Who says monks don't swing?
The "Botafumeiro" is a famous old thurible (incense burner) suspended
and often seen swinging wildly across the domed nave of the Cathedral
Santiago de Compostela, in Spain, at a rather surprising (and dangerous)
speed (if you are underneath it).
Incense is burned in this swinging brass and silver container, mostly
for the enjoyment paying tourists as it holds so much that it costs 250
Euros to fill, and the local area is not well-off (except for this
attraction). Spiritual edification is a fringe benefit.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathedral_of_Santiago_de_Compostela
The Botafumeiro is, in effect, a pendulum which is normally kept in
motion by as many as 8 monks expending very little energy, and in fact
there has for a long time been local talk of a wheel which will allow it
swing perpetually on its own (powered by angels, as they say)... or at
least until the rope gives out, which is every 20 years or so.
http://tinyurl.com/g5vhg
or
http://www.sciences.univ-nantes.fr/physique/perso/gtulloue/Meca/Oscillateurs/botafumeiro.html
Alas, like most pendulums, it is probably not OU -- instead it is just
very efficient device which may extract some 'extra' energy from both
gravity and the angular momentum of earth - and retain an incredible of
stored energy (torque)... figure the torque of the Botafumeiro and it is
similar to that of a compact automobile.
However, of keen interest to alternative energy entusiasts in the
'pendulum-plus' subject category is that it may serve as a bootstrapping
device -- to capture the energy of waves, or tide, or even turbulent
river flow at double the normal efficiency for slow moving flow. Here is
an example:
http://energie.cnrs.fr/rapport_ACI_2004-2006/ECD032.pdf
(go down to page 7 or 28 for an image of what they are doing, if you do
not read French)
Better yet here is an interesting video of something similar, which
demonstrates how one can convert a few watts into massive amounts of
torque, using a pendulum.
http://home.planet.nl/%7Esintt000/RonPendulum.MPG
... and there is a thread on Hartmann's forum of the broader subject:
the Mikovic invention, on which these concepts are an improvement:
http://www.overunity.com/index.php/topic,1763.360.html
The bottom line situation is this: it might be feasible, using
bootstrapping of such a high torque, high efficiency mechanical
oscillator - to take a 'free' source of energy, like the flow of a
river, and instead of an expensive dam, for instance -- incorporate the
conversion device onto a turbulence generator (like a undulating
concrete water raceway) which cheap device gives you the same amount of
net energy as if there were a $100 million dam there, but without all
the disruption that dams cause and for pennies on the dollar. Quein Sabe?
Now that is one swinging smoker of an alternative energy idea...
Jones
