How heat can cross a vacuum.

[Swede]

Heat can be conducted across a nanometre-sized vacuum gap – something that was deemed impossible until now. So say researchers at the Air Force Research Laboratory in Ohio who have found that the heat is transferred via an effect called "phonon tunnelling" in which quantized molecular vibrations, called phonons, appear to traverse the forbidden zone. The finding could be important for improving thermoelectric devices and for future nanoscale electronic circuits.

http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/44027

[GKirk]

1. Ok...

...I thought the heat from the sun crossed a vacuum.

[Salviati]

2. Yes, but it does that via radiation.

Here they're talking about seeing heat transver via conduction, or the direct transver of molecular vibrations.

[Poll_Blind]

3. The phenomena they are describing in this article is the transfer of heat WITHOUT radiation.

So light comes from the sun. It is radiated would probably be a better word. Those photons zip for 8 minutes through the distance between the sun and ourselves, and when enough of them hit our skin the absorbed energy excites our atoms.

But that requires the transfer of heat via radiation.

The effect they're speaking of is heat transfer without radiation, in a phenomenon which occurs over very small distances.

In the article the OP links to, there is a section titled "Tunnelling, not radiating" which covers why this is important.

PB

[hedgehog]

4. As if thermodynamics and Heat transfer weren't complicated enough!

[d_r]

5. I wish my vacuum would cross the floor.

[lonestarnot]

6. All by itself.

[laconicsax]

10. You're in luck:

http://store.irobot.com/category/index.jsp?categoryId=3334619&cp=2804605&ab=CMS_IRBT_Storefront_011510_vacuumcleaning

[txlibdem]

7. Do Not Worry. We are here to protect you from The Terrible Secret of Space

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7E0ot9iJm_k

[jdp349]

8. I'm going with the pushing robot

he brought a baguette.

[txlibdem]

9. I thought that was the shoving robot...

I guess in the end it doesn't really matter which, now does it?

:rofl::rofl::rofl: