Abstract: A turbine, such as a steam turbine, which may be employed to drive an electric generator, is operated by movement through it of gas vaporized in a heat pipe. The turbine is enclosed in the heat pipe structure and the pipe is sealed so that the vaporizable fluid therein is not lost during use. The fluid is maintained at a desired pressure at which it is readily vaporized by heating means, such as heated air brought into contact with the heat pipe, and is also readily condensed by cooling means, such as ambient air. In modifications of the more basic invention an auxiliary heat pipe or a plurality of such pipes is employed to extract energy from a source of heat after it has heated the turbine-containing heat pipe and such auxiliary heat pipe(s) may also be used to pre-heat a heat transfer fluid. Turbines may be present in the auxiliary heat pipes too and they may be connected to the same or different generators.

Abstract: Light weight tension-compression equilibrium structures include structural units which contain a plurality of compression members in contact with each other in an interior portion of the unit and a plurality of tension members in contact with them and exerting balanced tensions on them to hold them in position with respect to each other, and to produce compressive forces in the compression members which are directed toward the point(s) of contact of the compression members in the interior of the unit, thereby strengthening the compression members and the structural units. The tension members are positioned apart such distances along the compression members less than lengths at which the compression members alone would buckle under applied compressive forces. The various structural units may be essentially planar, useful for forming walls or relatively thin supporting structures, or they may be made three-dimensional so as to be capable of serving as major load-bearing units.