tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6059095776066394557.post1038629475502001577..comments2023-10-25T03:22:30.728-06:00Comments on Ragamuffin Studies: Is Tolerance a Virtue?Elisheva Hannah Levinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16061377724926154037noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6059095776066394557.post-85172069353001128582011-12-14T10:34:49.205-07:002011-12-14T10:34:49.205-07:00Deb, did you mean to post this comment on the newe...Deb, did you mean to post this comment on the newer post "Something for Nothing"? In any case, there I talk about the difference between improved efficiency and claiming to have overturned the laws of thermodynamics, and why I think the claim my friend's friend makes is the latter and not the former. <br /><br />I have a friend who runs his car on used cooking oil which he gets free from McDonalds. However, that fuel source is not nearly as efficient as is petroleum, although the source of the energy (energy captured from photons by plants and stored in carbon bonds) is exactly the same. My friend, David, benefits because he can get the fuel for free. However, if everyone were to switch to this source, the fuel would not remain free for long, and as we have seen with bio-diesel, it is not nearly as efficient as petroleum. <br /><br />Random question: Does anyone realize that petroleum is also biological in origin?Elisheva Hannah Levinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16061377724926154037noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6059095776066394557.post-77305586775591543492011-12-13T11:11:08.262-07:002011-12-13T11:11:08.262-07:00Well, I'm not convinced that the "irratio...Well, I'm not convinced that the "irrational"" crowd is necessarily part and parcel with the "something for nothing" contingent...people go to star parties at the observatory here in order to "instruct" the astronomers about the origin and nature of the universe...these are people with no knowledge of science and who couldn't integrate xdx to save their lives...very odd...but maybe they'd go for pickle jar fusion products for their cars too, though, so you might be right. (A friend in the seventies knew some folks who bought a $4,000 conversion kit to make their car run on water...so maybe it wasn't "something for nothing", just "something for less".)<br /><br />DeborahAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com