An Irish company,
Steorn, has been making some pretty bold claims lately. They claim to have developed "revolutionary free energy technology," and last week they published an ad in
The Economist challenging the scientific community to test their technology. Their ad reads:
Imagine
A world with an infinite supply of pure energy.
Never having to recharge your phone.
Never having to refuel your car.
Welcome to our world
At Steorn we have developed a technology that produces free, clean and constant energy. Our technology has been independently validated by engineers and scientists--always behind closed doors, always off the record, always proven to work.
The Challenge
We are therefore issuing a challenge to the scientific community: test our technology and report your findings to the world.
We are seeking a jury of twelve--the most qualified and the most cynical.
My first reaction to this is that it's yet another perpetual-motion-machine fantasy. Often the inventors who dream up these devices truly believe they work. They want so badly to cheat the laws of physics that they convince themselves that they have. They remind me of gamblers who convince themselves that it's possible to beat the odds.
Steorn isn't being specific about exactly how their technology works, but Sean McCarthy, the CEO, gave
this description of it on Ireland's RTE Radio:
"What we have developed is a way to construct magnetic fields so that when you travel round the magnetic fields, starting and stopping at the same position, you have gained energy. The energy isn't being converted from any other source such as the energy within the magnet. It's literally created. Once the technology operates, it provides a constant stream of clean energy."
So it's got something to do with magnets. Perpetual-motion fanatics love magnets!
The one unusual aspect of Steorn's claim is their active recruitment of independent scrutiny of their claims. They're probably going to end up wasting the time of everyone involved, but at least they're putting on a good show of wanting to be open and honest about the process. Though I'm wondering if this whole thing is an elaborate publicity stunt.
Comments
While none of that means that their claims aren't true, it does look rather odd.
Legitimate scientific research does not get announced in the media. They publish in peer-reviewed scientific journals that allows other scientists to check it out before informing the public. Remember the cold fusion press conference a few years ago with claims that no one could replicate, not even those who originally made the claim. Same thing here.
Doing this would be more akin to using a water wheel that turns from moving water to drive a generator than it is to the classic perpetual motion device. You are merely taking advantage of naturally occurring energy sources.
It also might be possible that they are taking advantage of some other newly discovered law (or rule of thumb) of physics. But, I remain skeptical of their claim. I will only believe claims such as these when I see them. And, when there is sufficient independent scientific scrutiny.
The law of Thermodynamics applies to all levels, as it is the study of energy. Quantum physics refers to everything in its smallest form, and is not an exception to the laws of physics. There is no such thing as "free energy". What you are referring to is the subatomic particles that carry a charge. These particles (+ or -) bounce around until they find another particle, they collide, and then destroy one another, creating a small sub-atomic "bang". Now, it is possible that in using the magnets, Steorn has found some way of attracting these subatomic particles, and using the minute amoung of energy they create, to actually produce an overall increase in the output of energy, and at the same time have the illusion of providing "free energy". I pray this is the case. However, I do feel skeptical of the claims made by Steorn, due to their lack of any supporting evidence. The video they have speaks in a flowery way about how great "free energy" is, but doesn't have any scientific approach to explaining their discovery. I could just as easily say I have created a teleporter, and I want the world to know that I challenge everyone to send me 12 scientist to validate my claim...oh, and I get to choose who they are! For more, check out my blog...its the second topic, and don't forget to leave your comments.. MY BLOG Thanks 😊
See my website:
http://rvincoletto.multiply.com
Renata
I understood that there were charged particles floating, and at that point, I guess there would be energy, and once the particles collide, then the energy is transferred, leaving a balance of zero?
Anyhow, it will be interesting and insightful (oh there's gotta be a short paper I can write about this for at least one of my profs) to see how this plays out. It sure looks slick and cool - photos, videos, soft-spinning logos etc. After cold fusion, how much wiser did we become collectively? Or does hope always shake our faith in empiricism?
Or maybe its just another high-brow publicity stunt put on by the energy companies to let us down and restore our faith in good old oil and its traditional socio-economic priority in our consumption-oriented lives? Yeah, that's it... 😉
Fascinating and fun to watch it all unfold though.
Peace-out!
T.
http://randi.org/jr/2006-08/082506yet.html#i1
It's quite possible Steorn has stumbled onto something revolutionary.
Cheers
Clean energy? It is possible as well.
My idea is very difficult for understanding. It is not difficult for engineer - mechanic, who knows very good the Pascal's law and even-arm lever.
Please open GOOgle and find metozor and next :
index of metozor.
Overthere is all about idea of main .
example : http://www.nets.pl/~metozor/for_greenpeace.html or
http://www.nets.pl/~metozor/energy_for_everybody.html
http://www.nets.pl/~metozor/prolog_for_metoz.html
Email this article to friends.
We should consider the many outcomes that taking this "discovery" to press will present. This could be a marketing ploy or scam so that Steorns stock will rise. After this of course, they will sell, giving them a humongous profit. If so I doubt very seriously that they would even care what would happen to what is left of the company. This can certainly be seen as a reasonable accusation seeing how it is a team of only twenty people. It is also reasonable because what we have observed so far within our universe, it points out that creating a potentially useful energy source out of thin air would be incredibly hard if not impossible to do and control, even on the subatomic levels where the energy levels may fluctuate.
On the other hand if they did make this astonishing breakthrough there are plenty of reasons not to publish it within the scientific community first. The first reason that comes to mind is simple, assassination. Many people are too trusting of the oil companies and their government. This is not a conspiracy theory but a cold hard fact. The number one thing that corrupts a government is the economy. Once the economy collapses then there is civil disarray, up rises and eventually a collapse in the government. If there is a replacement for oil the government will be against it because at this time that is their economic power. In effect releasing such a claim directly into the scientific community would be a death wish. There is also the possibility that with this rise in stock they would have money to further research this claim and create a working prototype.
In my own personal point of view it sounds like a reasonable claim but a highly doubtful one. It may look good on paper but in real life there are millions of variables including the earth
Clean energy? It is possible as well.
My idea is very difficult for understanding. It is not difficult for engineer - mechanic, who knows very good the Pascal's law and even-arm lever.
Please open GOOgle and find metozor and next :
index of metozor.
Overthere is all about idea of main .
example : http://www.nets.pl/~metozor/for_greenpeace.html or
http://www.nets.pl/~metozor/energy_for_everybody.h...
http://www.nets.pl/~metozor/prolog_for_metoz.html
Email this article to a friend.