Cow Burps Tapped For Fuel 85
Dave Knott writes with this intriguing snippet from CBC: "Argentine scientists have found a way to transform the gas created by the bovine digestive system into fuel, an innovation that could curb greenhouse gases that cause global warming. Using a system of valves and pumps, the experimental technique developed by Argentina's National Institute of Agricultural Technology (INTA) channels the digestive gases from bovine stomach cavities through a tube and into a tank. The gases — which otherwise are commonly known as burps, or "eruptos" in Spanish — are then processed to separate methane from other gases such as carbon dioxide. Each head of cattle emits between 250 and 300 liters of pure methane a day, enough energy to keep a refrigerator running for 24 hours."
Re:just like the matrix (Score:5, Interesting)
I hated that part of the matrix. The original story was that the humans were used for their brains. The machines lived inside the networked human collective mind, because the human brain was--in this fictitious universe--the most powerful and energy efficient computer. But the studio thought that was too abstract, and so came up with the battery idea.
Re:just like the matrix (Score:5, Interesting)
But the studio thought that was too abstract, and so came up with the battery idea.
It actually makes sense when you realize that the 'free' humans were not picked for their mastery of science. Someone was lied to by a program, Morpheus believed the person (probably through a chain of re-tellers), and that's what he told Mr. Anderson. They were all too busy fighting their odd war of survival to notice that the science they accepted was wrong, and that electricity could not be the AI's motive for keeping the Matrix up and running.
AKA: unreliable narrator.