Power from thin air - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: ToeJam
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: February 12, 2025, 06:01:03 am
content: @DaveHere's another inventor claiming power from thin air, kept under wraps and with very little information on how it works.They admit that it breaks the law of physics (sorry Scotty) but insist that it works.I'm sure this will be in every home soon enough, next to the transporter and replicator 😂https://youtu.be/yylc6VUDUZw?si=nmJSYU3OxTdlXcquCheersKeithThailand

author: hexreader
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 12, 2025, 06:16:16 am
content: Never mind power-from-air, transporters, replicators...I would be happy to have some sort of clever technology that gets me some alcohol in Thailand on Buddah days like todayreally thirsty right now

author: benseno
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 12, 2025, 07:20:37 am
content: Yes, it is possible - check how many likes this garbage video got from thin air.

author: SiliconWizard
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 14, 2025, 01:24:24 pm
content: Thin air, thin air... you should visit Beijing one of these days to see if air is really all that thin.

author: Simon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 14, 2025, 01:40:06 pm
content: It doesn't look like he is convincing the president of Zimbabwe.

author: schmitt trigger
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 14, 2025, 02:10:54 pm
content: Oooooooh!Another breakthrough from the renowned and World famous Maxwell Chikumbutso.I wonder how come he hasn’t been nominated for the Nobel Prize yet.It must be some conspiracy from Western technology companies, the Illuminati or the Lizard People, interested in keeping the poor countries poor.

author: MrMobodies
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 17, 2025, 03:31:08 am
content: I recognized that circuit board and thought Dave did a debunking video but it turned out to be Thunderf00t after doing a reverse image lookup.QuoteVery fitting comment:Quote

author: ME
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 18, 2025, 02:13:32 pm
content: theres loads of these bullshit vids on facebook reels,they even will sell you the plans !

author: themadhippy
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 18, 2025, 02:21:03 pm
content: forget thin air,get it to run on hot air and our politicians could power the world sevral times over

author: MrMobodies
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 18, 2025, 08:30:10 pm
content: Looking at those two red thick cables I think there maybe a lithium polymer under that heatsink.Quote from: ME on February 18, 2025, 02:13:32 pmI find Facebook unsafe on the main home page where they advertise things that look like posts but are not, written in small writing "sponsored". By clicking it does not bring up a post but a redirect and even on hover I can't see the full redirect URL easily. As it is seems wrapped in with their own domain URL which leads to some copy of a news website under some hacked or dodgy domain with fake news articles.I also see a lot of crap like government funded boilers (by so called media companies according Companieshouse) advertising mainly combi boilers and so willing to explain the benefits such as extra space by ripping out the header tank but no mention about the benefits depending on water pressure.

author: Analog Kid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 18, 2025, 10:02:28 pm
content: Quote from: MrMobodies on February 18, 2025, 08:30:10 pmWhy would you even bother clicking on a link that's identified as "sponsored"?Sounds to me like you're looking for trouble ...

author: MrMobodies
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 19, 2025, 05:39:56 am
content: Quote from: Analog Kid on February 18, 2025, 10:02:28 pmI did it accidentally a few times last year then I noticed it was doing it with "sponsored" posts and I was not pleased.When I hovered over the "post" I see a Facebook URL so I was curious and yes I could get into trouble.That's why I copied the Facebook redirect URL into notepad and noticed the the destination address was not in plain text. Then into a separate browser profile & program to find out what it was doing (profile with no credentials or signed into anything) launched via a shortcut incase of session hijacking which I was worried about that before when I accidentally clicked them thinking they were posts.So I took those screenshots of how Facebook wraps and hides the scammers URL away from the user into their redirect URL. I don't remember that happening many years ago with Facebook (which I rarely used then) and nor did I expect this behaviour to be allowed from a well known company.I was absolutely furious so Now with the Facebook browser profile I set the start page not load the Facebook home page anymore because of that just the community page of a local village.I use separate browser profiles launched by those shortcuts for many websites and have one searching and testing.So when I look at something on Amazon I am not going to see that same item appear as an advert on ebay or elsewere wherever they use the same advert partner. Also good to keep the bookmarks separate too.

author: Xena E
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 04, 2025, 08:13:34 pm
content: I like the line from the video commentary that states, that Maxwell Chikumbutso, and his inventions are incredible...That Iwillagree with.Next you will hear is that he has disappeared along with all that money he has conned from the gullible bruthas, only for him to reappear at a later date with some story about big oil having made another attempt on his life...And the idiots will swallow it all again.X

author: Haenk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 05, 2025, 08:54:41 am
content: Quote from: Xena E on March 04, 2025, 08:13:34 pmThat sounds like a working business model to me(At least working until some investor discovers he's been frauded. I heard a hitman only costs 500-2000USD in South Africa, depending on the qualification.)

author: Xena E
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 07, 2025, 06:13:57 pm
content: Told ya so...https://www.zimeye.net/2025/03/06/maxwell-chikumbutso-caught-in-the-act/X

author: Analog Kid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 07, 2025, 08:36:38 pm
content: Quote from: Xena E on March 07, 2025, 06:13:57 pmSomehow I'm finding it very, very difficult to have the slightest sympathy withanyonewho invested in that bullshit.If they fell for that scam, that's on them because they were fucking idiots!This isn't even close to Theranos.

author: Haenk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 07, 2025, 09:29:25 pm
content: Oh no! All my hopes and dreams burst like bubbles!

author: Xena E
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 08, 2025, 01:19:25 am
content: The bigger question is, where and how do the morons get hold of large sums of money to invest in the first place? Free energy scams must be well known enough that respected investment portfolio management companies don't get involved... I'd hope!X

author: Haenk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 08, 2025, 09:15:27 am
content: Quote from: Analog Kid on March 07, 2025, 08:36:38 pmYes, stupidity does seem limitless. However, if one assumes it's only stolen money they invested (there is plenty in South Africa, like in Russia), the loss is somewhat acceptable.(On a sidenote, I still think Theranos concept could work. I just did not at that time.)

author: SiliconWizard
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 08, 2025, 12:48:30 pm
content: Quote from: Xena E on March 08, 2025, 01:19:25 amI'm assuming you're exclusively talking about private investors.

author: Xena E
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 08, 2025, 03:58:47 pm
content: Quote from: SiliconWizard on March 08, 2025, 12:48:30 pmYes.But more fool them, they deserve to loose the lot,if it is in fact their money that they are throwing away. There seems to be those that are still convinced by the pseudo religious self promotion of Chikumbutso as some kind of African saviour.The professional portfolio managers of investment institutions hopefully wouldn't invest in things that had already been profiled or proven as scams, though we know it can and does happen. Governments are often even more likely to be fleeced by scammers in the guise of applications for bogus research grants as other threads here already show, and is often carried out by educational and reasearch institutions, and within the law. The money is that of tax payers in that instance and the policy of governments is then responsible and should be held accountable.X

author: Analog Kid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 08, 2025, 08:56:27 pm
content: So the investors in this case: that video shows two guys talking, a black guy who is interviewing a white guy, who seems to be the spokesperson for a group of investors. Therefore not likely a gang using stolen funds but probably bona fide investors.If that's so, then why did that white guy not just pull the plug on the whole thing when it came to the "free energy" part? He may not have been part of a large investment house, which as has been pointed out here would presumably have criteria for investments that exclude such scams as this. If anyone is to blame here, it would seem to be that white guy, who seemed utterly perplexed by the whole thing: "Why did this blow up in our faces?".Again, no sympathy for those who lost money on this scheme from this corner.

author: SteveThackery
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 08, 2025, 09:32:12 pm
content: Quote from: Analog Kid on March 08, 2025, 08:56:27 pmI wonder if it’s because it has a suggestion of credibility to a lay person. Most people understand that there is electromagnetic radiation all around them, from their Wi-Fi, mobile phone network, broadcast radio and TV..... The perpetrator isn't claiming he can conjure up free energy from thin air; rather, he claims he is simply tapping in to the electromagnetic radiation that everyone knows is everywhere.The fact that the power available is deficient by many orders of magnitude is the lie, and that is probably something lay persons might not appreciate.

author: Analog Kid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 08, 2025, 09:47:11 pm
content: Good point, Steve.However, even so, there's still the matter of "due diligence".Let's say that instead of harvesting free EM energy from the air that our scammer was peddling a device that would increase the gas mileage of an internal-combustion vehicle. Like those things we used to see ads for in mags likePopular MechanicsandPopular Scienceback in the 1960s.Sure, a lay person could easily conceive that some improvement to combustion might be possible by injecting  into the fuel mixture; that sounds reasonable. However, the crucial thing is theamountof improvement possible: is it really plausible that one could achieve something like ten times the gas mileage by injecting water? That's where at least some research is called for, especially if you're dealing with Other People's Money.

author: Xena E
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 09, 2025, 12:31:41 am
content: Quote from: Analog Kid on March 08, 2025, 08:56:27 pmBut... these will be private investors, and organisations making one off investments.Fund managers at large institutions wouldn't be this involved and certainly wouldn't make themselves known to be have been scammed.This part seems set up. Make the white guy look the dumb arse but get the point across?Professional fund managers would have investors money spread across hundreds or thousands of individual 'opportunities' so that individual failures slightly reduce the dividends, not cause actual overall loss.This isn't a stock market crash situation. It's just a scammer using religion and racial pride to steal from his own people unfortunately: most of the Chikumbutso promotional material on YouTube have positive viewer comments that are based on religious, national, or racial pride, not an understanding of the actual technology involved.This guy is hailed by his supporters as the "Black Nikola Tesla" this is certainly pretty close to the truth, he's definitely another charlatan for sure.The mass delusion that there is some undiscovered source of untapped energy in the world that only needs to be harnessed is a common one and will not be going away anytime soon.X

author: SteveThackery
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 09, 2025, 12:23:05 pm
content: Quote from: Xena E on March 09, 2025, 12:31:41 amHow refreshing it is to see someone else who thinks Tesla was a charlatan. To be fair, I think he was both an impressive inventoranda charlatan - the two are absolutely not mutually exclusive. Also, some of his claims appear to be sincere but reflect a strange lack of understanding.For example, his idea that stimulating a large structure such as a building at its resonant frequency will cause vibrations to build in amplitude until the whole thing collapses is just nonsense. He failed to appreciate that complicated structures have numerous "resonant" frequencies in a pattern as complex as the structure itself. Also, he didn't seem to understand the concept of damping: that energy is lost to heat and sound, preventing the mechanical vibrations building up beyond a certain level.How wonderful (and dangerous) it would be if Tesla's claim was true: that you could demolish a building simply by strapping a device the size of a shoe box to it and connecting it to a signal generator. Think of it: explosives-free demolition. I wonder why it never caught on.So: visionary, inventor, charlatan, Dunning-Kruger victim.Sorry! Off-topic.

author: themadhippy
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 09, 2025, 12:38:24 pm
content: QuoteBut its true man, a secret agency were experimental with device based on teslas work in a central new york tower block back in 2001

author: Bud
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 09, 2025, 02:39:36 pm
content: QuoteSoirce: Wikipediahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_of_Jericho

author: TimFox
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 09, 2025, 03:07:49 pm
content: Quote from: SteveThackery on March 09, 2025, 12:23:05 pmI recommend you read the history of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapse of 1940.A local doomsayer had predicted its failure and filmed the catastrophe as wind-driven resonance destroyed the bridge, which movie became famous.

author: Xena E
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 09, 2025, 04:44:34 pm
content: Interesting comparison.(A bridge deck that was an ignorant aerodynamic design being acted upon by a gale force wind, and a madmans shoe box containing some kind of tuned vibrator? Yup exactly the same.)

author: TimFox
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 09, 2025, 05:48:18 pm
content: Military engineers had known for ages that troops should break their marching rhythm before crossing bridges.In musical instruments, the resonant structures (strings or air columns) can be excited by random noisy forces such as edge tones (wind instruments) or frictional slip-stick (violins), or by impulsive force (plucked strings) to get somewhat continuous oscillations.

author: Analog Kid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 09, 2025, 11:06:19 pm
content: Quote from: TimFox on March 09, 2025, 05:48:18 pmI play the violin, am quite familiar with it, and have no frigging idea what you're talking about here.Pizzicato doesnotresult in any kind of continuous tone, at least not compared witharco(bowing)."Frictional slip-stick"? I assume here you're referring to how the bow produces sound on a stringed instrument, by alternately sticking to and releasing the string*(due to rosin on the bow). Of course, while that mechanism is "noisy" and random, the tone produced by the instrument is not, due to the definite pitch of the string plus the resonance of the body (and especially the top and bottom plates)*Which means the driving force of the instrument's sound is a triangle or sawtooth wave.

author: TimFox
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 10, 2025, 02:50:14 am
content: Quote from: Analog Kid on March 09, 2025, 11:06:19 pmFor slip-stick, the driving force is random and not syntonous with the resonant frequency of the string. The resonance is excited by the noisy waveform and produces the musical note.Pizzicato obviously produces a far shorter duration of the musical note, as does a plucked harp string.Arco is a longer duration of the driving force and produces a more continuous note.An interesting driving force is the "edge tone" as in a recorder or organ pipe.Musical acoustics is fascinating and there is a large literature of the physical basis for it.

author: BrianHG
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 10, 2025, 03:07:21 am
content: Power from thin air was invented back in the 1760s. Here is an example clock which was literally powered from thin air:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cox%27s_timepieceThis one was built in 1864 and still runs to this day...https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beverly_ClockMore modern example also exist, however, they rely more on temperature change instead of atmospheric pressure change...https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmos_clock

author: Analog Kid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 10, 2025, 03:40:40 am
content: Quote from: TimFox on March 10, 2025, 02:50:14 amI had to look that one up.So "edge tone" is simply the mechanism whereby sound is produced by a stream of air hitting a wedge, as in instruments that use fipples (e.g.,, recorders or some organ pipes); not the same mechanism that drives other wind instruments like reeds, double reeds, side-blown flutes or brass instruments with mouthpieces.

author: Xena E
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 10, 2025, 08:31:22 am
content: Quote from: TimFox on March 09, 2025, 05:48:18 pmYes, and engineers continue to be ignorant:However even this resonance was caused by several tonnes of humans naturally falling into step,nota tiny by comparison mass of what can be carried in a shoebox. Tesla never proved it possible, nor will anyone else. A building so affected would have to be designed to be that unstable.The trifecta is: input energy, resonance, and damping. The damping in a simple structure is its mass, in an electronic resonant circuit it's losses.Other urban myths on the subject of resonance taken to absurdity, and equally as nonsensical have also been covered.

author: TimFox
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 10, 2025, 02:19:50 pm
content: Quote from: Analog Kid on March 10, 2025, 03:40:40 amYes. Brass mouthpieces exploit vibrating lips, while winds exploit vibrating reeds. Transverse flutes are a different geometry for the edge tone.Again, the resonant structure (string or air column) determines the pitch, but the driving force need not be a single tone.If you compare an acoustic guitar to a solid-body electric guitar disconnected from its amplifier, the need for the guitar body, bridge, etc. becomes obvious, to generate a reasonable volume of sound, more than the string itself can project.

author: TimFox
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 10, 2025, 02:23:41 pm
content: Quote from: Xena E on March 10, 2025, 08:31:22 amIt’s not accurate to say damping is from the mass.In a forced damped harmonic oscillator, damping results from a retarding force proportional to velocity.(Automobile shock absorbers are an example.)This is analogous to the resistance in an L C R resonant circuit.Another urban myth is getting the entire population of China to jump up and down in synchrony, using radio broadcasts.

author: SteveThackery
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 10, 2025, 04:09:38 pm
content: Quote from: TimFox on March 09, 2025, 03:07:49 pmYou aren't serious, are you? Have you given any thought to the enormous amount of power available from that gale compared with Tesla's shoe-box sized device?Of courseyou can vibrate anything to death with enough power but that wasn't Tesla's claim. He claimed that his "demolisher" was in a small wooden box in the hotel basement. It was opened after his death and found to contain some sort of measuring device (I can't remember the details).EDIT: Re. The wibbly-wobbly bridge: there was never any suggestion that the bridge might collapse. It was closed because of the discomfort to the pedestrians (once they got bored with the novelty).

author: SteveThackery
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 10, 2025, 04:16:54 pm
content: Quote from: TimFox on March 10, 2025, 02:19:50 pmI don't get where you are going from this,@TimFox. The reality of the phenomenon of resonance is evidently well understood by the contributors to this discussion. Nobody needs to be taught this. The discussion is about whether Tesla's claim to be able to demolish a building using a shoe-box-sized transducer is remotely realistic. And it isn't: the power required to overcome the damping is enormous. Your example of the Tacoma Narrows bridge required the power of a gale force wind.

author: TimFox
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 10, 2025, 04:25:24 pm
content: I was trying to point out the difference between driving a resonant structure near its resonant frequency and other types of driving force, answering requests for clarification.