R.J. Moore II said:

I just wanted to comment on Alexis (aka Dr. Crazy) on a point of WW2 history: “Why do you think Hitler extended every political coutesy to Switzerland while savagely divesting every other country of her treasure?”
Because Switzerland is geographically well situated, heavily armed, heavily fortified, and the Swiss would have bombed all the passages in and out of the alps (which could have stopped traffic from France to Italy and Austria) if Hitler tried anything. Not to mention it was a relatively small country that was easier to go around with armored vehicles. Switzerland has not been invaded in quite a long time, it’s not worth the trouble.
Even Napoleon quickly restored their independence, because it was better than having them revolt.

That was surely part of it, but I also think Switzerland as an independent neutral state suited the needs of Hitler more than it would if they were to successfully invade and take it over. Switzerland has always been an important nation for banking and exchange and was a big banking partner of the Nazi government. As an independent neutral state it was the perfect go-between to conduct any kind of trade with others (Latin America, Spain ect). It had diplomatic importance. As a neutral body that was respected by the allies in this manner, it could do things like transfer assets between Japan and Germany. During the war, the Swiss Franc was the only freely tradable currency in the world.

By the way: This is not to say that there were not tensions or threats. Germany drafted plans to invade Switzerland but never used them. The Swiss military grew and the Swiss installed heavily armed troops at all passes and along the border. Switzerland was bombed a few times by both allies and axis aircraft either by mistake or because the aircraft were damaged and limped into swiss airspace before crashing. There were blockades at one point or another of Switzerland by both the Allies and Axis – this again caused some diplomatic clashes and threats of military action.

But the big reason is the obvious one: it’s a very very well defended country due to the natural geography and it’s small and not worth the effort to take, especially considering how badly Germany overextended herself.

What is with all the Alex Jones/Elder Zion crazies? Why do they come here?

        matthew said:

Doc,

I was reading a while back about some work using sterlings to replace thermocouples in RTG to boost efficiency. Any other thoughts on where they might be useful?

Yeah, I read about that too. It seems like a pretty good idea. The one disadvantage as far as I can see is the whole issue of reliability. The thing about thermocouplers is that they’re free of moving parts and can do their thing for a long long time. The ones on the Voyagers are still in pretty good shape.

A reciprocating piston in a little engine just does not seem like the kind of thing you can reasonably expect to keep chugging in deep space for 30+ years with nobody to lube it or service it in any other way.

I don’t really know if that matters though. If it’s just for a mission of a few months or a year to deep space it might work out just as well.

It definitely could boost efficiency that is for sure.

        drbuzz0 said:

Sterling engines work very well in a few narrow circumstances, but their thermal efficiency is nothing amazing. They may work better than steam in circumstances where the temperature difference is relatively low, but like all thermal engines they max out at the Carnot Limit.

In practice they don’t really get anywhere close.

The thermal efficiency for a small to medium sterling engine is about 15%-30%.

Doc,

I was reading a while back about some work using sterlings to replace thermocouples in RTG to boost efficiency. Any other thoughts on where they might be useful?

        Alexis1111 said:

Alexis1111 is male not female as implied by the depleted cranium contributor that cant help to jumping to conclusions without the slightest substantiation. Trying to prop the female uprising hoax on my back, lol. Have you no shame?

I never said I knew you were female, only that I thought it was a distinct possibility given the name. It doesn’t matter one way or another. Are you saying it would be an insult to be believed to be a female?

Oh well, you’re an crazy guy and not a crazy girl. doesn’t matter too much in the end.

You disipoint me. Really? That stupid an error?

sure, you can make hydrogen peroxide from water using energy and you can use it to generate energy, but you can’t do it all in a closed system.

it’s like saying a motor turns an generator to power the motor. Okay – I get you won’t understand that because it’s not a perfect comparison..

A system that produces a chemical using energy and generates energy by consuming the same chemical can never work. There is an energy deficit.

You need energy to make the hydrogen peroxide. Where does this energy come from? It can’t come from the hydrogen peroxide engines!

I know how a sterling engine works, but you’re wrong about them being the most pollution-free super efficient engines ever known. They are thermal engines and require heat to run, so “pollution free” depends entirely on where that heat comes from. They’re just like a steam turbine or a reciprocating steam engine or any other thermal engine except they have a closed gas-phase working fluid.

Sterling engines work very well in a few narrow circumstances, but their thermal efficiency is nothing amazing. They may work better than steam in circumstances where the temperature difference is relatively low, but like all thermal engines they max out at the Carnot Limit. In practice they don’t really get anywhere close.

The thermal efficiency for a small to medium sterling engine is about 15%-30%. That’s roughly the same as a gasoline engine of the same size but less than a high efficiency diesel engine. At larger sizes, turbines just work a lot better.

You’re really boring me. Really.

The running of the Stirling cycle engine is what will charge the battery banks that turn the screws. The Hydrogen peroxide is manufactured onboard the submarine and serves to feed the “hot” portion of the “hot-cold” thermal piston action. The air sealed inside the cylinders expands and contracts based on the thermal disparities at its extremities. The hydrogen peroxide is not turning the screws, it is feeding one of the most pollution-free, silent, super efficient engines known to man. It does not need air to function and the hydrogen peroxide fuel made onbaod by electrical process is consumed leaving fresh water and oxygen that can be exhausted back to the showers and life support systems.

Your grim views of the engines potential are not founded on reality. The nuclear navy=Sirling/battery array concepts. Nothing more exotic than that. The rest is taken care by big piles of national secrecy gag rules. The hoaxster’s paradise in other words.