implants then from art projects, especially those actually implant technology (i.e. try to connect technology to nerves). From a medicinal standpoint, this professor could as well have implanted a plastic globe.

Comment Re:In other words (Score 1) 517

The inflation in the Weimar Republic was stopped November 1923 with the introduction of the Rentenmark and followed by a period called "Golden Twenties", with a pretty stable currency and economy. I sincerely doubt that the mentioned inflation was a major cause for WWII. It may have played a role, but there were much more important factors.

Comment Re:*ALL* kind of alternative fuels? (Score 1) 108

A practical steam engine fuel has at least the requirements:
- high energy density (you don't want a tender full of grass clippings behind your car)
- maintenance free fuelling the burning chamber (you don't want to shovel coal)
- clean, low emission burn

So basically, you have to process most of your example fuels anyways to be useful. Processing them to anything a conventional diesel engine (or, if you really like ethanol, otto engine) can burn is not a significant loss of efficiency.

Comment Re:Waste Heat Engine (Score 2) 108

Well, the main reasons why otto and diesel engines don't reach the theoretical maximum efficiency of the otto or diesel cycle is that they lose energy to the cooling medium. If you could use some of that heat, you might close the gap between the theoretical maximum efficiency and the practical efficiency. The added weight will of course reduce the gain, but it still might be greater than zero.

Comment Re:240 km in THAT thing? (Score 4, Informative) 108

Speed Record Cars like this are usually build to run in a straight line on a salt flat. If you don't have wind from the side, there is no need for much stability. Building the car as narrow as possible reduces the area exposed to the wind and thus reduces drag.

Now if you try do drive that thing on a regular road, you'd probably not survive the first turn.

Comment Waste Heat Engine (Score 2, Interesting) 108

The Cyclone engine may be grat as a waste heat engine, i.e. to convert process heat back to some more useful type of energy. I doubt it's really usefull as primary engine, because converting fuel to heat and then heat to motion does not really sound more efficient than your usual internal combustion engine. And the main advantage "can burn all kind of alternative fuels"? Come on, I can do that with my diesel engine already. Increasing the efficiency of a car with a internal combustion/steam engine hybrid by using the waste heat of a combustion engine to gain some additional power could be a much better idea.

Comment Re:Summary wrong, not so bleak (Score 2) 947

God is a postulate. He can't really be tested for or proven. And postulates have their place in scientific theories.

Postulates have only a value in science if used to prove a thesis under certain assumptions. (e.g. "If P=NP, than breaking RSA is easy"). Unfortunately, the existance of a God does not prove ID in the slightest. I don't see any reason why a God should take the stupid task do design all species one by one. (The non-existance of a God, however, would disprove ID.)

Everyone has the right to individually decide if they believe in a Creator or not. But flatly denying that it is even a possiblity is as much as an unfounded leath of faith as flatly denying he must exist.

Evolution does not per se deny the existance of a Creator. If you want to couple evolution with the belief of a creator, just imagine a Creator that made the rules, and said rules resulted in all the life forms we see today. Even the Pope acknowledges evolution, and I'm pretty sure he firmly believes in a Creator...

The proper scientific approach is to suggest it could be valid as a theory, but can't be tested at this time. Suggesting otherwise is zealoty all the same.

It can not only "not be tested at this time", it can't ever be tested. It is also not a theory. (Wikipedia: "The word theory, when used by scientists, refers to an explanation of reality that has been thoroughly tested so that most scientists agree on it. It can be changed if new information is found.") It's not even a hypothesis, because it is not testable. Suggesting otherwise is a grave misunderstanding of the scientific approach.

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As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain, and as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality. -- Albert Einstein

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