Mitnick is best known for his social engineering skills. Pick up a copy of "The Art of Deception" and you'll see what I mean. The Social Engineering panel is the highlight of any HOPE convention.
Whoop-de-freaking-do. "Social engineering" is not a new skill, nor was it something perfected by Mitnick. It's been around for a very VERY long time. The phrase "Loose lips sink ships" ring a bell? Mitnick is, and always was a second rate hack who got a lot of publicity for his crimes because he lived in the age of the internet where a lot of misinformed would-be-hackers rallyed behind him. He was an artificial flash in the pan, and has nothing real to add to such a discussion. You want someone with something to add? Hire an ex-NSA or ex-CIA to be your keynote. They knew more about "social engineering" during the world wars than Mitnick will ever know.
Mitnick was also made into a martyr when he was held for over five years without so much as a bail hearing (not that he'd get it for being a flight risk, but a hearing is due process just the same).
Mitnick's lawyers asked for him to be held longer, this was his choice, and in the end the time was taken off of his prison sentance. His extended incarceration was done as his own request. Read your history, even statements from Mitnick himself, this belief you hold is a common misrepresentation of what really happened.
The commonly-held explaination for Mitnick being in such lockdown is that he would still be able to con people, even fears of Mitnick launching nuclear attacks by dialing the right phone number and whistling.
This "fear" was never held by those who were holding Mitnick, rather it was FUD spread by Mitnick's own lawyers and representatives as part of a campaign to villify the US govt for arresting Mitnick.
Mitnick is a criminal, plain and simple, with nothing new to add. Lets put him back where he belongs, working for a living, instead of fueling his thirst for fame and easy money.
People have known that humans are the most insecure link for much longer than Mitnick. Look up your WWI and WWII history, slogans abounded and posters covered public places about the importance of silence when you could have spies around you.
Mitnick just exploited a well known hole that can't be properly patched. He no more pioneered a field than do Modern bank robbers.
Mitnick is a criminal, and should be treated as such.
I have to agree, I fail to see what Mitnick could ever contribute. All he is, is a criminal who got caught. He wasn't even much of a computer guru, just knew how to manipulate people well enough to steal some data.
Mitnick's fame is something I can't comprehend. I don't see why we're showering him with honors and treating him like someone who has valuable input, or is worthy of praise. Let him find a job and try and earn an honest living like the rest of us.
Just be glad this wasn't posted by Michael or we'd have some wonderful commentary by him, like this:
"When is the federal government going to stop infringing on our rights? I guess the lesson to be learned here is to not go on the internet!"
I for one am glad that it was posted by Taco who has a sense of what is right and wrong. I think the YRO categorization is for the rights of those whose works are being distributed on-line.
Correlation may not necessarily imply causation, but it can imply causation with enough additional evidence, which does currently exist. A large enough positive correlation, and two trends starting at the same time (increase in pollution and increase in temperature) offer strong evidence for causation.
Are you being obtuse or purpose, or are you really that dense?
There weren't potential problems back in the 1400's due to the mideval warming period, because there were less people in total, and less people along the coasts. Furthermore, civilizations were much more mobile with regards to their homes than they are now.
Furthermore, we have evidence of the rate of change from that period using ice cores. We have evidence of the rate of change now.
Our current rate of change is higher than ever before, and we can directly correlate it with the industrial revolution. Learn to read a post before posting your ignorant opinions, and look up the statistical definition of coorelation while you're at it.
No one is saying that the "Earth is hotter than it ever was" but you and the rest of the Anti-Warming FUD Trolls. What we are saying is that the Earth is warming, and a lot of our civilization is in danger of sever flooding. You mention it was warmer in the past, very true, and also one of the reasons why many Roman and Greek ports are now inland, the oceans in that area have receeded to some degree. Now imagine as warming kicks in (and the recent warming trend has been shown to be highly positively coorelated to the start of the industrial revolution, and continues to be postively coorelated with global pollution levels). Some of those ancient ports will be on the water again, the result? Many of our coastal cities are swimming.
Like it or not global warming is occuring, it's not the hottest it's ever been, but that doesn't matter, all that matters is that when it gets hotter, we're in trouble.
I only tell jokes like this offline to people who get the following punchline of: "There are 10 types of people in this world, those who understand binary and those who don't.", thankfully, my wife is in this crowd.
You bought a.99c mouse pad from IKEA? Sweet! I'd love a mouse pad that moves at 99% of the speed of light! Think of all of the productivity you'd have with one of these.
Oh my gosh... think about the productivity you'd have with a beow... nevermind, not going there:)
this simply is wrong. main is a static method of a class just as the main
function in c is a function in a file. and static means this class does
not need to be instantiated (that would produce an object) in order to
execute the main method.
You are right, you don't need to instantiate the class to call main, but
the fact still remains it has to be part of a class. This sort of mindset
is wrong headed. Your main program isn't a class in any sort of
intelligent OO design sense, OO is about packaging things which ought to
be classes as classes, not everything.
All Java offers is a cross platform unstable graphics suite, and a set
of annoying libraries, and bad object oriented design
come on. this is just the usual fud. both awt and swing are stable. and
the oo design of java is a very sophisticated one (to inherit from
multiple classes is a real mess, better implement multiple interfaces and
delegate for instance). and calling the core libraries "annoying" is just
your opinion.
It's not fud at all, I use Java on a regular basis, awt and swing
frequently have serious problems where they either hang, or throw an
exception for perfectly normal behavior. I still use Java because, at
this posting, it's the only truly cross platform graphics suite available,
but it still is buggy and unstable.
Calling the libraries annoying is far from opinion. On the lowest level,
I should not have to use System.out.println("Whatever"), that level of
nesting is downright ridiculous. Furthermore, I shouldn't have to triple
wrap my input and output streams just to use them for character based
input and output. On a more sophisticated level, several of the
implementations of standard data structures are not optimized, and have a
really poor time complexity for generic operations.
btw, i do not really see why so many people complain about swing
performance. using 1.4.2, it runs as smooth as a native app on an amd
630mhz pc. the only bad thing is the jfileselector which no one should
use, take the native awt dialog.
I'll admit, Swing runs fairly quickly, but the problem isn't Swing
performance, it's Java performance. Java is slow as molasses at any kind
of complex computation, and furthermore bloats the memory to a really
ridiculous degree. Just running a program to print "Hello World" over and
over again occupies several MB of RAM! This isn't an efficient language,
good for prototyping, and cross platform graphics, but not for real
applications.
Do you even know what you are talking about? C/C++ has all the error recovery facilities of Java, and has had them for quite a while now. All Java offers is a cross platform unstable graphics suite, and a set of annoying libraries, and bad object oriented design (Main should not be an object).
You also have to remember that this project was first offered to a number of better institutions, such as Va Tech, and was turned down because it was seen as:
A) Useless, It's a small bit of track on a small campus, why invest the money there, as opposed to on a more useful scale.
B) Safety concerns, having new technology racing over a campus of kids isn't always the best idea.
Given that a subpar University, such as Old Dominion, is the home of this "break through", one has to have their doubts. ODU is a low ranked school known in our area for subpar students, and is basically considered worse than a community college education wise. In our hiring process, we routinely toss out applications from ODU, regardless of the GPA or credentials because in our experience, all that is needed for a 4.0 from ODU is a pulse and a signed check for tuition. That such a University is getting this project, makes me ver doubtful about the possibilities for success. It sounds more like a PR move IMHO.
The Midwest has some of the top Computer Science and Engineering Schools in the world, and many top 10 institutions. It's just the midwest in general that is still in the dark ages, not their universities:)
Just because you cannot see the graphite being crushed does not mean the two forces aren't currently pushing on either side. Likewise, just because you can't see the electrons in the wires of your computer, does not mean energy is not being used to move them.
Levitating something provides two counter balanced forces on an object, both using energy to move it in a direction, compressing it slowly. Lots of things in this universe can't be seen with the naked eye, that doesn't mean they aren't there.
Yes you ought to replace your bookshelves at some point in time, hundreds, or thousands of years from now (maybe more), they will eventually fall apart do to stresses and strains. Another bookshelf, floating in a vacuum, and not subjected to any forces what so ever, will never degrade.
Why? Because work is being done by the bookshelf here on earth. It is dealing with the strain of being sandwiched between the floor and gravitational force, and eventuall it will fall apart under this strain. There is a compression happening in the bookshelves, due to their own mass, and the mass of the books. Put enough books on a shelf and you'll see it happen faster. Energy is the capacity to do work. In this case the work is barely within our perception, or possibly not at all within our perception, but it is still there, and the energy is still being expended. In the case of a levitating graphite, it is being slowly compressed by both forces. Eventually, maybe even before the magnets run out of energy, it will break apart due to the strain.
Just because you can't percieve the work doesn't mean it isn't there, or do you not believe that a light bulb is using energy to light itself just because you can't see the electrons moving in the filament.
Gravity provides a constant downward force of 9.8m/s^2, the magnets provide a constant upwards force of 9.8m/s^2, the result? The graphite floats. Unless you believe that energy can come from no where, you have to accept that the magnets are providing the energy for the upward force. Eventually they'll fail, like all batteries, and have to be recharged by remaking them, but that doesn't stop them from being useful as an energy storage device.
No one is claiming they are getting free energy. It's just a great way to tap it. Another way to put this in perspective is a Fission generator. It takes a LOT of energy to make Uranium for a reactor, however, in the end, the high energy density, and readily available uranium, makes it a good combination for fuel plants.
He should be able to run it for some time, just like if I have a system which takes power from the wall, and then power from batteries to provide more power than just the wall, will light an LED for a bit, but eventually degrade to nothing. He'd probably have to add a battery to the system though, as I imagine the wall socket primarily exists to provide energy at a critical point when the magnets can no longer do so.
RTFA. He doesn't claim the device produces more energy than it takes in, simply that it produces more than it takes in through the wall socket. It needs the wall socket to provide power to help start the device and keep it spinning, the system merely draws extra energy through the magnets, using them as a kind of battery.
Are you claiming that you can extract energy from a magnet when that energy was not there in the first place? You should read the physics page where the 'ball bearing shooter' was analyzed. You'll find that the act of placing the magnets and ball bearings in position provides energy to the machine. The act of rolling another ball into the first magnet pushes it just outside it's equilibruim, and it releases the energy stored when the balls were placed.
PLEASE read up on physics before posting again. Magnets DO store energy, one of the primary ways we describe magnets is their energy density (BHmax). Magnets are created when electrical energy is supplied to a storage medium, such as NdFeB, a very efficient rare earth magnet. They then release this energy through a conversion from the stored energy to mechanical energy.
He does not claim that the output of the system is greater than the input, it is not a perpetual motion device. He instead claims that the output of the system is greater than the wall socket input, which is probably true, as he is drawing some energy from his magnets.
Take a magnet, and levitate a disk on it, it's a fairly easy experiment, described on the same site. Gravity is trying to force the disk down, the magnets force the disk upwards, providing sufficient energy to counteract the gravitational force. This energy is being provided on a constant basis, and you will probably die long before the disk falls to the ground. Is this perpetual motion? Of course not. It's simply a great energy storage device.
You are right, both systems end in a lower energy state than they were in originally, but that is NOT the point. No one is claiming to be creating energy here, simply tapping magnetic force in a new and interesting way. His device doesn't create energy, it just removes it from storage with the help of some juice from the wall, and an excellently designed balance.
I don't have to propose some cycle, it already exists in the earth's core, and in commercial magnet production. We make and use magnets in our daily lives all the time, your speakers, hard disks, monitors, electro-magnetic generators and motors, the list goes on and on.
The point of his engine is: We already have this source, why not harness it? Furthermore, when was the last time you replaced a magnet? Never? I thought so. Magnets have a very high energy density, much better than a tank of gas. The challenge is tapping this energy in a useful way, which this man has done.
No one said he is storing the power in the magnets, the magnets, by
definition, are already storing the power in the form of a magnetic
field. Think of them as VERY efficient inductors. The magnets already
exist, or can be fabricated through relatively inexpensive processes.
I have no idea the types of magnets he is using, nor the other specs on
his motor, so I can't answer these questions, but I bet he can.
Want to see proof that magnets store energy? Buy some neodynium
magnets, tape four of them on a ruler, equidistant. Now place a 1/4
inch - 1/2 inch ballbearing on the same side of each magnet. Now, on
the end of the ruler, which begins in a magnet and not a bearing (the
pattern will be
magnet-bearing-magnet-bearing-magnet-bearing-magne t-bearing), slowly
roll another bearing into the magnet, just hard enough to break the bond
between that magnet and the bearing set against it. The bearing will
roll forward, be accelerated by the field in front of it, and crash into
the next magnet faster than the one before it did. The process
continues until the final bearing rockets off the end fast enough to
knock over a coke can.
It's a neat experiment to show your kids at the very least, and
illustrates harnessing magnets as a battery.
No one is saying the sky is falling, they're just saying "This is neat, we can use magnets to supply energy to something in a useful and meaningful way".
While this could be useful, this can not save you energy, because you had to put energy into the batteries in the first place.
This may come as a shock to you, but EVERYTHING works this way. You can never create energy, hell you can never even break even. Solar panels don't "create" energy, neither do nuclear reactors, or coal plants. They harness preexisting energy in a useful way. So does this guy's motor. His motor harnesses magnetic energy in a very neat and meaningful way.
Magnets exist naturally all over the earth, and can be made fairly easily. The best part? They have a very good energy density. This work, once further refined, ought to prove to be a very Good Thing(tm).
Slashdot Mirror
Mitnick is best known for his social engineering skills. Pick up a copy of "The Art of Deception" and you'll see what I mean. The Social Engineering panel is the highlight of any HOPE convention.
Whoop-de-freaking-do. "Social engineering" is not a new skill, nor was it something perfected by Mitnick. It's been around for a very VERY long time. The phrase "Loose lips sink ships" ring a bell? Mitnick is, and always was a second rate hack who got a lot of publicity for his crimes because he lived in the age of the internet where a lot of misinformed would-be-hackers rallyed behind him. He was an artificial flash in the pan, and has nothing real to add to such a discussion. You want someone with something to add? Hire an ex-NSA or ex-CIA to be your keynote. They knew more about "social engineering" during the world wars than Mitnick will ever know.
Mitnick was also made into a martyr when he was held for over five years without so much as a bail hearing (not that he'd get it for being a flight risk, but a hearing is due process just the same).
Mitnick's lawyers asked for him to be held longer, this was his choice, and in the end the time was taken off of his prison sentance. His extended incarceration was done as his own request. Read your history, even statements from Mitnick himself, this belief you hold is a common misrepresentation of what really happened.
The commonly-held explaination for Mitnick being in such lockdown is that he would still be able to con people, even fears of Mitnick launching nuclear attacks by dialing the right phone number and whistling.
This "fear" was never held by those who were holding Mitnick, rather it was FUD spread by Mitnick's own lawyers and representatives as part of a campaign to villify the US govt for arresting Mitnick.
Mitnick is a criminal, plain and simple, with nothing new to add. Lets put him back where he belongs, working for a living, instead of fueling his thirst for fame and easy money.
People have known that humans are the most insecure link for much longer than Mitnick. Look up your WWI and WWII history, slogans abounded and posters covered public places about the importance of silence when you could have spies around you.
Mitnick just exploited a well known hole that can't be properly patched. He no more pioneered a field than do Modern bank robbers.
Mitnick is a criminal, and should be treated as such.
I have to agree, I fail to see what Mitnick could ever contribute. All he is, is a criminal who got caught. He wasn't even much of a computer guru, just knew how to manipulate people well enough to steal some data.
Mitnick's fame is something I can't comprehend. I don't see why we're showering him with honors and treating him like someone who has valuable input, or is worthy of praise. Let him find a job and try and earn an honest living like the rest of us.
Just be glad this wasn't posted by Michael or we'd have some wonderful commentary by him, like this:
"When is the federal government going to stop infringing on our rights? I guess the lesson to be learned here is to not go on the internet!"
I for one am glad that it was posted by Taco who has a sense of what is right and wrong. I think the YRO categorization is for the rights of those whose works are being distributed on-line.
Correlation may not necessarily imply causation, but it can imply causation with enough additional evidence, which does currently exist. A large enough positive correlation, and two trends starting at the same time (increase in pollution and increase in temperature) offer strong evidence for causation.
Are you being obtuse or purpose, or are you really that dense?
There weren't potential problems back in the 1400's due to the mideval warming period, because there were less people in total, and less people along the coasts. Furthermore, civilizations were much more mobile with regards to their homes than they are now.
Furthermore, we have evidence of the rate of change from that period using ice cores. We have evidence of the rate of change now.
Our current rate of change is higher than ever before, and we can directly correlate it with the industrial revolution. Learn to read a post before posting your ignorant opinions, and look up the statistical definition of coorelation while you're at it.
Yes really, and by the way nice Troll.
No one is saying that the "Earth is hotter than it ever was" but you and the rest of the Anti-Warming FUD Trolls. What we are saying is that the Earth is warming, and a lot of our civilization is in danger of sever flooding. You mention it was warmer in the past, very true, and also one of the reasons why many Roman and Greek ports are now inland, the oceans in that area have receeded to some degree. Now imagine as warming kicks in (and the recent warming trend has been shown to be highly positively coorelated to the start of the industrial revolution, and continues to be postively coorelated with global pollution levels). Some of those ancient ports will be on the water again, the result? Many of our coastal cities are swimming.
Like it or not global warming is occuring, it's not the hottest it's ever been, but that doesn't matter, all that matters is that when it gets hotter, we're in trouble.
In other news: Microsoft has hired the Yankees HR group...
I only tell jokes like this offline to people who get the following punchline of: "There are 10 types of people in this world, those who understand binary and those who don't.", thankfully, my wife is in this crowd.
You bought a .99c mouse pad from IKEA? Sweet! I'd love a mouse pad that moves at 99% of the speed of light! Think of all of the productivity you'd have with one of these.
:)
Oh my gosh... think about the productivity you'd have with a beow... nevermind, not going there
(Main should not be an object)
this simply is wrong. main is a static method of a class just as the main function in c is a function in a file. and static means this class does not need to be instantiated (that would produce an object) in order to execute the main method.
You are right, you don't need to instantiate the class to call main, but the fact still remains it has to be part of a class. This sort of mindset is wrong headed. Your main program isn't a class in any sort of intelligent OO design sense, OO is about packaging things which ought to be classes as classes, not everything.
All Java offers is a cross platform unstable graphics suite, and a set of annoying libraries, and bad object oriented design
come on. this is just the usual fud. both awt and swing are stable. and the oo design of java is a very sophisticated one (to inherit from multiple classes is a real mess, better implement multiple interfaces and delegate for instance). and calling the core libraries "annoying" is just your opinion.
It's not fud at all, I use Java on a regular basis, awt and swing frequently have serious problems where they either hang, or throw an exception for perfectly normal behavior. I still use Java because, at this posting, it's the only truly cross platform graphics suite available, but it still is buggy and unstable.
Calling the libraries annoying is far from opinion. On the lowest level, I should not have to use System.out.println("Whatever"), that level of nesting is downright ridiculous. Furthermore, I shouldn't have to triple wrap my input and output streams just to use them for character based input and output. On a more sophisticated level, several of the implementations of standard data structures are not optimized, and have a really poor time complexity for generic operations.
btw, i do not really see why so many people complain about swing performance. using 1.4.2, it runs as smooth as a native app on an amd 630mhz pc. the only bad thing is the jfileselector which no one should use, take the native awt dialog.
I'll admit, Swing runs fairly quickly, but the problem isn't Swing performance, it's Java performance. Java is slow as molasses at any kind of complex computation, and furthermore bloats the memory to a really ridiculous degree. Just running a program to print "Hello World" over and over again occupies several MB of RAM! This isn't an efficient language, good for prototyping, and cross platform graphics, but not for real applications.
Do you even know what you are talking about? C/C++ has all the error recovery facilities of Java, and has had them for quite a while now. All Java offers is a cross platform unstable graphics suite, and a set of annoying libraries, and bad object oriented design (Main should not be an object).
You also have to remember that this project was first offered to a number of better institutions, such as Va Tech, and was turned down because it was seen as:
A) Useless, It's a small bit of track on a small campus, why invest the money there, as opposed to on a more useful scale.
B) Safety concerns, having new technology racing over a campus of kids isn't always the best idea.
Given that a subpar University, such as Old Dominion, is the home of this "break through", one has to have their doubts. ODU is a low ranked school known in our area for subpar students, and is basically considered worse than a community college education wise. In our hiring process, we routinely toss out applications from ODU, regardless of the GPA or credentials because in our experience, all that is needed for a 4.0 from ODU is a pulse and a signed check for tuition. That such a University is getting this project, makes me ver doubtful about the possibilities for success. It sounds more like a PR move IMHO.
You're a grad at W&M? What department, that school is my Alma Matter, drop me an e-mail sometime, I'd love to know how things are there these days.
The Midwest has some of the top Computer Science and Engineering Schools in the world, and many top 10 institutions. It's just the midwest in general that is still in the dark ages, not their universities :)
I'm just amazed at the number of crappy CS schools near the top...
Just because you cannot see the graphite being crushed does not mean the two forces aren't currently pushing on either side. Likewise, just because you can't see the electrons in the wires of your computer, does not mean energy is not being used to move them.
Levitating something provides two counter balanced forces on an object, both using energy to move it in a direction, compressing it slowly. Lots of things in this universe can't be seen with the naked eye, that doesn't mean they aren't there.
Yes you ought to replace your bookshelves at some point in time, hundreds, or thousands of years from now (maybe more), they will eventually fall apart do to stresses and strains. Another bookshelf, floating in a vacuum, and not subjected to any forces what so ever, will never degrade.
Why? Because work is being done by the bookshelf here on earth. It is dealing with the strain of being sandwiched between the floor and gravitational force, and eventuall it will fall apart under this strain. There is a compression happening in the bookshelves, due to their own mass, and the mass of the books. Put enough books on a shelf and you'll see it happen faster. Energy is the capacity to do work. In this case the work is barely within our perception, or possibly not at all within our perception, but it is still there, and the energy is still being expended. In the case of a levitating graphite, it is being slowly compressed by both forces. Eventually, maybe even before the magnets run out of energy, it will break apart due to the strain.
Just because you can't percieve the work doesn't mean it isn't there, or do you not believe that a light bulb is using energy to light itself just because you can't see the electrons moving in the filament.
Here is another experiment to convince yourself:
A magnetic levitation device.
Gravity provides a constant downward force of 9.8m/s^2, the magnets provide a constant upwards force of 9.8m/s^2, the result? The graphite floats. Unless you believe that energy can come from no where, you have to accept that the magnets are providing the energy for the upward force. Eventually they'll fail, like all batteries, and have to be recharged by remaking them, but that doesn't stop them from being useful as an energy storage device.
No one is claiming they are getting free energy. It's just a great way to tap it. Another way to put this in perspective is a Fission generator. It takes a LOT of energy to make Uranium for a reactor, however, in the end, the high energy density, and readily available uranium, makes it a good combination for fuel plants.
He should be able to run it for some time, just like if I have a system which takes power from the wall, and then power from batteries to provide more power than just the wall, will light an LED for a bit, but eventually degrade to nothing. He'd probably have to add a battery to the system though, as I imagine the wall socket primarily exists to provide energy at a critical point when the magnets can no longer do so.
RTFA. He doesn't claim the device produces more energy than it takes in, simply that it produces more than it takes in through the wall socket. It needs the wall socket to provide power to help start the device and keep it spinning, the system merely draws extra energy through the magnets, using them as a kind of battery.
Are you claiming that you can extract energy from a magnet when that energy was not there in the first place? You should read the physics page where the 'ball bearing shooter' was analyzed. You'll find that the act of placing the magnets and ball bearings in position provides energy to the machine. The act of rolling another ball into the first magnet pushes it just outside it's equilibruim, and it releases the energy stored when the balls were placed.
PLEASE read up on physics before posting again. Magnets DO store energy, one of the primary ways we describe magnets is their energy density (BHmax). Magnets are created when electrical energy is supplied to a storage medium, such as NdFeB, a very efficient rare earth magnet. They then release this energy through a conversion from the stored energy to mechanical energy.
He does not claim that the output of the system is greater than the input, it is not a perpetual motion device. He instead claims that the output of the system is greater than the wall socket input, which is probably true, as he is drawing some energy from his magnets.
Take a magnet, and levitate a disk on it, it's a fairly easy experiment, described on the same site. Gravity is trying to force the disk down, the magnets force the disk upwards, providing sufficient energy to counteract the gravitational force. This energy is being provided on a constant basis, and you will probably die long before the disk falls to the ground. Is this perpetual motion? Of course not. It's simply a great energy storage device.
You are right, both systems end in a lower energy state than they were in originally, but that is NOT the point. No one is claiming to be creating energy here, simply tapping magnetic force in a new and interesting way. His device doesn't create energy, it just removes it from storage with the help of some juice from the wall, and an excellently designed balance.
I don't have to propose some cycle, it already exists in the earth's core, and in commercial magnet production. We make and use magnets in our daily lives all the time, your speakers, hard disks, monitors, electro-magnetic generators and motors, the list goes on and on.
The point of his engine is: We already have this source, why not harness it? Furthermore, when was the last time you replaced a magnet? Never? I thought so. Magnets have a very high energy density, much better than a tank of gas. The challenge is tapping this energy in a useful way, which this man has done.
No one said he is storing the power in the magnets, the magnets, by definition, are already storing the power in the form of a magnetic field. Think of them as VERY efficient inductors. The magnets already exist, or can be fabricated through relatively inexpensive processes.
e t-bearing), slowly
roll another bearing into the magnet, just hard enough to break the bond
between that magnet and the bearing set against it. The bearing will
roll forward, be accelerated by the field in front of it, and crash into
the next magnet faster than the one before it did. The process
continues until the final bearing rockets off the end fast enough to
knock over a coke can.
I have no idea the types of magnets he is using, nor the other specs on his motor, so I can't answer these questions, but I bet he can.
Want to see proof that magnets store energy? Buy some neodynium magnets, tape four of them on a ruler, equidistant. Now place a 1/4 inch - 1/2 inch ballbearing on the same side of each magnet. Now, on the end of the ruler, which begins in a magnet and not a bearing (the pattern will be magnet-bearing-magnet-bearing-magnet-bearing-magn
It's a neat experiment to show your kids at the very least, and illustrates harnessing magnets as a battery.
No one is saying the sky is falling, they're just saying "This is neat, we can use magnets to supply energy to something in a useful and meaningful way".
While this could be useful, this can not save you energy, because you had to put energy into the batteries in the first place.
This may come as a shock to you, but EVERYTHING works this way. You can never create energy, hell you can never even break even. Solar panels don't "create" energy, neither do nuclear reactors, or coal plants. They harness preexisting energy in a useful way. So does this guy's motor. His motor harnesses magnetic energy in a very neat and meaningful way.
Magnets exist naturally all over the earth, and can be made fairly easily. The best part? They have a very good energy density. This work, once further refined, ought to prove to be a very Good Thing(tm).