Free Energy

I've just come across a news story about a company claiming to have invented a device which produces 'free energy' (i.e. a device which produces more energy than is used to power it, without extracting energy from any of its components). Such a device would be a perpetual motion machine of the first kind.

The company's website is here. There is also some video on google video.

I'm going to be a little guarded in my comments about this, since it is a commercial enterprise and as such is likely to sue me if I am not.

The first thing to mention is that these devices are explicity banned by thermodynamics, as they violate conservation of energy, and so it seems incredibly unlikely that they have built a working device as seems to have been claimed. If they have built a device which appears to be producing excessive energy, it is exremely likely that it is drawing the extra energy from some external power source.

The second thing worth noting is that they have issued a challenge to scientists to prove or disprove their device produces free energy. To me, this seems like what crackpots often do (although Steorn seems to be offering to pay expenses), where they present a theory supposedly showing, for example, a flaw in general relativity, and then challenge people to prove them wrong.

Maybe Steorn isn't full of crackpots, but when I here claims that someone has produced a perpetual motion machine I am immediately suspicious. In the video linked to above, the company executives featured essentially chastise scientists for not trying to test their idea. Their arguement is essentially that they have an idea that could change the world, and so it should be scientists top priority.

To me, this shows that either they do not really understand how scientists work, or they are deliberately putting forward a warped interpretation in order to goad physicists into looking at their proposal. I would like to think that it is the first case, but I really suspect the latter.

There are three main reasons why physicists may not want to work through such a proposal to find flaws:

1. It's time consuming, and we're already busy enough
2. Physicists, like most people, do not usually work for free
3. In some circles, engaging with crackpots can detrimental to your career

The fourth reason, which I should add, is that there is effectively zero chance of the device actually working as advertised, and so the chances of actually finding something useful are vanishingly small.

The Steorn website has a forum where people can chat about the company. This thread in particular is relevant, since it is basically a collage of snide comments about academics in their ivory towers. But this I find funny:

* law900
* CommentTime: 2 hours ago


I am indeed skeptical. But, stranger things are currently being developed. Some examples are - 1) A working time machine in development by Doctor Ronald Mallett, Professor at the University of Connecticut; 2) Quantum computers being worked on by a dozen different organizations throughout the world; 3) Quantum teleportation, development being done by U.S. military; 4) Invisibility, being worked on by Dr Ulf Leonhardt at St Andrews University, Scotland.

It would be the Acme of foolishness to dismiss this claim out of hand. It is the responsibility of academia to test claims that may be revolutionary. If one had suggested that a transistor could be built out of silicon and made solid-state in 1920, they would have been laughed out of the lab.

So apparently perpetual motion is reasonable, but what about QIP? That's just craziness!

Well I'm off to bed, to consider switching to a more realistic field, like superluminal travel. Perhaps I'll have a go at squaring a circle, as a warm up.