Exploring Technology in a Wizard World
Chapter 444 - 443: Thermoelectric Power Generation

Chapter 444: Chapter 443: Thermoelectric Power Generation

Richard’s current research comprised six areas: Magic Runes, Pneumonia Fungus, Antibiotics, Magic Defense Shields, Divine Blood, and the Eden Energy System.

The knowledge contained within the Sewing Monsters greatly aided three of these areas—Magic Defense Shields, Divine Blood, and the Eden Energy System. If he could fully master the knowledge from the Sewing Monsters, he could directly resolve half of his research projects.

First was the Magic Defense Shield.

Richard examined the tough exterior of four purple Sewing Monsters and the sole black Sewing Monster, separating a special mixture from within. This mixture appeared grey, and although its composition could not yet be determined, when added to water, it formed an exceptionally effective Non-Newtonian Fluid that outperformed the current black Non-Newtonian Fluids in use.

In this case, once he mastered the production of the mixture and extracted it in large quantities, he could use it to improve Magic Defense Shields, creating a gray-black multilayered Reaction Shield.

Next was Divine Blood.

Richard dissected numerous dead, frozen Sewing Monsters and found their hearts incredibly powerful. Not only did they have strong contraction abilities, large blood supply, and high resilience against external damage, but they also possessed a certain degree of regenerative ability.

And yet, these hearts were originally ordinary human hearts that had transformed after a series of modifications.

Although Richard had no intention of turning his own heart into the same kind, if he could understand the mechanisms behind the heart enhancement and apply it to Divine Blood, definitely, it would reduce the side effects and increase the enhancement effect of Divine Blood, making it comparable to Marquis-Level, Duke-Level, or even Prince-Level Bloodline Power.

Transforming Divine Blood (Basic) into Divine Blood (Intermediate) and Divine Blood (Advanced).

Lastly was the Eden Energy System.

Regarding the transformation of the Eden Energy System, Richard had almost given up hope of significant improvements in the short term. But some of the results from dissecting the Sewing Monsters gave him a pleasant surprise.

The matter was somewhat complex and required a step-by-step explanation:

It should be noted that Sewing Monsters possessed incredible strength, even capable of launching Pandora into the air. Richard initially thought this was due to a special bodily structure, but in fact, it was because the Sewing Monsters had an especially enhanced Energy System within their bodies.

Generally, humans can’t photosynthesize like plants and must consume energy from external sources. This is primarily done through the metabolic system—by eating, digesting, and absorbing various nutrients from food.

The acquired energy is then stored in the form of sugars, fats, and proteins, to be broken down into ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate) when necessary, such as during anaerobic or aerobic exercise.

What about Sewing Monsters?

Their massive size made it difficult for Sewing Monsters to be powered in the same singular way, which is why besides the standard Energy System, there was another auxiliary system within the Sewing Monsters.

At the heart of this auxiliary system was the Sewing Monsters’ robust heart.

The strong heart of the Sewing Monsters imparted upon them metabolic abilities far beyond those of ordinary organisms. For instance, when a Sewing Monster remained still, it was comparable to a normal person running a marathon under the blazing sun. This naturally produced a lot of heat, which then couldn’t be dissipated.

This was the case because, on one hand, their enormous size meant a significantly reduced surface area compared to smaller creatures, which reduced contact with the outside environment. On the other hand, the Sewing Monsters’ skin had been modified for defense and lacked sweat glands. Unless they were to pant like dogs, the metabolic heat would constantly accumulate within their bodies.

This was fatal!

Just as humankind became known as the King of Ten Thousand Beasts, capable of extincting various large wild animals with mere stones and wooden sticks during ancient times, it was due to our strong heat dissipation abilities. Humans could group together with water and dry food, chasing herds of wild animals to death through exhaustion and overheating.

If Sewing Monsters didn’t solve their heat dissipation problem, there would be no need for external attacks; a few movements alone would cause death, as if inherently afflicted with a "Seven-step Snake Poison" negative status.

So, how did Sewing Monsters solve it?

The answer was that Sewing Monsters absorbed this heat and transformed it into energy—Richard had discovered a translucent, gel-like layer outside the organs of the Sewing Monsters during the initial dissections. Initially, he thought this gel acted as a buffer, similar to fat, to reduce external damage to the Sewing Monsters. But as the research progressed, he realized this substance was not so simple.

If I’m not mistaken, this thing should be a kind of thermoelectric material.

Yes, thermoelectric material!

What is a thermoelectric material?

To understand thermoelectric materials, one must first understand a law—The Second Law of Thermodynamics: Heat can spontaneously transfer from a hotter object to a colder object, that is, thermal conduction.

When a five-hundred-degree iron block is placed in contact with a three-hundred-degree iron block, the higher temperature iron block will transfer heat to the lower temperature one until both blocks reach the same temperature before it stops.

This is like water flowing downhill under the force of gravity, unable to be changed until the entire system of physics is overturned!

Then, can we harness this law just like we use wind and water?

The answer is—yes!

Imagine a wall with a temperature of several hundred degrees Celsius, and right next to it, a wall of minus degrees Celsius. If there exists some medium between these two walls, heat will flow continuously from the hot wall to the cold wall, just like water falling from a hydropower dam.

The difference is, water can generate electricity by striking the turbines of a hydropower station, while heat must act upon a special type of material to generate electricity—thermoelectric material.

The definition of a thermoelectric material is: a material with a significant thermoelectric generating effect, capable of generating an electric current when placed in an environment with a thermal gradient.

The topics of thermoelectric materials and thermoelectric generation have actually been studied for many years on modern Earth, even forming a dedicated field—thermoelectrics—and establishing numerous laws such as the "Seebeck effect," "Thomson effect," and "Peltier effect."

Utilizing the knowledge of this field, essentially, as long as there is a temperature difference, electricity can be generated.

And in the world, a temperature difference always exists; therefore, it can be said that thermoelectric generation can be achieved anywhere—no fossil fuels needed, no wind or water power, no sunlight, clean and pollution-free, it’s frankly quite moving.

But returning to the topic, there are reasons why thermoelectric generation, despite its advantages, has not been widely adopted. First is the high cost, and second is the high technical content, making suitable thermoelectric materials difficult to obtain and use. Therefore, the most frequent use of thermoelectric generation is on satellites, where money and technology are not issues, while other places still rely on the more flawed methods of electricity generation.

In this way, attempting to use thermoelectric generation in a world similar to the medieval era is simply a flight of fancy.

However, nothing is absolute.

According to Earth’s research, certain animal materials display thermoelectric effects, for instance... the colloid found in a shark’s nose.

Yes, the colloid in a shark’s nose.

Analysis shows that there exists in a shark’s nose a type of colloid that is highly sensitive to changes in sea water temperature. A change of 0.1℃ can yield a noticeable voltage, which is then transmitted to nerve cells, allowing the shark to receive signals. It is through this mechanism that sharks quickly detect changes in their surrounding marine environment and hunt.

Now, through some experiments Richard had essentially determined that the large amount of translucent gel found inside the Sewing Monster is similar to the colloid found in a shark’s nose.

Considering that killing every shark in the ocean wouldn’t yield as much colloid, it’s clear that the colloid within the Sewing Monster must have been artificially synthesized.

To summarize all of this, it means:

The Death Mage had found a way to artificially synthesize thermoelectric materials and incorporated them into the Sewing Monster’s body, using it to absorb the heat emitted by the creature on one hand and for energy conversion on the other. The more active the Sewing Monster, the more heat its metabolism produced, the higher the energy supply, creating a perfect positive feedback loop with an extremely high energy efficiency.

In Richard’s view, the extreme energy efficiency was secondary. If he could master the artificial synthesis and power generation capacity of this colloid through the documentation left by the Death Mage, it would be utterly groundbreaking.

Once mastered, he could completely solve Eden’s energy system problem by creating a large number of thermoelectric generators that operate twenty-four hours a day and fully automatically, allowing Eden to transition from a partially electrified state to a fully electrified era. Then, electric lights for illumination could be used freely, without fear of power shortage.