





Steorn, developers of free-energy gadget called Orbo, have managed to survive for six years without having successfully demonstrated the technology in public. It must be some kind of record. But yesterday, an Orbo was installed at the Waterways Ireland Visitor Centre, and you can see a live video stream of the Orbo chugging away.

According to Steorn CEO Sean McCarthy, the Orbo is able to "gain energy from magnets with no apparent source."

Here's more about it, from Steorn's "What is Orbo Technology" page:

Orbo is a technology that creates energy from magnetic interactions. Orbo provides free, clean and constant energy at the point of use. Orbo is a platform technology that can be engineered to power anything from a phone, to a fridge to a car. Orbo technology is controversial – science tells us that energy can not be created – yet Orbo does this. Orbo is an over unity technology – it provides more energy out than is put in. Orbo is a result of many man years of technological development using a "Victorian Science" approach. It is a technology that has been derived phenomologically, through test, implementation and retest.

Three cheers for "Victorian Science," but I don't believe the Orbo can make more energy than it uses. It sure is fun following Steorn's attempts to achieve the impossible, though. If any Boing Boing readers in Dublin have witness the live demo, please share your thoughts in the comments.

UPDATE: the blog called Steorn's Orbo has a good post about why this demo is useless:

Orbo 2009 is similar in its basic design, but the outer ring of magnets are now electromagnets rather than permanent magnets, and these electromagnets are fed by a battery. That battery, it is claimed, is constantly recharged by a small electrical generator attached to the spinning Orbo. The net result, says Sean McCarthy, is that the Orbo produces some three times the energy it uses. The energy that isn't cycled back to the battery is dissipated as heat. Sean's claim may be true – the Orbo may be generating three times the energy it is using, right in front of our eyes. Or, it may not be; there's no way to tell without being an experienced engineer and hooking the rig up to a lot of complex testing equipment. Because there's a battery in the loop, there's just no telling how much energy, if any, Orbo is actually generating. So Steorn may have what they claim. Or they may be lying about it as part of a scam. Or they may honestly believe they have it, but be wrong. There's still no way to tell.

In other words, this Orbo sounds like it's a plain old motor.