Steorn and the Free Energy Device

tryptych

waiting for a time
This came to my attention via the Guardian a week or so ago:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,,1858134,00.html

These guys claim to have invented a magnet based device which can generate apparently unlimited amounts of free, clean energy. Seems highly unlikey, and the way the whole thing is being sold makes it appear like some weird PR stunt on behalf of something else (there were theories about XBOX games and such about).

Here's some more links:

The company's own site: http://www.steorn.net/frontpage/default.aspx

James Randi's site: http://www.randi.org/jr/2006-08/082506yet.html#i1

Steorn Watch: http://www.steornwatch.com/

The guy who runs Steorn Watch seems to think that Steorn actually beleive they've got a real working device... which is frankly world-changing news if its true. But then why all the suffling around? Why don't they just publish a paper for everyone to see and test, instead of this somewhat clandestine selecting of a jury of 12 scientists...?
 

MATT MAson

BROADSIDE
Free Energy is taboo in the scientific community - Many scientists stretching all the way back to Tesla have made claims about this kind of thing, they are always scoffed at - because there are so many free-energy con artists about. But it doesn't actually violate any laws of physics.

My favourite story is still the village community of Methernitha in Switzerland - which has claimed to rum on free energy for 40 years, but won't share its secret with the world because they are deeply religous and don't think the rest of us heathens are ready.

I can understand Steorn trying to alert the world media first and get public interest going, but it would seem easier to just write a paper. It will be very interesting to see how this story shakes out. Either way, good luck to em, I'm definitely getting an Xbox now whatever happens.
 

tryptych

waiting for a time
Free Energy is taboo in the scientific community - Many scientists stretching all the way back to Tesla have made claims about this kind of thing, they are always scoffed at - because there are so many free-energy con artists about. But it doesn't actually violate any laws of physics.

I'm confused by what you say - free energy is taboo but it doesn't break the laws of physics? What Steorn claim to have created is a device that defies the conseravtion of energy - their device is not transfering energy from one enviroment to another, nor is it destroying mass to create energy, it's literally creating energy out of nothing. This violates the first law of thermodynamics.
 

MATT MAson

BROADSIDE
Depends on how you define 'nothing'.

I'm kind of out of my element here, but as I understand it, in the universe there is so much potential energy in just one cubic cm of thin air, that if we could convert it into mass, we would have more mass than currently exists in the entire universe, right?

If that holds, then these ideas that center around magnets and momentum could be converting this energy from somewhere else - the momentum of the earth, or the universe, whatever Steorn think they are doing, in accordance with the first law. But this is seen by most as basically getting energy from 'thin air' - which is why it's not taken seriously.

So until it's undeniably proven, as Steorn seem to be trying to do, it's all just pseudoscientific conjecture when it comes to real world application. Nevertheless, in theory ideas about free energy do not have to violate laws of physics.
 

tryptych

waiting for a time
Ah, ok. By "free energy" I meant the creation of energy. Tapping into zero-point energy, or vacuum energy, which is what you're talking about, doesn't violate the 1st law of thermodynamics as it's just moving energy from one place to another, yep.

The idea that magnets and momentum somehow tap into ZPE is pretty far fetched.. I mean, in all the history of electromagnetic therory and quantum electrodynamics, there's never been any evidence or suggestion that magnets produce energy (from ZPE or otherwise).

Still, I await with interest to see if this is a complex hoax or something else...
 
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