400 milliwatts per square meter? That's interesting that they can do it at all, but that level is completely impractical for real use.

▲

15155 a day ago | parent | next [-]

This is plenty of power to run a microcontroller and a radio (sporadically) with an energy-harvesting setup.

▲

aetherspawn a day ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> the generation of >400 milliwatts per square meter of mechanical power with a potential for >6 watts per square meter.

Keep in mind the power is fully mechanical so no electricity or control circuit is required. And based on the simplicity it seems like a good candidate to power something that you need to last 100 years with no maintenance for example.

▲

abeppu a day ago | parent | next [-]

I think the "last 100 years with no maintenance" is not likely feasible with this approach. The top plate has a coating that supports high infrared emissivity -- and I think it would need to be regularly cleaned to work well. And you can't really prevent it from getting dirty by enclosing it b/c that both substantially changes the performance and moves the maintenance burden to cleaning the enclosure.

▲

IAmBroom 9 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

No moving parts in open water last without maintenance. Life, uh, finds a way.

▲

AnimalMuppet a day ago | parent | prev [-]

Mechanical things don't usually work for 100 years with no maintenance. Bearings run dry, if nothing else.

▲

ufocia a day ago | parent [-]

Air bearings always run dry without problems.

	▲	yetihehe 16 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		Air bearings run dry until they get some moisture. Then they fail. Old joke about making radio enclosures: make it as watertight as possible, then drill a small hole on the bottom to let the water escape.
	▲	contingencies a day ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		Until they are replaced with dust, pollution, hair, animals, leaf litter, aggressive plants, seismic events, pollen, skin particles, birdshit, fallen logs, slime mold, etc.

▲

foxglacier a day ago | parent | prev [-]

So what? It's research, not business. Surely you didn't expect they'd found a practical source of free energy that was ready to compete with solar but somehow nobody else bothered to try before?

	▲	nrhrjrjrjtntbt a day ago \| parent [-]
		It is interesting to know if it has potential (pun intended) for some use. Even if that is some very niche thing.