> You can always extract some useful work when transferring heat from a hot bath to a cold bath.
True. But this is Jesuitry. Are you by any chance an investor in the scheme?
Yes, you can get more work out of your car engine by surrounding it with Peltiers or other heat engines -- if you drive in the Arctic.
Seriously, if you, a physicist, actually know how to build an engine having no waste heat, why settle for the chump change of HN publicity? Go for the Nobel that you deserve.
I think the problem is that you interpreted the headline as meaning it could convert all waste heat to work. This is, of course, impossible. Converting some of the waste heat to work is entirely possible.
When there's two possible interpretations of a headline, and one of them is physically possible and the other one violates the second law of thermodynamics... it's probably best to assume the former. At least until you read the article.
True. But this is Jesuitry. Are you by any chance an investor in the scheme?
Yes, you can get more work out of your car engine by surrounding it with Peltiers or other heat engines -- if you drive in the Arctic.
Seriously, if you, a physicist, actually know how to build an engine having no waste heat, why settle for the chump change of HN publicity? Go for the Nobel that you deserve.