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Re:Starship Radiators by lutusp on Tuesday February 04, 2014 @02:26PM (#7179700)
Because of the rules of thermodynamics, in particular entropy, heat rather quickly assumes a form that can't be harnessed to any useful purpose.
Re:Starship Radiators by bane on Tuesday February 04, 2014 @03:32PM (#7180062)
Can you provide an example? I know of a nearby stellar body that gets into the double digit millions of degrees that we harness all the time.
Re:Starship Radiators by lutusp on Wednesday February 05, 2014 @02:36AM (#7182422)
Certainly -- our sun will eventually radiate away all its useful energy and that energy, although not lost, will assume a form that can no longer be exploited. This shows the truth of the expression "entropy increases over time". Reference:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entropy_(arrow_of_time)