Free Energy - Sincere or a publicity stunt?


I was writing a short comment here when I started thinking about a story I had read a few days ago about an Irish tech firm throwing down a "free energy" gauntlet. I looked in the Agonist Science and Global Energy sections to find it but don't see it, but maybe it is somewhere else, I don't remember where I saw it.

Anyway, I decided to check it out on google and was surprised to find science websites expressing the most scepticism to the idea.

There seems to be two main points, the first is that such a thing breaks written science laws and theories. The second is that it is all a publicity stunt.

To the first point I would say this. That laws are made to be broken and theories are made to be proven, or disproven. On the second point I only ask, what would a company gain from being exposed as either foolish or frauds?

Solving the worlds energy problem would have a knock on effect to so many of the other problems that afflict the planet and mankind. As I said in my other post, if only we had an "Apollo' style energy program for the planet.

The World would likely be a very different and much better place for us all.

The scientists who claim they can create free energy

Wikipedia - Steorn

Steorn calls time on application process for scientists to test free energy technology

Steorn website

The Poll on Steorns website:

Do you think the scientific community should accept our challenge? Yes: 39% - No: 61%

WTF is up with that? Why should they not test Steorn's claims?

There is a forum, this thread is an interesting read.

Carib


Caribdude August 29, 2006 - 12:25am

There are several obvious reasons to doubt this claim. First, they're hiring their own "scientists" from a group of applicants, they're not just inviting open inspection, nor by anyone with a reputation to protect. Their "experts", after they've been assembled, will simply have to write up whatever they like about what they've seen. Indeed, they needn't even have seen "it". Steorns is going to publish everything themselves, and peer review will be non-existent.

If they really wanted to convince somebody, and keeping in mind that natural processes cannot be patented, they would have invited open inspection of their process. Instead, they're able to keep up the charade for a couple of years while they lure more suckers investors into their "secret technology".

Nevertheless, like many other non-physicist types who are desparate for something, anything to solve the energy problem, I'll be watching for their results. I admit it's intriguing, in a junkie-needs-a-fix kind of way, but I wont be investing in Steorns, either.

Joes Bar and Grill August 29, 2006 - 4:40am

I understand, but also feel that it is dangerous for such ideas to be ridiculed as it seems to be. This is what they say on their website about the challange, where did you get your info about it.

THE CHALLENGE

Validation Process

The process of testing Steorn's technology shall consist of three test phases. The process shall commence with the scientific jury appointing its own chairman. Steorn shall then provide an in-depth explanation of the operation of its technology and shall present the tests and test data conducted on the technology to date.

Steorn will cover all direct costs relating to the validation process.

Phase I
Confirm that the Steorn technology has a coefficient of performance greater than 100%.

Phase II
Confirm that the operation of the Steorn technology does not affect the component parts of the technology.

Phase III
Carry out a full thermodynamic analysis of the technology.

What Happens After Validation?

The jury’s analysis will be published on the company's website where everyone can register to receive the results.

The Company will then be seeking to license its technology into a variety of markets including the consumer electronics and automotive sectors. The company will also be releasing several products that it is developing itself.

Caribdude August 29, 2006 - 10:49am

...as, hopefully, a domonstration of the scientific process in action. I have my doubts that this is really an 'energy for free' solution, but would enjoy reading the results of the testing and discussion of the science involved (what little of it that I'll understand....)

-5.75,-4.05 "The invisible hand of Adam Smith seems to offer an extended middle finger to an awful lot of people"---George Carlin

justadood August 29, 2006 - 6:42pm

[this appears to be a competitor to Steorn] - neophyte

Feb 17

Mike Brady has stirred the imagination of many thousands with his claim to an operational all-magnet motor, with no other input energy source than magnets, which cause rotation when arranged in a proper alignment.

by Sterling D. Allan
Pure Energy Systems News

MUNICH, GERMANY – Mike Brady and I have a deeply intertwined history that dates back nearly five years. Our relationship has ranged from business associates to distant observers, but has remained mostly friendly throughout. I do believe that he has a viable technology that could potentially provide a clean energy solution for the planet, but I have not yet witnessed it in operation, though I have sought to do so a number of times, and am still in process of seeking the opportunity to go see and validate his claims, either in person or through a representative in the New Energy Congress. I still own the domain name: perendev.com, which forwards to our independent coverage at PESWiki. ...

neophyte February 20, 2007 - 6:59am

Posted Feb 19th 2007 10:31PM by Ryan Block

Engadget

We wrote about Steorn last year when they took everyone by surprise with a full page ad in The Economist, and a (not so) simple promise: that they'd discovered a clean, perpetual energy system that would solve the world's energy problems. While we're not exactly any closer to knowing what this supposed thermodynamics and physics bending energy production mechanism actually is, Steorn has given it a name: Orbo. Detailed specs on the Orbo energy system are promised by the end of Q1 of this year; until then, with the scientific community all up in arms over promises to end the concept of energy scarcity and thereby transform the world economy, our enthusiasm is and will still remain curbed by our skeptics' hat which we can't take off (not even for a second).

neophyte February 20, 2007 - 7:13am

is that it's a misapplication across boundaries.

Human laws are human-created rules guiding social conduct. Scientific laws don't represent a set of rules set by humans, they're just a set of parameters describing the functioning of the physical universe. They aren't created, they're discovered or inferred.

We didn't set them, we merely try to discern them with greater or lesser success. Nobody's going to be breaking the "Law of Gravity" or the "Law of Conservation of Energy" any time soon.

Escher Sketch February 20, 2007 - 1:23pm
neophyte April 15, 2007 - 8:44pm

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