

Body Heat Power  (Source: Image via Fraunhofer)
Future electronic devices could be powered by body heat alone








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RE: The Matrix has you
By Scorpion on 8/21/2007 6:27:27 PM , Rating: 2
How so? Every living organism is an energy conversion device. It's been a while since I saw the movie so I don't know how in depth they tried to describe the process of "using us as batteries", but the more vague they were then the better off they were it claiming it.

Living creatures are constantly converting energy and giving off excess in some form. Why would it be unreasonable for a higher intelligence to develop a way to tap into that energy? Couldn't you say that everything that gives off energy is a source? It's only in the details of how you go about converting that energy from one form (the unusable) to another (the usable) that is the key. So I'm not entirely sure why exactly you found that so scientifically ridiculous. Unless I missed how they exactly described some method which violates some scientific postulate.

RE: The Matrix has you
By lemonadesoda on 8/21/2007 6:48:03 PM , Rating: 3
The point being made, is not that it is scientifically impossible, but that it is scientifically a very inefficient approach. Much easier and much more efficient is to brew alcohol or manuf. gases and use these as energy sources.

The Island's concept of using humans for "body parts" is a much more plausible and scientific approach to the misuse of humans.

RE: The Matrix has you
By Scorpion on 8/21/2007 6:57:55 PM , Rating: 3
Ok that's what I was trying to get at. I was waiting for the response. If the point was really on the efficiency of the conversion. The energy input required to "farm" the humans and even to produce the "food energy" required to keep them living would probably be much greater than the output. But it's a Sci-Fi movie and they can simply say that the machines have discovered more efficient ways of harnessing that power. :)

As other methods of deriving energy then yes you could argue that their resources would be better used converting energy that required less input and yeilded more output. Without sun you're really limited in energy sources and chemical energy is the most viable.

If the machines didn't need us for energy then it wouldn't have made for much of a movie about enslaved humans. :) It is just a movie after all.

RE: The Matrix has you
By LogicallyGenius on 8/23/2007 4:18:25 AM , Rating: 2
I cant wait for chairs that generate electric currents as we seat on them. COOL it.

RE: The Matrix has you
By smitty3268 on 8/21/2007 7:28:33 PM , Rating: 2
That bugged me every single time I watched the movie - using humans for power is inherently inefficient, because our bodies are using the inputs for lots of other stuff, like keeping us alive. Still, it made for a great story.

RE: The Matrix has you
By Xenoterranos on 8/21/2007 11:24:17 PM , Rating: 2
And you call yourselves nerds!
During the initial reveal by Morpheus, it is mentioned that the robots are powered by a combination of human batteries and "a form of fusion". So there, science prevails!

RE: The Matrix has you

RE: The Matrix has you

RE: The Matrix has you
> "They used us as batteries..."




RE: The Matrix has you


RE: The Matrix has you




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