Closing the Loop

Closing the Loop refers to a system where all waist is recycled and put back into the system to be used again. This is something that space travel is always trying to accomplish because of the lack of... well... anything in space. One huge sorce of waste is heat. Especially when we're talking about the human body, we just ooze energy warming our body. But researchers at the University of Utah. Have found a way to convert heat into electricity.

Well maybe it's not that direct, but it's only one step of. They turn heat into sound into energy, through a process of heating a special highsurface area metal/fiber which then creates a specific pitch of sound. This sound is pumped into piezoelectric device which converts the pressure from the sound waves into electricity. This has great potential for helping astronauts dissipate heat in space while fueling all electronic equipment. There is one drawback to this in space. It requires air. Without air there isn't sound that that is something that probes and other unmanned orbiter don't bother to take with them.

In any case this article is a intersting and exciteing, quick read.
"New Device Turns Waste Heat into Electricity"