Perpetual Motion

I did enjoy following the purported exhibition of a working model demonstrating the Steorn Orbo This is the latest in a long line of perpetual motion machines that never quite work when anyone is looking. The back-story is that an Irish company, Steorn, announced to the world in August 2006 that they had appeared to have invented a device based upon “time variant magneto-mechanical interactions” that could generate work without the input of any energy. Even during such a slow period for news the announcement was largely greeted with snorts of amusement. As a follow up – Steorn announced that they would be demonstrating their wonder device in London and to the public from 4th July with “web cams” streaming the demonstration to the world who could not make the trip.

I’m a hopeful cynic I suppose. I would love the world’s energy problems to be solved by a simple piece of “magic” but in reality I sat and wrote a simple “script” or movie plot of how events would unfold on the assumption that it was all a con trick.

<Script>
Conman announces public demonstration of device.
Conman inexplicably decides to use brand new demo device never previously tested rather than one of the many impressive devices he (says he) has working in his Lab.
The brand new device does not work – initial technical fault – will be fixed tomorrow.
<Plot A>
Overnight someone breaks into exhibition and smashes machine – “Big Oil” blamed by Conman
</Plot A>

<Plot B>
Special local environmental problems preclude test without re-design – note unexplained impossibility of just using one of the Conman’s existing machines.
</Plot B>
Conman announces end of demonstration until further notice/development
</Script>

Well in this instance the “demonstration” followed movie plot variant B with camera light heat being blamed as the local environmental problem – this being the technology that was going to drive cars. Now apart from the obvious questions like “Are there really people so gullible that they would invest in this?” I can only note that modern video technology works very well indeed in even very low levels of lighting and ask why they did not just switch the lights off?

Still perhaps they will be back again next summer to amaze and entertain us. I rather hope so but in the mean time keep your “venture capital” in your piggy bank.