# What's up with Steorn's "Orbo" (free-energy perpetual-motion promises)? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 9, 2007, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-steorns-orbo-free-energy-perpetual-motion-promises/407373 "2007-06-09T16:28:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2007, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-steorns-orbo-free-energy-perpetual-motion-promises/407373/81 "2007-07-02T14:13:46Z")
I just hope they remember not to cross the beams. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2007, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-steorns-orbo-free-energy-perpetual-motion-promises/407373/82 "2007-07-02T14:23:41Z")
[QUOTE=Colophon] Hopefully this thread isn’t too old to bump. Apparently the “demonstration” will be [starting this week](http://dispatchesfromthefuture.com/2007/06/orbo_at_kinetica_museum_next_week.html) at the Kinetica museum in London. This place is only a mile or two from my office, so I may well wander over and have a look later in the week. [/QUOTE] Pretty cool. I look forward to your report. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2007, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-steorns-orbo-free-energy-perpetual-motion-promises/407373/83 "2007-07-02T18:20:18Z")
A sort-of-rumor of a possible demonstration behind close glass assuming the secondhand report is true, that will be taking place in a “museum of kinetic art.” The museum refuses to confirm this. Oh yeah, this is the way Thomas Edison revealed the light bulb, right? ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2007, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-steorns-orbo-free-energy-perpetual-motion-promises/407373/84 "2007-07-02T20:16:27Z")
The “second hand report” is from a regular and insider on the Steorn forum, so I think the demo will be taking place. I’ll see if I can get over there on Wednesday or Thursday, it will have to be a lunch-hour dash though… ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2007, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-steorns-orbo-free-energy-perpetual-motion-promises/407373/85 "2007-07-02T22:08:10Z")
I predict that if the machine really does have no possible concealed power sources, that during the demonstration, the Steorn guys will make excuses for stopping it after a short period each time (i.e. “I have to stop it there before it tears itself apart”, “And it could go on like that forever, but let me just stop it so I can answer your questions”, or some such) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2007, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-steorns-orbo-free-energy-perpetual-motion-promises/407373/86 "2007-07-02T22:09:51Z")
[QUOTE=RickJay] A sort-of-rumor of a possible demonstration behind close glass assuming the secondhand report is true, that will be taking place in a “museum of kinetic art.” The museum refuses to confirm this. Oh yeah, this is the way Thomas Edison revealed the light bulb, right? [/QUOTE] I reckon this probably means they tried the Science Museum first, possibly the Natural History also. I’d love to have been a fly on the wall during those negotiations. ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2007, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-steorns-orbo-free-energy-perpetual-motion-promises/407373/87 "2007-07-02T22:46:09Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] I just hope they remember not to cross the beams. [/QUOTE] Cross the streams. They shouldn’t cross the streams. It’s an important safety tip. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2007, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-steorns-orbo-free-energy-perpetual-motion-promises/407373/88 "2007-07-03T11:01:25Z")
I don’t know why, but this whole Steorn thing intrigues me. I just want to know how it’s going to play out, what their escape plan is. I was browsing the Steorn forum, which is entertainingly full of crackpots, and the leading theory as to how this thing works seems to be that you allow two magnets to attract one another, then use their momentum to flip one of the magnets over such that they repel each other, then use that momentum to flip one of the magnets so that they attract each other, and so on… I will leave it as an exercise for the reader to find the flaw in this… ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2007, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-steorns-orbo-free-energy-perpetual-motion-promises/407373/89 "2007-07-03T11:20:28Z")
Thing is, it’s really easy to play with a bunch of magnets and get the false impression that they’re capable of doing work - it’s a misunderstanding for which any seven-year-old could be instantly forgiven. It’s just unbelievable to see grown adults, supposedly with technical background, persisting in the same folly. I’m curious as to how it will play out too, but I think they’re going for the long game, possibly because skeptics will end up throwing money at them just to satisfy their curiosity. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2007, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-steorns-orbo-free-energy-perpetual-motion-promises/407373/90 "2007-07-03T11:32:47Z")
[QUOTE=Zakalwe] Cross the streams. They shouldn’t cross the streams. It’s an important safety tip. [/QUOTE] Is it still o.k. to reverse the polarity? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2007, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-steorns-orbo-free-energy-perpetual-motion-promises/407373/91 "2007-07-03T11:36:04Z")
Only if you re-route the reverse tachyon flow to the deflector dish emitter. ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2007, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-steorns-orbo-free-energy-perpetual-motion-promises/407373/92 "2007-07-03T12:04:28Z")
[QUOTE=Czarcasm] Is it still o.k. to reverse the polarity? [/QUOTE] Why worry about that when you’re carrying around an unlicensed nuclear accelerator on your back? Steorn is TOAST! ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2007, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-steorns-orbo-free-energy-perpetual-motion-promises/407373/93 "2007-07-03T12:09:18Z")
[QUOTE=Czarcasm] Is it still o.k. to reverse the polarity? [/QUOTE] :eek: God, no! You want the planet to explode? I, too, am sitting on the edge of my seat, waiting for the excuse for failure. We’ve heard all the old ones, we need some new excuses. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2007, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-steorns-orbo-free-energy-perpetual-motion-promises/407373/94 "2007-07-03T13:44:06Z")
The [Kinetica website](http://www.kinetica-museum.org/new_site/index.php?ptitle=Future%20Exhibitions&mfile=event_exhibition_main.php?mode=future) still doesn’t explicitly mention the Steorn demo but it does now say the next exhibition “starts July 5th : 5/7/2007 - 13/7/2007”, which ties in with the supposed demonstration dates. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2007, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-steorns-orbo-free-energy-perpetual-motion-promises/407373/95 "2007-07-03T14:06:23Z")
The museum event diary mentions it here: [http://www.kinetica-museum.org/new\_site/index.php?ptitle=Seminars%20and%20Talks&mfile=event\_seminar\_main.php](http://www.kinetica-museum.org/new_site/index.php?ptitle=Seminars%20and%20Talks&mfile=event_seminar_main.php) -but says nothing we haven’t already heard. ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2007, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-steorns-orbo-free-energy-perpetual-motion-promises/407373/96 "2007-07-03T14:15:45Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] The museum event diary mentions it here: [http://www.kinetica-museum.org/new\_site/index.php?ptitle=Seminars%20and%20Talks&mfile=event\_seminar\_main.php](http://www.kinetica-museum.org/new_site/index.php?ptitle=Seminars%20and%20Talks&mfile=event_seminar_main.php) -but says nothing we haven’t already heard. [/QUOTE] That looks like an old (2006) event, no? Or am I reading British dates wrong? ---
**Author:** ![truthpizza](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/439d5e/32.png) [@truthpizza](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/truthpizza)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2007, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-steorns-orbo-free-energy-perpetual-motion-promises/407373/97 "2007-07-03T14:16:10Z")
I am very suspicious of this quote in **Khadaji** ’s link that says > [@](#): > > I know of no battery technology small enough to be hidden inside such a device and turn it around for 150 hours There is a toy in which a wheel rolls back and forth on a track (the middle is lower than the ends, so it rolls down one side and back up the other) and it will run for months on a 9-volt battery hidden in the base. This suggests to me that the amount of air and mechanical friction that has to be overcome in a properly designed device is small enough that keeping this thing going for a week would be trivial with a fairly small battery. My money is on “hidden battery.” ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2007, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-steorns-orbo-free-energy-perpetual-motion-promises/407373/98 "2007-07-03T14:17:54Z")
[QUOTE=toadspittle] That looks like an old (2006) event, no? Or am I reading British dates wrong? [/QUOTE] The link doesn’t work as I expected it to… if you scroll down on that page, the Steorn event is fourth up on the left. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2007, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-steorns-orbo-free-energy-perpetual-motion-promises/407373/99 "2007-07-03T14:22:44Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] The link doesn’t work as I expected it to… if you scroll down on that page, the Steorn event is fourth up on the left. [/QUOTE] Yes, that’s the one that’s dated December '06. -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2007, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-steorns-orbo-free-energy-perpetual-motion-promises/407373/100 "2007-07-03T14:24:21Z")
You’re right… Strange… I’m sure I came across a different date when I looked at the museum’s site the other day… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-steorns-orbo-free-energy-perpetual-motion-promises/407373.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-steorns-orbo-free-energy-perpetual-motion-promises/407373.md?page=6)