MIT's Millimeter Turbine to be Ready This Year

Iddo Genuth writes "After a decade of work, the first millimeter size turbine engine developed by researchers at MIT should become operational by the end of this summer. The new turbine engine will allow the creation of smaller and more powerful batteries than anything currently in existence. It might also serve as the basis for tiny powerful motors with applications ranging from micro UAVs to children's toys. In the more distant future huge arrays of hydrogen fueled millimeter turbine engines could even be the basis for clean, quiet and cost effective power plants."

Re:Yep...

[Bander]

Since almost everything must deal with dissipating heat, why can't someone invent something that collect the heat and re-use it to generate even more power?

Because of a little thing called the Second Law of Thermodynamics. Basically, if you use the waste heat to generate energy, you do so by exploiting the difference between the heat (probably stored in a medium that doesn't dissipate heat easily) and something else that's cold -- this makes the cold thing warm at the same time your heat storage medium cools down. Eventually, everything in your system reaches a uniform temperature, and the fat lady sings.

If the universe is a closed system... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_death/ [wikipedia.org]

More about the Second Law, including math and quotable quotes: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_law_of_thermod ynamics/ [wikipedia.org]

Re:Moo

[philip_bailey]

Millimeter Turbins? Must be for really small Muslims.

Turbans are worn by Sikhs, not Muslims.

Turbans are worn by Sikhs AND Muslims.

[giafly]

Millimeter Turbins? Must be for really small Muslims.

Turbans are worn by Sikhs, not Muslims.

Turbans are worn by Muslim scholars (ulema) in many countries. [wikipedia.org] Also by lots of other people.

Re:Clean Power Plants?

[mpe]

The proposal to "kickstart" the hydrogen economy consists of bizzare stuff like getting the hydrogen from methane - bizzare because methane is easier to ship, store and use and could come from biological sources (not just kittens) or from coalbeds.

There is also a perfectly good methane distribution system in many parts of the world. Which even supplys the fuel direct to buildings. The only thing apparently lacking is bottled methane for easy use in vehicles. Though no doubt many existing fuel stations could be fairly easily outfitted to bottle methane.
Whereas hydrogen requires massive changes of infrastructure and dealing with a fuel with some very inconvenient physical properties in the environment we'd actually want to use it.