In 2006 Irish engineering company Steorn made a splash and stirred up a controversy when they put an ad in the Economist magazine announcing they had developed a way to produce “free, clean and constant energy”, and issued a challenge to the scientific world to test it out. There was a flurry of publicity activity following this announcement and much controversy ensued.
Some in scientific world responded to the challenge, and a jury of experts was assembled which ultimately came to the verdict in 2009 that the company could not demonstrate that their technology produced energy. Steorn accepted the jury’s decision, but disputed its conclusions and the company continued to carry on its work, but in a far less public way.
Most of what we have learned of Steorn’s activities since they lowered their profile has come from informal Facebook comments, pictures and videos. And it’s from Facebook that the latest piece of news comes — from Slattery’s Pub — hardly the most august scientific body, (but well known to be the favorite social establishment of Steorn’s CEO Shaun McCarthy).
Here’s an announcement from Slattery’s Facebook Page:
“In physics, the law of conservation of energy states that the total energy of an isolated system remains constant—it is said to be conserved over time. Energy can be neither created nor be destroyed, but it transforms from one form to another, for instance chemical energy can be converted to kinetic energy in the explosion of a stick of dynamite.”
“A consequence of the law of conservation of energy is that a perpetual motion machine of the first kind cannot exist. That is to say, no system without an external energy supply can deliver an unlimited amount of energy to its surroundings”
“Come down to Slattery’s Pub this week and witness this Black Beauty charge ppl phones or laptops without ever needing a recharge or external power source. Orbo’s Power Cube is real magic. It twists the aboce laws inside out.”
In one of the comments, Slattery’s says they will have the Power Cube available starting Friday.
We don’t know much about the Orbo power cube, but Shaun McCarthy has mentioned that Steorn is developing a ‘never-die’ battery using its Orbo technology. In an interview with the Sunday Business Post earlier this year, McCarthy said they were developing am Orbo battery to be used in mobile phones:
“The battery is very unique — You don’t put any energy in, it’s what they call a closed loop. Literally the battery is self-powered. It’s a ‘never die’ battery. It’ll drain itself, but it will recharge itself in two seconds. ”
To many, Steorn has become an object of ridicule over the years, and so to display a potentially revolutionary technology for the first time in a pub doesn’t sound like the best way to try and salvage your reputation — but in many ways this is the Steorn way, tongue-in-cheek and irreverent.
Certainly a product rollout in a pub could not be considered a scientific test or a validation of the technology — you’d have to do long term testing to conclude that this was not a conventional battery technology — but it’s interesting to see Steorn is continuing its activities and becoming a bit more public.
If they do have what they claim, it would be very interesting.
Update:
I have been in touch with Steorn and was told that a prototype Orbo box to be located in Slattery’s pub is part of their ‘field testing’, and it will be available for customers to charge their electronic devices on — ‘behind the bar’.
Here’s a new picture from Shaun McCarthy’s Facebook page:
Using the USB port as a reference, I would guess this box is about 9 x 9 x 4 cm.
More pictures from Slattery’s Facebook page.
A couple of videos too at the links below:
Our mate #ORBO just arrived. This was our first touch. The box has an extra diagnostics kit so normally half the size. We will keep it here and test this revutionary product #madeinireland and creatively powered by #Guinness
Posted by Slatterys Pub on Friday, May 8, 2015
Posted by Slatterys Pub on Friday, May 8, 2015
Field Testing Steorn’s ‘Never Die’ Orbo Power Cube Battery in Dublin Pub Starting Friday [New Pictures and video]
In 2006 Irish engineering company Steorn made a splash and stirred up a controversy when they put an ad in the Economist magazine announcing they had developed a way to produce “free, clean and constant energy”, and issued a challenge to the scientific world to test it out. There was a flurry of publicity activity following this announcement and much controversy ensued.
Some in scientific world responded to the challenge, and a jury of experts was assembled which ultimately came to the verdict in 2009 that the company could not demonstrate that their technology produced energy. Steorn accepted the jury’s decision, but disputed its conclusions and the company continued to carry on its work, but in a far less public way.
Most of what we have learned of Steorn’s activities since they lowered their profile has come from informal Facebook comments, pictures and videos. And it’s from Facebook that the latest piece of news comes — from Slattery’s Pub — hardly the most august scientific body, (but well known to be the favorite social establishment of Steorn’s CEO Shaun McCarthy).
Here’s an announcement from Slattery’s Facebook Page:
We don’t know much about the Orbo power cube, but Shaun McCarthy has mentioned that Steorn is developing a ‘never-die’ battery using its Orbo technology. In an interview with the Sunday Business Post earlier this year, McCarthy said they were developing am Orbo battery to be used in mobile phones:
“The battery is very unique — You don’t put any energy in, it’s what they call a closed loop. Literally the battery is self-powered. It’s a ‘never die’ battery. It’ll drain itself, but it will recharge itself in two seconds. ”
To many, Steorn has become an object of ridicule over the years, and so to display a potentially revolutionary technology for the first time in a pub doesn’t sound like the best way to try and salvage your reputation — but in many ways this is the Steorn way, tongue-in-cheek and irreverent.
Certainly a product rollout in a pub could not be considered a scientific test or a validation of the technology — you’d have to do long term testing to conclude that this was not a conventional battery technology — but it’s interesting to see Steorn is continuing its activities and becoming a bit more public.
If they do have what they claim, it would be very interesting.
Update:
I have been in touch with Steorn and was told that a prototype Orbo box to be located in Slattery’s pub is part of their ‘field testing’, and it will be available for customers to charge their electronic devices on — ‘behind the bar’.
Here’s a new picture from Shaun McCarthy’s Facebook page:
More pictures from Slattery’s Facebook page.
A couple of videos too at the links below:
Posted by Slatterys Pub on Friday, May 8, 2015