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From: mtglass@hound.UUCP (R.RICHARDSON)
Newsgroups: net.physics,net.misc
Subject: Re: "Free Energy Machine"
Message-ID: <1683@hound.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 12-Mar-86 18:59:42 EST
Article-I.D.: hound.1683
Posted: Wed Mar 12 18:59:42 1986
Date-Received: Fri, 14-Mar-86 06:13:20 EST
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Xref: watmath net.physics:3925 net.misc:9368

I think we've reached the crux of the issue here: there are energy sources
of physical interest and there are energy sources of economic interest.
We each have a certain portfolio of resources available to us (as do nations
as a whole) and while some energy sources may be particularly "efficient"
from a physical point of view they may simply not stack up economicly:
thus you are more apt to find coal plants in Indiana and geothermal plants
in Iceland.

We must also keep in mind that different people have different portfolios.
Many times it's cheaper in 3rd world countries to use manual labor than
to purchase machinery. We should not interpret this as backwardness:
merely a sign that this country is a pocket of cheap labor.

If this fellow's invention can be manufactured economicly then somebody
should and probably will produce it.

One parameter I am holding constant, however, is politics. It's concievable
that a political power with a large interest in the current energy infra
structure could buy up the patent and bury it claiming the research "didn't
pan out". Many people feel this happened with photovoltaic research by the
oil companies in the 1970's.

Another disturbingly parallel political phenomena arises from the scientific
community itself. People who have put a lot of work into the prevailing
outlook will naturally resist innovation. Indeed, even on the net the reaction
to such situations is often surprisingly parochial.

"There is no likelihood man can ever tap the power of the atom"
Robert Millikan, Nobel Prize in Physics, 1923

"Heavier than air flying machines are impossible"
Lord Kelvin, President, Royal Socety, c 1895

"Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?"
Harry M. Warner, Warner Bros. Pictures, c 1927


usual disclaimers
R. Richardson