Wilma the Capacitor and Particle Accelerator

Sterling D. Allan writes "In a story at the new Open Source Energy Network site, Paul Noel says: "Energetically speaking, the vortex that forms in these storms is also a natural particle accelerator, and a massive capacitor bank. As the harmonic circuit develops, it resonates acoustically and functions as a capacitor, extracting the heat from the storm and transmitting it away. Without this electrical circuit, the storm would fail almost instantly due to the accumulation of heat from condensation of water." He also asserts that understanding these phenomena better could help us harness the power of nature, seen and unseen."

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What the hell is this? Seriously, what the hell?

[Phanatic1a]

Could Slashdot's editors please learn to tell the difference between science and pseudoscience? Is it too much to ask that editors, if not posters, RTFA?

Check this bullshit out:

On a more personal note, some years ago I sustained a back injury due to an auto accident, which appears to have made me more sensitive to coming weather changes. In the week before these storms I start swallowing Tylenol or similar painkillers because the symptoms make it hard for me to sleep. This was not barometric because at the time there nothing of that sort had yet been detected in my area. It is electromagnetic.

Here is a clue for the detection of the process. The capacitance charge was forming that set up the storm, and it was this charge causes me pain! It is known as dielectric stress. Because this concept is outside the reductionistic-chemical paradigm that governs the drug industry, this not usually discussed by medical science. But those who work with cellular bio-electricity will understand this concept. This dielectric stress clearly affects chemical reactions and energy conversions in bodily cells, in addition to being well known to engineers for its effects on electrical systems and materials used in electronic devices.

A good indicator for scientific and commercial development is the discovery of a natural process like this. If the number of "hits" from doing a search on "dielectric stress" is any indication, the control and measurement of this process is a subject of great interest for scientists and engineers working in technology development and quality control.

What a heaping plate of crud. This is embarassing.

Re:Possible way to kill hurricanes . . .

[WormholeFiend]

there are ways to generate electromagnetic pulses without nukes.... not as powerful, but EMPs nonetheless

I can't find the original Popular Science article about it, but the most basic design is an electro-magnet wound around an aluminium tube, with an antenna at the opposite end of the detonator

Wrong

[everphilski]

That Dielectric Stress your google hits are talking about is "electrostatic force divided by the area" in a capacitor, which is a known system and yes occurs. What this guy talks about is hokey and not at all the same. Pure BS.

-everphilski-

Nutters

[igb]

The "Harmonic Protector" (ref) did not register any activity using an "orgone meter" (ref). However, a reading taken using a sophisticated software package known as "Life Assessment" technology (ref), which is designed to analyze the balance of energies in the meridians, indicated a modest beneficial effect from this HP when it is interacting with a human body. (Ref)

Since when did Slashdot become home to new age nutcases? Orgone Accumulators make great songs for Hawkwind and Kate Bush, but as physics it's not a basis for anything other than providing something to laugh at.

ian

Hmm... the submitter...

[Cl1mh4224rd]

Here's his website. Quite an interesting mix of websites he administers there...

Re:Hmm... the submitter...

[swillden]

Quite an interesting mix of websites he administers there...

That's an understatement. Check out some of his articles:

George W. Bush was Complicit with the 911 Attack on America.

Was President Bush Behind Katrina?. Lest the title fool you into thinking Allan considers this a question:

U.S. Black Ops and other colluding extra-governmental shadow-entities have obtained significant mastery of weather engineering after decades of practice. The same cabal that brought us 911 has now brought us Katrina, to push the U.S. and the rest of the world closer to Marshall law.

This guy is a fruitcake. And he doesn't know how to spell "martial law".

Electric Universe again?

[alanw]

Sounds very similar to the bunkum proposed by the Electric Universe nutters, and mentioned in many previous Slashdot postings.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_Universe_mod el

Re:What the hell is this? Seriously, what the hell

[Phanatic1a]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. They laughed at Einstein, they laughed at Edison, but they also laughed at Bozo the Clown.

This guy's in the Bozo brigade. I'm not disputing that his back aches. I am disputing the wealth of bullshit in the article:

However, managing dielectric stress on the body is "controversial" i.e. pooh-poohed by authorities. But this does not stop independent inventors from creating and offering for sale various devices which are intended to mitigate this stress, whether to make interior spaces more comfortable for sufferers (ref.), or to attach to cellphones (ref.), or to be worn on the body such as purple plates (ref.), orgonite pendants (ref.), and diodes (ref.). It is up to users to examine the data presented in support of these devices, and to decide for themselves whether to get these devices and run them through various investigations of their own, and or to use them personally. The "Harmonic Protector" (ref) did not register any activity using an "orgone meter" (ref). However, a reading taken using a sophisticated software package known as "Life Assessment" technology (ref), which is designed to analyze the balance of energies in the meridians, indicated a modest beneficial effect from this HP when it is interacting with a human body. (Ref)

He's a bullshit artist, and he's selling a product. No different than Simpson & Son's Patented Energizing Moisturizing Tantalizing Romanticizing Surprising, Herprizing Revitalizing Tonic. The term might be vulgar, but it's a hell of a lot more to the point than just calling it "snake oil."

That's about the only thing they got right.

[Engineer-Poet]

A hurricane is a heat engine. Heat engines need heat sinks to get rid of their waste heat. Ergo, a hurricane needs to lose heat, QED.

Slashdot needs a new category icon: the duncecap

[Engineer-Poet]

This article is bunkum.

The proper role of an editor is to properly categorize material which is suitable for the publication, and reject that which is not. Taco's judgement in this case is, shall we say, questionable. The source website is full of logical and scientific garbage, so it doesn't belong in the science category. The talk of "particle accelerators" is bunkum too, unless you are talking about phenomena like sprites and jets which also occur in thunderstorms (and are at least somewhat understood but still under research), or perhaps if you are talking about particles from shingles and 4x8 sheets of plywood up to whole trees accelerated to 150 knots. Thus it doesn't belong in the hardware category either. And it takes itself far too seriously to be funny.

There really is no legitimate Slashdot heading under which this piece fits. Accordingly, I suggest a new one: the duncecap. This is for articles (or editorial decisions to post articles) which are too stupid for words, and to properly categorize such errors in judgement rather than throwing them down the memory hole.

Any editor posting a mis-categorized article which really ought to be filed in "It's stupid. Ask your editor why this is here" should have to wear a real duncecap during the performance of their duties for the next 24 hours. That sort of reminder is necessary to keep editors from shirking their responsibility to be, you know, editors.

Re:Wow

[TapeCutter]

"If I recall correctly, the year with the record for hurricanes before 2005 happened before weather sats existed, so there were almost certainly storms that were not counted "

The Atlantic has been a busy place for over 100yrs, I don't think the weather geeks missed too many big storms in the last century just because they didn't have satellites.

The GW aspect is not about the frequency of storms but rather the total amount of energy they contain, although given enough energy more storms could be expected to reach hurricane status. There is no hard evidence that the frequency is trending upwards (the frequency increase over the last few years is on too short a time scale to be significant). However there is good evidence that the total energy over the last 30 yrs has steadily increased but as far as I know the jury is still diliberating.

If you look back over the last 30yrs or so at reports such as from the IPCC and many other credible publications before it, you will find a plethora of predictions. Many of these predictions have already been verified by observation, unfortunately they have occured much sooner than the scientific establishment thought they would.

As an example, 10yrs ago the GHG feedback loop from melting permafrost was thought to be at least 50yrs away (if it happened at all). Recently one of those weather satelites observed this process over Siberria. A higher frequency of extreme weather has also been a long standing prediction, but you are technically correct, just because it waddles and quacks doesn't mean they are right.

The US has contributed as much to climate research as all the other countries combined. The rest of the planet appreciates this incredible scientific effort but cannot understand why the US continues to insist their emporer is not stark naked.

As for TFA, magnets will not stop a hurricane, cure arthritis or sterilize your water but they can be used to scan for brains.

Re:Possible way to kill hurricanes . . .

[Anonymous Coward]

They did try it was called Project Storm Fury

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Stormfury