Dean on Colbert again - h2o purifier

BillPaxton · 03-21-2008, 01:51 PM

http://www.comedycentral.com/colbertreport/index.jhtml

segsurfer · 03-21-2008, 09:32 PM

Never knew he'd been on before. Good find.
-segsurfer

JohnG · 03-22-2008, 08:19 AM

I watched it yesterday on the repeat. A good showing, but Colbert didn't really give him that much of a chance to speak... as usual. Colbert is more interested in the theatrical value of such interviews than the content value of what is being said.

Kamen's been working on this system for probably more than a decade. I hope it makes it to production. My only question was, how is it powered? If it requires electricity, then that would be a non-starter in most of rural Africa (unless you sell a crank generator with it).

pam · 03-22-2008, 08:21 AM

I thought the original idea was for a sterling, which could be powered by burning trash, but I could be misremembering. Of course, they wouldn't have burning trash on the CR - the fire marshalls wouldn't allow it

.
Pam

JohnG · 03-22-2008, 08:22 AM

Ahh, here's an older article on how he perhaps expect to power it:

http://money.cnn.com/2006/02/16/tech...0216/index.htm

fathertime · 03-22-2008, 08:48 AM

The water machine may be powered by anything that will burn (don't forget that it has a stirling engine at it's heart). It could be coal, wood, cow dung, or kerosene. Anything that will produce heat will do. Dean actually told me that in a study done several years ago it became evident that kerosene was readily available almost everywhere in the civilized world. He additionally told me that one of the units was test run for over a year (with no problems) on the gas given off by a cow dung pit. I believe that this test was run in Bangladesh. It is a truly amazing machine that may dramatically change lives in the third world.

03-21-2008, 01:51 PM	#1
BillPaxton Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Jupiter, FL Posts: 581	Dean on Colbert again - h2o purifier http://www.comedycentral.com/colbertreport/index.jhtml __________________ Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut. ~Ernest Hemingway

03-21-2008, 09:32 PM	#2
segsurfer Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Harrisonburg, VA Posts: 1,357	Never knew he'd been on before. Good find. -segsurfer __________________ Life is not a Roadrunner cartoon, and you are not the Roadrunner!. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

03-22-2008, 08:19 AM	#3
JohnG Uber Administrator Wise Segway Elder Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Greater Boston Posts: 6,996	I watched it yesterday on the repeat. A good showing, but Colbert didn't really give him that much of a chance to speak... as usual. Colbert is more interested in the theatrical value of such interviews than the content value of what is being said. Kamen's been working on this system for probably more than a decade. I hope it makes it to production. My only question was, how is it powered? If it requires electricity, then that would be a non-starter in most of rural Africa (unless you sell a crank generator with it). __________________ -- An original Segway employee, 2001-2005

03-22-2008, 08:22 AM	#5
JohnG Uber Administrator Wise Segway Elder Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Greater Boston Posts: 6,996	Ahh, here's an older article on how he perhaps expect to power it: http://money.cnn.com/2006/02/16/tech...0216/index.htm __________________ -- An original Segway employee, 2001-2005

03-22-2008, 08:48 AM	#6
fathertime Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: chicago, illinois, USA. Posts: 665	Power The water machine may be powered by anything that will burn (don't forget that it has a stirling engine at it's heart). It could be coal, wood, cow dung, or kerosene. Anything that will produce heat will do. Dean actually told me that in a study done several years ago it became evident that kerosene was readily available almost everywhere in the civilized world. He additionally told me that one of the units was test run for over a year (with no problems) on the gas given off by a cow dung pit. I believe that this test was run in Bangladesh. It is a truly amazing machine that may dramatically change lives in the third world. __________________ Jim Reynolds Segway of Chicago 515 S. LaGrange Rd. LaGrange, Il. 60525 (708) 352-1685

03-22-2008, 08:21 AM	#4
pam Last of the Early 30 Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Yelm, WA Posts: 4,679	I thought the original idea was for a sterling, which could be powered by burning trash, but I could be misremembering. Of course, they wouldn't have burning trash on the CR - the fire marshalls wouldn't allow it . Pam

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