IS THERMODYNAMICS DEAD ?

http://www.researchgate.net/publicat...2604889353.pdf
Electricity generated from ambient heat across a silicon surface, Guoan Tai, Zihan Xu, and Jinsong Liu, Appl. Phys. Lett. 103, 163902 (2013: "We report generation of electricity from the limitless thermal motion of ions across a two-dimensional (2D) silicon (Si) surface at room temperature. (...) ....limitless ambient heat, which is universally present in the form of kinetic energy from molecular, particle, and ion sources, has not yet been reported to generate electricity. (...) This study provides insights into the development of self-charging technologies to harvest energy from ambient heat, and the power output is comparable to several environmental energy harvesting techniques such as ZnO nanogenerator, liquid and gas flow-induced electricity generation across carbon nanotube thin films and graphene, although this remains a challenge to the second law of thermodynamics..."

A perpetual motion machine of the second kind described in Appl. Phys. Lett.. and no reaction at all from the scientific community? Similarly, in 2001 Jos Uffink's alarming paper alarmed nobody:

http://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/archive/00000313/
Jos Uffink: "Snow stands up for the view that exact science is, in its own right, an essential part of civilisation, and should not merely be valued for its technological applications. Anyone who does not know the Second Law of Thermodynamics, and is proud of it too, exposes oneself as a Philistine.. Snow's plea will strike a chord with every physicist who has ever attended a birthday party. But his call for cultural recognition creates obligations too. Before one can claim that acquaintance with the Second Law is as indispensable to a cultural education as Macbeth or Hamlet, it should obviously be clear what this law states. This question is surprisingly difficult. The Second Law made its appearance in physics around 1850, but a half century later it was already surrounded by so much confusion that the British Association for the Advancement of Science decided to appoint a special committee with the task of providing clarity about the meaning of this law. However, its final report (Bryan 1891) did not settle the issue. Half a century later, the physicist/philosopher Bridgman still complained that there are almost as many formulations of the second law as there have been discussions of it. And even today, the Second Law remains so obscure that it continues to attract new efforts at clarification. (...) The historian of science and mathematician Truesdell made a detailed study of the historical development of thermodynamics in the period 1822-1854. He characterises the theory, even in its present state, as 'a dismal swamp of obscurity' and 'a prime example to show that physicists are not exempt from the madness of crowds'. (...) Clausius' verbal statement of the second law makes no sense.... All that remains is a Mosaic prohibition ; a century of philosophers and journalists have acclaimed this commandment ; a century of mathematicians have shuddered and averted their eyes from the unclean.... Seven times in the past thirty years have I tried to follow the argument Clausius offers... and seven times has it blanked and gravelled me.... I cannot explain what I cannot understand."

Thermodynamics must have been dead for a long time.

Pentcho Valev

On Monday, May 5, 2014 3:10:18 PM UTC-7, Pentcho Valev wrote:
http://www.researchgate.net/publicat...2604889353.pdf

Electricity generated from ambient heat across a silicon surface, Guoan Tai, Zihan Xu, and Jinsong Liu, Appl. Phys. Lett. 103, 163902 (2013: "We report generation of electricity from the limitless thermal motion of ions across a two-dimensional (2D) silicon (Si) surface at room temperature. (...) ...limitless ambient heat, which is universally present in the form of kinetic energy from molecular, particle, and ion sources, has not yet been reported to generate electricity. (...) This study provides insights into the development of self-charging technologies to harvest energy from ambient heat, and the power output is comparable to several environmental energy harvesting techniques such as ZnO nanogenerator, liquid and gas flow-induced electricity generation across carbon nanotube thin films and graphene, although this remains a challenge to the second law of thermodynamics..."



A perpetual motion machine of the second kind described in Appl. Phys. Lett. and no reaction at all from the scientific community? Similarly, in 2001 Jos Uffink's alarming paper alarmed nobody:



http://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/archive/00000313/

Jos Uffink: "Snow stands up for the view that exact science is, in its own right, an essential part of civilisation, and should not merely be valued for its technological applications. Anyone who does not know the Second Law of Thermodynamics, and is proud of it too, exposes oneself as a Philistine. Snow's plea will strike a chord with every physicist who has ever attended a birthday party. But his call for cultural recognition creates obligations too. Before one can claim that acquaintance with the Second Law is as indispensable to a cultural education as Macbeth or Hamlet, it should obviously be clear what this law states. This question is surprisingly difficult.. The Second Law made its appearance in physics around 1850, but a half century later it was already surrounded by so much confusion that the British Association for the Advancement of Science decided to appoint a special committee with the task of providing clarity about the meaning of this law. However, its final report (Bryan 1891) did not settle the issue. Half a century later, the physicist/philosopher Bridgman still complained that there are almost as many formulations of the second law as there have been discussions of it. And even today, the Second Law remains so obscure that it continues to attract new efforts at clarification. (...) The historian of science and mathematician Truesdell made a detailed study of the historical development of thermodynamics in the period 1822-1854. He characterises the theory, even in its present state, as 'a dismal swamp of obscurity' and 'a prime example to show that physicists are not exempt from the madness of crowds'.. (...) Clausius' verbal statement of the second law makes no sense.... All that remains is a Mosaic prohibition ; a century of philosophers and journalists have acclaimed this commandment ; a century of mathematicians have shuddered and averted their eyes from the unclean.... Seven times in the past thirty years have I tried to follow the argument Clausius offers... and seven times has it blanked and gravelled me.... I cannot explain what I cannot understand."

Thermodynamics must have been dead for a long time.

Pentcho Valev

Especially the thermodynamics of Venus are even taboo and/or nondisclosure rated, not to mention what the innards of our moon has to offer. Even terrestrial thermodynamics of geothermal energy usage isn't allowed to stand on its own without getting substantially bashed and/or tormented by those of Big Energy telling what and how to think.

The second law of thermodynamics is no longer valid but... who cares?

http://sciencequestionswithchris.wor...ricity-source/
"...electronic devices can charge their batteries through various methods without being plugged into a source of electricity. What all the different methods have in common is that they absorb energy that is in some other form (heat, light, vibrations, radio waves, etc.) from the external environment and then convert the energy into electrochemical energy that is stored in the device's batteries. (...) The ambient heat in the natural environment can be captured and converted to electricity. There are many ways to do this, but the basic concept is to funnel the random thermal motion of ions or electrons into a more ordered motion of charge, which constitutes an electrical current. This funneling is often accomplished by layering various materials with different thermal and electrical properties. For instance, the researchers Guoan Tai, Zihan Xu, and Jinsong Liu have recently demonstrated the conversion of heat to electricity using the ion layer that forms between silicon and a copper(II) chloride solution."

Needless to say, professors in universities will continue to teach the false second law - the truth may be valuable but money is more valuable.

Pentcho Valev