# "hydrino" fuel source? Real or snakeoil? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 6, 2005, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hydrino-fuel-source-real-or-snakeoil/329803 "2005-11-06T17:32:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![rabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/919ad9/32.png) [@rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rabbit)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2005, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hydrino-fuel-source-real-or-snakeoil/329803/1 "2005-11-06T17:32:55Z")
This article [here](http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,3605,1627424,00.html) is an account of a potential new energy source which apparently goes against conventional quantum physics. Can any of you dopers who know your science offer an opinion as to the reality? Whats the word in the scientific community? I’m taking it with a grain of salt since so far I’ve not found much beyond this article on the subject. ---
**Author:** ![rabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/919ad9/32.png) [@rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rabbit)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2005, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hydrino-fuel-source-real-or-snakeoil/329803/2 "2005-11-06T17:37:01Z")
sorry, also link to [the company making the claims](http://www.blacklightpower.com/). There is also a list of peer reviewed journals where they published their data (at the bottom of page, in PDF format), but I’ve no access to them, if anyone who does can take a look it would be great. ---
**Author:** ![ReuvenB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc348/32.png) [@ReuvenB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ReuvenB)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2005, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hydrino-fuel-source-real-or-snakeoil/329803/3 "2005-11-06T17:37:48Z")
Check out [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=6763708). ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2005, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hydrino-fuel-source-real-or-snakeoil/329803/4 "2005-11-06T17:37:53Z")
Even with high school physics: > [@](#): > > What has much of the physics world up in arms is Dr Mills’s claim that he has produced a new form of hydrogen, the simplest of all the atoms, with just a single proton circled by one electron. That’s the discription of an hydrogen atom. Nothing new about it. > [@](#): > > In his “hydrino”, the electron sits a little closer to the proton than normal, and the formation of the new atoms from traditional hydrogen releases huge amounts of energy. Electrons are in a “cloud” around the atom and are always at different distances (the actual location is impossible to determine). This says that the atoms are in a set distance from the nucleus, like planets from the sun, and that distance is important. However, the distance is constantly changing even on a single atom. I’ll leave the rest of the debunking to people who are more advanced, but you don’t need to be a physicist to know this is all crap. ---
**Author:** ![Wallenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2005, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hydrino-fuel-source-real-or-snakeoil/329803/5 "2005-11-06T17:37:56Z")
> [@rabbit](#): > > This article [here](http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,3605,1627424,00.html) is an account of a potential new energy source which apparently goes against conventional quantum physics. > > Can any of you dopers who know your science offer an opinion as to the reality? Whats the word in the scientific community? > > I’m taking it with a grain of salt since so far I’ve not found much beyond this article on the subject. See this thread I started last week… > **[Physicists - Does this disprove quantum theory?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=343135)** > > From an article in today’s Guardian newspaper: So will this turn quantum physics on its head, or is this another “perpetual motion” snakeoil salesman? Anyone read any of the supporting papers for this? Has it appeared in any of the mainstream... ---
**Author:** ![ReuvenB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc348/32.png) [@ReuvenB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ReuvenB)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2005, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hydrino-fuel-source-real-or-snakeoil/329803/6 "2005-11-06T17:39:08Z")
Beat you to it, **e-logic**. ---
**Author:** ![rabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/919ad9/32.png) [@rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rabbit)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2005, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hydrino-fuel-source-real-or-snakeoil/329803/7 "2005-11-06T21:11:49Z")
darn it. I thought I searched for prior threads… :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Voluble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/4af34b/32.png) [@Voluble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voluble)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hydrino-fuel-source-real-or-snakeoil/329803/8 "2005-11-07T02:09:08Z")
I predict it will be the biggest thing since cold fusion! 😉