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 Posted: Feb 19, 2012 - 10:21 PM |
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Joined: Sep 04, 2002
Posts: 21257
Location: Orlando Florida
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| Anyone been following Andrea Rossi's E-CAT progress? He has some hydrogen and some nickel powder and a 'secret catalyst' and he heats it up with a KW or so, and after an hour, he unplugs it and it keeps putting out a couple KW for a couple hours. The traditional physicists all think its snake oil because they cant figure it out, but A Dr Zawodny at NASA thinks its something. It sure would shake up the balance of cash flow from North America to North Africa. Note that this message has hints of science, physics, economics, but hopefully, no politics. |
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Imagecraft compiler user
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Posted: Feb 19, 2012 - 11:37 PM |
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Joined: Aug 13, 2006
Posts: 6700
Location: Bellingham, WA - USA
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The traditional physicists all think its snake oil because they cant figure it out
The history of science is strewn with examples of arrogance finally having to give way to paradigm shifting breakthroughs. Not to say that by far most snake oil isn't just... snake oil. |
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Chuck Baird
"It's better to catch the trapeze than test the safety net" -- RPi book
http://www.cbaird.org
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Posted: Feb 19, 2012 - 11:45 PM |
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Joined: Sep 04, 2002
Posts: 21257
Location: Orlando Florida
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| One guy that observed the demo said it was putting out 2.5KW for an hour after they shut off the input, and no one could figure out how to get that amount of power using a chemical reaction. There was an amp clamp on the hot wire from the ac plug, but the skeptic said they were bootlegging in the extra watts up the third wire ground. After it runs for a while, they find copper mixed in with the nickel. Like the hydrogen nucleus jumped into the nickel nucleus and made some copper and releaed a bunch of heat. I understand ohms law, but this seems a lot farther out than that. Transmuting metals. Lead into Gold. Alchemy. Philosopher's Stone. |
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Posted: Feb 20, 2012 - 12:06 AM |
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Joined: Mar 28, 2001
Posts: 20347
Location: Sydney, Australia (Gum trees, Koalas and Kangaroos, No Edelweiss)
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| Wouldn't trust Italians myself.... |
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John Samperi
Ampertronics Pty. Ltd.
www.ampertronics.com.au
* Electronic Design * Custom Products * Contract Assembly
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Posted: Feb 20, 2012 - 12:13 AM |
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Joined: Aug 13, 2006
Posts: 6700
Location: Bellingham, WA - USA
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Wouldn't trust Italians myself....
Not unless it's something you eat. They're pretty good at that. |
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Chuck Baird
"It's better to catch the trapeze than test the safety net" -- RPi book
http://www.cbaird.org
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Posted: Feb 20, 2012 - 12:28 AM |
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Joined: Sep 04, 2002
Posts: 21257
Location: Orlando Florida
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| Well, if it puts out 6 times as much as you put in, it should help you reduce your cooking expense, heating expense, water heating expense. |
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Imagecraft compiler user
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Posted: Feb 20, 2012 - 03:34 AM |
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Joined: Jan 09, 2007
Posts: 1867
Location: Arlington, Texas, U.S.A.
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Posted: Feb 20, 2012 - 04:19 AM |
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Joined: May 30, 2004
Posts: 8118
Location: Cincinnati, Ohio
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js wrote:
Wouldn't trust Italians myself....
Now, John, you are Italian and you are trustworthy!  |
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Carl W. Livingston, KC5OTL
microcarl@roadrunner.com
"There are only two ways to sleep well at night... be ignorant or be prepared."
The original Dragon Slayer !
Long live the AVR!!!
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Posted: Feb 20, 2012 - 06:01 AM |
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Joined: Mar 27, 2002
Posts: 18544
Location: Lund, Sweden
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This is regularly reported about in the specialist tabloid for Swedish Engineers.
The scientific problem here is that "secret catalyst". A proper science report describes in detail how the experiment was done, to the point where other scientists can repeat the experiment and verify the results.
So, going meta-meta and use a physics analogy on this physics problem: Until they open that box for all to see we can not tell if the cat is alive or dead (i.e. it is snake oil or not). (Yes, I know I am abusing the original analogy...) |
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Posted: Feb 20, 2012 - 06:34 AM |
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Joined: May 04, 2007
Posts: 3529
Location: Geelong Australia, Home of the "Cats"
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OK Bob, I will declare myself as a skeptic! However I just want to clear a couple of issues. In your first post you say
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He has some hydrogen
100mL, 1L, 100L,10KL ???
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and he heats it up with a KW or so,
You don't say for how long and the "or so" could be 3 or 4 or even 10 KW for an hour Ie. 10KWH
We need KWH IN & KWH out!
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Well, if it puts out 6 times as much as you put in, it should help you reduce your cooking expense, heating expense, water heating expense.
Where did the figure of 6 times come from.
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keeps putting out a couple KW
Radiated heat or electrical energy? DC or AC?
Assuming it is an exothermic reaction of the chemicals, more energy needed to have gone into the reaction then comes out.
Any thermite will produce lots & lots of heat!
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It sure would shake up the balance of cash flow from North America to North Africa.
Does the US get it's majority of oil from Libya?
You are right the "material under discussion" would seem suitable, but I could be accused of turning a 12 yo into a skeptic and destroy their creative/inquiring mind. |
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Last edited by LDEVRIES on Feb 20, 2012 - 06:46 AM; edited 1 time in total
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Posted: Feb 20, 2012 - 06:39 AM |
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Joined: Feb 09, 2011
Posts: 322
Location: Turnhout, Belgium
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It exists for quite some time now. So I have one simple question: why is not commercially available?
And please do not be too naive when you try to answer this question. |
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Posted: Feb 20, 2012 - 07:35 AM |
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Joined: Mar 27, 2002
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Location: Lund, Sweden
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It exists for quite some time now.
It might, or it might not. As I noted above, there has been no independent proof of the results. AFAIK it is only Andrea Rossi's word so far.
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And please do not be too naive when you try to answer this question.
I would say that believing w/o any substantial proof is naive.
More here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_Catalyzer |
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Posted: Feb 20, 2012 - 07:38 AM |
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Joined: May 04, 2007
Posts: 3529
Location: Geelong Australia, Home of the "Cats"
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I thought after my initial missive, I thought I better Google Andrea Rossi's E-CAT. Well, my suspicions were pretty well confirmed I believe, he is just a flim-flam man!
I note that a well respected businessman in Australia, fas wagered him a $1,000,000 to demonstrate a working model, which Rossi cleverly declined! |
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Charles Darwin, Lord Kelvin & Murphy are always lurking about!
Lee -.-
(If you haven't already done so, edit your PostNuke profile and let let us know where you are, what you do & what your interests are.)
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Posted: Feb 20, 2012 - 07:50 AM |
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Joined: Mar 28, 2001
Posts: 20347
Location: Sydney, Australia (Gum trees, Koalas and Kangaroos, No Edelweiss)
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I have heard from someone else that some Australians are also working on the same thing.
Of course anyone having some knowledge of this may just disappear into thin air so we all better play safe and claim "ve know nuthing, nuthing,nuthing!". |
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John Samperi
Ampertronics Pty. Ltd.
www.ampertronics.com.au
* Electronic Design * Custom Products * Contract Assembly
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Posted: Feb 20, 2012 - 10:42 AM |
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Joined: Nov 09, 2011
Posts: 399
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This is a good time to review the cold fusion claims from Stanley Pons and Martin Fleischmann. Here's a relatively neutral article from a couple of years ago:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7959183.stm
The history of Rossi's claim seems to be following a similar path. Have we learned nothing in 20 years?
js wrote:
I have heard from someone else that some Australians are also working on the same thing.
Was it from some dude called "Aussie Guy E-Cat"? He claims to have replicated Pons & Fleischmann, which makes me very suspicious.
- S |
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Posted: Feb 20, 2012 - 03:11 PM |
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Joined: Nov 11, 2003
Posts: 3877
Location: Chicago Illinois USA
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Yup! We've learned that we don't learn anything from experience.
Also, history is full of valid claims being thought flim-flam, and the other way 'round. |
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Discursive design,
Torby
Some days, it's just not worth chewing through the restraints.
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Posted: Feb 20, 2012 - 09:12 PM |
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Joined: May 04, 2007
Posts: 3529
Location: Geelong Australia, Home of the "Cats"
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On one video, Rossi shows some steam coming out of a rubber hose that he says is produced by "the reaction". It did require about 740 watts of heat to produce it though. My electric jug will produce more steam than that, without any of the hocus- pocus.
Of course if his system produced energy than you put in , it should be a self-sustaining reaction, which he says can't be done because of stability issues. Snake oil! |
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Charles Darwin, Lord Kelvin & Murphy are always lurking about!
Lee -.-
(If you haven't already done so, edit your PostNuke profile and let let us know where you are, what you do & what your interests are.)
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Posted: Feb 20, 2012 - 09:53 PM |
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Joined: Jan 23, 2004
Posts: 9823
Location: Trondheim, Norway
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Absolutely - time and time again, all these "magic" energy sources always require some sort of external power to work, be it a battery, mains power or something else. If something really is putting out more energy than you put in, you should be able to power it from itself.
While I do believe we have yet to unlock some secrets of the universe, I doubt some guys "secret magic sauce" will be it. This is the Steorn Orbo all over again.
- Dean  |
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Posted: Feb 20, 2012 - 09:57 PM |
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Joined: May 26, 2004
Posts: 2538
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
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| It's routine to get kilowatt-hours of power out of chemical reactions. We generally call such reactors "batteries" or "furnaces". If the experimenter puts "a kW or so" into the mass for an hour, and it doesn't liquify and burn through the floor, there must be a substantial quantity of nickel available to react. One must offset one's expectations of reduced cooking and heating costs against the cost of substantial quantities of pure nickel, which is undoubtedly consumed in the reaction. As for the copper, Occam's Razor suggests that contamination or sloppy experimental procedures are more likely than nuclear transmutation. |
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Posted: Feb 21, 2012 - 01:45 AM |
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Joined: Jun 19, 2002
Posts: 950
Location: SF Bay area
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Quote:
why is not commercially available?
or if you believe in massive conspiracies, why hasn't the Italian government stolen the secret sauce and used it to solve their country's finance problems?
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some Australians are also working on the same thing.
Scamming people? No doubt! |
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