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Oh yes there has been a formal revision of the second law. The simplest formal statement of today's modern definition the second law is through entropy: "Entropy does not decrease in a closed system." That is now the second law of Thermodynamics. The second law as stated by you no longer encompasses the full field of Thermodynamics. It is way too limited to include many important phenomena in thermodynamics such as the maximum power from heat driven motors, and the limitations of efficiency for refrigerators, and, yes, radiation physics. See this for details:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_law_of_thermodynamics. Let me state it more clearly:

 

The second law of Thermodynamics:

Entropy does not decrease in a closed system.


Your classical second law does not take into account heat transfer under the influence of external mechanical energy, internal chemical energy, potential energy, etc. The classical law that you love says nothing about the broader picture of these aspects of thermodynamics. The second law must accommodate all these scenarios. That is why it is now defined in terms of entropy.


So what prevents a photon from going from a colder body to a warmer body. Does it supposedly cancel out as it does in your failed light bulb experiment?


Your outdated definition says that your head is safe from getting hit by a spontaneously falling icicle. It is taking the "letter of the law" of your definition. However, since that definition is not widely applicable to all cases, you must take into account the revised formalism that uses entropy in the definition. Then the falling icicle will follow the 2nd law since it includes potential and kinetic energy that the classical law does not include.


So the radiation cancels out as it does in your failed light bulb experiment?


Again, IR astronomy is very limited on earth and only works between the absorption bands of green house gasses. That is why IR astronomy is done in high dry areas, from planes, or from space.

 

"Even at high altitudes, the transparency of the Earth's atmosphere is limited except in infrared windows, or wavelengths where the Earth's atmosphere is transparent." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrared_astronomy


Your choice is not to believe the quantum update, statistical physics, and the entropy definition of Thermodynamics. You are using a very limited and old definition and treating that old definition as though it were a religious commandment that has no further depth than literal words on a piece of paper. Your posts are like a faithful cult member of a religious congregation that worships a false god taught by false prophets and refuses to hear or believe factual evidence outside your bias. You simply don't understand the formal revision of Thermodynamics in terms of entropy or statistics, and cling to an old 1899 idea that catastrophically fails for the very application you are trying to use it for.


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