Perepiteia Perpetual Motion

[dogjones]

http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/300042

Anyone heard of this guy?

[bjb]

Years ago, I built a toy motor from a kit that used rather weak field magnets. Just for fun, I held a strong magnet next to the motor and it sped up like crazy! Too bad I didn't think of this scam back then. My motor was not an induction motor, but you can't tell by looking. There are other ways to build a motor that appears to 'accelerate' when exposed to a magnetic field. Use a power supply activated by a Hall sensor in the control loop and you're in perpetual motion business! Alternatively, use the trick I used and just tell people it's an induction motor. Of course, you have to pretend you don't have any degrees or real experience with electronics. This way you can just shrug your shoulders when asked for details on how the device works.

[bjb]

Oops, I missed the second story:

http://www.thestar.com/Article/300041

This version of how the motor accelerates is different. In this version, it seems connecting a load to the generator only makes the motor run faster until it flies apart. You'd have to be crazy to put this in a car, just think what will happen when you hit the brakes!

[dogjones]

Perhaps the JREF can extend a challenge invitation to this guy.

[Horatius]

This guy is actually local to me. Our new "Ottawa Skeptics" group has had a bit of discussion on this guy:

http://www.ottawaskeptics.org/index....&id=38&catid=2

http://www.ottawaskeptics.org/index....&id=30&catid=2

That second thread has this link to the Canadian Patent Application that the fellow filed:

http://patents.ic.gc.ca/cipo/cpd/en/...5/summary.html

But the application is "Dead", which means he won't be getting one. The details in the application are a bit thin, but they do give you a better idea of what he's doing than the newspaper reports.

[Furcifer]

With all these perpetual motion priahs, you'd think it was time to include "And to obey the laws of thermodynamics" in the marriage vows.

Poor guy.

[hgc]

Funny article in The Star. Some highlights:

Quote:

At best it means a way of tapping the mysterious powers of electromagnetic fields to produce more work out of less effort, seemingly creating electricity from nothing.

Do electromagnetic fields really have mysterious observed powers? Irrelevant - Does the machine work?

Quote:

Such an unbelievable invention would challenge the laws of physics, a no-no in the rigid world of serious science.

Oh, science is rigid? Irrelevant - Does the machine work?

Quote:

No way, say the skeptics.

Naysaying can't stop this amazing invention if it works. Irrelevant - Does the machine work?

Quote:

"It sounds too good to be true," concedes Heins, who formed a company in 2005 called Potential Difference Inc. to develop and market his invention. "We get dismissed pretty quickly sometimes."

Again with the naysayers. Irrelevant - Does the machine work?

Quote:

"I have to be humble. If you say the wrong thing at the wrong time, you can lose support."

Naysayers seem to be pretty powerful around here. Irrelevant - Does the machine work?

Quote:

Heins torques up the definition to mean "a sudden reversal of fortune that's a windfall for humanity."

The world-changing dream. Irrelevant - Does the machine work?

Quote:

In 2006, an Irish company called Steorn placed an advertisement in The Economist calling on all the world's scientists to validate its magnet-based "free energy" technology.

What can I say? Irrelevant - Does the machine work?

Quote:

Steorn was met with intense skepticism and accused of being a scam or hoax. Seventeen months later the company has failed, despite worldwide attention, to prove anything under scrutiny.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

Quote:

Well-educated people, from Leonardo da Vinci to Harvard-trained engineer Bruce De Palma (older brother of film director Brian De Palma), have made similar claims of perpetual motion only to be slammed down by the mainstream scientific community.

A guy dead 500 years and a famous guy's brother. Irrelevant - Does the machine work.

Quote:

Heins has an even greater uphill battle. He isn't an engineer. He doesn't have a graduate degrees in physics. He never even finished his electronics program at Heritage College in Gatineau, Quebec. "I have mild dyslexia and don't do well in math, so I didn't do very well in school," he says.

He's not educated, but he has a good excuse. Irrelevant - Does the machine work?

Quote:

Together, they have demonstrated the Perepiteia to a number of labs and universities across North America, including the University of Virginia, Michigan State University, the University of Toronto and Queen's University.

A long list of suckers who sat still for a demo. Irrelevant - Does the machine work?

Quote:

"It's generally always the same reaction," says Heins. "There's a bit of a scramble on the part of the observer to put what they're seeing into some sort of context with what they know. They can't explain it. They don't know what it is."

Fraudster claims suckers were baffled. Irrelevant - Does the machine work?

Quote:

He'd be happy if somebody did, even if the news was bad. His wife has kicked him out. He doesn't earn an income. He can't pay child support. The certainty would be welcome. "I've tried to quit many times, and thought if I could just be a normal guy I would have a normal life ... But I had this idea and I believe it works."

Driven to ruin. Irrelevant - Does the machine work?

Quote:

Others want to believe – or at least help out. Cunningham, whose brother is general manager at Angus Glen Golf Club, introduced Heins to the club's president, Kevin Thistle. For two years Thistle has acted as angel investor, providing start-up capital needed to incorporate Potential Difference, file patents and continue research.

Golf club president suckered out of some money. Irrelevant - Does the machine work?

And on and on it goes...

I see two routes - science: publish a paper so that others can build the damn thing and see if they get any interesting results or commerce: sell it and get rich beyond your wildest dreams. Except for one little sticking point - Does the machine work?

[Horatius]

Bumping this thread, because the Ottawa Skeptics now have a report on their visit with Mr. Heins up on their website:

http://www.ottawaskeptics.org/local-...thermodynamics