Abstract: Disclosed is an apparatus, system, and method, by which a difference in the thermal energies, and/or temperatures, of two bodies, materials, gases, liquids, solids, objects, and/or other groups or collections of matter, may be harnessed to provide mechanical energy to a rotary engine and/or shaft. Also disclosed is an apparatus, system, and method, by which mechanical energy (e.g., the rotation of a shaft) may be used to produce and/or amplify a difference in the thermal energies, and/or temperatures of, and/or between, two bodies, materials, gases, liquids, solids, objects, and/or other groups or collections of matter. The disclosed thermal-to-mechanical energy conversion apparatus, as well as the complementary mechanical-to-thermal energy conversion apparatus, lacks moving parts and therefore satisfies a previously unmet need for a simple, robust, and efficient heat engine.

Abstract: A wave energy converter utilizes a flotation module that rises and falls with the passage of waves, a submerged tube containing a constriction which multiplies the speed of the water passing therethrough, a turbine (or other hydrokinetic apparatus) positioned so as to extract energy from the accelerated flow of water within and/or through the tube, and a submerged gas- or liquid-filled chamber housing one or more energy conversion components (e.g. generators, transformers, rectifiers, inverters). By providing a chamber in proximity to the turbine, generators can be placed in closer proximity to the turbine that turns them, and the shared shaft can be shorter than if the generators were placed in the buoy adjacent to the surface.

Abstract: A computing apparatus that is integrated within a flotation module, the system obtaining the energy required to power its computing operations from waves that travel across the surface of a body of water on which the flotation module sets. Additionally, the self-powered computing apparatus employs novel designs to utilize its close proximity to the body of water and/or to strong ocean winds to significantly lower the cost and complexity of cooling their computing circuits.

Abstract: A pressure-regulating buoyant hydrodynamic pump is disclosed that floats adjacent to a surface of a body of water over which waves tend to pass. In response to wave-induced movements of the device, water is drawn into a mouth at a lower end of an injection tube, and water is ejected from a mouth at an upper end of the injection tube. The ejected water is deposited into an interior of the hollow buoy thereby augmenting a water reservoir therein. And water flows from the water reservoir to and through a water turbine, thereby energizing a generator, power electronics, and an electrical load. A novel water-turbine effluent buffering tube, or chamber, smooths pressure variations felt across the water turbine.

Abstract: A pressure-regulating buoyant hydrodynamic pump is disclosed that floats adjacent to a surface of a body of water over which waves tend to pass. In response to wave-induced movements of the device, water is drawn into a mouth at a lower end of an injection tube, and water is ejected from a mouth at an upper end of the injection tube. The ejected water is deposited into an interior of the hollow buoy thereby augmenting a water reservoir therein. And water flows from the water reservoir to and through a water turbine, thereby energizing a generator, power electronics, and an electrical load. A novel water-turbine effluent buffering tube, or chamber, smooths pressure variations felt across the water turbine.

Abstract: A buoyant wave energy device is disclosed that incorporates an open-bottomed tube of substantial length in which is partially enclosed a first body of water that oscillates in response to wave action. The device incorporates a buoy to which an upper end of the tube is connected and inside of which is trapped a second body of water of substantial mass. A differential phase in the oscillations of the water trapped in the tube, and the oscillations of the buoy of augmented mass, result in the periodic compression of a pocket of air trapped at the top of the tube, and in the subsequent expulsion of pressurized air through a turbine, thereby generating electrical power.

Abstract: Disclosed is buoyant wave energy capture device, adapted to float adjacent to an upper surface of a body of water over which waves pass, and adapted to capture a portion of the radiated waves created by its own rising and falling in response to incident and/or passing environmental waves. A power take off mechanism combined with the disclosed wave energy capture device may be tuned to a specific wave frequency, and thereby optimally extract energy from a motion of a single frequency, even the wave energy capture device may be excited and/or energized by waves of any of a relatively broad range of frequencies, thereby increasing the power-generation and cost efficiencies of such devices relative to wave energy conversion devices of the prior art.

Abstract: Disclosed is an apparatus, system, and method, by which a plentiful supply of carbon dioxide may be provided to a fuel-conversion process operated in the deep sea far from shore thereby permitting a conversion of electrolysis-generated hydrogen gas into a carbonaceous liquid fuel. Because the cost and complexity of storing and transporting liquid fuels by ship is substantially simpler and less costly than is transporting gases, the present invention is expected to promote the extraction and distribution of energy harvested from the deep sea by permitting it to be accomplished with reasonable logistical complexity and at a reasonable and low cost.

Abstract: Disclosed is a novel type of computing apparatus which is integrated within a buoy that obtains the energy required to power its computing operations from waves that travel across the surface of the body of water on which the buoy floats. Additionally, these self-powered computing buoys utilize their close proximity to a body of water in order to significantly lower the cost and complexity of cooling their computing circuits. Computing tasks of an arbitrary nature are supported, as is the incorporation and/or utilization of computing circuits specialized for the execution of specific types of computing tasks. And, each buoy’s receipt of a computational task, and its return of a computational result, may be accomplished through the transmission of data across satellite links, fiber optic cables, LAN cables, radio, modulated light, microwaves, and/or any other channel, link, connection, and/or network.

Abstract: A buoyant wave energy device is disclosed that incorporates an open-bottomed tube of substantial length in which is partially enclosed a first body of water that oscillates in response to wave action. The device incorporates a buoy to which an upper end of the tube is connected and inside of which is trapped a second body of water of substantial mass. A differential phase in the oscillations of the water trapped in the tube, and the oscillations of the buoy of augmented mass, result in the periodic compression of a pocket of air trapped at the top of the tube, and in the subsequent expulsion of pressurized air through a turbine, thereby generating electrical power.

Abstract: A novel architecture for a data sharing system (DSS) is disclosed and seeks to ensure the privacy and security of users' personal information. In this type of network, a user's personally identifiable information is stored and transmitted in an encrypted form, with few exceptions. The only key with which that encrypted data can be decrypted, and thus viewed, remains in the sole possession of the user and the user's friends/contacts within the system. This arrangement ensures that a user's personally identifiable information cannot be examined by anyone other than the user or his friends/contacts. This arrangement also makes it more difficult for the web site or service hosting the DSS to exploit its users' personally identifiable information. Such a system facilitates the encryption, storage, exchange and decryption of personal, confidential and/or proprietary data.

Abstract: A wave energy converter utilizes a flotation module that rises and falls with the passage of waves, a submerged tube containing a constriction which multiplies the speed of the water passing therethrough, a turbine (or other hydrokinetic apparatus) positioned so as to extract energy from the accelerated flow of water within and/or through the tube, and a submerged gas- or liquid-filled chamber housing one or more energy conversion components (e.g. generators, transformers, rectifiers, inverters). By providing a chamber in proximity to the turbine, generators can be placed in closer proximity to the turbine that turns them, and the shared shaft can be shorter than if the generators were placed in the buoy adjacent to the surface.

Abstract: Disclosed is an apparatus, system, and method, by which a plentiful supply of carbon dioxide may be provided to a fuel-conversion process operated in the deep sea far from shore thereby permitting a conversion of electrolysis-generated hydrogen gas into a carbonaceous liquid fuel. Because the cost and complexity of storing and transporting liquid fuels by ship is substantially simpler and less costly than is transporting gases, the present invention is expected to promote the extraction and distribution of energy harvested from the deep sea by permitting it to be accomplished with reasonable logistical complexity and at a reasonable and low cost.

Abstract: A buoyant wave energy device is disclosed that incorporates an open-bottomed tube of substantial length in which is partially enclosed a first body of water that oscillates in response to wave action. The device incorporates a buoy to which an upper end of the tube is connected and inside of which is trapped a second body of water of substantial mass. A differential phase in the oscillations of the water trapped in the tube, and the oscillations of the buoy of augmented mass, result in the periodic compression of a pocket of air trapped at the top of the tube, and in the subsequent expulsion of pressurized air through a turbine, thereby generating electrical power.

Abstract: A buoyant hydrodynamic pump is disclosed that can float on a surface of a body of water over which waves tend to pass. The pump incorporates an open-bottomed tube with a constriction. The tube partially encloses a substantial volume of water with which the tube's constriction interacts, creating and/or amplifying oscillations therein in response to wave action. Wave-driven oscillations result in periodic upward ejections of portions of the water inside the tube that can be collected in a reservoir that is at least partially positioned above the mean water level of the body of water, or pressurized by compressed air or gas, or both. Water within such a reservoir may return to the body of water via a turbine, thereby generating electrical power (making the device a wave engine), or else the device's pumping action can be used for other purposes such as water circulation, propulsion, or cloud seeding.

Abstract: Disclosed is buoyant wave energy capture device, adapted to float adjacent to an upper surface of a body of water over which waves pass, and adapted to capture a portion of the radiated waves created by its own rising and falling in response to incident and/or passing environmental waves. A power take off mechanism combined with the disclosed wave energy capture device may be tuned to a specific wave frequency, and thereby optimally extract energy from a motion of a single frequency, even the wave energy capture device may be excited and/or energized by waves of any of a relatively broad range of frequencies, thereby increasing the power-generation and cost efficiencies of such devices relative to wave energy conversion devices of the prior art.

Abstract: Disclosed is a novel type of computing apparatus which is integrated within a buoy that obtains the energy required to power its computing operations from waves that travel across the surface of the body of water on which the buoy floats. Additionally, these self-powered computing buoys utilize their close proximity to a body of water in order to significantly lower the cost and complexity of cooling their computing circuits. Computing tasks of an arbitrary nature are supported, as is the incorporation and/or utilization of computing circuits specialized for the execution of specific types of computing tasks. And, each buoy's receipt of a computational task, and its return of a computational result, may be accomplished through the transmission of data across satellite links, fiber optic cables, LAN cables, radio, modulated light, microwaves, and/or any other channel, link, connection, and/or network.

Abstract: A buoyant hydrodynamic pump is disclosed that can float on a surface of a body of water over which waves tend to pass. The pump incorporates an open-bottomed tube with a constriction. The tube partially encloses a substantial volume of water with which the tube's constriction interacts, creating and/or amplifying oscillations therein in response to wave action. Wave-driven oscillations result in periodic upward ejections of portions of the water inside the tube that can be collected in a reservoir that is at least partially positioned above the mean water level of the body of water, or pressurized by compressed air or gas, or both. Water within such a reservoir may return to the body of water via a turbine, thereby generating electrical power (making the device a wave engine), or else the device's pumping action can be used for other purposes such as water circulation, propulsion, or cloud seeding.

Abstract: A buoyant wave energy device is disclosed that incorporates an open-bottomed tube of substantial length in which is partially enclosed a first body of water that oscillates in response to wave action. The device incorporates a buoy to which an upper end of the tube is connected and inside of which is trapped a second body of water of substantial mass. A differential phase in the oscillations of the water trapped in the tube, and the oscillations of the buoy of augmented mass, result in the periodic compression of a pocket of air trapped at the top of the tube, and in the subsequent expulsion of pressurized air through a turbine, thereby generating electrical power.

Abstract: An apparatus that floats at the surface of a body of water over which waves pass, causing a nominally vertical axis of the apparatus to tilt away from an axis normal to the resting surface of the body of water. Tilting allows a fluid to flow through a channel that in an un-tilted apparatus would require the gravitational potential energy of the fluid to increase (i.e., to flow uphill), but, because of the tilt allows the fluid to flow through the channel in a downhill direction. Successive wave-driven tilts of the apparatus incrementally raise water to a head from which a portion of its gravitational potential energy can be converted to electrical power by causing the water to return to a lower level by flowing through a water turbine, or through some other apparatus that performs a useful function when supplied with a flow of high-pressure water.