Remember inventor Dean Kamen? Actually you never should forget that name and tell you why later on. A few years ago there was a swirl of guessing games surrounding what was the nature of Dean Kamen's newest invention codenamed Ginger. Ginger it turned out was renamed the Segway, and was a human transport device (see photo of Dean Kamen riding a Segway). Photo Credit: Jared C Benedict Released under the GFDL
I have a feeling Dean Kamen will be hitting the news again in a big way. The inventor has patented an improved version of the Stirling engine, with the potential to outperform conventional engines. Kamen has already been pitching the new engine to the Time-Warner cable company, quoted as saying, "Power is going to be the 800-pound gorilla soon, and this box [Stirling power-generator] is something that can help solve the problem."
But there is more to this story, the first Stirling engine was invented by Robert Stirling in 1816. The radically different design was never fully developed, however, it holds lots of promise, as a quiet, highly efficient, power generator. Green energy proponents love the Stirling engine.