New power source turns rules of physics upside-down.

[Praetorian]

It seems too good to be true: a new source of near-limitless power that costs virtually nothing, uses tiny amounts of water as its fuel and produces next to no waste. If that does not sound radical enough, how about this: the principle behind the source turns modern physics on its head.

Randell Mills, a Harvard University medic who also studied electrical engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, claims to have built a prototype power source that generates up to 1,000 times more heat than conventional fuel. Independent scientists claim to have verified the experiments and Dr Mills says that his company, Blacklight Power, has tens of millions of dollars in investment lined up to bring the idea to market. And he claims to be just months away from unveiling his creation.

The problem is that according to the rules of quantum mechanics, the physics that governs the behaviour of atoms, the idea is theoretically impossible. "Physicists are quite conservative. It's not easy to convince them to change a theory that is accepted for 50 to 60 years. I don't think [Mills's] theory should be supported," said Jan Naudts, a theoretical physicist at the University of Antwerp.

What has much of the physics world up in arms is Dr Mills's claim that he has produced a new form of hydrogen, the simplest of all the atoms, with just a single proton circled by one electron. In his "hydrino", the electron sits a little closer to the proton than normal, and the formation of the new atoms from traditional hydrogen releases huge amounts of energy.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,3605,1627424,00.html

[Myrsilus]

... holy hell. First of all, I am laughing because quantum physics has been kicked in the gonads. Ha ha...

Secondly... That's incredible. If this becomes a new source of energy, we're looking at a new age of possibilities. I just wish I knew a little more about this invention...

I am looking forward to developing news on this scientific breakthrough... Scientific revolution. Ha ha... quantum physics...

[thomear]

i wonder if it's like this guy who came up with a new method of video compression. kind of exactly like this, ie i have investors, it'll be here soon. he only did demos on his own computers. turned out he was a conman and ran off with money.

but this would be good if the oil companies dont buy it up so they can suck all the money out of oil and THEN use this

[Shadowknight]

So... did the lead scientist have 4 metal arms fused to his body?

[Kustom]

This scientist is dead meat. The oil industry will fall on his back like a ton of bricks. They'll send him down the riverbed with cement around his feet, we'll see how he can turn all that water into energy before he drowns... Ha!

[Praetorian]

So... did the lead scientist have 4 metal arms fused to his body?


For some reason I expected that, heh. Thanks for making me laugh. :)

[mamba]

hell this will be fantastic if its true, this could basically ssave earth.....and in not kidding, im an electrical engineer myself so we shall have to wait and see ehat happens, but this is going to be target by governments and iol industries all over the world, if its true then the economy is going to go tits up so to speak.

[stillbornsinger]

This is one of those things where I should really get off my ass and invest in it...

I know if I did though it would turn out to be a con...

So I'm not going to, so at least the world will benifit from a new energy source.

[decswxaqz]

I am highly skeptical about this. Two people have 'put their reputations on the line' before about cold fussion (right one? or fissoin :P) and they were wrong. I'll wait until I hold something that uses it thank you very much :).

[Ozero]

hehe.. yeah, as soon as I saw this thread, i thought "Lookout for oil execs! ruuuun!"

then again, even bush has spoken about finding alternatives (OMFG), so maybe there's hope.

NOW, if i could get bush to ease up on the stem cells, I'd be set.

Oh yeah, and all that war stuff. :P

While I'm at it, how about some same sex marriage..

and a cookie.

[thomear]

then again, even bush has spoken about finding alternatives

(it's so he knows which country to invade next)

[Monkey]

This is just funny, almost certainly a con. The laws of quantum mechanics are built from very solid mathematical principles. It's not a physics theory mistake, he's just managed to make a maths mistake. Momentum and position are just mathematically incompatible.

Having said that I've never even heard of this guy. It says he's been published on this, but it's nowhere I've read.

.

[rush]

I'll chalk this up to pure BS until I can see it in action.

Mathematical principles such as quantam mechanics aren't so easily beaten.

[Radiance]

Its heresy. They make a big deal about hydrogen having ONE electon, OMG!
Except ALL natural hyrdrogen ions have one electron.
Or they have 0, in which case they act as a protonating force.

He's been claiming this for the past 14 years, but bad science makes for good news, more info here for the physics interested: http://www.phact.org/e/blp.htm

[akitaka]

I also like the mentioning of other energy sources listed on the bottom of the article; as for the main topic, I'll also wait until this stuff comes around as true/false. It seems to go one step further into the breaking of scientific law as opposed to things like "chi" (or biofeed-back) and paranormal phenomenon.

It's funny how they state, "reputations on the line", though. I never imagined scientists to be so tight-assed as to shun someone for supposedly screwing up, when they're doing what scientists have been for the past centuries; seeing if stuff works.

[Shuft]

I'll wait for the peer review.

[ruaidhri]

Hmmm.

Somehow I believe I've heard this before. Power from water. I even heard it back in the 1950's.

My opinion? If it sounds too good to be true it probably is.

I would be happy to be wrong but really doubt their is a shred of truth to this discovery.

Believe what you want to believe but think twice before investing any money.

[Shadowblade]

I'm going to be skeptical about this until i see some actual proof. But if it is true then it could possibly save the world.

[Pierrot le Fou]

I am highly skeptical about this. Two people have 'put their reputations on the line' before about cold fussion (right one? or fissoin :P) and they were wrong. I'll wait until I hold something that uses it thank you very much :).
We already have both fusion and fission. The problem is we can't contain fusion reactions, which is why they've only been used for bombs (hydrogen bombs, fission -> fusion -> fission bombs), and not for power. Fission on the other hand, after being used to flatten two cities in Japan, has been used to successfully power Japan and other countries around the world. The challenge is harnessing the power of fusion to do the same thing without resulting in a big 'boom' by controlling said fusion reaction.

If I remember things correctly.

[PiccoloNamek]

Actually, we can contain fusion reactions:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/e5/Inside_JET_tokamak.jpg/800px-Inside_JET_tokamak.jpg

At this point, however, it is not feasible to use these as power plants. Also, it takes a very large amount of energy to sustain the reaction. It can't just go out of control. If you put a bunch of U-235 pellets into a sheath and stack a bunch of these together, the reaction starts itself simply because of the nature of the material. But a fusion reaction has to be started, and after that, it has to be maintained, which uses about as much power as the reaction itself generates. Without the power, the plasma will simply dissipate, and the reactor will shut down.

[alansmithee]

I am highly skeptical about this. Two people have 'put their reputations on the line' before about cold fussion (right one? or fissoin :P) and they were wrong. I'll wait until I hold something that uses it thank you very much :).

I was thinking the same thing. They even had supposedly repeatable tests proving cold fusion, but when put to higher scrutinty, they failed.

[alansmithee]

We already have both fusion and fission. The problem is we can't contain fusion reactions, which is why they've only been used for bombs (hydrogen bombs, fission -> fusion -> fission bombs), and not for power. Fission on the other hand, after being used to flatten two cities in Japan, has been used to successfully power Japan and other countries around the world. The challenge is harnessing the power of fusion to do the same thing without resulting in a big 'boom' by controlling said fusion reaction.

If I remember things correctly.

You are right, but the lesser initial energy requirement and controllability is what puts the "cold" into cold fusion. That's why it would be such a great thing, if possible. But currently it basically takes a small fission reaction to start a fusion reaction, iirc.

[ellie]

That is amazing technology, if only it's feasible. . .

I took an environmental conservation class last semester, and we used this new computer program called "STELLA" to try to solve some of the energy issues. Energy crises are going to be a major issue for a long time unless some new technology is developed like the ability to use cold fusion for energy.

[Pierrot le Fou]

While there are so many current cynics about the environment and the state of energy, I am incredibly optimistic about the ability of scientists to corner a market with a huge demand and little supply due to the economic incentive behind it. Sure, it will suck for the third world which will undoubtedly 'suffer' due to the change in energy sources, but cheap plentiful power with little waste and virtually unlimited supply would be a boon to poor countries as well.

[Kikuchiyo]

Once again quantum mechanics falls squarely on it's face.

Oh, wait, that link is to the Guardian...I think I'll wait a few months for this supposed "revolution" before I pass judgment then.

[decswxaqz]

We already have both fusion and fission. The problem is we can't contain fusion... reactions

Fission (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_fission) is current nuclear capabilities. Energy and bombs etc.
Fusion is the 'new' energy source that is used in the sun. ITER (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITER) is the latest collaboration to study this since it's more efficient than fission.
Cold fusion (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_fusion) is slightly different .

[Exclamatio]

I'll chalk this up to pure BS until I can see it in action.

Mathematical principles such as quantam mechanics aren't so easily beaten.


fuck off the world is flat!

[mamba]

the thing with fusion is that if they manage to get cold fusion there will be no waste, that is one big problem with fission technology is that there is alot of hazerdous waste, however because this is combining hydrogen to helium (i think its those elements there is no waste thus is also a big advantage) but still other sourced need to be put into action, a couple hundred meters square of sea wave transformers could power 62000 houses.