What is Digg?48 Comments
- tjl2015, on 10/12/2007, -2/+17One question, when can I cool my computer with it?
- liquidcoooled, on 10/12/2007, -1/+13swanny - your hard drive has a pair of really powerful magnets inside it already.
If you take a HD apart you will see. - swanny89, on 10/12/2007, -5/+16I don't know about you but I wouldn't want my computer anywhere near a magnetic field capable of inducing this efect: not so good for the ol' hard drive!
- Durrok, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9Yeah you really need a huge magnetic field these days to do any damage to your hard drive. I doubt this would generate enough of a magnetic field to effect it, otherwise you would have people's leftovers sticking to the doors :p
- Jibberish, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9All I have to say is,
Magnetic nano-refrigerator
Right? Right?
Remember: nano = better
Thats what digg has taught me anyways... - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7So...now that the refrigerator IS the magnet, will proud parents hang their children's report cards on it by putting a piece of metal on it?
- WaterDragon, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6"Magnetic nano-refrigerator"
Magnanorator.
But it's only better if you are viewing it on a Mac, or with Linux. - mechtech, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6@geminitrojanus
The U.S. standard ton of refrigeration describes an amount of cooling, not a refrigerators weight!. One standard ton = 288,000 Btuist removed, which is approximately the cooling provided by melting 2009.1 pounds of ice. Extracting heat at the rate of 1 commercial ton of refrigeration results in a standard ton removed each day. - WaterDragon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4@ravenmuffin
I just saw those same ads at the top of the digg page, not in the actual article.
Could it be that the specific ads that came up were targeted for that page by a machine, and like a search engine, it only reads 'words' -- like 'magnetism', with no actual comprehension? - wjhicks, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Must use ajax somewhere....
Ajax powered Magnanorator. - Durrok, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4... or just get adblocker with firefox. I haven't seen an ad in over a year.
- quokkapox, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3So click on each of those stupid ads and make the quacks pay Google. Click only ONCE on each. Click around on their site a bit, but don't buy anything.
If enough people do this, the quacks end up paying the content creators (and google). Everybody wins (except the quacks). - computerbynar, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3would the magnetic field damage those holographic hard drives they are coming out with?
- geminitojanus, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5You could always replace the HD with a 8gb flash drive, and store your media on a different computer in a different location or on DVDs. It'd cut down on the size of the machine as well.
- dattaway, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2The seals on a household refrigerator may be the leak for efficiency on a household refrigerator, but consider a food distribution wharehouse where I work. We have 30,000 pounds of anhydrous ammonia cooling rooms where most of the heat is generated by food that is chemically ripening and generating its own heat as well as a few megawatts worth of lights.
All this is interesting, but I would be surprised to see a more efficient conductor of heat than anhydrous ammonia. - jcmead, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Might be real. see Ames Laboratory press release: http://www.ameslab.gov/final/News/2001rel/01magneticrefrig.htm
- MrGeneric, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2All these guys have done is found a better alloy to use in existing designs.
The alloy does not act like a thermal diode, two loops of circulating fluid are still required.
This patent explains it, http://www.freepatentsonline.com/4735053.pdf
It works like this, make alloy cool, flow inner cooling fluid around it, thus loosing heat to the alloy, stop inner flow and start outer flow, make alloy heat up, thus loosing heat to the outer cooling loop (the environment outside the cool box)
Such coolers are efficient because there in no mechanical compressor pump, which is a simple and inefficient engine. - mechtech, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3@geminitrojanus
I didnt make the rules.
In HVAC/R its BTU's and Ton's
cheers. - ravenmuffin, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Good story, but the site is doing itself no favors for its credibility with the Google ads that come up in the middle of the article:
Magnetized Water Info - Infinity Water has subtle magnetic power to hydrate and heal the cells
Immortality Device - New invention allows humans to stay physically young forever.
Natural Cures. Stop Aging - Magnetic Device. Kevin Recommends. Alex Chiu's Original Website - WaterDragon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Cool link! (NPI)
Now if they just add some of those Tesla - based 'magnetic motors' (as referenced in the movie "Free Energy--the Race to Zero Point"), they can build a fridge that uses no electricity from external sorces, deriving all its power from magnets.(until the magnets in the motors are exhausted and need replacing.)
Next step is to find a way to recycle or somehow convert all that thermal waste.
As a computer, I hate thermal pollution! - retral, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Time to invest :o
- Eraserhead, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1This is a FANTASTIC development that could scale up far better than existing technology. From the university that gave us the shape of the DNA molecule. Watch this space.
- tedc, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"When this alloy is placed in a magnetic field, it gets colder."
Er...if I'm not mistaken, the magnetic field actually heats up the alloy. Removing the field is what gives you the cooling. In a magnetic fridge, you would presumably have to vent off the excess heat until it settles back to room temperature. Then switching off the field would drop you down to well below that. - Quake120, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I don't think this technology could be used (very easily anyways) for computer-cooling. The reason is that when the material is put in a magnetic field, it generates heat and when removed from the magnetic field, it cools down, but cools down to below ambient. Because of that heat, it'd be hard to come up with a solution for computer cooling. I'd be curious to see what you guys can come up with.
- toneill, on 04/04/2009, -0/+1http://www.getecube.com
Here's a simple gadget that saves up to 30% of the energy on refrigerators, takes 5 minutes to install. Pretty cool. - scblock, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1The biggest trouble with this technology is the magnetic field changes required. We're talking deltas of 2-5 Tesla. Essentially the larger the magnetic field change the more effective the refrigeration process is.
What I don't see in this article is any actual numbers quantifying the magnitude of the MCE or the range of Curie temperatures they can achieve. Without that it's hard to compare this material to any of the other potential materials such as the gadolinium-silicon-germanium alloys developed at the Ames Lab. - ReinMasamuri, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1So here's a question. Can you keep an ice box cool by throwing a couple of earth magnets in with it? Or does it for some reason need to be an electro-magnetic field?
- scblock, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1The larger (5+ T) magnetic field changes require either large (generally superconducting) electromagnets, while the small end of the range (2 T or so) can almost be met with high strength permanent magnets. Either solution is currently prohibitively expensive for consumer sized equipment.
As far as fatigue, the permanent magnets themselves are not truly permanent and require remagnetization on occasion. The magnetocaloric material does not, as far as I have been able to discover, fatigue over time, but that's a question that a materials scientist or engineer would have a better answer for than I do. - Squeegee, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Just a thought. It's limited.. How many customers have pace makers?
- RealyBigFish, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@computerbynar
No, holographic disks are optical medium, just like CDs and DVDs. - heinousjay, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1That conclusion would require a subtly incorrect interpretation of the English language, as such. It would also require some interesting contortions of the laws of physics, as we currently understand them.
- gunner1138, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Whoa, cool. Just PLEASE DO NOT bring a magnet near the fridge.
- praseodym, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetocaloric_effect
Wikipedia says the effect is about 3 K per Tesla change of magnetic field on most metals. That looks like an issue: you'd need a _really_ strong magnet to cool stuff at room temperature. Does this metal have a really strong effect, or are they using really strong magnets? - Archimboldo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1No, it doesn't keep anything cold. It releases heat (cools itself) when a magnetic field is applied and takes it back (heats itself back up) when the field is released. This could be used to pump heat out of the box if the process is repeated, presumeably with some heat exchanging material circulated to coils.
This would take away the need to compress freon to concentrate heat in it and release it at the coils, then to let the freon de-compress. I don't see how it would totally eliminate a motor unless they have some clever way of funneling the released heat from the magnetocaloric material preferentially away from the box. - rspeed, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Personally I'd like to see a portable air conditioner using this technology. Much more compact that compressors and far more efficient than piezoelectrics.
- sriramalka, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I don't follow. What if it takes as many teslas? Why is it a trouble? They probably have a good story cost-wise because they are spinning a company.
On a different note, I'm curious about the process's longevity. Does the material develops some kind of magnetic fatigue over time, and if so how long? - wush, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0That's hot.
- kyle90, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Y'know, I've heard of fridge magnets, but this is just ridiculous!
- DigiNinja, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I don't see anywhere in the article where it says the device would way 1 ton? Maybe I'm missing something.
Either way - fridges are already huge, hardly ever get moved, and last for a very long time
I think it's a great idea as long as they can be priced competitively, I don't know how much of my monthly bill is attributed to my refrigerator, but it would need to be pretty significant to make this thing pay for itself anytime soon. (Which it very well may be, I've got no clue)
Conserving energy is always nice, but I don't think the concept will catch on with mainstream America until it becomes cost effective. - downeym, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0anyone want to explain the physics behind this? The only way it could possibly cool down in the presence of a magnetic field is if the heat energy was transferred out of the material somehow... I don't see how applying energy to something can release energy from it...
now if the heat CREATED a magnetic field and you could convert that field to electrical current and shunt it, that would make more sense...
sounds fishy to me... heating the material makes sense.. cooling it doesn't...
as ReinMasamuri pointed out, you should be able to just sit it next to a couple of earth magnets and it would stay cool forever, right? congratulations... you just make yourself a perpetual motion machine! :) - abhirao, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0So what happens when i stick a can of coke in this fridge?
- generalmx, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0My only question with this amazing new technology has to be -- what will happen to all my tacky refrigrator magnets?! How can one spell out incoherent sentences using random word magnets with an already magnetic refridgerator?
- geminitojanus, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1So what if the fridge weighs a ton, are there many of us who move refridgerators often? Hell, most houses still have the refridgerator in them from when they were built. They could also build a refridgerator where the cooler bottle is actually external to the fridgerator itself, and the air is simply circulated around it (much like how modern nuclear power plants operate, with two independent water systems).
- geminitojanus, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2"The U.S. standard ton of refrigeration describes an amount of cooling, not a refrigerators weight!"
Well excuse me and my ignorance of esoteric measures, I work in an industry where heat is measured in the amount of energy disappated (joules), likely over time (watts). Why on earth anyone would want to measure heat in WEIGHT metrics is absolutely beyond me. - DougTanner, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0@swanny89
Actually there are TONS of magnetic fields in your computer already. The important thing to ask is if they are STRONG enough to fvck with a hard drive. In this case; probably not. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -5/+1Yes... I forsee the practicality of a 1 ton refrigerator that is 40% more efficient than the 200 pound models.
Of course, they could have the advantage of inducing the magnetic field across a vacuum, but the gap seals on your refrigerator door are responsible for most thermal inefficiency. - jcmead, on 10/12/2007, -5/+1Sorry
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