So I just finished watching the third part of Discovery's FutureCar series, "Fuel" (had it on DVR), and I found it quite interesting...until they introduced the theoretical car of the future: a perpetual motion machine.This car is propelled by compressed air, which is pretty cool, as it produces no emissions other than cold air. Of course energy has to be used to compress the air in the first place, a point to which the show's producers readily concede. But then they quickly jump the shark, declaring that maybe that energy could be produced using the compressed air-powered generator that the car's inventors have created. Okay, so the car creates power using compressed air, power which in turn would supposedly be used to create...compressed air!!! And voila, perpetual motion. Okay, so where in there does the power to create the actual motion of the car come in?
The series has been quite interesting thus far, but the show's producers have decided they want to get the audience really excited by discarding the laws of physics and then declaring that all our energy problems could be solved in the near future. Allow me to point out that at no time did the inventors of the compressed air car jump to this ridiculous conclusion. They are real scientists, who understand real science. For the Discovery Channel to air such an assertion warrants a major loss of credibility.
2 comments:
I saw the same show, and thought exactly the same thing. When they made the comment about perpetual motion (for the "air-car") at the end of the show, it made me question the "research" they did for the other cars, especially the Hydrogen powered cars.
Using electricity from the grid for electrolysis to separate Hydrogren from water is a massive waste of energy.
Hi with the gas prices going so high i would love a car that can run on air:-) So can to tell me where or how i can get one of these air car's please??? Send info to this e-mail icecreamman825@hotmail.com PLEASE SEND INFO :-)
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