I'm not aware of any peer-reviewed articles that have shown organic food to be verifiably better for you, all other things equal.
As I understand it, most of the benefits come from the fact that organic foods are more susceptible to spoilage and contamination, meaning they tend to be fresher and handled more carefully.
I heard that he has already been paid off by Exxon who purchased his technology for 30 million. Evil oil companies will mothball his Fox body in their secret high mileage warehouse where it will never to be seen again.
@bradyb: lol. you know that my girlfriend's dad, who is a really intelligent man who won't buy anything without putting in about 10 hours of hardcore research, told me the other day that his 'uncle invented a high mileage engine that GM bought out the patents for and left it on the shelf.'
you know an urban legend has legs when people think it involves their own families!
@akier: There have been several debunkings of this urban legend over the years, but I recall one years ago that actually had a representative from GM saying there was a glimmer of truth to it. GM has purchased patents for "high-economy" or "high-efficiency" engines, as have other major manufacturers. In some cases, only after years of study did they realize that the technology is sound, but, for instance, the tolerances are way too fine to allow mass production. Or it's stupidly efficient, but it can't rev above 850 RPMs, so the powerband is too narrow for anything less than a 25-speed transmission. For whatever reason, with current technology, it won't work, but they keep it around in case they can use it ten years from now. Look at VW's G-lader supercharger. They hung onto that technology for, what, 60 years before they found a use for it?
Yeah, I'm just gonna go ahead and call BS on this one. I just don't have that much faith in a garage "inventor" coming up with a truly revolutionary technology like this before any one of the numerous actual research groups do.
@elwood: It's not even that, so much, as the complete lack of major attention--if it really were a better mousetrap--or even a plausible better mousetrap--the world would have already beaten a path to his door.
Mike the Dog is sitting by the door with a pair of cow slippers, and a very sad face. was starred
Mike the Dog is sitting by the door with a pair of cow slippers, and a very sad face. was unstarred
it's all very possible.. the trick is to try and turn as much heat as possible into work. it could be that he's running a very very lean burn in a very high compression engine.. but.. the real trick in all of this, is will it pass a sniffer.
Normal car companies (the hondas, fords, gms, chryslers, toypliance) of the world have to meet not only cafe regulations, they have to meet EPA regs as well.
cars would be a hell of a lot more fuel efficient if the epa regs weren't so stringent. but there is the crux of the problem.. what's more important, using less oil, or preventing the oil that's being burnt from forming gases like NOx.
lean burn = high NOx.
he might have a working high mpg engine, but it can't probably go into production because the EPA would shitcan it before it even got close to a sniffer.
Many states don't require inspections. So couldn't he pretty easily set up a conversion business in those places? He could charge a small fortune, as long as customers recouped their costs within a year or two of fuel savings.
The REAL business is in the OEM, but like you said, OEMs have to manufacturer to the lowest common denominator on standards (CARB/EPA, etc)
I would love to believe this is legit. If he's truly done it, he deserves all of the millions that he'll get, and we should have one of his engines in every vehicle manufactured.
Sadly, my understanding of thermodynamics won't allow me to believe it.
I do have to admire the guy's moxy. Would you be soliciting the media knowing full well that you'll be revealed as a fraud?
@smalleyxb122: I dunno,there's no shortage of fruitcakes claiming to have footage of Bigfoot,& when the tv crews turn up it just a guy with a couple of dead Racoons & a Badger stapled to him.
@Maxichamp: Oh, it's not whether he can convince a reporter that you've done it. He has to know that the stories can only work for so long before it becomes "put up or shut up".
I wonder what his end game is? Burn down his garage before any testing can begin, and claim a conspiracy?
"...and all of the blueprints were in that scorched cabinet right there, so I can't even build another one.
@Slant- sick of the Camaro: Thanks. I was gonna call him on that too. A friend was out east last month, and brought me back a case. I'll be needing more soon...
Mike the Dog is sitting by the door with a pair of cow slippers, and a very sad face. was starred
Mike the Dog is sitting by the door with a pair of cow slippers, and a very sad face. was unstarred
@smalleyxb122: Yep, any engine that produces power from two different temperature reservoirs (which includes the Otto cycle we all know and love), has a maximum efficiency of 1-(T_cold/T_hot), where the temperatures are measured in an absolute temperature scale. Plus, at that maximum efficiency, the engine is making no power, as the rate processes in the cycle have to take infinitely long. Maximum power for the cycle is produced at an efficiency of 1-sqrt(T_cold/T_hot). This guy's claims really don't sound very likely at all.
I also echo the thoughts of other commenters when it comes to his mpg claims. What's that smell,sniff,it's not pigs,sniff sniff,it's not cows,sniff,ahhh it's bullshit!
The guy is clearly a very skilled man,the downside is having to drive everywhere at 10mph & clogging up the roads. The point of a 400bhp car is to give it some beans,don't take the fun out of it!
I'm a believer in the aggregate intelligence of the free market. If this guy is for real, he would have been killed or paid off before anyone else ever knew about it. Like the movie Pi.
@Dr.Danger, Hasta la victoria siempre!: No one believes me, but the scene following the drill scene was originally in color. I saw it in a theater and it was in color, and later when I rented the tape, it was in B&W. I was confused to say the least, but I'm pretty sure they also keep it in B&W on the DVD release as well.
10/30/08
There are better, more enchanting, sideshows.
10/30/08
According to the gas chromatograph, the secret ingredient is... Love!?!
Who's been screwing with this thing?
10/30/08
[www.quackwatch.org]
I count 5 out of 7.
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I'm not aware of any peer-reviewed articles that have shown organic food to be verifiably better for you, all other things equal.
As I understand it, most of the benefits come from the fact that organic foods are more susceptible to spoilage and contamination, meaning they tend to be fresher and handled more carefully.
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you know an urban legend has legs when people think it involves their own families!
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Normal car companies (the hondas, fords, gms, chryslers, toypliance) of the world have to meet not only cafe regulations, they have to meet EPA regs as well.
cars would be a hell of a lot more fuel efficient if the epa regs weren't so stringent. but there is the crux of the problem.. what's more important, using less oil, or preventing the oil that's being burnt from forming gases like NOx.
lean burn = high NOx.
he might have a working high mpg engine, but it can't probably go into production because the EPA would shitcan it before it even got close to a sniffer.
10/30/08
Many states don't require inspections. So couldn't he pretty easily set up a conversion business in those places? He could charge a small fortune, as long as customers recouped their costs within a year or two of fuel savings.
The REAL business is in the OEM, but like you said, OEMs have to manufacturer to the lowest common denominator on standards (CARB/EPA, etc)
10/30/08
Sadly, my understanding of thermodynamics won't allow me to believe it.
I do have to admire the guy's moxy. Would you be soliciting the media knowing full well that you'll be revealed as a fraud?
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I wonder what his end game is? Burn down his garage before any testing can begin, and claim a conspiracy?
"...and all of the blueprints were in that scorched cabinet right there, so I can't even build another one.
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