DARPA To Turn Humans Into Batteries 183
DARPA is working on a project that will convert energy from the human body to power a variety of military gadgets. From the article: "Obviously, our bodies generate heat — thermal energy. They also produce vibrations when we move — kinetic energy. Both forms of energy can be converted into electricity. Anantha Chandrakasan, an MIT electrical engineering professor, who is working on the problem with a former student named Yogesh Ramadass, says the challenge is to harvest adequate amounts of power from the body and then efficiently direct it to the device that needs it." If I remember the movie correctly, this didn't turn out so well for the humans.
Here's my solution (Score:4, Interesting)
If you want (a) power; (b) biometric identification; (c) biological status/health monitoring, consider the Rectal Thermocouple... This will normally generate substantial additional power in combat as an added benefit. :-)
Re:Matrix Jokes ... (Score:2, Interesting)
Can you get power from humans? Sure, but why would you specifically breed them for that purpose? I mean, really, nuclear would be a great deal easier, and provide much more power. So would burning coal. In either case, you don't need to set up an elaborate virtual reality to keep the fuel cells in line. Hell, even if you accept that bio-generated heat is an ideal power source, why not use cows? The VR would be a great deal simpler. Finally, even if for some bizarre reason humans are the only option, why even bother with a VR at all: just lobotomize them or induce a coma.
That's one of the main reasons I was so disappointed in the sequels: they got way too mystical. What would have been better would be if it had been found out that the primary reason the matrix was made was not for power generation, rather computational power. A portion of each inhabitant of the matrix brain was used as hardware for the AI. In order to keep the brain functioning correctly, the VR had to be generated. It would also explain "The One"'s ability to hack the matrix: he could access the part of his brain that was being used to generate the matrix, giving him access to the fundamental underpinnings. In essence, a backdoor exploit. I personally think it would have been more satisfying and dramatic if the original teaser line "what is the matrix?" had been answered in the sequels as "we are the matrix".
kid stuff (Score:3, Interesting)
If these guys were serious about powering implants, they'd be using ATP or glucose. Heat and vibrations are nice, but a few more steps down the thermodynamic pipeline.
Plus, the good piezoelectrics are not exactly made of bio-friendly metals.
Re:Matrix Jokes ... (Score:5, Interesting)
The idea that humans are batteries is just what Morpheus claimed. It may be true in the inner Matrix world, but may not be for the outer matrix worlds. Remember even in the first movie the question was asked: "What if when you woke up, you didn't know the difference between the dream world, and the real world?"
My interpretation is the Oracle is trying to upgrade herself- she believes humans have something the machines don't.
Think of the whole thing as a "hybrid/breeding program".
Neo is likely at least partly a machine (and a special one). The Oracle gives Neo a cookie to add features/upgrades at critical moments.
After each world iteration, Neo has a chance of becoming more human but crucially retaining the abilities of machines.
Smith goes about merging with all the humans and other machines, including the Oracle (who still somehow retains enough of herself to prompt Neo), and Neo merges with Smith.
If things go fine, the Oracle gets her upgrade...
As the Architect said, the Oracle is playing a dangerous game.
But life is dangerous
Humans where used for CPU power but the boss (Score:3, Interesting)
Humans where used for CPU power but the hollywood bosses cut that part.
Re:Matrix Jokes ... (Score:3, Interesting)
I like that interpretation. I can see the higher biological and technological beings desiring traits in each other.. but with no way to obtain them while staying purely what they are. Your hybrids would be feared by both sides.
I wouldn't want my jeep to have temper tantrums but having tires that grew like fingernails would be wicked. Get into a fender bender and just feed it some aluminum cans for a few days. Of course i think at that point i wouldn't be telling the jeep what to do, it would probably be commanding me around to feed it more aluminum cans.
I like your interpretation though. Looks like i was modded troll for some reason.. possibly for mentioning an AI god?