5 Feb
1999
5 Feb
'99
11:35 a.m.
Dwight Elvey <elvey(a)hal.com> wrote:
If we were, tomorrow, to find a new working principle
of the
universe that explained how we could violate the principle
of conservation of energy that would allow taking
advantage of Zero-point energy then I would say go for
it.
So what you're telling us is that you've PROVEN that there is no
way to take advantage of zero-point energy without violating the principle
of conservation of matter and energy? Or are you just guessing?
Note also that many principles that used to be widely accepted as "truth"
have since fallen out of favor, because they were later found not to hold
under all conditions, e.g., Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation. And the
principle I mentioned previously that held that black holes couldn't emit
radiation. If you could somehow use that radiation, you would have a
seeming violation of the conservation of matter and energy. But it is only
a local violation, which is allowed. It isn't a real violation, because the
black hole is losing mass. Similarly, there may be a way to harness
zero-point energy that involves only a local violation of conservation.
Without that new principle, talking about using
this new source of energy is about as useful as worrying
about the probability that all my atoms might suddenly
move five feet to the left.
Sure. And I suppose there was no point to talking about the possibility of
heavier-than-air craft flying before all the laws of aerodynamics were
understood, either. And presumably there was no point to talking about
the possiblity of communicating over thousands of miles in real time
before Quantum Electrodynamics was fully understood.