Uri Geller, Eldon Byrd & Nitinol

[Steve Knight]

Those who are interested in the debate surrounding Eldon Byrd's experiments with Geller can now find my correspondence with Eldon Byrd on this matter @ Correspondence with Eldon Byrd (http://www.zem.demon.co.uk/byrdnitinol.htm)

[Zep]

"...at the quantum level..." There's that word again!

Quick question to clarify something for everyone: What EXACTLY is the property of NITINOL wire that made Uri's effort so "amazing"?

As I understand it, Nitinol wire can be annealed into a shape, then deformed severely and yet it returns to that shape by itself - it has a "memory" of a shape that resists deformation. Annealing "resets" this memory. Am I correct?

[Steve Knight]

You are correct, but nitinol wire of the type Byrd used should have returned to its memorized shape when heated with a match or immersed in boiling water, which it didn't do after Uri had handled it. Byrd originally claimed that only extremely high temperatures could produce the same effect as Uri but subsequently admitted that such "permanent" kinks could be introduced using comparatively low teperatures and/or mechanical deformation of the wire. Reannealing the wire at very high temperatures will remove any memory and allow a new permanent shape to be set in the wire. Byrd's original claim was that such a reannealing had taken place and the paranormal kink remained, in his correspondence with me however he seemed to change the nature of the claim somewhat.