I don't know about the Today show, but it was featured in the Boston Globe
yesterday. I just paid $N.NN to access the archive, but the article's been
CUT OFF. Heck, here it is anyway:
INVENTOR'S CLUES FUEL TALK THAT IDEAL ENGINE IS NEAR
Author: By Gareth Cook, Globe Staff Date: 03/07/2001 Page: A1 Section:
National/Foreign
New Hampshire inventor Dean Kamen, who sparked worldwide excitement in
January when word leaked of his mysterious new invention, code named
"Ginger," appears to be working on a revolutionary engine that could
introduce an era of cheap, efficient power.
Investigative journalist Adam Pennenberg, author of a book on industrial
espionage, said yesterday that he has found clues that prove Kamen is
working on a Stirling engine, a device that engineers have been trying to
perfect for more than a century.
In November, Kamen's company registered the Web site name
"stirlingengine.com," said Pennenberg, who describes the results of an
investigation into Kamen in the next issue of Inside magazine.
If Kamen, a well-respected inventor, has made a technical breakthrough that
would allow him to create small, relatively inexpensive Stirling engines,
engineers said, the effects would be far-reaching. In theory, every home
could generate its own cheap power with a device the size of an air
conditioner that uses natural gas, drastically cutting down on the waste
inherent in the electric grid.
An advanced Stirling engine could have wide applications and could literally
change how humans use power - bringing its inventor incredible riches.
"If you can release a product that makes the electric grid obsolete, that
would change industry and the world," said Brent Van Arsdale, who reviewed a
patent Kamen holds on a Stirling engine improvement, and who is the
president of American Stirling, a company that uses model Stirling engines
as an educational tool. The patent and the "stirlingengine .com" name, Van
Arsdale said, suggest that the mysterious Ginger invention is a Stirling
engine, possibly used to power a scooter.
Stirling engines have been the focus of enormous effort, and many inventors
have thought for a time that they were close to a major breakthrough. But
the engines can be extremely complex, and nobody believes that Kamen has
solved all the technical problems that stand between an inventor and a
workable Stirling that is reliable, safe, inexp
...
----- Original Message -----
From: "Steve Dossick" <steve@knownow.com>
To: "fork@XeNT. ics. uci. edu" <fork@xent.ics.uci.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, March 06, 2001 12:01 PM
Subject: Ginger discussed on Today Show?
> Did anyone else catch some dude from Inside Magazine on the Today Show
> discussing 'Ginger' (Dean Kamen's mega-hyped invention)? I only saw the
> last 90 seconds of the segment, and there's nothing on the Inside Magazine
> site or the Today Show site, but from what I could gather, they were
> claiming Ginger is a hydrogen-powered (possibly via H-fuel cells) scooter.
>
> The hydrogen-powered part is cool, but a scooter? After all that hype? :)
> -s
> --
> Steve Dossick
> Chief Architect
> KnowNow, Inc.
> 650-561-0200
>
>
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Apr 27 2001 - 23:13:40 PDT