For Aron: Sonic Refrigerator
>> Sunday, June 28, 2009
Aron said: A sonic refrigerator has been invented, it has very few moving parts so it wouldn't breakdown often. Why don't I see it at my local mega-mart?
Aron, the answer is in the reference you provided:
There's a working pre-prototype at Penn State, but a fully functioning model is still several years away. [2003]People make lots of prototype items or explore other ways of accomplishing something. The whole idea of a prototype is to determine if (a) a concept works, (b) how to optimize it, (c) determine if the design is economically viable (i.e. can it be built inexpensively, reliably? Does it work effectively, reliably, efficiently?) and, at times, (d) to sell the idea to someone who has the wherewithal to manufacture and distribute it.
If the prototype(s) fail any of those tests, a prototype might always be the only copy of anything. Many items seem like a great idea on paper, but fail the reality test. If the concept really is a winner, perhaps we'll be seeing it in our future.
The basic idea of the current refrigerator was known for over a century (several centuries, depending on how close you require the science to be), before commercial refrigeration was available. Science to supermarket is a long road.
Your right, I'm inexperienced. It's just, this has been in development for so long and, it's ready to go to market in my opinion. It's just frustrating when there is tech sitting in labs that would end so much suffering.
Sometimes there's a reason the tech never makes it out of the labs.