Free energy? Only if it's hot air . . .

I’m very busy today, and really shouldn't be blogging, but sometimes I’m easily distracted. This is a story that deserves some attention from this blog – of that there’s no doubt. An Irish company has claimed to have invented a device to create energy.

Hmm. Even I, someone with a frankly feeble education in physics, know that the first law of thermodynamics states that you can neither create or destroy energy, merely change it’s form. This company, Steorn, claims to have built a machine that uses magnets to ‘create’ energy. It put a full page ad in the Economist last week challenging the scientific community to prove their research wrong.

I think it’s a scam. I really do. I can’t say why, but I looked at the website, and I think it’s hooky. Other people agree (read this excellent article by Rupert Goodwins) but if it is a scam (and it is) then it’s scam of applaudable proportions. If you are going to pull off a caper, then by god, make it big. They have created a world audience for this, and will forever more be famous as a result. If it's true, they will have not just rewritten the laws of physics, they'll have changed the world for the better immeasurably and they will be very rich. If it's a scam (and it is) then they are setting themselves up for a big fall. Either way, it's intriguing.

I will eat my hat if anything comes out of this. And the reason? Intuition. I’ve met people and worked with business people who come across very similarly to the executives who are fronting Steorn, and put it this way, many of them are disqualified from holding executive positions in Ireland as a result of fund raising irregularities. I also have enough experience with public relations to know a managed campaign when I see one. The company claims it has reasons for doing things this way, but . . . well, wait and see.