[STONER1]

TechEBlog » Feature: Laptops of the Future

of course they're fake, but still pretty cool.

 

[shigzeo]

hmmm... a jet-powered laptop? mit are smoking something huge if they think in an age when fossil fuels are are being frowned upon, jet engines will power laptops.

 

[jmmtn4aj]

Quote:

Originally Posted by shigzeo /img/forum/go_quote.gif hmmm... a jet-powered laptop? mit are smoking something huge if they think in an age when fossil fuels are are being frowned upon, jet engines will power laptops.

You lose much more in the current process of fuel powered turbines -> electrical energy -> transformers -> power lines -> home transformer -> charger -> battery. At every step power is being lost as heat.

EDIT: The tendency is to think of the jet engines attached to aircraft for propulsion when the word is mentioned. But the basic premise of a jet engine is not that much different that your lawnmower engine. Fuel + air + heat = energy. The only difference is that jet engines achieve this with multiple compression stages using multiple fans on a single axis. Many power plant generators are adapted designs of aircraft jet engines.

EDIT EDIT: Conventional jets. I understand that a more basic premise of it is to force the fluid out at an accelerated velocity to provide thrust, while other combustion engines are made to produce mechanical motion at the last stage