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Steorn peddles Orbo development kit, snake oil optional
With Steorn's track record, you'd think that the company wouldn't be in such a hurry to put its "free energy" technology under a microscope. Then again, maybe once it has your €399 (roughly $550) your thoughts on the subject really aren't that important anyways. Regardless, we're a wee bit skeptical of anyone who claims to have made a miraculous scientific breakthrough, refuses to explain said scientific breakthrough, and then asks you to cut them a check. But maybe you're a more trustworthy type: In that case, to build an Orbo device for yourself and access to the Steorn Knowledge Development Base, hit the source link. But don't say we didn't warn you.
Steorn livestream to settle the case for overunity once and for all... or something like that
Once again, Steorn promises to finally prove that free, clean, and constant energy can be produced by its Orbo technology -- principle of the conservation of energy be damned! -- on a webcast this upcoming Saturday. Of course, they might have similarly proven their point during a previous web event... or maybe they haven't. At this point, we've heard so many outlandish claims that we're having a hard time keeping 'em straight, but we've never been one to turn down a gratis comedy show after a hard day's night. Tune in if you find yourself in the mood for a chuckle. Or don't. Chances are you won't miss much anything.
Steorn Orbo livestream begins: Look, fairies!
We're not going to spend any more time on this than absolutely necessary. After all, Steorn's claims haven't changed a bit in the three years since the histrionics began. But we will point you to Steorn's live free energy demonstration so that you can ponder for yourselves how Orbo "uses magnets to gain energy" on a trio of live cams. If you look closely, you might even see a leprechaun dancing after the break. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Steorn invites us to 'get real' with fairy-powered Orbo free energy device, we invite it to do the same (video)
Oh, Steorn, how we've missed you. The company rushed onto the scene in the summer of 2007 promising free energy for all, then said "we screwed up" when its demonstration failed to show anything but red faces. Naturally the screw-up wasn't thanks to an ill-advised attempt to break the laws of physics, instead blamed on a bearing failure. Now, coffers filled again after assuredly brisk sales of USB-powered divining rods, the company has rented another demonstration space, this time in Dublin. In the promotional video below Steorn pledges that this week things will "get real" by mocking those who have mocked the company, including our very own reference to power divined from the Fay and other mythical sources. We're going to firmly stand by our disbelief -- but to say that we're jazzed about the prospect of another exciting demonstration would be a huge understatement. [Thanks, Chris]
The Engadget Interview: Sean McCarthy, CEO of Steorn
Today's interview is a first for Engadget in a couple ways: we've never talked with an executive whose company doesn't actually make or sell something, nor have we talked with anyone whose technology is theoretically infeasible. Still, we've all had our chance to criticize Steorn for its scientifically heretical claim to the invention of a perpetual motion machine, its failed live demonstration of that machine, and so on. So now it's time to turn the mic over to Steorn's CEO Sean McCarthy, where he discusses his belief in the potential of Steorn's Orbo technology, his feelings about the scientific community and skeptics at large, and what happens next for the supposed free energy company.Thank you for taking the time to speak with us today. I'm sure that you're very busy, especially after the last couple of weeks-- I've had better weeks. Yeah, I would imagine. But before we actually get started talking about the technology [Orbo] or anything like that I think that a lot of people would probably like to know a little bit more about the company. So what can you tell us about Steorn that we don't already know? I mean we know that it was a company that was founded not to break the laws of thermodynamics but rather technological means. The company was founded by myself and three other guys back in 2000 and it was basically three of us had come from a company that I had been working with for a year and the Irish economy was doing well so we decided we'd set up a tech company with no real objective. We started working in the early days just helping people manage some of their big e-commerce spend. So it would primarily be contract management, so for example where corporate would be spending vast amounts of money on e-commerce projects.But that day was over so we came in to restructure the contracts and try to manage them into a more realistic burn rate. So we did that with probably some of Ireland's biggest corporate e-commerce sites including people like Banks of Ireland and so on. In 2001 we were asked to get involved in the development of some anti-counterfeit technology for credit cards and basically that became the mainstay of our business both in terms of developing anti-counterfeit systems for optical disks and for plastic cards and also doing an awful lot of forensics and expert witnessing for law enforcements across Europe. I see. So then you stumbled upon this technology by-- An awful lot of the work we would have done would have been done in ATM fraud, which is a very widespread fraud in the UK and in Ireland and across Europe, and from working with the police they have quite a different view on the crime than for example a bank, and the police's prime objective is to catch the bad guys. So we started looking at covert surveillance equipment to monitor high risk ATMs, because clearly what the law enforcement wanted to do was to get evidence of a person physically committing a crime and it was during the development of some covert CCTV cameras that we were looking at basically very mobile devices -- so we wanted wireless image transmission and also not to have to worry about wiring them up to anything. So we initially looked at solar cells and we looked at augmenting solar cells to extend the battery life of the system with winter at the top of these were lamp post sized devices. So it was during that we started really playing around with magnetic systems and that's where we began to notice some strange anomalies and got caught in this weird and wonderful world OU. [Over unity, aka free energy.] Sometimes we wish we hadn't but we have.
Steorn's Orbo device exploded -- for dissection, not the apocalypse
With tail held firmly between legs, Steorn really had no choice but to take a less covert and cryptic approach to their public relations. Behold what shyster-Sean McCarthy calls a working device utilizing their Orbo "free infinite energy" technology (read: magnets). The exploded view below the photograph was cobbled together by Steorn forum members and is a best guess as to how the device "works" at this point in time. The stationary part -- the stator -- is colored green and blue and contains 8 magnets fitted into angled-slots around the central cavity. Within the cavity spins a rotor with an additional 4 magnets evenly distributed around the circumference. Between the two are those dastardly, watch-maker bearings which were to blame for the failed demonstration last week. So yeah, it certainly appears to be just another in a long series of magnetically driven perpetual motion machines debunked by the scientific community for centuries. Still, Steorn employees continue to assert the existence of their magical energy source; they just can't explain how it works or prove that it exists. You know at this point, their rabid self-deception and cult of believers investors are becoming just a tad creepy don't you think?[Via BoingBoing]
Steorn's CEO states the obvious: "we screwed up"
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.
Steorn Orbo: canceled
Holy snakeoil Batman, The Steorn Orbo exhibition has been canceled. According to a press release by Steorn CEO (and lead shyster) Sean McCarthy, the company "will explore alternative dates for the public demonstration." Yeah, right. If the heat from the lights was really an issue for the on-site built device, why didn't they: 1) turn off the lights, or 2) fly in the so-called working "free energy" device from Dublin? After all, they still have 9 days left to exhibit. Lame.[Thanks, Marc O. and Arthur D.]
Update on Steorn's Orbo boondoggle
We've got an update for all those who tuned in yesterday at 6pm London and then again at 6pm New York only to not view the "proof" of Steorn's "free energy" machine. This morning, Steorn is carrying the following announcement on their home page:"We are experiencing some technical difficulties with the demo unit in London. Our initial assessment indicates that this is probably due to the intense heat from the camera lighting. We have commenced a technical assessment and will provide an update later today. As a consequence, Kinetica will not be open to the public today (5th July). We apologise for this delay and appreciate your patience." Yeah, whatever. Still, like a car crash we just can't turn away no matter how wrong we know it to be.Update: You can watch their shysters engineers on cam number 3. That's the device in the glass cube above! However, unlike camera 3, the Orbo prototype is not working. Thanks, Dan.Update 2: The other cameras now appear to be live (or looping anyway). That's a close up of the device which is still not moving. Hell, we're not even sure if it's the "free energy" powered device or just a stand-in. After all, it was supposed to be lifting a weight, remember?[Thanks, Daniel H.]
Steorn's Orbo "free-energy" machine demonstrated!
Here we go, after months of doubt over claims of a magnetic machine promising "infinite clean energy," Steorn will be putting their wares on display for public scrutiny in London. A physics defying perpetual machine, if you will. Starting tomorrow, rumor has it that the Kinetica museum will host the Orbo device for a ten day long public demonstration of the technology. We're expecting a formal announcement at 6pm 11pm London (1pm 6pm New York). iPhone shmiPhone, this is going to be good.Update 1: Still nothing from Steorn yet, but Irish RTE News has also "confirmed" the impending announcement. Moreover, a "very simplified version" of the technology will be viewable by streaming media over the Intertubes. So get ready kids, they say you'll be able to watch janky video of a prototype "lifting a weight" from four different angles starting at 6pm London Eastern Time. Otherwise, you can view the device live at Kinetica from Thursday 5 July to Friday 13 July.Update 2: First picture of the mystical device! [Thanks, Jordy]Update 3: CEO Sean McCarthy tells SilconRepublic how it works. Namely, the time variance in magnetic fields allows the Orbo platform to "consistently produce power, going against the law of conservation of energy which states that energy cannot be created or destroyed." He goes on to say "It's too good to be true but it is true. It will have such an impact on everything we do. The only analogy I can give is if you had absolute proof that God wasn't real." Whoa. Link to demonstration site now added below.Update 4: Well, 6pm London time has come and gone. However, Steorn's site now says that the video will go live at 6pm "Eastern Time." Apparently, their demo is aimed at the US. A fossil-fuel Independence Day? Riiiiight.Update 5: Jeebus, what a non-event. Even though they wield supreme control over the laws of physics, Steorn had to cancel tonight's event "due to technical difficulties." We'd laugh if it wasn't so pathetically tragic. The live stream is now rescheduled ambiguously to the 5th July. Now move along folks, there's nothing to see here.[Thanks, Obi N. and Jonathan G.]Read -- Kinetica museum (not announced yet)Read -- rumored announcementRead -- world's first "free energy" live demo (just not live yet -- hey is Orbo powering the London Eye!)
Steorn delivers... a waffling video, loose tech specs
Steorn delivered as promised. No, not Orbo and its promise of "infinite clean energy." Not even the technical details behind their seemingly improbably invention. Rather, they've produced a rather uninspiring Q1 video update for a "rightly skeptical world." We now know that of the 5,000 applicants for the jury, just under a 1000 were qualified to participate. Of these, only 22 experts had the scientific know-how (and, free time) to assess the technology -- testing which seems both under way and about to begin depending upon how you interpret the release. Nevertheless, in July Steorn will host a public demonstration of the technology in London. The event will allow anyone to "pretty much get hands-on with who we are and what the technology does." Fortunately, it will also be broadcast live across the Intertubes. Until then, you'll have to make do with the video update after the break with the possibility of more details later in the day.[Thanks, Chris]Update: Steorn also "updated" their tech specs page, with more of the same totally jargon-tastic claims and not much new information. Operating on the principle of "time variant magneto-mechanical interactions", Orbo will supposedly convert mechanical energy to electrical via normal means of generation; they expect power density of 0.5 Watts per cubic centimeter. Any physicists in the room prepared to dive in?
Steorn teases with a reveal date: Friday, April 13th
We're going to try and not read too much into this whole Friday the 13th date, and just give you the straight facts: Steorn promises to be "releasing the update on the Jury process and so on" of its seemingly first-law-of-thermodynamics-denying Orbo "free energy" product on April 13th. Steorn has been promising technical information about the invention and jury results for a while now, originally saying "first quarter" 2007. So if we use our imaginations -- as we apparently are exercising to the fullest to even entertain Steorn's Orbo claims -- we can just pretend April 13th is still Q1 and sit tight for the (hopefully) big reveal.[Via Steorn Orbo, thanks Phil]
Steorn Orbo: the thermodynamics defying energy product is named
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).
