What is the best way to use my two portals?
To avoid being too broad, I'd like to use the portals for purely altruistic purposes (health, environment, safety), and not for scientific or military acheivement (e.g. - not an instant space elevator, which would be to save money and a bit of the 'ol environment).
My fairly well-to-do scientist is today working in the lab, when an alien race delivered two 3m radii portals: A connects to B. Place a person or object through A and they come out of B. It is an amazing thing for her to be given. They only weigh about 10kg too, so they can be handled more easily than a fictional 'stargate'.
The aliens have said rather condescendingly that humans won't be able to deconstruct it to make more of them, but more positively that it could only be used if she, herself, completely supported its use.
She has made her living, ready for a peaceful retirement in Portland's west hills, so she doesn't need money. She wants to use it for an altruistic purpose, which would only include increasing the health, safety, or environment. It requires no energy input that we know of, and can presumably last for a very long time and be transported easily. Technology is today (plus two new toys).
PS - this is for a short story.
EDIT1: This is an attempt, as stated: to formulate the best altruistic use of this alien gift today would be used for side part of a short story. I have used the dialogue and comments on this question for guidance to avoid being too broad or too opinion-based; although they are very different devices and intentions haha.
This post was sourced from https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/q/32528. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
1 answer
Congratulations! You've solved the energy crisis!
Place Portal B some distance above Portal A. Now place a turbine blade in between the two of them. Slowly insert a steady stream of water, stopping when you reach a certain amount.
As the water travels through Portal A, it goes to Portal B. It then turns the blade of the turbine (producing electricity), and goes back through Portal A. It's a perpetual motion machine.
Why this works
The portals take an object at a lower potential and move it to a higher potential. Thus, the object is given a higher potential energy. That energy can then be harnessed.
A problem . . . and a solution
Admittedly, you've got an opening of less than 30 square feet, which is tiny, but you should still be able to generate a substantial amount of energy from this. Simply move the portals further apart (i.e. move Portal B higher) and you've increased the energy change, thus making it possible to capture more energy. You can insert more turbine blades.
It turns out that this thing generates a lot of energy really quickly. See Cort Ammon's answer.
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