can someone do the calculations of the expected energy in Joules this could produce... I do not know where to start on this one

can someone do the calculations of the expected energy in Joules this could produce... I do not know where to start on this one

It doesn't produce energy, it just transforms heat energy into mechanical motion/work. You can't calculate the amount of work done by the engine without some more parameters, such as the temperature of the heat source and the heat sink, etc. It is not enough to do anything useful with on a macroscopic scale though, considering the amount of work required to run all of the equipment needed to operate this engine.

can someone do the calculations of the expected energy in Joules this could produce... I do not know where to start on this one

lol just supposing it's 0.25 femtojoules per cycle, at 4GHz it'd be putting out as much as 1pj/s, or one picowatt of raw unbridled power.

Gotta admit tho it's an ingenious exercise.

Build up something with billions of these atoms and get an ultra efficient heat to work converter?

"Can a car engine be built out of a single particle?"

no. next?

Build up something with billions of these atoms and get an ultra efficient heat to work converter?

No.

Actually the 30% efficiency given in this article is terrible.

The most efficient internal combustion engines are the largest, on super tankers and cargo ships, and some of those are near or above 50% now.

Considering the headline of the article is misleading (there's a laser and some other gear involved) this apparatus is pretty useless at this time.