Assuming that all the hoopla is for real, and Steorn demonstrates unequivocal OU - what does it all mean for the near future?
Besides of course: that Randi, Park and the other PsiCops will be exposed to be the nay-saying morons which all have accused them of being - in the past (not for being skeptics but for not actually looking closely at good experimental results, as otherwise skepticism is warranted). Randi, for one, will certainly be challenged to hand over some big bucks. Well - for Steorn itself - there is nothing to worry about or even to try to help them with - as they will be absolutely flooded with VC money and can chart their own course. There is a ton of prior art in this field, however, and they may end up spending a great deal of time defending whatever they have (IP) against the copycats. Let's ignore those juicy details for a moment; and forget the fact that dozens of inventors have seen glimpses of whatever it is that Steorn have finally (apparently) been able to make robust. As for the rest of us - this also portends great news, and the opening of financial coffers: in that once and for all, it will demonstrate the validity of some usable source of 'hidden energy' and possible violation of the LoT, which must surely be related to ZPE. The implications for other lines of R&D are immense. They (Steorn) have claimed in the past that there is no temperature drop - or other idicia of thermodynamic change in the equipment. To me, that lack of natural balancing of local energy is the biggest surprise, if it is true. It would not have surprised me at all if that prior comment from Steorn turns out NOT to be true, however, and that there will indeed be discovered a concomitant temperature drop which they either failed to measure properly, or chose not to disclose at this time. The temperature drop, if it turns out to be there, could exist across a comparatively large volume of space, rather than in the active component itself - so that measuring the Orbo device vs. the 'surrounding air' for instance, is guaranteed to turn up nothing ! whereas the total thermal energy of a sealed room in which the thing is operating may itself drop in comparison with an identical room without the device. Time will tell, but even on a hot day in July at the Museum in London, the air conditioning load may turn out to be less than expected ;-) Jones
