Chung discovered the effect accidentally while testing a material made of bundles of carbon fibers at high pressure. She placed two layers of fibers crosswise to each other, and pressed them together with epoxy. She then attached electrodes to the top and bottom layer, and passed a small current through. At the point where fibers from the two layers met, she says, she measured negative resistance. As water flows down the hill, it encounters resistance from obstacles like rocks.
Currents similarly run into resistance from atoms as they flow through wires.
Of course, if the bottom of a waterfall were raised higher than the top, one would expect the water to reverse its flow. However, Chung's measurements show the current switching direction even when the voltage remained unchanged, as if water suddenly started flowing up a waterfall, she said. Although Chung said she was not claiming to have created energy, she did not have a good explanation for the effect. Current flowing in the wrong direction for any length of time, and without any additional input of energy, probably violates fundamental laws of nature, scientists said. Peers Intrigued by Startling Report Several scientists at the meeting said they were intrigued by Chung's findings.