I'm putting this in the CT section because I honestly believe it is a conspiracy, if not by governments, then by big businesses, who buy up some of the most incredible inventions very shortly after they make their first, and only, splash in the news.

This isn't intended to be much of a discussion, but more of a cemetery for these fine ideas which appeared to have been ripped from the public, and as a way of preserving these ideas in a central repository available to the best minds in science, in the hopes they'll be incorporated into everyday products.

Please post links and relevant supporting material (quotes, as links die, quotes don't).

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I am Mugs, of the Alien clan of Usa, Nordamerica, a Terran, of Sol.

Mine: "Perception isn't reality. It's merely an abstraction thereof, and quite often not a very good one at that."

Heinlein's: "Staying young requires the unceasing cultivation of the ability to unlearn old falsehoods." "Freedom begins when you tell Ms. Grundy to go fly a kite."

EEStor's Cermic Battery - Source: CNN Money

Essentially, it's a micro-whiskered capacitor with vastly increased surface area (and charge storage) over traditional capacitors, and it would revolutionize the auto industry.

I also saw articles on this in several major science-related publications.

More on the technology itself, courtesy of Google.

Even more, again, courtesy of Google.

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I am Mugs, of the Alien clan of Usa, Nordamerica, a Terran, of Sol.

Mine: "Perception isn't reality. It's merely an abstraction thereof, and quite often not a very good one at that."

Heinlein's: "Staying young requires the unceasing cultivation of the ability to unlearn old falsehoods." "Freedom begins when you tell Ms. Grundy to go fly a kite."

Well, if you're sure that "big business" is doing that, then you must know of some good examples of those "incredible inventions". So, perhaps you should get the ball rolling, and post the first quotes (and some links too)...

P.S. : Great minds think alike, it seems ...

The Acoustic Laser

Also called, The Hilsch Tube

Although it's no more efficient than freon-based refridgeration, it's much smaller, costs a lot less, and should therefore be cheaper.

So why isn't it in use?

The next time I buy a refrigerator, I've a mind to build one of these devices and hook it to a styrofoam cooler, instead.

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I am Mugs, of the Alien clan of Usa, Nordamerica, a Terran, of Sol.

Mine: "Perception isn't reality. It's merely an abstraction thereof, and quite often not a very good one at that."

Heinlein's: "Staying young requires the unceasing cultivation of the ability to unlearn old falsehoods." "Freedom begins when you tell Ms. Grundy to go fly a kite."

Huh?From the first article from google, at wiki:Just exactly what do you think is being hidden?

Was the super-secret buzz ("IT") run-up to the Segway an example of the conspiracy that you're talking about?

From your link: Again, what is being hidden?

Nuclear-powered aircraft.

While the original "only" flew 47 times, it wasn't very feasible in terms of economics, dealing with the radiation effects on the airframe, etc.

Since then, however, Popular Mechanics wrote a piece on a design that's by and large free from the issues of the one's flown 60 years ago by the USAF.

Emphasis added to demonstrate that this isn't exactly a new idea - the actual flights preceed my birth by a decade and a half!

By the way, the Popular Mechanics article talked about the late 1990's discovery by researchers at the University of Texas in Dallas, where when hafnium was bombarded with x-rays, it releases gamma rays 60 times more powerful than the energy of the x-ray input.

This article examines this phenomenon, but it apparently splashes cold water on it's liklihood.

Still, Popular Mechanics isn't the National Enquirer, so one has to ask why the splashy article in PM, and why the cold shoulder from the gubbahmint?

Yet this phenomenon is mentioned in Wikipedia.

More on the controversy, here.

This raises some questions in my mind, such as, did Carl Collins at UT really goof? Or is this being kabashed? If it's a viable alternative to Jet-A, why not?

Furthermore, "halfnium-178" and "atomic weight" yields no Google hits. That's rare.

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I am Mugs, of the Alien clan of Usa, Nordamerica, a Terran, of Sol.

Mine: "Perception isn't reality. It's merely an abstraction thereof, and quite often not a very good one at that."

Heinlein's: "Staying young requires the unceasing cultivation of the ability to unlearn old falsehoods." "Freedom begins when you tell Ms. Grundy to go fly a kite."

This thread is about technologies (not fanciful anti-grav drives, but real technologies) which are either not being used as expected, or (in some cases) may have been bought up by big business to be sat on, or squashed by the government for some reason.

The Hirsch tube has been known since WWII. My inclused it here has to do with the fact that it weighs less and costs less than a freon compressor, with less maintenance, yet the same cooling efficiency. Again, if you'll re-read my post - why hasn't it been used as such so that the savings and reliability can be passed on to the consumer?

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I am Mugs, of the Alien clan of Usa, Nordamerica, a Terran, of Sol.

Mine: "Perception isn't reality. It's merely an abstraction thereof, and quite often not a very good one at that."

Heinlein's: "Staying young requires the unceasing cultivation of the ability to unlearn old falsehoods." "Freedom begins when you tell Ms. Grundy to go fly a kite."

The ceramic battery is reportedly in development. They have a patent pending (but not (yet) granted), and have never reached market, so of course they're being tight-lipped about it. Believe me, when I was working on a subset of a patentable technology in the late 90s, there were whole stacks of non-disclosure stuff I had to go through before they'd so much as hint about what they wanted me to do for them.

Mugs, you may be overestimating the power of the whole conspiracy thing.

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OK, so I did.

I still don't see the evidence for a conspiracy.

PS: I think this thread should be moved to General Science, or Babbling

Yeah these stories have been around since the
beginning of the industrial revolution. Tales
about smashed cotton spinning machines are in
the history books. And I kept hearing stories
about car mamufacturers buying up patents of
things that looked like trouble. Then there was
Xerox. They put their best innovators away in
California somewhere. They made copiers and they
had got them just right. People had stable jobs
for decades making cableforms, cabinets,
facias etc. But another Jobs came through the
door Read Against the Odds by James Dyson.
A real eye opener!

Ugh - Folks, please. I'm trying to use this as a repository so that this stuff isn't bought up and lost.

I'm also using it to discuss those things which have seemed to have disappeared for some reason.

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I am Mugs, of the Alien clan of Usa, Nordamerica, a Terran, of Sol.

Mine: "Perception isn't reality. It's merely an abstraction thereof, and quite often not a very good one at that."

Heinlein's: "Staying young requires the unceasing cultivation of the ability to unlearn old falsehoods." "Freedom begins when you tell Ms. Grundy to go fly a kite."

Follow the money trail. Why would a corporation manufacture something that has less profit margin? Their only reason for existence is the bottom line...they have no allegiance to humanity, country, morals, or ethics. Only the bottom line matters. Doesn't require a conspiracy...just follow the money.

Wasn't it J.P. Morgan who told Nikola Tesla (regarding his free energy scheme), "My dear Tesla, how will I charge for it?"

(And don't bust my chops...I am not saying the idea would have worked; the point is the attitude of the wealthy corporate executive to the very notion.)

Wouldn't a semi-static website be better suited for that purpose than a discussion board?

__________________

New! It combines the power of science with the gentleness of your mother's best intentions!
A new miracle technique, we apply homeopathic methods to achieve scientific efficaciousness
for dilutions WAY beyond Avogadro's Limit. It's New! It's Fresh!
It's Placebo^[tm] Brand Power Drink! *[Use as directed. May increase kidney function.]

You're referring to the Quantum Nucleonic Reactor. Such a simple mechanism with such a large energy potential! I'd love to see that technology explored in depth, and compress the whole thing down to battery-size. Halfnium-178 has a half-life of I believe twenty years. That's a heck of a battery!

Brings to mind this classic film.

Actually, if you google "Quantum Nucleonic Reactor" you'll get plenty of hits. Its primary use seems to be for use in scramjets, but I don't see why you couldn't have it superheat water instead of air. Use a closed loop system, run the steam through a turbine and then a condenser, and you're in business. Draw off 1/60th of the power generated to power the X-ray magentron (I think that's what they're called. Memory fails me here.) and then you have a system that'll spit out electricity until the halfnium-178 decays.

The primary problem with such a system, as far as I can glean off the top of my head, would be radiation shielding. How much would you need? How small can you shrink the entire system? I imagine the X-ray diode acting as a filiment, with a "bulb" of thin halfnium enclosing it. High temperature tubing wrapped around the "bulb" to maximize efficiency... man, I wish I were an engineer. I'd have one of these powering my house, even now.

Large power plants would be easy, since size wouldn't be too much of a concern. You could even store excess heat. Molten salt, anyone?

Do two halfniums make a wholmium? (Hint: There's n/o/t/ no L in hafnium.)

Fred

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"For shame, gentlemen, pack your evidence a little better against another time."
-- John Dryden, "The Vindication of The Duke of Guise" 1684

No, but there should be an indefinite article in your sentence. ;-)

Actually this tube thingy has rung a bell and a
look on Google confirms it. At college 37 years
ago the physics lecturer was waxing lyrical
about the device featured on a Tomorrows World
program on the BBC the previous evening. He was
enthusiastic about no moving parts. But I am
the awkward type (even then) and piped up "What
about the compressor?. And anyway the thing is
noisy! However..I am having thoughts about
having one on the roof guided by a wind vane.
Some nice hot air for ventilation in Winter.
And the other way round. Sorry I cannot think
of any other device, news has been suppressed.