Gravity Light

[nkuvu]

Considering that kerosene is also not free, the gravity light is an improvement for people and areas with economic problems. They probably already have to buy the kerosene for cooking (pure speculation on my part), but the light would reduce the quantity required.

[MixedVariety]

I agree with you, and of course that is the thrust of this whole gravity light project. However, I can see people hating to get up every so often and lift that weight up again, and opt for the expensive poisonous stuff instead. I hope that doesn't happen.

[nkuvu]

Honestly, I think the biggest problem with this (or with solar) is what happens when it breaks. Will the people who need it be able to fix it? Or easily get a replacement?

[Смерть]

On topic: As helpful as the idea of this light is, I'll bet people would rather keep their easy kerosene lanterns than have to get up every 20-30 minutes to lift up a weight again. I wonder if the humanitarian aspect of this invention is doomed to fail.

So, child labor is totally out of the equation? I mean, chores.

[EnoughAlready]

Hey, perhaps Sorudo was right after all, just before his time.
Or perhaps it'll turn out that these guys have a math error somewhere.

http://www.livescience.com/25959-ato...lute-zero.html

Anyway, I see a hornets nest over there, think I might poke it :-D

[Alaris]

Sounds more like a misnomer than a real negative. The distribution of energy is unusual, which is quite different from saying it's less than zero. It's like if two objects are spinning, one has a positive spin and the other has a negative spin. It's wrong to say one is spinning less than not at all.

Given the energy spent getting the system in that state, I also don't really see how they'd achieve more than 100% efficiency. They say it has more than 100% efficiency given the system is charged, but that is dumb. Efficiency has to be calculated not just in terms of the mechanism, but also in terms of how much energy was spent getting the mechanism to its initial state. A sled at the top of a hill isn't perpetual motion, because it stops working when it reaches the bottom of the hill. Likewise, that negative temperature would stop working once its energy gets distributed normally. A better analogy imo would be to think of negative temperatures as a new way to make a battery. There's some waste in putting the energy in the battery, but it could be a useful way to store and use energy regardless.

[Gorani]

BTW, the campaign closed two days ago, reaching almost 400k $ in funding, about 7 times the initial goal of 55k.

[EnoughAlready]

Well done to them :-)

[RD]

With that much funding, perpetual motion is a sure-thing.

[raspberry jam]

Maybe Americans ought to lift weights for their electricity. Couldn't hurt, and there might be a few less obese people.

Oh geez. Don't let raspberry see this thread.

What do you mean