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The Museum of Hoaxes is dedicated to promoting knowledge about hoaxes. (Click here for opening hours, etc.) On our blog we post about dubious- sounding claims, and whatever else strikes our fancy. The site is also home to the Hoaxipedia (the museum's online encyclopedia of hoaxes), the Hoax Forum, and the Top 100 April Fools' Day Hoaxes.
The museum was created in 1997 by Alex Boese. He's assisted by a staff of deputy curators and docents. Alex is the author of three books, most recently Elephants on Acid: And Other Bizarre Experiments (which has nothing to do with hoaxes). Check out the list of the Top 20 Most Bizarre Experiments of All Time for a preview.
The Museum of Hoaxes is dedicated to promoting knowledge about hoaxes. (Click here for opening hours, etc.) On our blog we post about dubious- sounding claims, and whatever else strikes our fancy. The site is also home to the Hoaxipedia (the museum's online encyclopedia of hoaxes), the Hoax Forum, and the Top 100 April Fools' Day Hoaxes.
The museum was created in 1997 by Alex Boese. He's assisted by a staff of deputy curators and docents. Alex is the author of three books, most recently Elephants on Acid: And Other Bizarre Experiments (which has nothing to do with hoaxes). Check out the list of the Top 20 Most Bizarre Experiments of All Time for a preview.Prankplace.com
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Blacklight Power and Hydrinos
Status: Most likely a free energy scam
An article in the Guardian about Dr. Randall Mills, founder of Blacklight Power, has been generating a lot of debate in the blogosphere. For instance, there's discussion of the article over on Slashdot, and a link to it also got posted in the hoax forum. I wanted to add a few comments here because, although many people might be hearing about Mills for the first time (thanks to the Guardian article), the guy has actually been lurking around since the early 1990s, claiming to have discovered a limitless source of cheap energy. (I recognized Mills because he's discussed in Robert Park's book Voodoo Science, published in 2000.)Mills's theories originally developed out of his interest in cold fusion, though he insists he's not proposing a rejiggered form of cold fusion. Instead, what Mills claims to have discovered is a way to get a hydrogen atom to move to an energy level below the ground state. The ground state is the lowest energy level a hydrogen atom can sink to (according to modern physics). But Mills is saying it can sink even lower (i.e. the electron can move even closer to the proton). When a hydrogen atom sinks to this sub-ground level, it supposedly emits an enormous amount of energy and transforms into what Mills calls a "hydrino". If Mills is right, pretty much all of modern physics is wrong. Which is why Mills probably isn't right.
Of course, Mills could be a genius whose theories are going to completely revolutionize modern science (and modern industry). That's what his supporters claim. But that's what the supporters of ALL free-energy schemers claim. The fact is that for almost fifteen years Mills has been promising that practical applications of his hydrino technology are just around the corner. But nothing ever materializes. And meanwhile he keeps luring in new investors with his wild promises of limitless energy. So it seems to me that Mills and his hydrinos match the familiar free-energy pattern of big promises, but no results.
Listed in chronological order. Newest comments at the end.
Page 1 of 1 pages
http://www.frozenreality.co.uk/comic/bunny/index.php?id=423
Hee...
I have to agree, it does sound very free-energy hoaxish. I'm pretty certain a lot of the math works out to 'because I think it would be a nice idea'..
Posted by Robin Bobcat in Californian Wierdo on Mon Nov 07, 2005 at 10:14 PMHee...
I have to agree, it does sound very free-energy hoaxish. I'm pretty certain a lot of the math works out to 'because I think it would be a nice idea'..
After reading the extensive article by Erik Baard, and verifying the identities of those quoted...I can't help but think that Mills is onto something. Frankly, I really hope he is as this would be a quantum shift, sorry the pun, in not only thought but in the way we live our lives. Just from the energy aspect, wouldn't it be nice to not have to use oil to power your car and in the process pollute the air? I would love to be able to see all the stars at night again...an experience only allowed by being high in the mountains today...
Posted by Techie on Tue Nov 08, 2005 at 11:07 AMUh, Techie, you can't see the stars at night because of city lights or natural clouds, not pollution.
Posted by Joe on Tue Nov 08, 2005 at 01:50 PMWell, without further evidence or a series of experiments trying to produce the same results its hard to know if its just hot air. It would be nice if it was true, but I doubt it. It wouldnt be the first false claim in the history of science.
Posted by Lore on Wed Nov 09, 2005 at 12:09 AMJoe,
I live in an area where I can see a good bit of stars on a clear night. I am far enough away from the closest major city that the ambient glow is minimized. Recent winds cleared out the low lying muck one day and it was clear enough to see a fully populated sky. It was really quite amazing and beautiful.
Posted by Techie on Wed Nov 09, 2005 at 07:16 AMI live in an area where I can see a good bit of stars on a clear night. I am far enough away from the closest major city that the ambient glow is minimized. Recent winds cleared out the low lying muck one day and it was clear enough to see a fully populated sky. It was really quite amazing and beautiful.
Sorry for the followup post, but I wanted to add that it wasn't that long ago (50 to 100 years) that we could see the stars from our streetcorners. Ambient light is only a small factor in the overall problems with seeing the sky. There are times, in large metropolitan areas such as LA (first hand experience), that you can't even see the closest planets due to the muck in the air. Since I moved to another state, I find myself asking the following question much less:
"Just why is it that I have to breath in this disgusting brown muck every day????"
Posted by Techie on Wed Nov 09, 2005 at 07:21 AM"Just why is it that I have to breath in this disgusting brown muck every day????"
Uh, Joe, light pollution is more of a factor when there's smog in the air. Speaking from experience of living in Long Beach CA for 20 years. After Santa Ana winds (which blow off all the smog in the LA basin and give us rare blue sky days) you can see a sky full of stars, in spite of all the light pollution. Light pollution is still a factor, but it's made much worse when it has smog and airborne particulate matter to reflect off of. On smoggy nights, the sky in southern CA appears yellowish because of reflected light from ground sources.
Posted by JoeSixpack on Wed Nov 09, 2005 at 08:08 AMStars:
who cares
I thought this was about
if Mill's was a hoax or not
Posted by jim in az. on Thu Nov 24, 2005 at 08:45 AMwho cares
I thought this was about
if Mill's was a hoax or not
The only replication I have yet come across is this one
http://earthtech.org/experiments/blp/HiFi/Run5/Run5.html
and it isn't conclusive, yet I have read elsewere that there has been successful replications of his experiment, so...
I'm still searching
Posted by gumball in France on Wed Dec 28, 2005 at 06:27 PMhttp://earthtech.org/experiments/blp/HiFi/Run5/Run5.html
and it isn't conclusive, yet I have read elsewere that there has been successful replications of his experiment, so...
I'm still searching
another way of thinking..
I think mills did see something.. and may have jumped the gun.. the man has spent too many years in school to throw it away and be marked as a scammer..
he's gotten the investor's money and has not ran away yet..
of course eventually, he will have to show something that works.. and works continually..
i am betting that he believes in what he is saying..
of course we could find out.. by asking the janitor of the lab..
if the employees go to the lab each day and play poker.. then most likely a scam..
Posted by Carl Pinkston on Mon Jun 23, 2008 at 04:57 PMI think mills did see something.. and may have jumped the gun.. the man has spent too many years in school to throw it away and be marked as a scammer..
he's gotten the investor's money and has not ran away yet..
of course eventually, he will have to show something that works.. and works continually..
i am betting that he believes in what he is saying..
of course we could find out.. by asking the janitor of the lab..
if the employees go to the lab each day and play poker.. then most likely a scam..
Schooling? The blacklightpower website claims Mr. Mills has a bachelors degree from Franklin and Marshall college ( there is such a school) and medical training at Harvard. Nothing in there about physics. You should as little trust a Physics PhD to give you an appendectomy as you should trust a medical doctor to chat about hardcore physics.
Physics as a field is filled with geniuses. Don't see a shred of evidence that Mr. Mills "could be a genius", either, and worthy of hanging with this crowd.
The argument that he must be "on to something", in defiance of 100 years of rigorous physics, because of his "schooling", is nonsense.
Posted by Sven in Europe on Tue Jul 08, 2008 at 07:16 AMPhysics as a field is filled with geniuses. Don't see a shred of evidence that Mr. Mills "could be a genius", either, and worthy of hanging with this crowd.
The argument that he must be "on to something", in defiance of 100 years of rigorous physics, because of his "schooling", is nonsense.
We could all fart at the same time and light up the world!
Posted by Jim Gargano in Illinois on Mon Aug 18, 2008 at 03:00 PMPage 1 of 1 pages