Human Power For Human Upgrades

Dozix007 writes "The human body, like any other machine requires energy to operate. However, during operation we release residual heat which can be used for power. Many people who rely on pacemakers and other artifical devices in their bodies may recieve 'upgrades' to avert the many surgeries per. year to replace dead and dying batteries. Not quite the Matrix yet, but we are getting there."

Comments

Re:The Human Body Is An Endothermic Reaction.

[drinkypoo]

Seated and at rest the body produces about 400 Btus per hour of excess heat which must be transferred to the environment. In contrast, climbing a steep set of stairs produces an excess of 4,400 Btus per hour. Since humans are warm-blooded mammals, the body needs to lose this excess heat because deep body temperatures must remain relatively constant at 98.6 F to prevent serious medical complications.

That doesn't sound right to me, I thought deep body temperatures were more like 100 F and that 98.6 was just an orifice temperature. But that aside, the point is that generally speaking we produce more heat than we need. This is true except when the ambient temperature drops below a certain point, of course, but in general we're radiating heat like crazy. It only makes sense to make use of this heat loss when possible.

Re:The Human Body Is An Endothermic Reaction.

[jpop32]

...but in general we're radiating heat like crazy. It only makes sense to make use of this heat loss when possible.

Well, since majority of the body heat is released through the head, it will make for some interesting contraptions... :-)