If you're reading this...

If you're reading this blog, please leave a comment, or let me know via some other means. I'd like to know if I have an audience, who that audience is, and if you have the time, what that audience wants to read and doesn't want to read.

Here's some substance:

www.steorn.net

An Irish company claims to have invented/discovered a source of free energy. And not just costless energy, but "free energy" from the scientific standpoint--the creation of energy from essentially nothing. That flies in the face of the principle of energy conservation, a fairly well-established law of physics. It wouldn't be the first time a Law was proven wrong (see: Newton's Law of Gravity), but this would be quite the shattering breakthrough.

So what is this thing? Is it really a source of free energy that could replace all other kinds of fuel and power generation? Is it not, but the makers believe it is? What else could it be? Here are some possibilities:

Investment Ploy - "We're acting VERY confident in our product. We even took out a 160,000 dollar ad in The Economist challenging scientists to prove us wrong. We have a magnetic motor. It's fancy and involves magnets and math, two things you don't understand. Look into purchasing some stock at or shortly after our IPO."

Marketing Ploy - "Wouldn't that be nice if this were true. Now that we have your attention, buy an Xbox 360." (It WAS mentioned on a Microsoft website kind of out of the blue...but on the other hand, it IS a really cool idea.)

Activism - "Look how excited you got over the prospect of free energy. Wouldn't it be worth a little effort to get cheaper, cleaner, more efficient energy? A step in this direction would be better than nothing."

Prank - "Hahah, we're in college. And since we're liberal arts majors, we've got a lot of free time on our hands."