Perhaps the only thing more impressive than claimed possession of an "
infinite free energy" machine is the refusal to give-in under the weight of the world's skepticism-turned ire. "We screwed up," admitted
Steorn's CEO Sean McCarthy yesterday after their
failed demonstration, but "if we were here to rig a demo, we'd all be here watching a wheel spin." As shyster-Sean explains, Steorn brought three systems to London, one of which they got working for "about 4-hours" on Tuesday night. As we all know by now, it mysteriously ceased to function after it was moved to the display room. At that point, there was a breakdown of the watchmaker-quality bearings causing friction to "go to hell." Sean no longer attributes the failings to the lamp heat, lamenting only that his team doesn't know the cause. Moving forward Sean alluded to a less "covert and cryptic" Steorn as they attempt to regain the confidence (they had it?) of the public and more importantly, their shareholders who are more than likely discussing matters with legal counsel at this very moment. Still, he promised to return. Next time, however, the system will already be up and running before the demonstration is announced. While we seriously doubt they've circumvented the laws of our physical world, half the fun of any good scam (and this is a good'n) is picking apart the components to reveal the truth. Click-on through for the full Q&A caught on video.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
zozart @ Jul 7th 2007 6:10AM
"The friction had gone to hell"? Surely they could've come up with something more scientific than that. And that was the "technical explanation"? Ha.
Alan Partridge @ Jul 7th 2007 8:26AM
I don't understand why he just doesn't go back in his time machine and fix it. Steorn do have a time machine, right?
CongoZombie @ Jul 7th 2007 8:31AM
Maybe the friction was supposed to go to heaven instead- That might explain why our pitiful "human" science can't explain their magical creation... This has to be one of the strangest things ever.
BillyBones @ Jul 7th 2007 12:19PM
Here is what really happened....One of the cross beams has gone out askew on the treadle. Clearly Sean McCarthy didn't expect a kind of Spanish Inquisition!
CongoZombie @ Jul 7th 2007 12:55PM
"NOBODY expects the Spanish Inquisition!"
Ang @ Jul 7th 2007 6:22AM
Mr. Thomas Ricker, so much hate, you sound boring.
I, will still give Steorn the benefit of the doubt for the time being.
Thomas Ricker @ Jul 7th 2007 6:31AM
Thanks Ang,
You must be one of those exciting "round-Earthers"
Thomas
Xavier Gill @ Jul 7th 2007 7:08AM
Not enough hate for my liking, these people are scum. They play on the dreams of millions in order to gain fame and money, hoovering up over $4million so far. All the while doing irreparable damage to the scientific community doing genuine research.
Florecilla Silvestre @ Jul 7th 2007 7:51AM
First they believed it was heat caused by a lamp and later, heat caused by friction. But the truth nobody wants to see is heat was caused by GLOBAL WARMING. One more time, an evil dark hand emerges from the shadow to ensure the dominance of the oil industry. The Steorn environmental disaster adds to the long list of reasons to impeach George Bush
Xavier Gill @ Jul 7th 2007 8:07AM
Im surprised they havent gone for the 'art' defence yet. 'free, clean energy' commenting on our dependence on non-renewable, dirty fuels. The amount of time and money wasted on the project by them and the media/public is similar to the amount of energy we all waste day to day. And, as the person above, suggested the bearing failing 'cos of the heat is a metaphor for how Earth will eventually meet its demise through global warming.
Its the kind of lazy, blunt symbolism western contemporary art has become.
Alan Partridge @ Jul 7th 2007 8:53AM
"I, will still give Steorn the benefit of the doubt for the time being."
Is that what science is now, giving someone the benefit of the doubt?
Ang @ Jul 7th 2007 11:33AM
Maybe I am very naive and haven't become that cynical about life just yet. Maybe we haven't discovered everything there is to know about the Universe. All I am trying to say is that I am surprised at how much venom the attacks are towards Steorn and anybody that has the slightest hope that this might be true, remember they still haven't disclosed the full details to the public as to what it is they have discovered.
If only people demanded the same accountability from billion dollar companies the same way.
How many countless so called scientific claims and discoveries have been made regarding cancer or vaccines to cure aids for instance, yet still there is no cure.
Still that doesn't mean people have to give up hope or that scientist should stop trying to prove our current theories wrong. Why should no stone be left unturned?
suv4x4 @ Jul 7th 2007 11:33AM
Come on: it's fun. It's not as if Engadget went in Ireland convincing them to talk and do bullshit for the past 2 years of their lives.
BobTurbo @ Jul 7th 2007 6:23AM
Why even report on this garbage...
Pierre @ Jul 7th 2007 8:17AM
It's great that Engadget reports on these scammers. Every time they announce a new demo or something they get loads of exposure, but when they fail to deliver no-one notices.
I can't believe these bastards have been doing this for 5 years! How long will it be before their 'investors' realise they've been duped?
These guys should be in jail.
BobTurbo @ Jul 7th 2007 9:41AM
Would the people being scammed be reading Engadget? I thought Engadget readers were in the top 1% of intelligence, held multiple university degrees, and were experts on every subject on Earth?
xlandaux @ Jul 7th 2007 4:08PM
Ummm how many vapor-ware stories have you read on engadget?
I think everyone needs to relax, just because this didn't work you practically want to kill the guys responsible.
I'm taking an Occam's razor approach to this whole thing, nobody can prove that what they have wont work as we haven't really seen it yet and similarly we cant say that it will work!
Priapus @ Jul 8th 2007 7:36AM
Occam's razor states that the explanation of any phenomenon should make as few assumptions as possible. I assume that Steorn are conmen rather than that the first law of thermodynamics has been violated.
xlandaux @ Jul 8th 2007 8:47PM
@Priapus;
I'm approaching this Orbo situation & Occam's Razor similarly to how one would argue it in regards to the existence of God. To quote Wikipedia:
"In the philosophy of religion, Occam's razor is sometimes applied to the existence of God; if the concept of God does not help to explain the universe, it is argued, God is irrelevant and should be cut away (Schmitt 2005). While Occam's razor cannot prove God's nonexistence, it does imply that, in the absence of compelling reasons to believe in God, disbelief should be preferred."
So, While Occam's razor cannot prove Orbos non-ability to produce energy, it does imply that, in the absence of compelling reasons to believe in Orbos ability to produce energy, disbelief should be preferred.
make some sense?
orbofun @ Jul 7th 2007 6:34AM
"..ahm, ah.. we, ahm have.. ahm, free ehh energy... exspense.. was.. ahm friction system erm... ahhmmm.."
Pedro @ Jul 7th 2007 6:40AM
So I guess this is "CE-Oh yes he did! Part I"?
Colin @ Jul 7th 2007 7:03AM
Hater/Fanboi cutoff: The iMacs neither caused nor could solve the problem.
Xavier Gill @ Jul 7th 2007 7:18AM
One of the members of the Steorn forums, who used to be a staunch supporter, is now convinced that this is a cult and yesterdays antics was a stunt to seperate the hardcore believers, who will now believe anything, from the non-believers. "classic cult behaviour" :)
Pierre @ Jul 7th 2007 8:18AM
Ooh thats a new theory to add to the list! I kind of like that one.
Other possibilities that's been mentioned:
- They are starting up a marketing company and this will put them on the map
- Halo 3 viral marketing
- Plain old scammers
- They are all on drugs
Shawin @ Jul 7th 2007 7:23AM
i bet someone sabotaged them and stole their idea coz they wanna be the real shysters of 2007 :p
Wait! Could it be apfel? The 2ndGen ifone will never run out of battery.
And so will new mafbooks launched with leoparfd :p
Wayne Chiang @ Jul 7th 2007 7:38AM
Perpetual Waiting Machine?
Richard @ Jul 8th 2007 5:59AM
Douche
tchiseen @ Jul 7th 2007 8:04AM
"Sean no longer attributes the failings to the lamp heat, lamenting only that his team doesn't know the cause."
I can give 'em a hint why it didn't work - it's called physics. Not even advanced physics either. If his team understood basic physics, we wouldn't be here in the first place.
Ike @ Jul 7th 2007 8:27AM
What a bunch of hoes
Chris @ Jul 7th 2007 8:40AM
This demo is so weak - if/when it works, it's gonna do what? Spin a perfectly balanced, near-zero friction flywheel at a constant and low speed. Whoop-de-do. Make the losses low enough and the energy input needed becomes infinitesimally small and could be coming from anywhere (movement of the moon even?). If this thing was accumulating energy and needed slowing down, or was doing some work and was actually driving something useful, I'd be interested.
LilBlackDemon @ Jul 7th 2007 10:22AM
Disclaimer: I am a mechanical engineering student currently, and Thermodynamics/Thermal Engineering are my two favorite classes.
I think you hit the nail on the head here. *If* it does create free energy, the amount of free energy it would create would be so infinitesimally small that nothing could really be used from this demo. However, if it works it would really throw the engineering world for a loop since so much is based on the concept of conservation of energy.
Another thought on this is that this is really a 0th-generation technology if it works. Just like the first automobile was nothing more than a loud, noisy, dirty curiosity and the first telephone seems kind of useless when its only from one room to another, it provides an avenue for further development (just look at cars and phones now). Once that development is done, it could possibly do something more useful than just look pretty.
Joseph Moore @ Jul 7th 2007 9:16AM
One thing I've never been able to figure is, if this is just a hoax ... then why? I can't reasonably see a marketing gimmick going on this long ... only a few nerds like us care, the general public doesn't have this long of an attention span. It's not like they get to just personally pocket the money they raise ... it goes into the company. And really, if it is a hoax, it's a pretty shitty one ... they've never demonstrated anything. I'm holding on "wishful dreamers" for the time being.
Xavier Gill @ Jul 7th 2007 9:46AM
"It's not like they get to just personally pocket the money they raise ... it goes into the company"
They dont work for free, their salary comes out of the comapany expediture. They also got a nice holiday to sunny London.
lassi @ Jul 31st 2007 8:53AM
investor hoax into free energy goes like this:
they get the investors and then spend the money on "research", which is paying themselfs a salary.
steorn ceo drives around in a porsche, with money from the investors. if he is stupid enough he can believe that he can get away with this at the end - not all scammers in recent history thad had done similar - VERY SIMILAR! almost exact 1:1 except without all the publicity - investment scams with "free energy" even had an exit strategy(which is why some end up in jail or on the run).
you, as all orbo believers, should understand the fact that there has been numerous scams that are strikingly similar, that people defended with the same stupid assumptions that nobody could be that stupid to run such a scam....
Vance @ Jul 7th 2007 9:26AM
I don't understand the hoax accusations. Wrong, yes. Incompetant, yes. But if it were a hoax, they'd would've had something up and running. Now the "hoax" would have to be over... since no one in their right mind will fund them now.
Tim @ Jul 7th 2007 1:05PM
If they rigged it, then where would they go from there? They would have to invite scientists in to analyze it and they would eventually be found out, and probably sued for fraud (with the evidence of the rigging)
As long as they maintain the illusion that success is just over the hill, there is no way to prove that they are running a scam, and they can still ask for more money from their investors.
It's a lot like the 419 Nigeria scam. The scam would end pretty quickly if the thieves told the victim, "Ok, we put the money in your bank account," and it wasn't there.
It's an age old scam, and it's sad that it continues to work today.
Troy Hale @ Jul 7th 2007 9:56AM
I hope the Kinetica Museum ends up with one of the prototypes to put with the other "Failed Free Energy" displays I'm sure they have.
thanol @ Jul 7th 2007 9:57AM
Maybe the CEO is being dupped by some of his "researchers."
Chuckles McGee @ Jul 7th 2007 10:04AM
Lol, "It seems as though the laws of thermodynamics cease to be violated by the machine whenever the device is subjected to scrutiny!"
I can see the warning label on the machine now "Fragile Concept: Do not scrutinize"
muaddib420 @ Jul 7th 2007 3:10PM
well, the law of quantum mechanics state that when we observe or measure something, we change the nature of that thing. classic cat in the box experiment. so the thing really DOES work, it only works when no one is looking or measuring.
lol.
joewhat @ Jul 7th 2007 10:07AM
Hmmm... was it the mexicans having the overweight problem or the US? But I like the general idea and ecological way of thinking...
MbZ-buGSy @ Jul 7th 2007 10:12AM
Hey, you guys should know that these scientists are working their ass off as we speak. In fact, they’re inventing a new wheal. They say that its rounder on the edges and it spins around incredibly fast.
Flexxx @ Jul 7th 2007 10:15AM
Here is the technical explanation of the failure -- the smoke and mirrors reacted to the light which generated massive amounts of heat that disrupted the magnetic forces that reduced visibility of the wires connecting Orbo to the wall socket.
aboriginal @ Jul 7th 2007 10:20AM
The "ummm" count is waaaaay over 50 here - a sure sign of BS in the works. Maybe there just wasn't enough positive energy in the room.
SamBeckett @ Jul 7th 2007 10:27AM
I posted the same video at youtube
http://www.steornpower.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=92
SSNPGuerrilla @ Jul 7th 2007 10:29AM
Where the hell did these people get there college degrees? As a mechanical engineering major, I can categorically state the a perpetual motion machine is impossible. Not only does it violate the first law of thermodynamics, but more importantly it violates the second law of thermodynamics. Work is produced by energy moving from a hot reservoir to a cold reservoir. It is impossible for heat to be completely converted to work (some heat has to go to the cold reservoir). Even if you had the most efficient parts and there was no friction or air resistance, an engine cannot be more efficient than a Carnot engine.
Clayton @ Jul 7th 2007 12:32PM
do you doubt the demon? ;)
Yojimbo @ Jul 7th 2007 10:52AM
Invention is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration... that's probably why the bearings failed - too much salt water.
tekdroid @ Jul 7th 2007 11:03AM
heaven help the investors, look at the body language on that guy. Sinking ship.
treetrunk @ Jul 7th 2007 11:06AM
@Vance
"But if it were a hoax, they'd would've had something up and running. Now the "hoax" would have to be over... since no one in their right mind will fund them now."
Don't you realise what you've just said? This was no accident. I don't believe for a second that they have what they claim, because (i) my knowledge of engineering suggests it is impossible and (ii) they haven't provided ANY proof to convince me to the contrary. Are we really to believe they were trying to build a new machine on site for the demonstration? They claim to have overturned one of the most fundamental scientific principles which has stood up to hundreds of years of experimentation, yet they're that stupid? They announced this demo months ago, and claimed to have "discovered" the technology years ago. With the time they had they could EASILY have built a redundant set of 2,3 machines, brought them to London, and left a spare set up in the lab so if need be they could stick a webcam on that. I'm sorry but there is simply no reason not to demonstrate apart from the simple fact that it doesn't work. Had they set up a hoax demonstration they'd risk being found out - it'd only take someone to spot something suspicious, or to try and reproduce it - and then as you say it would be over. By not demonstrating due to some fixable-sounding minor "technical failure" they keep those who are still dumb or "faithful" enough to believe them hanging on the line until the next non-delivery.