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This Farm? Oh, At This Farm We Grow Fluorescent Bulbs

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Blaxpear
04/10/09

In reply to This Farm? Oh, At This Farm We Grow Fluorescent Bulbs
Man... just think how inefficient the power grid has to be for this to happen.
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GitEmSteveDave_Isn'tFreshPerked
04/10/09

@Blaxpear: How innefficient? And how would you make it better? We could bury the lines, but then all the heat that these lines generate would be harder to dissipate and cause more problems. Then you also have to imagine all the lines that would get cut by accident during digging. But you could be right. I doubt the power companies want to harness/transmit as much power as they can. They laugh as they waste a lot of money shooting energy into the air!
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GitEmSteveDave_Isn'tFreshPerked
04/10/09

@Blaxpear: Oh, and this is in England BTW. So this has nothing to do with the US.
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KLanD
04/10/09

In reply to This Farm? Oh, At This Farm We Grow Fluorescent Bulbs
If there is enough energy to light these bulbs, could we not then capture and store it as well?
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GitEmSteveDave_Isn'tFreshPerked
04/10/09

@KLanD: And then? Would you put it back onto the lines, where it would get captured again to put back into the line, etc ....
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P3nnst8r
04/10/09

In reply to This Farm? Oh, At This Farm We Grow Fluorescent Bulbs
Reminds me of Fl0wer!
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loslosbaby
04/10/09

In reply to This Farm? Oh, At This Farm We Grow Fluorescent Bulbs
When I was a kid, my Dad hung around some wild characters, being Hollywood in the early 70's it was a vortex of the bizarre, drug-infested and reptilian.

A guy my Dad knew that came back bizarro from a War experience who happened to be genius built a set of bars hooked up to what looked like a clothes-line big enough for a 10 story building, and hooked it up to his Airstream, and voila, the lights were on.

Two days later PG&E came to the house.
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GitEmSteveDave_Isn'tFreshPerked
04/10/09

@loslosbaby: Well, assuming he was lighting his house with individual LED's, it MIGHT have happened. Unless the Mythbusters are in Big Energy's pocket. ::looks over his shoulder::

[videos.howstuffworks.com]

@Dr.Remulak: Ah, Art Bell. That looney-kazooney from parts unknown, broadcasting from the valley of Nyet. So if this information is locked away, and some ex-phone line repairman discovered this, how is it no one else has in over 50 years? BTW, how many amps was the broadcasting antenna of Mr. Bell "pulling" in? Was it AC and/or DC? I have a stun gun powered by a 9 volt battery that will ramp up to THOUSANDS of volts, more than once. Yet I don't think it will power a city for very long....
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LewPhoenix
04/10/09

In reply to This Farm? Oh, At This Farm We Grow Fluorescent Bulbs
So, if I lived under or near power lines could I "steal" this wireless power and run it to my home?
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Lite: hates Illinois Nazis
04/10/09

@LewPhoenix: Yes, if you wanted to get caught, and prosecuted for theft. Which is the first thing I thought when I saw this.

"Does he have permission from the power company for this?"
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GitEmSteveDave_Isn'tFreshPerked
04/10/09

@LewPhoenix: Yes, you could. But you'd be lucky to charge your iPod with the juice you would pull in. You'd be better off spending 15.00 to get a solar panel. [videos.howstuffworks.com]
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MoN
04/10/09

In reply to This Farm? Oh, At This Farm We Grow Fluorescent Bulbs
So... the magnetic field around the powerful wires produces enough power for 50+ flourescent bulbs?
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strider_mt2k
04/10/09

@MoN does a Barrel Roll into Peppy: Reading the article is SO last century.
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