Official verdict: Steorn didn’t develop free energy technology
Back in August 2006, the Irish company Steorn declared it had developed "revolutionary free energy technology." To back up its claim, they ran an ad in the Economist inviting a jury of independent experts to scrutinize its claims. It's been almost three years, but the jury has finally delivered its verdict.
The unanimous verdict of the Jury is that Steorn's attempts to demonstrate the claim have not shown the production of energy. The jury is therefore ceasing work.
So the whole thing was a big waste of time. The mystery is why Steorn even bothered. What did they think they were gaining from this elaborate charade?
Posted By: Alex | Date: Tue Jun 30, 2009 | Permalink |
Total Comments: 9
Category: Free Energy, Technology
Category: Free Energy, Technology
Listed in chronological order. Newest comments at the end.
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free Publicity. Dar
Posted by Hairy Houdini on Tue Jun 30, 2009 at 12:45 PM
I'm a little confused here. In the interest of curiosity and my skeptical mind I started looking for Ian MacDonald, the chair of the Steorn jury. Initially I thought that this was the Ian MacDonald at the University of Waterloo but that person is actually in their IT department and not a professor at all. And then I realized, from the obvious tie on Ian's page of the Jury site (http://stjury.ning.com/profile/IanMacDonald) that he is a professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of Alberta. So, I started looking for him there. Now, there is an Ian MacDonald at UoA but he's not a professor of Electrical Engineering but of Ophthalmology. Now, again, it is possible this is still not the correct Ian MacDonald but I would think that someone that is so clearly important to this entire project would have at least been noted by the University of Alberta for his work.
I could be completely wrong on all of this but I'm wondering if this is all just a very elaborate hoax in and of itself.
Posted by ceredur on Tue Jun 30, 2009 at 01:07 PM
I could be completely wrong on all of this but I'm wondering if this is all just a very elaborate hoax in and of itself.
But that's rather my point. In an attempt to garner free publicity, why wouldn't the University of Alberta have this plastered all over their website.
It all feels a little odd to me.
Reading through the product descriptions of Steorn's Orbo, aka free energy product, it really sounds like utter gibberish. I'm not an electrical engineer but it still sounds like a joke.
Posted by ceredur on Tue Jun 30, 2009 at 01:20 PM
It all feels a little odd to me.
Reading through the product descriptions of Steorn's Orbo, aka free energy product, it really sounds like utter gibberish. I'm not an electrical engineer but it still sounds like a joke.
Given that they freely participated in the testing of their "free energy," the folks at Steorn seem to be true believers rather than conscious frauds.
Posted by Cranky Media Guy on Tue Jun 30, 2009 at 04:18 PM
It was a waste of time.
Steorn played a joke with the whole world.I was totally frustrated by the verdict.
Posted by Irene Savoia on Tue Jun 30, 2009 at 08:03 PM
Steorn played a joke with the whole world.I was totally frustrated by the verdict.
Three years is too long.I can not imagine why Steorn cheated the whole world.They could benefit from it?
Posted by Jess Holroyd on Tue Jun 30, 2009 at 08:09 PM
Steorn's response was predictable:
Sean McCarthy, CEO of Steorn, said "The jury hasn’t found they [the results] support the claims. We would dispute that." He also indicated that Steorn intends to license its discovery by the end of the year.
(Link.)
BTW, Ian MacDonald is listed as Professor Emeritus of Electrical and Computer Engineering on the University of Alberta's list of "Emeriti" staff.
(Link.)
Posted by David B. on Wed Jul 01, 2009 at 01:42 AM
Sean McCarthy, CEO of Steorn, said "The jury hasn’t found they [the results] support the claims. We would dispute that." He also indicated that Steorn intends to license its discovery by the end of the year.
(Link.)
BTW, Ian MacDonald is listed as Professor Emeritus of Electrical and Computer Engineering on the University of Alberta's list of "Emeriti" staff.
(Link.)
Luckily I came back to visit the Museum right before this article fell off the front page. I'd almost completely forgotten about Steorn. Although the results were as expected, I'm surprised Steorn's website itself is linking to some of the online news of the jury report, especially considering none of their claims have yet been removed from their site.
Posted by Eric on Sat Jul 04, 2009 at 11:51 AM
They are still coming trust me.
Just wait for all the IP to clear by the patent office.
Here is the latest one, kinda busy engineering for company that are supposed to be hoaxers.
http://www.wipo.int/pctdb/en/fetch.jsp?LANG=ENG&DBSELECT=PCT&SERVER_TYPE=19-10&SORT=41258436-KEY&TYPE_FIELD=256&IDB=0&IDOC=1606115&C=10&ELEMENT_SET=B&RESULT=1&TOTAL=4&START=1&DISP=25&FORM=SEP-0/HITNUM,B-ENG,DP,MC,AN,PA,ABSUM-ENG&SEARCH_IA=IB2008003718&QUERY;=(FP/steorn)
http://v3.espacenet.com/publicationDetails/biblio?locale=&KC=A1&date=20080221&NR=2008020424A1&return=true&CC=WO&FT=D
Posted by Its coming in Earth on Thu Jul 16, 2009 at 04:44 AM
Just wait for all the IP to clear by the patent office.
Here is the latest one, kinda busy engineering for company that are supposed to be hoaxers.
http://www.wipo.int/pctdb/en/fetch.jsp?LANG=ENG&DBSELECT=PCT&SERVER_TYPE=19-10&SORT=41258436-KEY&TYPE_FIELD=256&IDB=0&IDOC=1606115&C=10&ELEMENT_SET=B&RESULT=1&TOTAL=4&START=1&DISP=25&FORM=SEP-0/HITNUM,B-ENG,DP,MC,AN,PA,ABSUM-ENG&SEARCH_IA=IB2008003718&QUERY;=(FP/steorn)
http://v3.espacenet.com/publicationDetails/biblio?locale=&KC=A1&date=20080221&NR=2008020424A1&return=true&CC=WO&FT=D
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