Brilliant Light Power: Difference between revisions
→The Company: Many things wrong with this paragraph. A catalyst, by definition, is not a fuel source. Additional hydrogen fuel must be added to replace the quantity that was converted to hydrinos. No detailed plans for a vehicle. |
Tassedethe (talk | contribs) m Disambiguate Bob Park to Robert L. Park using popups |
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{{Short description|Company based in Cranbury, New Jersey}} |
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{{POV|date=December 2008}} |
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{{pp|small=yes}} |
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{{Infobox Company |
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{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2012}} |
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| company_name = Blacklight Power Inc. |
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{{Infobox company |
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| company_logo = [[File:Blacklight Power.gif|150px|Company logo]] |
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| name = Brilliant Light Power, Inc. |
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| foundation = HydroCatalysis Inc.<ref name=parkorigin/> in 1991.<ref name=crimsom/> |
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| logo = Brilliant_Light_Power_Logo.png |
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| foundation = HydroCatalysis Inc.<ref name="parkorigin"/> in 1991.<ref name=crimson> |
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{{cite news |url=http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2000/5/17/academics-question-the-science-behind-blacklight/ |
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|author=Jacqueline A. Newmyer |
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|title=Academics Question The Science Behind BlackLight Power, Inc. |
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|publisher=[[Harvard Crimson]] |
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|date=May 17, 2000 |
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|access-date=February 10, 2009 |
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}}</ref> |
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| founder = Randell L. Mills |
| founder = Randell L. Mills |
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| num_employees = 22 fulltime, 8 consultants<ref name="blp_staff">{{cite web |url=http://www.brilliantlightpower.com/facilities |title=BlackLight Power Company Facilities |publisher=BlackLight Power |access-date=2016-01-18}}</ref> |
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| location_city = 493 Old Trenton Rd.<br>[[Cranbury Township, New Jersey|Cranbury]], [[New Jersey|NJ]] |
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| location_city = 493 Old Trenton Rd.<br>[[Cranbury Township, New Jersey]] |
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| location_country = USA |
| location_country = USA |
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| subsid = {{cite web |
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| industry = {{nowrap begin}}[[Chemistry]]{{nowrap end}} |
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|url=http://www.millsian.com |
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| subsid = Millsian, Inc. |
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|title=Millsian, Inc. |
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| homepage = [http://www.blacklightpower.com/ BlacklightPower.com] |
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}} |
}} |
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| homepage = [http://www.brilliantlightpower.com/ BrilliantLightPower.com] |
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'''Blacklight Power, Inc.''' (BLP) of [[Cranbury, New Jersey]]<ref name=BLP>http://www.blacklightpower.com/ Official site</ref> is an alternative energy company linked to the ideas of its founder Randell L. Mills, which he self-published in a treatise entitled ''The Grand Unified Theory of Classical Physics'' (GUT-CP).<ref name="GUT-CP"> |
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}} |
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{{cite web |
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'''Brilliant Light Power, Inc.''' ('''BLP'''), formerly '''BlackLight Power, Inc.''' of [[Cranbury, New Jersey]], is a company founded by Randell L. Mills, who claims to have discovered a new energy source from what he says is the electron in a hydrogen atom dropping below its ground energy state into a "hydrino state".<ref name="parkorigin" /> The claims lack corroborating [[scientific evidence]] and the proposed hydrino states are unphysical and incompatible with key equations of [[quantum mechanics]].<ref name="dombey" /><ref name="ieee" /> BLP has announced several times that it was about to deliver commercial products based on Mill's theories but has never delivered any working product.<ref name="ieee" /> |
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Mills has self-published a closely related book, ''The Grand Unified Theory of Classical Physics'' and has co-authored numerous articles on hydrino-related phenomena.<ref name="GUT-CP">{{cite web |
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|last=Mills |
|last=Mills |
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|first=Randell L. |
|first=Randell L. |
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|title=The Grand Unified Theory of Classical Physics |
|title=The Grand Unified Theory of Classical Physics |
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|edition=August 2011 |
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|publisher=Blacklight Power |
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|publisher=BlackLight Power |
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|month=June |
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|date=August 2011 |
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|year=2008 |
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|url=http:// |
|url=http://brilliantlightpower.com/book-download-and-streaming/ |
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|format=[[DjVu]] |
|format=[[DjVu]] |
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| |
|access-date=2016-01-18 |
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}} (Self-published)</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2005/nov/04/energy.science |title=Fuel's paradise? Power source that turns physics on its head |work=The Guardian |date=4 Nov 2005}}</ref> Critical analyses have been published in the peer reviewed journals ''[[Physics Letters A]]'', ''[[New Journal of Physics]]'', ''[[Journal of Applied Physics]]'', and ''[[Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics]]''.<ref name="dombey"/> In 2009, ''[[IEEE Spectrum]]'' magazine characterized it as a "loser" technology because "most experts don't believe such lower states exist, and they say the experiments don't present convincing evidence" and mentioned that physicist [[Wolfgang Ketterle]] had said the claims are "nonsense".<ref name="ieee" /> |
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}} (Self-published)</ref> |
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== |
== Company == |
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The company, originally called HydroCatalysis Inc.,<ref name="parkorigin"/> was founded in 1991 by Randell Mills<ref name=crimson/> who claimed to have discovered a power source that ''"represents a boundless form of new primary energy"'' and that will ''"replace all forms of fuel in the world"''.<ref name="reuters, 2009">{{cite news |
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Mills claims that chemicals, under controlled experiments, may react catalytically with atomic hydrogen to generate an "ultraviolet plasma". The company claims that the special plasma byproducts predicted by GUT-CP, called "hydrinos", have been experimentally observed to have an energy state below what [[quantum mechanics]] refers to as the [[ground state]] of hydrogen.<ref name=BLP/> |
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|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/internal_ReutersNewsRoom_BehindTheScenes_MOLT/idUSTRE58202P20090903 |
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|author=Gerard Wynn |
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Mills first announced his hydrino state theory on April 25, 1991 in a press conference in Lancaster, as an explanation for the [[cold fusion]] phenomena that had been revealed in 1989. According to Mills, no fusion was actually happening in the cells: all the effects would be caused by the hydrogen atoms which shrunk as they fell to a state lower than the ground state of hydrogen. The increased proximity between the shrunk atoms would cause them to fusion sporadically. Some of those atoms would be [[deuterium]] atoms (a hydrogen atom with one extra neutron), which would explain why there were occasional readings of neutrons. No experimental evidence was offered by Mills, and his claim was ignored by the scientific community.<ref name="parkorigin">{{cite web |title=What's New Friday, 26 April 1991 Washington, DC |author=[[Robert L. Park]] |url=http://bobpark.physics.umd.edu/WN91/wn042691.html |date=26 April 1991}} and {{cite web |title=What's New Friday, October 31, 2008 |author=[[Robert L. Park]] |url=http://bobpark.physics.umd.edu/WN08/wn103108.html |date=31 October 2008}}</ref><ref name="voodoo">{{cite book |
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|title=Sweet dreams are made of geoengineering |
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|work=Reuters |
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|date=September 3, 2000 |
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|access-date=October 15, 2009 |
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}}</ref> On April 25, 1991 at a press conference in [[Lancaster, Pennsylvania]], Mills first announced his hydrino state hypothesis which rejects the idea that "cold fusion" was occurring in studies surrounding the [[Fleischmann–Pons experiment]]. According to Mills all the effects (which themselves were disputed to be unreproducible) were caused by shrinkage of hydrogen atoms as they fell to a state below the ground state. Arguments offered by Mills were in contradiction to known chemistry and were dismissed by the scientific community.<ref name="parkorigin">{{cite web |title=What's New Friday, 26 April 1991 Washington, DC |author=Robert L. Park |url=http://bobpark.physics.umd.edu/WN91/wn042691.html |date=April 26, 1991 |access-date=May 17, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927142638/http://bobpark.physics.umd.edu/WN91/wn042691.html |archive-date=September 27, 2011 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }} and {{cite web |title=What's New Friday, October 31, 2008 |author=Robert L. Park |url=http://bobpark.physics.umd.edu/WN08/wn103108.html |date=October 31, 2008 |access-date=May 17, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927142645/http://bobpark.physics.umd.edu/WN08/wn103108.html |archive-date=September 27, 2011 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref name="sheldon"> |
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{{cite journal |
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|title= An overview of almost 20 years' research on cold fusion |
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|author= E. Sheldon |
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|journal= [[Contemporary Physics]] |
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|volume= 49 |
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|issue= 5 |
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|date= September–October 2008 |
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|pages= 375–378 |
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|doi= 10.1080/00107510802465229 |
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|quote= [Mill's paper], which involves a nowadays widely discredited 'hydrino' model that was proposed in 1991 to account for the excess heat observations in 'cold fusion' studies. (...) [the notion that there are electron orbital states that are less energetic than the ground state], is contrary to conventional quantum principles and unacceptable to me or to the general theoretical-physics community.|bibcode = 2008ConPh..49..375S |s2cid= 119406105 |
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}} |
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</ref><ref name="voodoo">{{cite book |
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|title= Voodoo science: the road from foolishness to fraud |
|title= Voodoo science: the road from foolishness to fraud |
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|author= |
|author= Robert L. Park |
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|edition= illustrated, reprint |
|edition= illustrated, reprint |
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|publisher= [[Oxford University Press]] |
|publisher= [[Oxford University Press]] |
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|year= 2002 |
|year= 2002 |
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|pages= 133–135 |
|pages= 133–135 |
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|isbn= |
|isbn= 978-0-19-860443-3 |
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|url= |
|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=xzCK6-Kqs6QC&q=mills+hydrinos+press+conference&pg=PA133 |
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}}</ref><ref name=" |
}}</ref><ref name="broad"> |
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{{cite journal |
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|title= An overview of almost 20 years’ research on cold fusion |
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|author= E. Sheldon |
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|journal= [[Contemporary Physics]] |
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|volume= 49 |
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|issue= 5 |
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|date= September–October 2008 |
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|pages= 375–378 |
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|doi= 10.1080/00107510802465229 |
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|quote= [Mill's paper], which involves a nowadays widely discredited ‘hydrino’ model that was proposed in 1991 to account for the excess heat observations in ‘cold fusion’ studies. (...) [the notion that there are electron orbital states that are less energetic than the ground state], is contrary to conventional quantum principles and unacceptable to me or to the general theoretical-physics community.}} |
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</ref><ref name="broad"> |
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{{cite news |
{{cite news |
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|work= |
|work=The New York Times |
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|title= 2 Teams Put New Life in 'Cold' Fusion Theory |
|title= 2 Teams Put New Life in 'Cold' Fusion Theory |
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|author= William J. Broad |
|author= William J. Broad |
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|date= |
|date= April 26, 1991 |
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|url= |
|url= https://www.nytimes.com/1991/04/26/us/2-teams-put-new-life-in-cold-fusion-theory.html |
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}}</ref> |
}}</ref> |
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By December 1999, BLP raised more than $25 million from about 150 investors.<ref name=crimson/><ref name="quantum leap"/> By January 2006, BLP funding exceeded $60 million.<ref name="nyt2008">{{cite news |
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==The Company== |
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|title= Blacklight Power bolsters its impossible claims of a new renewable energy source |
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By 2009 BLP has raised about $60 million in venture capital,<ref name=ieee/><ref name=nyt2008/> and claims to have seven commercial agreements to license BLP energy technology for the production of thermal or electric power to utilities and private corporations.<ref name=BLP_PR_2010_03_26>{{cite web |
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|last=Morrison|first= Chris |
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|url=http://www.blacklightpower.com/Press%20Releases/BlackLightGeoEnergieLicenseAgreementPressReleaseFINAL032310.htm |
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|date= October 21, 2008 |
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|title=March 23, 2010 BLP News Release - BlackLight Power, Inc. Announces First Commercial License in Europe with GEOENERGIE SpA, Energy Subsidiary of Geogreen |
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|work=The New York Times |
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|accessdate=2011-02-10 |
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|url= https://www.nytimes.com/external/venturebeat/2008/10/21/21venturebeat-blacklight-power-bolsters-its-impossible-cla-99377.html |
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}}</ref> Mills envisions that CIHT cell stacks can provide power for long-range electric vehicles.<ref name=ieee/><ref name=nyt2008/> |
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}}</ref><ref>http://professional.venturewire.com/story.asp?sid=NIMHPJLMMQ{{dead link|date=May 2018 |bot=Josve05a |fix-attempted=yes }} {{Dead link|date=July 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://venturebeat.com/2006/01/04/blacklight-power-gets-50m-but-is-it-profound-or-utter-nonsense/|title=Blacklight Power gets $50M; but is it profound, or utter nonsense?|first=Matt|last= Marshall|work=VentureBeat|date=January 4, 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.siliconbeat.com/entries/2006/01/04/blacklight_power_gets_50m_but_is_it_profound_or_utter_nonsense.html|title=SiliconBeat: Blacklight Power gets $50M; but is it profound, or utter nonsense?}}</ref> |
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Among the investors are [[PacifiCorp]], [[Conectiv]], retired executives from [[Morgan Stanley]]<ref name="quantum leap"/> and several BLP board members like [[Shelby Brewer]] who was the top nuclear official for the Reagan Administration and Chief Executive Officer of ABB-Combustion Engineering Nuclear Power<ref name=inv>{{cite web|url=https://venturebeat.com/2008/12/11/blacklight-power-lands-first-license-agreement-for-electricity-from-water/|title=BlackLight Power lands first license agreement for electricity from ... water?|work=VentureBeat|date=December 11, 2008|first=Camille|last= Ricketts}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.blacklightpower.com/business/management/|title=Management}}</ref> and former board member [[Michael H. Jordan]] (1936 – 2010), who was Chief Executive Officer of [[PepsiCo]] Worldwide Foods, [[Westinghouse Electric Corporation]], [[CBS Corporation]] and [[Electronic Data Systems]].<ref name=inv/> |
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The company subsidiary, Millsian Inc., has developed and released a molecular modeling program based on the book.<ref name=millsian/> |
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In 2008, Mills said that his cell stacks could provide power for long-range electric vehicles,<ref name="nyt2008"/> and that this electricity would cost less than 2 cents per kilowatt-hour.<ref name="kimes">{{cite web |
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==Rejection of mainstream particle physics== |
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|url=https://money.cnn.com/2008/07/01/smallbusiness/blacklight.fsb/index.htm |
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Mills claims that much of standard particle physics, while having experimental validation, should be rejected due to its reliance on [[overfitting]]:<ref name="Helium"> |
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|work=CNNMoney.com |
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{{cite journal |
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|title=BlackLight's physics-defying promise: Cheap power from water |
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|journal=Phys. Essays |
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|author=Mina Kimes |
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|title=Exact classical quantum mechanical solution for atomic helium which predicts conjugate parameters from a unique solution for the first time |
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|date=July 29, 2008 |
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|last=Mills |
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}}</ref> |
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|first=Randell L. |
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|doi=10.4006/1.3009282 |
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|volume=21 |
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|issue=2 |
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|page=103 |
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|url=http://www.blacklightpower.com/papers/Helium110308webS.pdf |
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|format=PDF |
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|year=2008 |
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}}</ref> |
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<blockquote>The Dirac equation does not reconcile this situation. Many additional shortcomings arise such as instability to radiation, negative kinetic energy states, intractable infinities, virtual particles at every point in space, self-interaction, the Klein paradox, violation of Einstein causality, and 'spooky' action at a distance. Despite its successes, quantum mechanics (QM) has remained mysterious to all who have encountered it. Starting with Bohr and progressing into the present, the departure from intuitive, physical reality has widened. The connection between quantum mechanics and reality is more than just a "philosophical" issue. It reveals that quantum mechanics is not a correct or complete theory of the physical world and that inescapable internal inconsistencies and incongruities arise when attempts are made to treat it as a physical as opposed to a purely mathematical 'tool.'</blockquote> |
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In December 2013, BLP was one of 54 applicants to receive ~$1.1M in grant funding from the [[New Jersey Economic Development Authority]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nj.com/middlesex/index.ssf/2013/12/20_middlesex_companies_receive_part_of_60_million_state_grant.html|title=20 Middlesex companies receive part of $60 million state grant|work=NJ.com|date=December 20, 2013}}</ref> |
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===Model of the free and bound electron=== |
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Mills claims that the [[electron]] is an extended particle or membrane that in [[free space]] would consist of a flat disk of spinning [[Electric charge|charge]].<ref name="GUT-CP" />{{rp|159-79}} Mills' mathematical model for the bound electron treats the electron not as a point nor as a probability wave, but as a dynamic spherical shell of zero thickness surrounding the nucleus. The resulting model, called the "orbitsphere", is claimed to provide a fully [[classical physics|classical physical]] explanation for phenomena including quantization of angular momentum and magnetic moment, while avoiding the problem of a [[singularity]]. The model is not restricted to the [[Principal quantum number|integer orbitals]] of the [[hydrogen atom]] described by the [[Bohr model]] and calculated from [[Schrödinger's equation]] for it allows the existence of fractional integer orbitals. Mills' model derives "[[Classical electromagnetism|classical]]" orbitals from the classical [[nonradiation condition]] defined by [[Hermann A. Haus]] in 1986.<ref> |
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{{cite journal |
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| doi = 10.1119/1.14729 |
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| title = On the radiation from point charges |
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| year = 1986 |
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| author = Haus, Hermann A. |
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| authorlink = Hermann A. Haus |
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| journal = American Journal of Physics |
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| volume = 54 |
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| pages = 1126 |
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}}</ref> |
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=== Collaborators with the company === |
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===Blacklight process=== |
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In 1996, NASA released a report describing experiments using a BLP electrolytic cell. Although not recreating the large heat gains reported for the cell by BLP, unexplained power gains ranging from 1.06 to 1.68 of the input power were reported, which, whilst "...admit[ing] the existence of an unusual source of heat with the cell...falls far short of being compelling". The authors went on to propose the recombination of hydrogen and oxygen as a possible explanation of the anomalous results.<ref name="NiedraNasa">{{cite web |
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According to Mills, a specific [[chemical process]] he calls "The BlackLight Process" allows a bound electron to fall to [[energy state]]s below what quantum theory predicts to be possible. In the hydrogen atom, these states are postulated to have an effective radius of 1/''p'' of the ground state radius, with ''p'' being limited by the speed of light to a positive integer less than or equal to 137.<ref name="GUT-CP" />{{rp|31, 207}} He terms these below-ground hydrogen atoms 'hydrinos'. Mills' mechanism consists of a non-radiative energy transfer between a hydrogen atom and a [[catalyst]] that is capable of [[Absorption (electromagnetic radiation)|absorbing]] a certain amount of energy. The total energy Mills says is released for hydrino transitions is large compared to the [[Oxidation|chemical burning]] of hydrogen, but less than [[nuclear reaction]]s. Mills claims that limitations on confinement and terrestrial conditions have prevented the achievement of hydrino states below 1/30, which would correspond to an energy release of approximately 15 [[keV]] per hydrogen atom.<ref>{{cite web |
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|last1=Niedra |
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|url=http://www.blacklightpower.com/papers/Rathke%27sresp012108Web.pdf |
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|first1=Janis M. |
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|author=Randell L. Mills |
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|first2=Ira T. |
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|publisher=BlackLight Power |
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| |
|last2=Myers |
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|first3=Gustave C. |
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|title=Physical solutions of the nature of the atom, photon, and their interactions to form excited and predicted hydrino states |
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|last3=Fralick |
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|date=2008-01-21 |
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|first4=Richard S. |
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|accessdate=2009-03-02 |
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|last4=Baldwin |
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}} (self published)</ref> |
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|url=http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/sensors/PhySen/docs/TM-107167.pdf |
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|osti=236808 |
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|title=Replication of the apparent excess heat effect in light water-potassium carbonate-nickel-electrolytic cell |
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|date=February 1996 |
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|access-date=February 27, 2011 |
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|archive-date=July 21, 2011 |
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|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721050334/http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/sensors/PhySen/docs/TM-107167.pdf |
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|url-status=dead |
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}}</ref> |
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Around 2002, the [[NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts]] (NIAC) granted a Phase I grant to Anthony Marchese, a mechanical engineer at Rowan University, to study a possible rocket propulsion that would use hydrinos.<ref name="villagevoice.com">{{cite news|url=https://www.villagevoice.com/2002/12/10/eureka/|title=Eureka?|first=Erik|last= Baard|work=[[Village Voice]]|date=December 10, 2002}}</ref> |
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===Book=== |
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Mills claims he has unified Maxwell's Equations, Newton's Laws, and Einstein's General and Special Relativity on the basis that they must hold on all scales from the subatomic to the cosmic. Mills has put forward his thesis in his book, originally called ''The Grand Unified Theory of Classical Quantum Mechanics'' (GUT-CQM), and later given the new title ''The Grand Unified Theory of Classical Physics'' (GUT-CP).<ref name="GUT-CP" /> The book is divided into three volumes: |
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In 2002, Rowan University's Anthony Marchese said that whilst "agnostic about the existence of hydrinos", he was quite confident that there was no fraud involved with BLP. Although his NIAC grant was criticised by [[Robert L. Park|Bob Park]], Marchese said ''"for me to not continue with this study would be unethical to the scientific community. The only reason not to pursue this would be because of being afraid of being bullied."''<ref name="villagevoice.com"/> |
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# Atomic Physics |
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# Molecular Physics |
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# Collective Phenomena, High-Energy Physics, and Cosmology |
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== Criticism == |
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===Reactions from various scientists=== |
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In 1999, the Nobel prize winning physicist [[Philip Warren Anderson]] said he is "sure that it's a fraud",<ref name="quantum leap"> |
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A small group of experimental scientists from [[NASA]] and the US Navy research labs have expressed mild support for the claims of Blacklight Power.<ref name=crimsom/> Dr. Melvin H. Miles, an electro-chemist, said of the hydrino compounds that Dr. Mills manufactured in macroscopic quantities, "he has a tangible product to show people."<ref> |
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{{cite news |
{{cite news |
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|url=http://www.villagevoice.com/1999-12-21/news/quantum-leap/full/ |
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|work=[[The Village Voice]] |
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|first=Erik|last= Baard |
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|title=Quantum Leap: Dr. Randell Mills says he can change the face of physics. The Scientific Establishment thinks he's nuts. |
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|date=December 21, 1999 |
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|access-date=February 10, 2009 |
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}}</ref> and in the same year another Nobel prize winning physicist, [[Steven Chu]], called it "extremely unlikely".<ref name="chu"/> The following year, a 2000 patent based on its hydrino-related technology<ref>{{patent|US|6024935}} "Lower-energy hydrogen methods and structures"</ref><ref name=US6024935>{{patent|US|6024935}}, [http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=9&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=%22MILLS+RANDELL%22&OS=%22MILLS+RANDELL%22&RS=%22MILLS+RANDELL%22 6,024,935], Lower-energy hydrogen methods and structures, February 15, 2000. Retrieved February 11, 2011</ref> was later withdrawn by the [[United States Patent and Trademark Office]] (USPTO) due to contradictions with known physics laws and other concerns about the viability of the described processes, citing Park and others.<ref name="baard" /> |
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A hydrino laser patent and a hydrino energy patent have not been withdrawn by the USPTO.{{patent|US|7773656}}{{patent|US|10443139}} |
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An April 2000 editorial column by Robert L. Park<ref name="baard">{{cite web |
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|title= The Empire Strikes Back. Alternative-Energy Scientist Fights to Save Patent |
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|author=Erik Baard |
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|work= [[Village Voice]] |
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|date= April 25, 2000 |
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|url= https://www.villagevoice.com/2000/04/25/the-empire-strikes-back/ |
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}}</ref><ref name="rimmer">{{Cite journal |first= Matthew |last= Rimmer | title= Patenting free energy: the BlackLight litigation and the hydrogen economy |year= 2011 |journal= Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice |issue= 6 |volume= 6 |page= 374 |doi= 10.1093/jiplp/jpr010 }}</ref> and an outside query by an unknown person<ref name="parkpatent">[https://web.archive.org/web/20051123232901/http://bobpark.physics.umd.edu/WN02/wn090602.html ''Patent nonsense: court denies BlackLight Power appeal''], ''What's New'', Robert Park, September 6, 2002</ref> prompted Group Director Esther Kepplinger of the USPTO to review this new patent herself. Kepplinger said that her "main concern was the proposition that the applicant was claiming the electron going to a lower orbital in a fashion that I knew was contrary to the known laws of physics and chemistry", and that the patent appeared to involve cold fusion and perpetual motion.<ref name="rimmer"/> Kepplinger contacted another Director, Robert Spar, who also expressed doubts on the patentability of the patent application. This caused the USPTO to withdraw from issue the patent application before it was granted and re-open it for review, and to withdraw four related applications, including one for a hydrino power plant.<ref name="baard"/><!--Baard is only sourcing two withdrawn patents: 1 for IA and 1 for power plant--> |
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In 2000, a law firm engaged by BLP sent letters to four prominent physicists asking them to stop making what it called "defamatory comments". The physicists had been quoted in the ''[[Village Voice]]'', ''[[Dow Jones Newswire]]'' and other publications as dismissing BLP's claims on the basis that they violated the laws of physics. In response, one of the physicists, Robert L. Park of the [[American Physical Society]], said that if BLP sued, he was confident the scientific community would lend its support and that the court would side with the physicists.<ref name=lawfare2000>{{cite journal |author=Reichhardt T |title=New form of hydrogen power provokes scepticism |journal=Nature | volume=404 |issue=6775 |year=2000 |page=218 |quote=A law firm representing the energy company BlackLight Power, Inc. of Cranbury, New Jersey, sent letters earlier this month to Nobel laureate Philip Anderson of Princeton University, Michio Kaku of the City University of New York, Paul Grant of the non-profit energy agency EPRI and Robert L. Park, of the [[American Physical Society]] ... |doi=10.1038/35005254 |pmid=10749181|doi-access=free }} {{subscription required}}</ref> Park later wrote that a number of the recipients of the letter, who had "responded honestly to questions from the media", had since fallen silent. Scientists, Park wrote, are easy to intimidate since they are not rich enough to risk costly legal actions.<ref name="fraud-in-science"/> |
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In May 2000, BLP filed suit in the [[United States district court|US District Court]] of Columbia, saying that withdrawal of the application after the company had paid the fee was contrary to law. In 2002, the District Court concluded that the USPTO was acting inside the limits of its authority in withdrawing a patent over whose validity it had doubts, and later that year, the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit]] ratified this decision.<ref name="rimmer"/><ref name="parkpatent"/><ref>{{cite web |
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|title=Blacklight Power, Inc. v. James E. Rogan |
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|author=United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit |
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|url=http://www.ll.georgetown.edu/federal/judicial/fed/opinions/00opinions/00-1530.html |
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}}</ref><ref name="coffey">{{cite news |
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|title=Follow-Through. Weird Science |
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|author=Brendan Coffey |
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|date=May 15, 2000 |
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|work=[[Forbes]] |
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|url=https://www.forbes.com/forbes/2001/0430/032.html}}</ref> Applications were rejected by the UK patent office for similar reasons.<ref name="rimmer" /><ref>UK-IPO decisions {{cite web |
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|url= http://www.ipo.gov.uk/patent/p-decisionmaking/p-challenge/p-challenge-decision-results/p-challenge-decision-results-bl?BL_Number=O/114/08 |
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|title= O/114/08|date= September 19, 2006}} and {{cite web |
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|url= http://www.ipo.gov.uk/patent/p-decisionmaking/p-challenge/p-challenge-decision-results/p-challenge-decision-results-bl?BL_Number=O/076/08 |
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|title= O/076/08|date= September 19, 2006}}</ref><ref> |
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{{cite BAILII |
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|litigants = Blacklight Power Inc v Comptroller-General of Patents |
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|court = EWHC |
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|division = Patents |
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|year = 2008 |
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|num = 2763 |
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|date = 18 November 2008 |
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}}</ref><ref> |
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{{cite book |
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|title=2003 Federal Circuit Yearbook: Patent Law Developments in the Federal Circuit |
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|author=Gale R Peterson |
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|author2=Derrick A Pizarro |
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|author3=Practising Law Institute |
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|publisher=[[Practising Law Institute]] |
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|year=2003 |
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|isbn=978-0-87224-443-6 |
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|page=1 |
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|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_jqYOShTHBMC&pg=PA1 |
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}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |
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|url= http://www.ipo.gov.uk/pro-types/pro-patent/pro-p-os/p-challenge-decision-results-bl?BL_Number=O/170/09 |
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|title= UK-IPO decision O/170/09|date= September 19, 2006}}</ref> The [[European Patent Office]] (EPO) rejected a similar BLP patent application due to lack of clarity on how the process worked. Reexamination of this European patent is pending.<ref name="rimmer"/> |
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Robert L. Park, emeritus professor of physics at the [[University of Maryland, College Park|University of Maryland]] and a notable skeptic, has been particularly critical of BLP since 1991.<ref name="parkorigin"/> By 2000, Park remained skeptical, stating: |
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<blockquote>"Unlike most schemes for free energy, the hydrino process of Randy Mills is not without ample theory.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bobpark.physics.umd.edu/WN99/wn010899.html#2|title=What's New by Bob Park - Friday, January 8, 1999|access-date=July 14, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100601155736/http://bobpark.physics.umd.edu/WN99/wn010899.html#2|archive-date=June 1, 2010|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}</ref> Mills has written a 1000 page tome, entitled, "The Grand Unified Theory of Classical Quantum Mechanics", that takes the reader all the way from hydrinos to [[antigravity]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bobpark.physics.umd.edu/WN97/wn050997.html#3|title=What's New by Bob Park - Friday, May 9, 1997|access-date=July 14, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100603170211/http://bobpark.physics.umd.edu/WN97/wn050997.html#3|archive-date=June 3, 2010|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}</ref> Fortunately, Aaron Barth [...] has taken upon himself to look through it, checking for accuracy. Barth is a post doctoral researcher at the [[Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics]], and holds a PhD in Astronomy, 1998, from [[UC Berkeley]]. What he found initially were mathematical blunders and unjustified assumptions. To his surprise, however, portions of the book seemed well organized. These, it now turns out, were lifted verbatim from various texts. This has been the object of a great deal of discussion from Mills' Hydrino Study Group. "Mills seems not to understand what the fuss is all about." – Park<ref>{{cite web |
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|url = http://bobpark.physics.umd.edu/WN00/wn102700.html |
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|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20051122165404/http://bobpark.physics.umd.edu/WN00/wn102700.html |
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|url-status = dead |
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|archive-date = November 22, 2005 |
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|title = Blackout: Where do ideas like these come from? |
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|last = Park |
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|first = Bob |
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|publisher = University of Maryland |
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|date = October 27, 2000 |
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|access-date = 2009-03-02 |
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}}</ref></blockquote> |
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By 2008, Park continued to express his skepticism: |
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<blockquote>"BlackLight Power (BLP), founded 17 years ago as HydroCatalysis, announced last week that the company had successfully tested a [[prototype]] power system that would generate 50 KW of thermal power. BLP anticipates delivery of the new power system in 12 to 18 months. The BLP process,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bobpark.physics.umd.edu/WN91/wn042691.html|title=What's New by Bob Park - Friday, April 26, 1991|access-date=May 17, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927142638/http://bobpark.physics.umd.edu/WN91/wn042691.html|archive-date=September 27, 2011|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}</ref> discovered by Randy Mills, is said to coax hydrogen atoms into a "state below the ground state", called the "hydrino". There is no independent scientific confirmation of the hydrino, and BLP has a patent problem. So they have nothing to sell but bull shit. The company is therefore dependent on investors with deep pockets and shallow brains." – Park<ref name="how long">{{cite web |
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|url = http://bobpark.physics.umd.edu/WN08/wn060608.html |
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|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081211033610/http://bobpark.physics.umd.edu/WN08/wn060608.html |
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|url-status = dead |
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|archive-date = December 11, 2008 |
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|title = Hydrinos: How long can a really dumb idea survive? |
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|work = What's New? |
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|last = Park |
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|first = Bob |
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|publisher = University of Maryland |
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|date = June 6, 2008 |
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|access-date = 2010-12-04 |
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}}</ref></blockquote> In 2008, [[Robert L. Park]] wrote that BLP has benefited from wealthy investors who allocate a proportion of their funds to risky ventures with a potentially huge upside, but that in the case of BLP since the science underlying the offering was "just wrong" investment risk was, in Park's view, "infinite".<ref name="fraud-in-science">{{cite journal |journal=Social Research: An International Quarterly |volume=75 |issue=4 |pages=1135–1150 |year=2008 |quote=Companies frequently designate a percentage of these funds for investment in high-risk, high-payoff startups. Most will fail, but it is a hedge against technological obsolescence. Mills had just what they were looking for—except the risk was infinite. |title=Fraud in Science |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/journals/social_research/toc/sor.75.4.html |author=Park RL |doi=10.1353/sor.2008.0010 |s2cid=141705050 |author-link=Robert L. Park}}</ref> |
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Various scientists also voiced their opinions as far back as the 1990s. [[Steven Chu]], Nobel Laureate in Physics in 1997, said "it's extremely unlikely that this is real, and I feel sorry for the funders, the people who are backing this".<ref name="chu">{{cite news |
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|title=Researcher Claims Power Tech That Defies Quantum Theory |
|title=Researcher Claims Power Tech That Defies Quantum Theory |
||
| |
|first=Erik|last= Baard |
||
| |
|publisher=Dow Jones NewsWire |
||
|date=October 6, 1999 |
|date=October 6, 1999 |
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|url=http://www.rexresearch.com/millshyd/millshyd.htm#dow |
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}} </ref> However, Mills has met general skepticism in the academic community since the founding of BLP in 1991. CQM and hydrinos have been doubted by mainstream physicists who consider it to be pseudoscience. These physicists reject it due to its inconsistencies with the quantum theory.<ref name=crimsom/><ref name="sheldon"/><ref name=ieee> |
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}} |
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{{cite news |
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</ref> In 1999, Princeton University's physics Nobel laureate [[Philip Warren Anderson|Phillip Anderson]] said of it, "If you could fuck around with the hydrogen atom, you could fuck around with the energy process in the sun. You could fuck around with life itself." "Everything we know about everything would be a bunch of nonsense. That's why I'm so sure that it's a fraud."<ref name="quantum leap"/> [[Wolfgang Ketterle]], a professor of physics at [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]], said BLP's claims are "nonsense" and that "there is no state of hydrogen lower than the ground state".<ref name="ieee">{{cite news |
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|title=Loser: Hot or Not? |
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|title = Winners & Losers 2009—Loser, Power & Energy: Hot or not? Blacklight Power says it's developing a revolutionary energy source—and it won't let the laws of physics stand in its way |
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|author=[[Erico Guizzo]] |
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|author = Erico Guizzo |
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|work=[[IEEE Spectrum]] |
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|author-link = Erico Guizzo |
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|date=January 2009 |
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|work = [[IEEE Spectrum]] |
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|url=http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/energy/nuclear/loser-hot-or-not/0 |
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|date = January 2009 |
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|quote=Why it’s a loser: Most experts don’t believe such lower states exist, and they say the experiments don’t present convincing evidence. |
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|url = http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/energy/nuclear/loser-hot-or-not/0 |
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|doi = 10.1109/MSPEC.2009.4734311 |
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</ref><ref name=nyt2008> |
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|volume = 46 |
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{{cite news |
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|issue = 1 |
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|title= Blacklight Power bolsters its impossible claims of a new renewable energy source |
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|page = 36 |
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|author=Morrison, Chris |
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|date= |
|access-date = February 8, 2016 |
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|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160207074637/http://spectrum.ieee.org/energy/nuclear/loser-hot-or-not/0 |
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|work= [[New York Times]] |
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|archive-date = February 7, 2016 |
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|url= http://www.nytimes.com/external/venturebeat/2008/10/21/21venturebeat-blacklight-power-bolsters-its-impossible-cla-99377.html |
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|url-status = dead |
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}}</ref><ref name="Rathke"/> |
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|df = mdy-all |
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}}</ref> [[Michio Kaku]], a theoretical physicist based at City University of New York, adds that "the only law that this business with Mills is proving is that a fool and his money are easily parted."<ref name="quantum leap"/> and that "There's a sucker born every minute."<ref name="chu"/> While [[Peter Zimmerman]] was chief arms-control scientist at the State Department, he stated that his department and the Patent Office "have fought back with success" against "pseudoscientists" and he railed against, among other things, the inventors of "hydrinos".<ref name="baard"/> In 2009, the editors of ''[[IEEE Spectrum]]'' magazine characterized it as a "loser" technology because "[m]ost experts don't believe such lower states exist, and they say the experiments don't present convincing evidence" and mentioned that [[Wolfgang Ketterle]] had said the claims are "nonsense".<ref name="ieee"/> BLP has announced several times that it was about to deliver commercial products based on Mill's theories but has not delivered a working product.<ref name="ieee"/> |
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Mark Chu-Carroll a [[Science communication|science blogger]] and professional software engineer accused Mills of engaging in a scam: "Mills... is getting investors to give him money, promising that whatever they invest, they'll get back manifold when he starts selling hydrino power generators! He promises they'll be on market within a year or two – five at most! Then he comes up with either a demonstration, or the testimonial from his neighbor, or the self-publication of his book, or another press release talking about the newest version of his technology..... It's been going on for almost 25 years, this constant cycle of press release/demo/testimonial every couple of years.... claims from 2009 claiming commercialization within 12 to 18 months; from 2005 claiming commercialization within months; and claims from 1999 claiming commercialization within a year.... But he always comes up with an excuse why those deadlines needed to be missed. And he always manages to find more investors, willing to hand over millions of dollars. As long as suckers are still willing to give him money, why ''wouldn't'' he keep on making claims?"<ref>{{Cite web |last=Chu |first=Mark |date=14 January 2014 |title=The Latest Update in the Hydrino Saga |url=https://goodmath.scientopia.org/2014/01/14/the-latest-update-in-the-hydrino-saga/}}</ref> |
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Although Mills has published CQM theory papers in peer-reviewed journals, he has published only in those dealing with speculative work.<ref name=ieee /> The most visible critic of Mills' theories has been [[Robert L. Park]], the spokesman for the [[American Physical Society]], insists that Mills has failed to address several deep flaws in the theory.<ref name=crimsom/> A 2005 evaluation by Andreas Rathke claims there are "severe inconsistencies" in Mills' theory, including a lack of "solutions that predict the existence of hydrinos."<ref name=Rathke> |
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{{cite journal |
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|last= Rathke |
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|year=2005 |
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|month=May |
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|title=A critical analysis of the hydrino model |
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|journal=New Journal of Physics |
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|volume=2005 |
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|issue=7 |
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|pages=127 |
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|doi=10.1088/1367-2630/7/1/127 |
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|quote='a state of the hydrogen atom that is less energetic than the ground state cannot be ruled out completely under some exotic conditions at our current level of understanding. Such conditions are however not likely to be fulfilled in the relatively low-energy, low electromagnetic field environment of the plasmas studied by Mills et al.' and 'standard quantum mechanics cannot encompass hydrino states, with the properties currently attributed to them' |
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|first1= A |
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}}</ref> Rathke concludes that Mills' equations are not [[Lorentz covariance|Lorentz invariant]], a requirement of any theory that explains the behavior of particles moving close to the [[speed of light]].<ref name=Rathke2> |
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{{cite journal |
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|last= Rathke |
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|year= 2005 |
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|month=May |
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|title= A critical analysis of the hydrino model |
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|journal= New Journal of Physics |
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|volume=2005 |
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|issue=7 |
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|pages=127 |
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|doi=10.1088/1367-2630/7/1/127 |
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|quote=...this wave equation is not Lorentz-invariant for any other phase velocity than the speed of light |
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|first1= A |
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}}</ref> Mills responded to Rathke with an article (listed as "in press" on the BlackLight Power website) claiming Rathke made nine major errors in his analysis.<ref name="PhysicalSolutions"> |
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{{cite web |
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|last=Mills |
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|first=Randell L. |
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|title=Physical solutions to the nature of the atom, photon, and their interaction to form excited and predicted hydrino states |
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|url=http://www.blacklightpower.com/papers/Rathke%27sresp012108Web.pdf |
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|publisher=Blacklight Power |
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|format=PDF |
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}}{{Dubious|date=January 2009}} (Self-published)</ref><ref name="Mills' Rebuttal of Rathke"> |
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{{cite web |
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|last=Mills |
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|title=Mills Rebuttal of Rathke Regarding Hydrinos |
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|url=http://www.blacklightpower.com/theory/theorypapers/Mills%20Rebuttal%20of%20RathkeS.pdf |
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|publisher=Blacklight Power |
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|format=PDF |
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}} (Self-published)</ref> Jan Naudts of the [[University of Antwerp]] argues that Rathke did not take into account complexities introduced by relativistic quantum mechanics, and that without doing so Rathke was not justified in rejecting the possibility of a hydrino state.<ref> |
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{{cite web |
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|last=Naudts |
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|first=Jan |
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|url=http://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0507193v2 |
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|title=On the hydrino state of the relativistic hydrogen atom |
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|edition=v2 |
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|publisher=arXiv |
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|id={{arxiv|physics/0507193v2}} |
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|date=5 August 2005 |
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}}</ref> Inspired by Naudts' response to Rathke, [[Norman Dombey]] concluded that hydrino states were "unphysical" due to certain problems with non-relativistic counterparts, coupling strength and binding strength.<ref name="dombey"/> |
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''[[Scientific American]]'' reported that in 2014, Mills was asked by an interested follower if he had ever isolated hydrinos and, in spite of previous claims, Mills said that he had not and that it would be “a really, really huge task.” The interlocutor pointed out that if hydrinos were being produced at the rate Mills claimed, there would be obvious observations. Moreover, there was no sign of progress, “Every year they make up half the remaining distance to commercialization, but will they ever get there?”<ref>{{Cite web |last=News |first=Stephen K. Ritter,Chemical & Engineering |title=Cold Fusion Lives: Experiments Create Energy When None Should Exist |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/cold-fusion-lives-experiments-create-energy-when-none-should-exist1/ |access-date=2023-10-13 |website=Scientific American |language=en}}</ref> |
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Edmund Storms (2007) claimed that Mills' theory explains reports of [[cold fusion]] experiments.<ref name="cold fusion"/> Those cold fusion experiments have subsequenly been discredited by the scientific community. |
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In 2015, an energy analyst writing for ''[[Forbes]]'' noted that Mills had made numerous extraordinary and difficult-to-believe claims including that he had "refuted quantum mechanics, can explain “mysteries of the sun” and has identified dark energy. His inventions can: produce power very cheaply through “’shrinking’ the hydrogen atom's orbitsphere” with a power density of 100 billion watts per liter. Additionally, the materials created can act as an explosive or propellant, make ships rustproof and endowed with stealth properties, produce an anti-gravity effect that will allow a vessel to elevate, and “form the basis of batteries the size of a briefcase to drive your car 1000 miles at highway speeds on a single charge.”"<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lynch |first=Michael |title=Warning Signs For Energy Technology Investors 3: Yes, They Can Be That Stupid |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaellynch/2015/06/01/warning-signs-for-energy-technology-investors-3-yes-they-can-be-that-stupid/ |access-date=2023-10-13 |website=Forbes |language=en}}</ref> |
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Two Noble Larueates in Physics, Wolfgang Ketterle and Anthony Leggett, disagree strongly with the idea of hydrino energy. Ketterle characterized Mills claims as "scientific nonsense", and Leggett asserted that Blacklight Power is unable to prove its claims about Quantum physics.<ref name=ieee/> |
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== Peer-reviewed criticisms == |
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====Responses by outside researchers in chronological order==== |
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In the 2000s, several reviewed articles were published criticizing Hydrino theory for being incompatible with Quantum Mechanics. |
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*October 27, 2000: [[Robert L. Park]], of the [[University of Maryland, College Park|University of Maryland]], writes a follow-up: |
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<blockquote>"Unlike most schemes for free energy, the hydrino process of Randy Mills is not without ample theory ([http://bobpark.physics.umd.edu/WN99/wn010899.html#2 WN 8 Jan 99]). Mills has written a 1000 page tome, entitled,"The Grand Unified Theory of Classical Quantum Mechanics," that takes the reader all the way from hydrinos to antigravity ([http://bobpark.physics.umd.edu/WN97/wn050997.html#3 WN 9 May 97]). Fortunately, Aaron Barth (not to be confused with Erik Baard, the Randy Mills' apologist), has taken upon himself to look through it, checking for accuracy. Barth is a post doctoral researcher at the Harvard-Smithsonian Institute, and holds a PhD in Astronomy, 1998, from UC, Berkeley. What he found initially were mathematical blunders and unjustified assumptions. To his surprise, however, portions of the book seemed well organized. These, it now turns out, were lifted verbatim from various texts. This has been the object of a great deal of discussion from Mills' Hydrino Study Group. Mills seems not to understand what the fuss is all about." - Park<ref> |
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{{cite web |
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|url=http://bobpark.physics.umd.edu/WN00/wn102700.html |
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|title=What's New? |
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|last=Park |
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|first=Bob |
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|publisher=University of Maryland |
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|date=27 October 2000 |
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|accessdate=2009-03-02 |
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}}</ref></blockquote> |
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*May–November 2002: A [[NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts]] (NIAC) Phase I study is conducted at [[Rowan University]], led by mechanical engineering professor Anthony Marchese, to investigate the so-called BlackLight Process for use in spacecraft propulsion. The team reports that with assistance from BlackLight Power, they successfully replicated previous results, including the observation of line broadening indicative of hydrogen atoms moving much faster than would ordinarily be expected under the experimental conditions.<ref> |
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{{cite web |
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|last=Marchese |
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|first=A. J. |
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|coauthors=Jansson, P.; Schmalzel, J. L. |
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|title=The BlackLight Rocket Engine NIAC Phase I Final Report |
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|publisher=[[NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts|NIAC]] |
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|date=May 1 - November 30, 2002 |
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|url=http://www.niac.usra.edu/files/studies/final_report/752Marchese.pdf |
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|format=[[PDF]] |
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|accessdate=2009-08-16 |
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}}</ref> |
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For example, in 2005, Andreas Rathke of the [[European Space Agency]], publishing in the ''[[New Journal of Physics]]'', wrote that Mills' description of quantum mechanics is "inconsistent and has several serious deficiencies", and that there is "no theoretical support of the hydrino hypothesis". Rathke said it would be helpful if Mills' experimental results could be independently replicated, and suggested that any evidence produced should be reconsidered in the context of a conventional physical explanation.<ref name=rathke>{{cite journal |author=Rathke A |title=A critical analysis of the hydrino model |journal=New Journal of Physics |doi=10.1088/1367-2630/7/1/127 |year=2005 |volume=7 |issue=127|pages=127 |arxiv=quant-ph/0505150 |bibcode=2005NJPh....7..127R |s2cid=33907938 }}</ref> One inconsistency of Mills' CQM with quantum mechanics regards its inability to be reconciled with the probability density function in quantum mechanics. Rathke stated, "However, while solutions of the Schrödinger equation with n<1 indeed exist, they are not square integrable. This violates not only an axiom of quantum mechanics, but in practical terms prohibits that these solutions can in any way describe the probability density of a particle."<ref name=rathke /> In the same year, the ''[[Journal of Applied Physics]]'' published a critique by A.V. Phelps of the 2004 article, "Water bath calorimetric study of excess heat generation in resonant transfer plasmas" by J. Phillips, R. Mills and X. Chen.<ref name="phelpsCritique">{{cite journal |
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*January 4, 2005: Šišović et al. have reported that observed line-broadening contradicts Mills's models.<ref> |
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|title= Comment on 'Water bath calorimetric study of excess heat generation in resonant transfer plasmas' |
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|last=Phelps |
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|first=A.V. |
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|journal=Journal of Applied Physics |
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|date=October 2, 2005 |
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|doi=10.1063/1.2010616 |
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|volume=98 |
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|issue= 6 |
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|pages = 066108–066108–3|bibcode=2005JAP....98f6108P |
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|doi-access=free |
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}}</ref> Phelps criticized both the [[Calorimetry|calorimetric]] techniques and the underlying theory described in the Phillips/Mills/Chen article. The journal also published a response to Phelps' critique on the same day.<ref name="phillipsResponse">{{cite journal |
|||
|title= Response to "Comment on 'Water bath calorimetric study of excess heat generation in resonant transfer plasmas' |
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|last=Phillips |
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|first=Jonathan |
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|journal=Journal of Applied Physics |
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|date=October 2, 2005 |
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|doi=10.1063/1.2010617 |
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|volume=98 |
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|issue= 6 |
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|pages = 066109–066109–1|bibcode=2005JAP....98f6109P |
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|doi-access=free |
|||
}}</ref> In 2005 Šišović and others published a paper describing experimental data and analysis of Mills' claim that a resonant transfer model (RTM) explains the excessive Doppler broadening of the Hα line. Šišović concluded that: "The detected large excessive broadening in pure hydrogen and in Ne–H2 mixture is in agreement with CM [Collision Model] and other experimental results" and that "these results can't be explained by RTM". The collision model explanation for excessive broadening of the Hα line is based on established physics.<ref name="Šišovic"> |
|||
{{cite journal |
{{cite journal |
||
|title=Excessive hydrogen and deuterium Balmer lines broadening in a hollow cathode glow discharges |
|title=Excessive hydrogen and deuterium Balmer lines broadening in a hollow cathode glow discharges |
||
Line 233: | Line 275: | ||
|last3=Konjević |
|last3=Konjević |
||
|first3=N. |
|first3=N. |
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|journal=European Physical Journal D |
|journal=European Physical Journal D |
||
|volume=32 |
|volume=32 |
||
|pages=347–354 |
|pages=347–354 |
||
|date= |
|date=January 4, 2005 |
||
|doi=10.1140/epjd/e2004-00192-1 |
|doi=10.1140/epjd/e2004-00192-1 |
||
|bibcode = 2005EPJD...32..347S |
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}}</ref> |
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|issue=3 |s2cid=117346954 |
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}}</ref> |
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*May 20, 2005: Andreas Rathke of the [[European Space Agency]] publishes a critical analysis in the [[New Journal of Physics]]. He concluded: |
|||
<blockquote>"We found that CQM is inconsistent and has several serious deficiencies. Amongst these are the failure to reproduce the energy levels of the excited states of the hydrogen atom, and the absence of [[Lorentz covariance|Lorentz invariance]]. Most importantly, we found that CQM does not predict the existence of hydrino states!" - Rathke<ref name="Rathke" /><ref> |
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{{cite web |
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|last=Rathke |
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|first=Andreas |
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|url=http://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0505150 |
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|id=quant-ph/0505150] |
|||
|title=A critical analysis of the hydrino model |
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|date=20 May 2005 |
|||
}}</ref></blockquote> |
|||
*August 5, 2005: Jan Naudts of the [[University of Antwerp]] argues that Rathke did not take into account complexities introduced by relativistic quantum mechanics, and that without doing so Rathke was not justified in rejecting the possibility of a hydrino state.<ref> |
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{{cite web |
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|last=Naudts |
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|first=Jan |
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|url=http://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0507193v2 |
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|title=On the hydrino state of the relativistic hydrogen atom |
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|publisher=arXiv |
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|id={{arXiv|arXiv:physics/0507193v2 [physics.gen-ph]}} |
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|date=5 August 2005 |
|||
}}</ref> |
|||
In 2006, a paper published in ''[[Physics Letters A]]'', concluded that Mills' theoretical hydrino states are unphysical. For the hydrino states, the [[Binding energy|binding strength]] increases as the strength of the [[electric potential]] decreases, with maximum binding strength when the potential has disappeared completely. The author [[Norman Dombey]] remarked "We could call these anomalous states "[[homeopathic]]" states because the smaller the coupling, the larger the effect." The model also assumes that the [[nuclear charge]] distribution is a point rather than having an arbitrarily small non-zero radius. It also lacks an analogous solution in the [[Schrödinger equation]], which governs non-relativistic systems. Dombey concluded: "We suggest that outside of [[science fiction]] this is sufficient reason to disregard them."<ref name="dombey"> |
|||
*2006: inspired by Naudts' response, [[Norman Dombey]] concluded that Mill's theory of hydrino states is "unphysical". According to Dombey, the hydrino states would require:<ref name="dombey"> |
|||
{{cite journal |
{{cite journal |
||
|journal= |
|journal=Physics Letters A |
||
|last=Dombey |
|last=Dombey |
||
|first=Norman |
|first=Norman |
||
|title=The hydrino and other unlikely states |
|title=The hydrino and other unlikely states |
||
|volume=360 |
|volume=360 |
||
| |
|issue=1 |
||
|pages=62–65 |
|||
|id={{arXiv|arXiv:physics/0608095}} |
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|arxiv=physics/0608095 |
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|date=8 August 2006 |
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|date=August 8, 2006 |
|||
|doi=10.1016/j.physleta.2006.07.069 |
|doi=10.1016/j.physleta.2006.07.069 |
||
|bibcode = 2006PhLA..360...62D |s2cid=119011776 |
|||
}}</ref> |
|||
}}</ref> From a suggestion in Dombey's paper, further work by Antonio Di Castro has shown that states below the ground state, as described in Mills' work, are incompatible with the Schrödinger, [[Klein–Gordon equation|Klein–Gordon]] and [[Dirac equation|Dirac]] equations, key equations in the study of quantum systems.<ref name="castro"> |
|||
:#non-relativistic counterparts to remain physical, but they don't have them. |
|||
:#compatibility with a coupling strength ([[fine structure constant]]) equal to zero to remain physical, yet "hydrino states" seem to exist in the absence of any coupling strength. |
|||
:#binding strength that falls with the coupling strength. The hydrino model predicts that binding strength for hydrino states increases as the coupling strength falls, rendering the states unphysical. |
|||
*April 2007: Antonio Di Castro showed that the states below the ground state, as described in Mills' theory, are incompatible with the [[Schrödinger equation|Schrödinger]], [[Klein-Gordon equation|Klein-Gordon]] and [[Dirac equation|Dirac]] equations."<ref name=castro> |
|||
{{cite journal |
{{cite journal |
||
|journal= |
|journal=Physics Letters A |
||
|last=de Castro |
|last=de Castro |
||
|first=Antonio S. |
|first=Antonio S. |
||
|title=Orthogonality criterion for banishing hydrino states from standard quantum mechanics |
|title=Orthogonality criterion for banishing hydrino states from standard quantum mechanics |
||
|volume=369 |
|volume=369 |
||
|arxiv=0704.0631 |
|||
|pages=380 |
|||
|date=April 4, 2007 |
|||
|id={{arXiv|0704.0631v1}} |
|||
|bibcode=2007PhLA..369..380D |
|||
|date=4 April 2007 |
|||
|doi=10.1016/j.physleta.2007.05.006 |
|||
}}</ref> |
|||
|issue=5–6 |pages=380–383 |
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|s2cid=14214907 |
|||
*2007: In a review of cold fusion research, Edmund Storms, a [[cold fusion]] researcher, concludes that the hydrino model provides a possible explanation for cold fusion.<ref name="cold fusion"> |
|||
}}</ref> |
|||
{{Cite book |
|||
|last=Storms |
|||
|first=Edmund |
|||
|title=Science of low energy nuclear reaction: a comprehensive compilation of evidence and explanations |
|||
|location=Singapore |
|||
|publisher=[[World Scientific]] |
|||
|year=2007 |
|||
|isbn=9812706208 |
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|pages=184 |
|||
}}</ref> |
|||
In 2008, the [[Journal of Physics D|''Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics'']] published an article by Hans-Joachim Kunze, [[professor emeritus]] at the Institute for Experimental Physics, [[Ruhr University Bochum]],<ref>{{cite web |
|||
*May 1, 2008: Hans-Jürgen Kunze suggests "that spectral lines, on which the fiction of fractional principal quantum numbers in the hydrogen atom is based, are nothing else but artefacts." <ref> |
|||
|url=http://www.ep5.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/en/emeriti_en.html |
|||
|title= Ruhr-Universität Bochum information page on Hans-Joachim Kunze |
|||
|publisher=Ruhr-Universität |
|||
|access-date=2011-02-20 |
|||
}}</ref> critical of the 2003 paper authored by R. Mills and P. Ray, Extreme [[ultraviolet spectroscopy]] of [[helium]]–[[hydrogen]]. The abstract of the article is: "It is suggested that [[spectral line]]s, on which the fiction of fractional principal [[quantum number]]s in the hydrogen atom is based, are nothing else but artefacts." Kunze stated that it was impossible to detect the novel lines below 30 nm reported by Mills and Ray because the equipment they used did not have the capability to detect them as per the manufacturer and as per "every book on vacuum-UV spectroscopy" and "therefore the observed lines must be artefacts". Kunze also stated that: "The enormous spectral widths of the novel lines point to artefacts, too."<ref> |
|||
{{cite journal |
{{cite journal |
||
|title=On the spectroscopic measurements used to support the postulate of states with fractional principal quantum numbers in hydrogen |
|title=On the spectroscopic measurements used to support the postulate of states with fractional principal quantum numbers in hydrogen |
||
|last=Kunze |
|last=Kunze |
||
|first=H-J |
|first=H-J |
||
|year=2008 |
|year=2008 |
||
|journal=J Phys D |
|journal=J Phys D |
||
|volume=41 |
|volume=41 |
||
|page=108001 |
|page=108001 |
||
|doi=10.1088/0022-3727/41/10/108001 |
|doi=10.1088/0022-3727/41/10/108001 |
||
|bibcode=2008JPhD...41j8001K |
|||
}}</ref> |
|||
|issue=10 |s2cid=122153555 |
|||
}}</ref> |
|||
== See also == |
|||
*June 6, 2008: [[Robert L. Park]], of the [[University of Maryland, College Park|University of Maryland]], writes a follow-up: |
|||
<blockquote>"BlackLight Power (BLP), founded 17 years ago as HydroCatalysis, announced last week that the company had successfully tested a prototype power system that would generate 50 KW of thermal power. BLP anticipates delivery of the new power system in 12 to 18 months. The BLP process, ([http://bobpark.physics.umd.edu/WN91/wn042691.html WN 26 Apr 91]) , discovered by Randy Mills, is said to coax hydrogen atoms into a "state below the ground state," called the "hydrino." There is no independent scientific confirmation of the hydrino, and BLP has a patent problem. So they have nothing to sell but bull shit. The company is therefore dependent on investors with deep pockets and shallow brains." - Park<ref> |
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{{cite web |
|||
|url=http://bobpark.physics.umd.edu/WN08/wn060608.html |
|||
|title= Hydrinos: How long can a really dumb idea survive? |
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|work= What's New? |
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|last=Park |
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|first=Bob |
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|publisher=University of Maryland |
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|date=6 June 2010 |
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|accessdate=2010-12-04 |
|||
}}</ref></blockquote> |
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* [[List of topics characterized as pseudoscience]] |
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*September 2008: BLP publishes the assertion that researchers at Rowan University reported reproducible bursts of heat when testing BlackLight cells and prototype reactors, using materials provided by BlackLight.<ref> |
|||
{{Cite web |
|||
|last=Jansson |
|||
|first=Peter |
|||
|title=Water Flow Calorimetry Experiments, Validation Tests and Chemical Analysis of Reactants for BlackLight Power Inc. |
|||
|url=http://blacklightpower.com/pdf/BLPIndependentReport.pdf |
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|publisher=BlackLight Power |
|||
}} [http://blacklightpower.com/Documentary%20Video/blacklight_experiment_video_v2.wmv video of experiment]</ref> Critics have complained about borrowing reactors from Blacklight instead of building their own, past collaboration of the author with Mills, and lack of detail in the calorimeter measurements, which makes it difficult to tell if all sources of error were taken into account.<ref name=ieee/><ref name=nyt2008/> Mills said in October 2008 that, for now, it is keeping secret how to loop the system to achieve a self-sustaining reaction that provides a continuous output of heat, in order to keep its own researchers a step ahead in the research of the system.<ref name=nyt2008/> He also predicted that totally independent researchers should be able to test the full system by around October 2009.<ref name=nyt2008/> |
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== References == |
|||
*August 12, 2009: A BLP press release asserts that scientists at [[Rowan University]] have for the first time independently formulated and tested fuels that on demand generated energy greater than that of combustion at power levels of kilowatts using BLP’s proprietary solid-fuel chemistry capable of continuous regeneration. Operating power systems using BLP’s chemistry, Rowan University professors have reported a net energy gain of up to 6.5 times the maximum energy potential of the materials in the system from known chemical reactions. "It does portend some type of novel energy source," said Peter Jansson, associate engineering professor at Rowan.<ref name=reuters,2009/> |
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{{reflist|colwidth=30em}} |
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== External links == |
|||
*November 29, 2010: BLP announced via a press release the "replication of the extraordinary high-energy light emission below 80 nm from hydrogen" The replication was credited to a team led by Alexander Bykanov, PhD, under contract with GEN3 Partners.<ref>{{cite web |
|||
|url=http://www.blacklightpower.com/Press%20Releases/BlackLightHydrinoElectricity112910.htm |
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|title=News Release |
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|accessdate=2011-01-20 |
|||
}}</ref> A paper describing the results, [http://www.blacklightpower.com/pdf/GEN3_Harvard.pdf "Validation of the Observation of Soft X-ray Continuum Radiation from Low-Energy Pinch Discharges in the Presence of Molecular Hydrogen"], is available on the BLP web site. The paper indicates the study was funded by BLP. There is no indication that the paper was submitted for publication in a peer reviewed journal. |
|||
* Robert L. Park: [https://web.archive.org/web/20060216012430/http://bobpark.physics.umd.edu/WN06/wn011306.html ''BlackLight Power: Some Ideas Are Simply Too Dumb to Die!''], in his newsletter ''What's New'', January 13, 2006 |
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===Alleged experimental findings=== |
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; General media |
|||
According to the BLP website, Mills et al. have published over 70<ref> |
|||
* {{cite news |url=http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/2005/aug/05/hydrogen-result-causes-controversy|title=Hydrogen result causes controversy |publisher=Institute of Physics |work=[[Physics World]] |date=August 5, 2005 }} |
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{{cite web |
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* {{cite journal |url=http://www.popsci.com/gear-gadgets/article/2003-06/blue-light-special |title=Blue Light Special |periodical=Popular Science |date=June 2, 2003}} |
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|url=http://www.blacklightpower.com/pdf/Published%20as%20of%20021209S.pdf |
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* {{cite book |first=Robert L. |last=Park |chapter=The Alchemists Of Energy |periodical=[[Forbes]]|date=May 15, 2000 |title=Voodoo Science |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/voodooscienceroa00park |chapter-url-access=registration |isbn=0-19-514710-3 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York}} |
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|format=PDF |
|||
* {{cite news |url=https://www.cjr.org/the_observatory/weird_science_reporting.php |title=Weird Science (Reporting) – CNN covers unfounded claims about new energy technology |publisher=[[Columbia Journalism Review]] |last=Raeburn |first=Paul |date=December 15, 2008}} |
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|title=BlackLight Power, Inc. Publications: Journals, Proceedings and Book |
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|accessdate=2009-04-07 |
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}}(self published)</ref> peer-reviewed experimental studies reporting significant observations, including: |
|||
*Chemical reactions that produce [[Plasma (physics)|plasmas]] in gas cells with input energies far below the level that conventional theory predicts is required to produce such plasmas. |
|||
*Spectral lines from gas cell plasmas which match the predictions for hydrino transitions.<ref> |
|||
{{cite journal |
|||
|last1=Mills |
|||
|first1=R. |
|||
|last2=Ray |
|||
|first2=P. |
|||
|title=Extreme ultraviolet spectroscopy of helium-hydrogen plasma |
|||
|journal=J Phys D |
|||
|volume=36 |
|||
|issue=17 |
|||
|date=7 July 2003 |
|||
|pages=1535–1542 |
|||
|doi=10.1088/0022-3727/36/13/316 |
|||
}}</ref> |
|||
*Detection of excess heat from plasma cells using water bath calorimetry. |
|||
*New chemical compounds said to have been formed from hydrino hydrides (''i.e.'' a hydrino which has captured another electron to form a negative hydride ion) which show unusual properties and structure. |
|||
*Molecular 'dihydrino' gas formation and detection. |
|||
*Experiments demonstrating excess energy when [[sodium hydride]] is heated in contact with [[Raney nickel]] catalyst (R-Ni)<ref name="Experimental investigations"> |
|||
{{cite web |
|||
|url=http://www.blacklightpower.com/papers/WFC052708webS.pdf |
|||
|first1=R. L. |
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|last1=Mills |
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|first2=G. |
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|last2=Zhao |
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|first2=K. |
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|last3=Akhtar |
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|first4=R. |
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|last4=Chang |
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|first5=J. |
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|last5=He |
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|first6=Y. |
|||
|last6=Lu |
|||
|first7=W. |
|||
|last7=Good |
|||
|first8=B. |
|||
|last8=Dhandapani |
|||
|publisher=BlackLight Power |
|||
|title=Commercializable power source from forming new states of hydrogen |
|||
|format=PDF |
|||
|accessdate=2009-03-02 |
|||
}} (self published)</ref> |
|||
==Corporate history== |
|||
===Founder and CEO Randell Mills=== |
|||
Randell Mills graduated from [[Harvard Medical School]],<ref name=crimsom> |
|||
{{cite news |
|||
|url=http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=100939 |
|||
|author=Jacqueline A. Newmyer |
|||
|title=Academics Question The Science Behind BlackLight Power, Inc. |
|||
|publisher=[[Harvard Crimson]] |
|||
|date=May 17, 2000 |
|||
|accessdate=February 10, 2009 |
|||
}}</ref> and studied biotechnology and electrical engineering at [[MIT]].<ref> |
|||
{{cite news |
|||
|url=http://www.villagevoice.com/1999-12-21/news/quantum-leap |
|||
|publisher=[[The Village Voice]] |
|||
|author=Erik Baard |
|||
|title=Quantum Leap: Dr. Randell Mills says he can change the face of physics. The Scientfic Establishment thinks he's nuts. |
|||
|date=December 21, 1999 |
|||
|accessdate=February 10, 2009 |
|||
}}</ref> He has a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Chemistry, summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, from [[Franklin & Marshall College]] in 1982.{{Citation needed|date=April 2009}} |
|||
Blacklight Power says it may have tapped the energy that cosmologists have struggled to explain, called [[dark matter]], which fills the [[universe]]. "It represents a boundless form of new primary energy". "I think it's going to replace all forms of fuel in the world.", said Randell Mills to [[Reuters]].<ref name=reuters,2009> |
|||
{{cite news |
|||
|url=http://www.reuters.com/article/internal_ReutersNewsRoom_BehindTheScenes_MOLT/idUSTRE58202P20090903 |
|||
|author=Gerard Wynn |
|||
|title=Sweet dreams are made of geoengineering |
|||
|publisher=[[Reuters]] |
|||
|date=September 3, 2000 |
|||
|accessdate=October 15, 2009 |
|||
}}</ref> |
|||
An article in the technology column of the ''[[New York Times]]'' described in 2008 how Mills had kept plugging on and getting $60 million in [[venture funding]] despite his theories being first rejected and then ignored by the scientific community during years; it called the Blacklight reactors an interesting technology that could revolutionize the energy world, although it said that it was prudent to wait for more independent verification.<ref name=nyt2008/> [[IEEE Spectrum]] magazine listed Blacklight as a "loser" technology in its 2009 report because "Most experts don’t believe such lower states exist, and they say the experiments don’t present convincing evidence."<ref name=ieee/> |
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===Development=== |
|||
*Randell Mills founded the company in 1991.<ref name=crimsom/> According to Park it was founded as HydroCatalysis Inc. and later renamed to Blacklight Power Inc.<ref name=parkorigin/> |
|||
*By 1999 the company was claiming to have produced excess energy for over a year.<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/19990220031215/http://www.blacklightpower.com/ Official website], Blacklight Power, copy of page in 20 February 1999</ref> |
|||
*By 2000 Mills raised $25 million in funding for the company, and in 2009 he had raised $60 million.<ref name=ieee/><ref name=nyt2008/> Mills convinced several researchers that supported him to sit at the board of his company.<ref name=crimsom/> Subsequently, several venture capital firms placed representatives on the board, and other important persons in business joined the board, including a former CEO of Westinghouse.<ref name=crimsom/> |
|||
*On June 14, 2007, Blacklight Power's subsidiary, Millsian, offered a molecular-modeling software-application based on CQM theory. The subsidiary had been formed in June 2006 as Molegos Inc. and renamed in October 2006.<ref name=millsian> |
|||
{{cite web |
|||
|url=http://www.millsian.com/ |
|||
|title=Millsian |
|||
|publisher=Millsian |
|||
}} Official site</ref> |
|||
*On May 28, 2008, a press release by BLPI claimed successful testing of a prototype generating 50,000 watts of thermal power on demand.<ref>{{citation |
|||
|url=http://money.cnn.com/2008/07/01/smallbusiness/blacklight.fsb/index.htm |
|||
|work=CNNMoney.com |
|||
|title=BlackLight's physics-defying promise: Cheap power from water |
|||
|author=Mina Kimes |
|||
|date=2008-07-29 |
|||
}}</ref> |
|||
===Commercial licensing and agreements=== |
|||
BLP claims to have seven commercial agreements to license BLP energy technology for the production of thermal or electric power to utilities and private corporations.<ref name=BLP_PR_2010_03_26/> BLP has identified four of these companies in its press releases. The four companies and the date of the press release announcing the licensing are as follows: |
|||
* Estacado Energy Services (wholly-owned subsidiary of Roosevelt County Electric Cooperative), December 11, 2008 <ref name=BLP_PR_2008_12_11>{{cite web |
|||
|url=http://www.blacklightpower.com/Press%20Releases/BlackLightProcessEstacadoPressRelease121108.html |
|||
|title=December 11, 2008 BLP News Release - BlackLight Power Inc. Announces First Commercial License with Estacado Energy Services |
|||
|accessdate=2011-02-11 |
|||
}}</ref> |
|||
* Farmers’ Electric Cooperative, Inc., January 6, 2009 <ref name=BLP_PR_2009_01_06>{{cite web |
|||
|url=http://www.blacklightpower.com/Press%20Releases/BlackLightProcessFarmersPressReleaseFINAL010609.html |
|||
|title=January 6, 2009 BLP News Release - BlackLight Power Inc. Announces First Commercial License with Estacado Energy Services |
|||
|accessdate=2011-02-11 |
|||
}}</ref> |
|||
* Akridge Energy, LLC (wholly owned by John E. Akridge, III), July 30, 2009 <ref name=BLP_PR_2009_07_30>{{cite web |
|||
|url=http://www.blacklightpower.com/Press%20Releases/BlackLightAkridgeLicenseAgreementPressReleaseFINAL073009.htm |
|||
|title=July 39, 2009 BLP News Release - BlackLight Power Inc. Announces Its Sixth Commercial License Agreement |
|||
|accessdate=2011-02-11 |
|||
}}</ref> |
|||
* GEOENERGIE SpA (Energy Subsidiary of Geogreen (part of the RadiciGroup)), March 23, 2009 <ref name=BLP_PR_2010_03_26/> |
|||
As of February 10, 2011, the agreements were not mentioned on the websites of any of the identified companies and details of the contracts were not publicly available. However, John E. Akridge, owner of the real estate development company that is the parent company of Akridge Energy, LLC and a BLP stock holder stated "we believe BLP technology will have a profound impact on the environment and the economy" and "We are excited to be one of the early adopters of BLP technology."<ref name=BLP_PR_2009_07_30/> |
|||
In addition to the agreements listed above, BLP has had agreements with other utilities including Connectiv and PacifiCorp which, as of 1999, had invested $10 million in BLP.<ref name=connectivConnection>{{cite web |
|||
|url=http://www.rexresearch.com/millshyd/millshyd.htm |
|||
|title=Dow Jones NewsWires (October 6, 1999) - Researcher Claims Power Tech That Defies Quantum Theory |
|||
|accessdate=2011-02-11 |
|||
}}</ref> The status of these agreements is not publicly described and neither the PacificCorp, the Connectiv (Atlantic City Electric today) web sites nor the BLP web site today have any mention of these agreements. |
|||
===Involvement with Rowan University=== |
|||
*On October 20, 2008, BLPI made a statement that Peter Jansson of [[Rowan University]] had completed a three month test of their reactors and validated excess heat production.<ref> |
|||
{{cite news |
|||
| title=Blacklight Power bolsters its impossible claims of a new renewable energy source |
|||
| newspaper = [[New York Times]] |
|||
| url = http://www.nytimes.com/external/venturebeat/2008/10/21/21venturebeat-blacklight-power-bolsters-its-impossible-cla-99377.html |
|||
| accessdate = 2008-10-21 |
|||
| date = October 21, 2008 |
|||
| first1=Chris |
|||
| last1=Morrison |
|||
}}</ref> |
|||
*August 12, 2009: BLP press release through [[Hill & Knowlton]] claims that researchers at Rowan University reproduced BlackLight process, using their own materials. Results were claimed to show 1.2 times to 6.5 times the energy released than can be attributed by known chemical reactions. Detailed instructions of the process are said to be released so that third party verification can take place. Rowan researchers were said to have produced their own material from purchased chemicals, to avoid the caveats realised in the previous 2008 test.<ref> |
|||
{{cite news |
|||
|last=Morrison |
|||
|first=Chris |
|||
|title=Blacklight Power Returns With More Lab Validation |
|||
|publisher=[[BNET]] |
|||
|date=2009-08-13 |
|||
|url=http://industry.bnet.com/energy/10001849/blacklight-power-returns-with-more-lab-validation/ |
|||
|accessdate=2009-08-16 }}</ref> |
|||
===Patents=== |
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In 2000, the [[United States Patent and Trademark Office]] (USPTO) approved Blacklight's patent application 09/009,294 entitled "Hydride Compounds" after an initial rejection, and gave it {{patent|US|6030601}}. The fee had already been paid, but it hadn't still reached the stage of final issuance. The company was later granted {{Patent |US|6024935}} "Lower-Energy Hydrogen Methods and Structures". A mocking column by [[Robert L. Park]]<ref name=baard>{{citation |
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|title= The Empire Strikes Back. Alternative-Energy Scientist Fights to Save Patent |
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|author=Erik Baard |
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|date= 2000-04-25 |
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|url= http://www.villagevoice.com/2000-04-25/news/the-empire-strikes-back/ |
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}}</ref> and an outside query by an unknown person<ref name=parkpatent>[http://bobpark.physics.umd.edu/WN02/wn090602.html ''Patent nonsense: court denies Blacklight Power appeal''], ''What's New'', Robert Park, September 6, 2002</ref> apparently prompted Director Group Director Kepplinger to review this new patent himself, and he expressed concerns about the patent's theoretical basis, the existence of fractional quantum numbers. He also noticed that the patent application, 09/009,294, had the same theoretical basis. He contacted another Director, Robert Spar, who also expressed doubts on the patentability of the patent application. This caused the USPTO to withdraw from issue the patent application before it was granted and re-open it for review, and to withdraw four related applications, including one for an hydrino power plant.<ref name=baard /><!--Baard is only sourcing two withdrawn patents: 1 for IA and 1 for power plant--> This prompted Blacklight to sue in the [[United States district court|US District Court]] of Columbia, saying that withdrawing the 09/009,294 application after having paid the fee was contrary to law. In 2002 the District Court concluded that the USPTO was acting inside the limits of its authority in withdrawing a patent over whose validity it had doubts, and later that year the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit]] ratified this decision.<ref name=parkpatent /><ref>{{cite web |
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|title=Blacklight Power, Inc. v. James E. Rogan |
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|author=United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit |
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|url=http://www.ll.georgetown.edu/federal/judicial/fed/opinions/00opinions/00-1530.html |
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}}</ref><ref name=coffey>{{cite news |
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|title=Follow-Through. Weird Science |
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|author=Brendan Coffey |
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|date=2000-05-15 |
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|work=[[Forbes (magazine)|Forbes]] |
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|url=http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2001/0430/032.html}}</ref> Application 09/009,294 was so near issuance that it slipped into the list of issued patents as {{patent|US|6030601}}.<ref name=baard /> The status of withdrawn patent {{patent|US|6024935}} in unclear since it still appears in the USPTO website as an granted patent.<ref>{{patent|US|6024935}}, [http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=9&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=%22MILLS+RANDELL%22&OS=%22MILLS+RANDELL%22&RS=%22MILLS+RANDELL%22 6,024,935], Lower-energy hydrogen methods and structures, February 15, 2000, retrieved 11 February 2011</ref> |
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In March and April 2008, Blacklight Power had four UK patent applications relating to models and apparatus based on hydrino theory refused by the [[UK Intellectual Property Office]]. The decision was based on "the experimental evidence provided and the acceptance of the theory by the physics community generally", which led to the conclusion that the theory "was probably not valid", and therefore that the inventions were not "capable of industrial application" as required by UK patent law.<ref>UK-IPO decisions {{cite web |
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|url= http://www.ipo.gov.uk/patent/p-decisionmaking/p-challenge/p-challenge-decision-results/p-challenge-decision-results-bl?BL_Number=O/114/08 |
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|title= O/114/08}} and {{cite web |
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|url= http://www.ipo.gov.uk/patent/p-decisionmaking/p-challenge/p-challenge-decision-results/p-challenge-decision-results-bl?BL_Number=O/076/08 |
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|title= O/076/08}}</ref> In November 2008, the UK [[Patents Court]] overturned the rejection of the four patents, ruling that they should only have been rejected if the theory was ''clearly'' invalid (rather than ''probably'' invalid) and remitted the case to the Patent Office for reconsideration.<ref> |
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{{cite web |
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|title=Blacklight Power Inc v Comptroller-General of Patents [2008] EWHC 2763 (Pat); [2008] WLR (D) 360 |
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|date=2008-11-18 |
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|url=http://www.lawreports.co.uk/WLRD/2008/CHAN/nov0.5.htm |
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}}</ref><ref> |
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{{cite book |
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|title=2003 Federal Circuit Yearbook: Patent Law Developments in the Federal Circuit |
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|author=Gale R Peterson, Derrick A Pizarro, Practising Law Institute |
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|publisher=[[Practising Law Institute]] |
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|year=2003 |
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|isbn=9780872244436 |
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|page=1 |
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|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=_jqYOShTHBMC&pg=PA1&output=html |
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}}</ref> In June 2009 a hearing officer at the UK patent office found that a full investigation with the help of an expert in GUTCQM wouldn't have a reasonable prospect of finding it a valid theory, and rejected the patents again.<ref>{{cite web |
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|url= http://www.ipo.gov.uk/pro-types/pro-patent/pro-p-os/p-challenge-decision-results-bl?BL_Number=O/170/09 |
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|title= UK-IPO decision O/170/09}}</ref> |
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The company does hold {{patent|US|7188033}} for rendering the chemical bonds of hydrogen using imaging software, covering their "Millsian" molecular modeling software application.<ref> |
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{{cite web |
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|title=Blacklight Power claims nearly-free energy from water — is this for real? |
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|date=2008-05-30 |
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|author=Chris Morrison |
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|publisher=[[VentureBeat]] |
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|url=http://green.venturebeat.com/2008/05/30/blacklight-power-claims-nearly-free-energy-from-water-is-this-for-real/ |
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}} {{patent|US|7188033}}, granted March 6, 2007. For {{patent|US|6024935}} see other references</ref> |
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{| class="wikitable" |
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|+ Patent applications appearing in a Google Patents search |
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!# |
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!Filed |
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!Patent |
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|- |
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|US Pat. 10331725 |
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|2002-12-31 |
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|Synthesis and characterization of a highly stable amorphous silicon hydride ... |
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|- |
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|US Pat. 10/513,026 |
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|2003-04-30 |
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|Diamond synthesis |
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|- |
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|US Pat. 10469913 |
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|2003-09-05 |
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|Microwave power cell, chemical reactor, and power converter |
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|- |
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|US Pat. 10552585 |
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|2004-04-08 |
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|Plasma reactor and process for producing lower-energy hydrogen species |
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|- |
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|US Pat. 10494571 |
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|2004-05-06 |
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|Hydrogen power, plasma, and reactor for lasing, and power conversion |
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|- |
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|US Pat. 11596218 |
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|2005-05-17 |
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|Method and System of Computing and Rendering the Nature of the Excited ... |
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|} |
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{| class="wikitable" |
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|+ Patents Granted appearing in a Google Patents search |
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!# |
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!Filed |
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!Patent |
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|- |
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|US Pat. 6024935 |
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|1997-03-21 |
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|Lower-energy hydrogen methods and structures |
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|- |
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|US Pat. 7188033 |
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|2004-07-19 |
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|Method and system of computing and rendering the nature of the chemical bond ... |
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|} |
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===Corporate Governance=== |
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Directors of the company have included |
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* [[Michael H. Jordan]], who has served as [[CEO]] of various major corporations including [[PepsiCo|PepsiCo Int'l. Foods and Beverages]], [[Westinghouse Electric (1886)|Westinghouse Electric Corporation]], [[CBS Corporation]], and [[Electronic Data Systems|EDS]] |
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* [[Merrill McPeak|Gen. Merrill McPeak]], former Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force |
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* Neil Moskowitz, former CFO of Credit Suisse First Boston |
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* Vice Admiral Michael P. Kalleres, former commander of the U.S. fleet in the Atlantic |
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* former Assistant [[Secretary of Energy]] Shelby Brewer |
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==References== |
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{{reflist|3}} |
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==External links== |
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===Advocacy=== |
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*[http://www.blacklightpower.com BlackLight Power, Inc.], corporate website. |
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*[http://www.millsian.com Millsian, Inc.], corporate website. |
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===Commentaries by Critic Bob Park=== |
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*[http://bobpark.physics.umd.edu/WN06/wn011306.html ''Blacklight Power: Some Ideas Are Simply Too Dumb to Die!''] from Bob Park's newsletter ''What's New'', January 13, 2006 |
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*[http://bobpark.physics.umd.edu/WN08/wn060608.html ''Hydrinos: How Long Can a Really Dumb Idea Survive?''], ''What's New'', June 6, 2008 |
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===General media=== |
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*{{cite journal|first=Erico |last=Guizzo |url=http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/jan09/7127 |title=Loser: Hot or Not? |journal=IEEE Spectrum|month=January |year=2009|doi=10.1109/MSPEC.2009.4734311|volume=46|pages=36}} |
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*{{cite news |url= http://money.cnn.com/2008/07/01/smallbusiness/blacklight.fsb/index.htm?postversion=2008070210 |title= BlackLight's physics-defying promise: Cheap power from water |author= Mina Kimes |work= [[CNNMoney.com]] |date= June 2, 2008 }} |
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*{{cite news |url=http://physicsweb.org/articles/news/9/8/4/1 |title=Hydrogen result causes controversy |publisher=Institute of Physics |work=[[Physics Web]] |date=August 5, 2005 }} |
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*{{cite journal |url=http://www.popsci.com/gear-gadgets/article/2003-06/blue-light-special |title=Blue Light Special |periodical=Popular Science |date=June 2, 2003}} |
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*{{cite news |url=http://www.pacpubserver.com/new/business/b012099.html |title=Will BlackLight light up the world? |author=Kathleen McGinn Spring |newspaper=[[Princeton Packet]] |date=January 20, 1999}} |
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*{{cite book |first=Robert L. |last=Park |chapter=The Alchemists Of Energy |periodical=[[Forbes Magazine]]|date=May 15, 2000 |title=Vodoo Science |isbn=0195147103 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York}} |
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*{{cite web |url=http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=100939 |title=Academics Question The Science Behind BlackLight Power, Inc. |work=The [[Harvard Crimson]] |date=May 17, 2000}} |
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*{{cite news |url= http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2005/nov/04/energy.science |title= Fuel's paradise? Power source that turns physics on its head |author= Alok Jha |work= [[The Guardian]] |date= November 4, 2005 | location=London}} |
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*{{cite news |url=http://www.cjr.org/the_observatory/weird_science_reporting.php |title=Weird Science (Reporting) - CNN covers unfounded claims about new energy technology |publisher=[[Columbia Journalism Review]] |last=Raeburn |first=Paul |date=December 15, 2008}} |
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[[Category:Pseudoscience]] |
[[Category:Pseudoscience]] |
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[[Category: |
[[Category:Fringe physics]] |
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[[Category:Companies based in Middlesex County, New Jersey]] |
[[Category:Companies based in Middlesex County, New Jersey]] |
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[[Category: |
[[Category:Companies established in 1991]] |
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[[Category:Cranbury, New Jersey]] |
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[[Category:1991 establishments in New Jersey]] |
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[[fr:Hydrino]] |
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[[nl:Hydrino]] |
Latest revision as of 22:31, 10 November 2024
Founded | HydroCatalysis Inc.[1] in 1991.[2] |
---|---|
Founder | Randell L. Mills |
Headquarters | 493 Old Trenton Rd. , Cranbury Township, New Jersey USA |
Number of employees | 22 fulltime, 8 consultants[3] |
Subsidiaries | "Millsian, Inc". |
Website | BrilliantLightPower.com |
Brilliant Light Power, Inc. (BLP), formerly BlackLight Power, Inc. of Cranbury, New Jersey, is a company founded by Randell L. Mills, who claims to have discovered a new energy source from what he says is the electron in a hydrogen atom dropping below its ground energy state into a "hydrino state".[1] The claims lack corroborating scientific evidence and the proposed hydrino states are unphysical and incompatible with key equations of quantum mechanics.[4][5] BLP has announced several times that it was about to deliver commercial products based on Mill's theories but has never delivered any working product.[5]
Mills has self-published a closely related book, The Grand Unified Theory of Classical Physics and has co-authored numerous articles on hydrino-related phenomena.[6][7] Critical analyses have been published in the peer reviewed journals Physics Letters A, New Journal of Physics, Journal of Applied Physics, and Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics.[4] In 2009, IEEE Spectrum magazine characterized it as a "loser" technology because "most experts don't believe such lower states exist, and they say the experiments don't present convincing evidence" and mentioned that physicist Wolfgang Ketterle had said the claims are "nonsense".[5]
Company
The company, originally called HydroCatalysis Inc.,[1] was founded in 1991 by Randell Mills[2] who claimed to have discovered a power source that "represents a boundless form of new primary energy" and that will "replace all forms of fuel in the world".[8] On April 25, 1991 at a press conference in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Mills first announced his hydrino state hypothesis which rejects the idea that "cold fusion" was occurring in studies surrounding the Fleischmann–Pons experiment. According to Mills all the effects (which themselves were disputed to be unreproducible) were caused by shrinkage of hydrogen atoms as they fell to a state below the ground state. Arguments offered by Mills were in contradiction to known chemistry and were dismissed by the scientific community.[1][9][10][11]
By December 1999, BLP raised more than $25 million from about 150 investors.[2][12] By January 2006, BLP funding exceeded $60 million.[13][14][15][16]
Among the investors are PacifiCorp, Conectiv, retired executives from Morgan Stanley[12] and several BLP board members like Shelby Brewer who was the top nuclear official for the Reagan Administration and Chief Executive Officer of ABB-Combustion Engineering Nuclear Power[17][18] and former board member Michael H. Jordan (1936 – 2010), who was Chief Executive Officer of PepsiCo Worldwide Foods, Westinghouse Electric Corporation, CBS Corporation and Electronic Data Systems.[17]
In 2008, Mills said that his cell stacks could provide power for long-range electric vehicles,[13] and that this electricity would cost less than 2 cents per kilowatt-hour.[19]
In December 2013, BLP was one of 54 applicants to receive ~$1.1M in grant funding from the New Jersey Economic Development Authority.[20]
Collaborators with the company
In 1996, NASA released a report describing experiments using a BLP electrolytic cell. Although not recreating the large heat gains reported for the cell by BLP, unexplained power gains ranging from 1.06 to 1.68 of the input power were reported, which, whilst "...admit[ing] the existence of an unusual source of heat with the cell...falls far short of being compelling". The authors went on to propose the recombination of hydrogen and oxygen as a possible explanation of the anomalous results.[21]
Around 2002, the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) granted a Phase I grant to Anthony Marchese, a mechanical engineer at Rowan University, to study a possible rocket propulsion that would use hydrinos.[22]
In 2002, Rowan University's Anthony Marchese said that whilst "agnostic about the existence of hydrinos", he was quite confident that there was no fraud involved with BLP. Although his NIAC grant was criticised by Bob Park, Marchese said "for me to not continue with this study would be unethical to the scientific community. The only reason not to pursue this would be because of being afraid of being bullied."[22]
Criticism
In 1999, the Nobel prize winning physicist Philip Warren Anderson said he is "sure that it's a fraud",[12] and in the same year another Nobel prize winning physicist, Steven Chu, called it "extremely unlikely".[23] The following year, a 2000 patent based on its hydrino-related technology[24][25] was later withdrawn by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) due to contradictions with known physics laws and other concerns about the viability of the described processes, citing Park and others.[26]
A hydrino laser patent and a hydrino energy patent have not been withdrawn by the USPTO.US 7773656US 10443139
An April 2000 editorial column by Robert L. Park[26][27] and an outside query by an unknown person[28] prompted Group Director Esther Kepplinger of the USPTO to review this new patent herself. Kepplinger said that her "main concern was the proposition that the applicant was claiming the electron going to a lower orbital in a fashion that I knew was contrary to the known laws of physics and chemistry", and that the patent appeared to involve cold fusion and perpetual motion.[27] Kepplinger contacted another Director, Robert Spar, who also expressed doubts on the patentability of the patent application. This caused the USPTO to withdraw from issue the patent application before it was granted and re-open it for review, and to withdraw four related applications, including one for a hydrino power plant.[26]
In 2000, a law firm engaged by BLP sent letters to four prominent physicists asking them to stop making what it called "defamatory comments". The physicists had been quoted in the Village Voice, Dow Jones Newswire and other publications as dismissing BLP's claims on the basis that they violated the laws of physics. In response, one of the physicists, Robert L. Park of the American Physical Society, said that if BLP sued, he was confident the scientific community would lend its support and that the court would side with the physicists.[29] Park later wrote that a number of the recipients of the letter, who had "responded honestly to questions from the media", had since fallen silent. Scientists, Park wrote, are easy to intimidate since they are not rich enough to risk costly legal actions.[30]
In May 2000, BLP filed suit in the US District Court of Columbia, saying that withdrawal of the application after the company had paid the fee was contrary to law. In 2002, the District Court concluded that the USPTO was acting inside the limits of its authority in withdrawing a patent over whose validity it had doubts, and later that year, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ratified this decision.[27][28][31][32] Applications were rejected by the UK patent office for similar reasons.[27][33][34][35][36] The European Patent Office (EPO) rejected a similar BLP patent application due to lack of clarity on how the process worked. Reexamination of this European patent is pending.[27]
Robert L. Park, emeritus professor of physics at the University of Maryland and a notable skeptic, has been particularly critical of BLP since 1991.[1] By 2000, Park remained skeptical, stating:
"Unlike most schemes for free energy, the hydrino process of Randy Mills is not without ample theory.[37] Mills has written a 1000 page tome, entitled, "The Grand Unified Theory of Classical Quantum Mechanics", that takes the reader all the way from hydrinos to antigravity.[38] Fortunately, Aaron Barth [...] has taken upon himself to look through it, checking for accuracy. Barth is a post doctoral researcher at the Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, and holds a PhD in Astronomy, 1998, from UC Berkeley. What he found initially were mathematical blunders and unjustified assumptions. To his surprise, however, portions of the book seemed well organized. These, it now turns out, were lifted verbatim from various texts. This has been the object of a great deal of discussion from Mills' Hydrino Study Group. "Mills seems not to understand what the fuss is all about." – Park[39]
By 2008, Park continued to express his skepticism:
"BlackLight Power (BLP), founded 17 years ago as HydroCatalysis, announced last week that the company had successfully tested a prototype power system that would generate 50 KW of thermal power. BLP anticipates delivery of the new power system in 12 to 18 months. The BLP process,[40] discovered by Randy Mills, is said to coax hydrogen atoms into a "state below the ground state", called the "hydrino". There is no independent scientific confirmation of the hydrino, and BLP has a patent problem. So they have nothing to sell but bull shit. The company is therefore dependent on investors with deep pockets and shallow brains." – Park[41]
In 2008, Robert L. Park wrote that BLP has benefited from wealthy investors who allocate a proportion of their funds to risky ventures with a potentially huge upside, but that in the case of BLP since the science underlying the offering was "just wrong" investment risk was, in Park's view, "infinite".[30]
Various scientists also voiced their opinions as far back as the 1990s. Steven Chu, Nobel Laureate in Physics in 1997, said "it's extremely unlikely that this is real, and I feel sorry for the funders, the people who are backing this".[23] In 1999, Princeton University's physics Nobel laureate Phillip Anderson said of it, "If you could fuck around with the hydrogen atom, you could fuck around with the energy process in the sun. You could fuck around with life itself." "Everything we know about everything would be a bunch of nonsense. That's why I'm so sure that it's a fraud."[12] Wolfgang Ketterle, a professor of physics at MIT, said BLP's claims are "nonsense" and that "there is no state of hydrogen lower than the ground state".[5] Michio Kaku, a theoretical physicist based at City University of New York, adds that "the only law that this business with Mills is proving is that a fool and his money are easily parted."[12] and that "There's a sucker born every minute."[23] While Peter Zimmerman was chief arms-control scientist at the State Department, he stated that his department and the Patent Office "have fought back with success" against "pseudoscientists" and he railed against, among other things, the inventors of "hydrinos".[26] In 2009, the editors of IEEE Spectrum magazine characterized it as a "loser" technology because "[m]ost experts don't believe such lower states exist, and they say the experiments don't present convincing evidence" and mentioned that Wolfgang Ketterle had said the claims are "nonsense".[5] BLP has announced several times that it was about to deliver commercial products based on Mill's theories but has not delivered a working product.[5]
Mark Chu-Carroll a science blogger and professional software engineer accused Mills of engaging in a scam: "Mills... is getting investors to give him money, promising that whatever they invest, they'll get back manifold when he starts selling hydrino power generators! He promises they'll be on market within a year or two – five at most! Then he comes up with either a demonstration, or the testimonial from his neighbor, or the self-publication of his book, or another press release talking about the newest version of his technology..... It's been going on for almost 25 years, this constant cycle of press release/demo/testimonial every couple of years.... claims from 2009 claiming commercialization within 12 to 18 months; from 2005 claiming commercialization within months; and claims from 1999 claiming commercialization within a year.... But he always comes up with an excuse why those deadlines needed to be missed. And he always manages to find more investors, willing to hand over millions of dollars. As long as suckers are still willing to give him money, why wouldn't he keep on making claims?"[42]
Scientific American reported that in 2014, Mills was asked by an interested follower if he had ever isolated hydrinos and, in spite of previous claims, Mills said that he had not and that it would be “a really, really huge task.” The interlocutor pointed out that if hydrinos were being produced at the rate Mills claimed, there would be obvious observations. Moreover, there was no sign of progress, “Every year they make up half the remaining distance to commercialization, but will they ever get there?”[43]
In 2015, an energy analyst writing for Forbes noted that Mills had made numerous extraordinary and difficult-to-believe claims including that he had "refuted quantum mechanics, can explain “mysteries of the sun” and has identified dark energy. His inventions can: produce power very cheaply through “’shrinking’ the hydrogen atom's orbitsphere” with a power density of 100 billion watts per liter. Additionally, the materials created can act as an explosive or propellant, make ships rustproof and endowed with stealth properties, produce an anti-gravity effect that will allow a vessel to elevate, and “form the basis of batteries the size of a briefcase to drive your car 1000 miles at highway speeds on a single charge.”"[44]
Peer-reviewed criticisms
In the 2000s, several reviewed articles were published criticizing Hydrino theory for being incompatible with Quantum Mechanics.
For example, in 2005, Andreas Rathke of the European Space Agency, publishing in the New Journal of Physics, wrote that Mills' description of quantum mechanics is "inconsistent and has several serious deficiencies", and that there is "no theoretical support of the hydrino hypothesis". Rathke said it would be helpful if Mills' experimental results could be independently replicated, and suggested that any evidence produced should be reconsidered in the context of a conventional physical explanation.[45] One inconsistency of Mills' CQM with quantum mechanics regards its inability to be reconciled with the probability density function in quantum mechanics. Rathke stated, "However, while solutions of the Schrödinger equation with n<1 indeed exist, they are not square integrable. This violates not only an axiom of quantum mechanics, but in practical terms prohibits that these solutions can in any way describe the probability density of a particle."[45] In the same year, the Journal of Applied Physics published a critique by A.V. Phelps of the 2004 article, "Water bath calorimetric study of excess heat generation in resonant transfer plasmas" by J. Phillips, R. Mills and X. Chen.[46] Phelps criticized both the calorimetric techniques and the underlying theory described in the Phillips/Mills/Chen article. The journal also published a response to Phelps' critique on the same day.[47] In 2005 Šišović and others published a paper describing experimental data and analysis of Mills' claim that a resonant transfer model (RTM) explains the excessive Doppler broadening of the Hα line. Šišović concluded that: "The detected large excessive broadening in pure hydrogen and in Ne–H2 mixture is in agreement with CM [Collision Model] and other experimental results" and that "these results can't be explained by RTM". The collision model explanation for excessive broadening of the Hα line is based on established physics.[48]
In 2006, a paper published in Physics Letters A, concluded that Mills' theoretical hydrino states are unphysical. For the hydrino states, the binding strength increases as the strength of the electric potential decreases, with maximum binding strength when the potential has disappeared completely. The author Norman Dombey remarked "We could call these anomalous states "homeopathic" states because the smaller the coupling, the larger the effect." The model also assumes that the nuclear charge distribution is a point rather than having an arbitrarily small non-zero radius. It also lacks an analogous solution in the Schrödinger equation, which governs non-relativistic systems. Dombey concluded: "We suggest that outside of science fiction this is sufficient reason to disregard them."[4] From a suggestion in Dombey's paper, further work by Antonio Di Castro has shown that states below the ground state, as described in Mills' work, are incompatible with the Schrödinger, Klein–Gordon and Dirac equations, key equations in the study of quantum systems.[49]
In 2008, the Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics published an article by Hans-Joachim Kunze, professor emeritus at the Institute for Experimental Physics, Ruhr University Bochum,[50] critical of the 2003 paper authored by R. Mills and P. Ray, Extreme ultraviolet spectroscopy of helium–hydrogen. The abstract of the article is: "It is suggested that spectral lines, on which the fiction of fractional principal quantum numbers in the hydrogen atom is based, are nothing else but artefacts." Kunze stated that it was impossible to detect the novel lines below 30 nm reported by Mills and Ray because the equipment they used did not have the capability to detect them as per the manufacturer and as per "every book on vacuum-UV spectroscopy" and "therefore the observed lines must be artefacts". Kunze also stated that: "The enormous spectral widths of the novel lines point to artefacts, too."[51]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e Robert L. Park (April 26, 1991). "What's New Friday, 26 April 1991 Washington, DC". Archived from the original on September 27, 2011. Retrieved May 17, 2009. and Robert L. Park (October 31, 2008). "What's New Friday, October 31, 2008". Archived from the original on September 27, 2011. Retrieved May 17, 2009.
- ^ a b c Jacqueline A. Newmyer (May 17, 2000). "Academics Question The Science Behind BlackLight Power, Inc". Harvard Crimson. Retrieved February 10, 2009.
- ^ "BlackLight Power Company Facilities". BlackLight Power. Retrieved January 18, 2016.
- ^ a b c Dombey, Norman (August 8, 2006). "The hydrino and other unlikely states". Physics Letters A. 360 (1): 62–65. arXiv:physics/0608095. Bibcode:2006PhLA..360...62D. doi:10.1016/j.physleta.2006.07.069. S2CID 119011776.
- ^ a b c d e f Erico Guizzo (January 2009). "Winners & Losers 2009—Loser, Power & Energy: Hot or not? Blacklight Power says it's developing a revolutionary energy source—and it won't let the laws of physics stand in its way". IEEE Spectrum. Vol. 46, no. 1. p. 36. doi:10.1109/MSPEC.2009.4734311. Archived from the original on February 7, 2016. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
- ^ Mills, Randell L. (August 2011). "The Grand Unified Theory of Classical Physics" (DjVu) (August 2011 ed.). BlackLight Power. Retrieved January 18, 2016. (Self-published)
- ^ "Fuel's paradise? Power source that turns physics on its head". The Guardian. November 4, 2005.
- ^ Gerard Wynn (September 3, 2000). "Sweet dreams are made of geoengineering". Reuters. Retrieved October 15, 2009.
- ^
E. Sheldon (September–October 2008). "An overview of almost 20 years' research on cold fusion". Contemporary Physics. 49 (5): 375–378. Bibcode:2008ConPh..49..375S. doi:10.1080/00107510802465229. S2CID 119406105.
[Mill's paper], which involves a nowadays widely discredited 'hydrino' model that was proposed in 1991 to account for the excess heat observations in 'cold fusion' studies. (...) [the notion that there are electron orbital states that are less energetic than the ground state], is contrary to conventional quantum principles and unacceptable to me or to the general theoretical-physics community.
- ^ Robert L. Park (2002). Voodoo science: the road from foolishness to fraud (illustrated, reprint ed.). Oxford University Press. pp. 133–135. ISBN 978-0-19-860443-3.
- ^ William J. Broad (April 26, 1991). "2 Teams Put New Life in 'Cold' Fusion Theory". The New York Times.
- ^ a b c d e Baard, Erik (December 21, 1999). "Quantum Leap: Dr. Randell Mills says he can change the face of physics. The Scientific Establishment thinks he's nuts". The Village Voice. Retrieved February 10, 2009.
- ^ a b Morrison, Chris (October 21, 2008). "Blacklight Power bolsters its impossible claims of a new renewable energy source". The New York Times.
- ^ http://professional.venturewire.com/story.asp?sid=NIMHPJLMMQ[permanent dead link ] [dead link ]
- ^ Marshall, Matt (January 4, 2006). "Blacklight Power gets $50M; but is it profound, or utter nonsense?". VentureBeat.
- ^ "SiliconBeat: Blacklight Power gets $50M; but is it profound, or utter nonsense?".
- ^ a b Ricketts, Camille (December 11, 2008). "BlackLight Power lands first license agreement for electricity from ... water?". VentureBeat.
- ^ "Management".
- ^ Mina Kimes (July 29, 2008). "BlackLight's physics-defying promise: Cheap power from water". CNNMoney.com.
- ^ "20 Middlesex companies receive part of $60 million state grant". NJ.com. December 20, 2013.
- ^ Niedra, Janis M.; Myers, Ira T.; Fralick, Gustave C.; Baldwin, Richard S. (February 1996). "Replication of the apparent excess heat effect in light water-potassium carbonate-nickel-electrolytic cell" (PDF). OSTI 236808. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 21, 2011. Retrieved February 27, 2011.
- ^ a b Baard, Erik (December 10, 2002). "Eureka?". Village Voice.
- ^ a b c Baard, Erik (October 6, 1999). "Researcher Claims Power Tech That Defies Quantum Theory". Dow Jones NewsWire.
- ^ US 6024935 "Lower-energy hydrogen methods and structures"
- ^ US 6024935, 6,024,935, Lower-energy hydrogen methods and structures, February 15, 2000. Retrieved February 11, 2011
- ^ a b c d Erik Baard (April 25, 2000). "The Empire Strikes Back. Alternative-Energy Scientist Fights to Save Patent". Village Voice.
- ^ a b c d e Rimmer, Matthew (2011). "Patenting free energy: the BlackLight litigation and the hydrogen economy". Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice. 6 (6): 374. doi:10.1093/jiplp/jpr010.
- ^ a b Patent nonsense: court denies BlackLight Power appeal, What's New, Robert Park, September 6, 2002
- ^ Reichhardt T (2000). "New form of hydrogen power provokes scepticism". Nature. 404 (6775): 218. doi:10.1038/35005254. PMID 10749181.
A law firm representing the energy company BlackLight Power, Inc. of Cranbury, New Jersey, sent letters earlier this month to Nobel laureate Philip Anderson of Princeton University, Michio Kaku of the City University of New York, Paul Grant of the non-profit energy agency EPRI and Robert L. Park, of the American Physical Society ...
(subscription required) - ^ a b Park RL (2008). "Fraud in Science". Social Research: An International Quarterly. 75 (4): 1135–1150. doi:10.1353/sor.2008.0010. S2CID 141705050.
Companies frequently designate a percentage of these funds for investment in high-risk, high-payoff startups. Most will fail, but it is a hedge against technological obsolescence. Mills had just what they were looking for—except the risk was infinite.
- ^ United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. "Blacklight Power, Inc. v. James E. Rogan".
- ^ Brendan Coffey (May 15, 2000). "Follow-Through. Weird Science". Forbes.
- ^ UK-IPO decisions "O/114/08". September 19, 2006. and "O/076/08". September 19, 2006.
- ^ Blacklight Power Inc v Comptroller-General of Patents [2008] EWHC 2763 (Patents) (18 November 2008)
- ^ Gale R Peterson; Derrick A Pizarro; Practising Law Institute (2003). 2003 Federal Circuit Yearbook: Patent Law Developments in the Federal Circuit. Practising Law Institute. p. 1. ISBN 978-0-87224-443-6.
- ^ "UK-IPO decision O/170/09". September 19, 2006.
- ^ "What's New by Bob Park - Friday, January 8, 1999". Archived from the original on June 1, 2010. Retrieved July 14, 2010.
- ^ "What's New by Bob Park - Friday, May 9, 1997". Archived from the original on June 3, 2010. Retrieved July 14, 2010.
- ^ Park, Bob (October 27, 2000). "Blackout: Where do ideas like these come from?". University of Maryland. Archived from the original on November 22, 2005. Retrieved March 2, 2009.
- ^ "What's New by Bob Park - Friday, April 26, 1991". Archived from the original on September 27, 2011. Retrieved May 17, 2009.
- ^ Park, Bob (June 6, 2008). "Hydrinos: How long can a really dumb idea survive?". What's New?. University of Maryland. Archived from the original on December 11, 2008. Retrieved December 4, 2010.
- ^ Chu, Mark (January 14, 2014). "The Latest Update in the Hydrino Saga".
- ^ News, Stephen K. Ritter,Chemical & Engineering. "Cold Fusion Lives: Experiments Create Energy When None Should Exist". Scientific American. Retrieved October 13, 2023.
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has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Lynch, Michael. "Warning Signs For Energy Technology Investors 3: Yes, They Can Be That Stupid". Forbes. Retrieved October 13, 2023.
- ^ a b Rathke A (2005). "A critical analysis of the hydrino model". New Journal of Physics. 7 (127): 127. arXiv:quant-ph/0505150. Bibcode:2005NJPh....7..127R. doi:10.1088/1367-2630/7/1/127. S2CID 33907938.
- ^ Phelps, A.V. (October 2, 2005). "Comment on 'Water bath calorimetric study of excess heat generation in resonant transfer plasmas'". Journal of Applied Physics. 98 (6): 066108–066108–3. Bibcode:2005JAP....98f6108P. doi:10.1063/1.2010616.
- ^ Phillips, Jonathan (October 2, 2005). "Response to "Comment on 'Water bath calorimetric study of excess heat generation in resonant transfer plasmas'". Journal of Applied Physics. 98 (6): 066109–066109–1. Bibcode:2005JAP....98f6109P. doi:10.1063/1.2010617.
- ^ Šišović, N. M.; Majstorović, G. Lj.; Konjević, N. (January 4, 2005). "Excessive hydrogen and deuterium Balmer lines broadening in a hollow cathode glow discharges". European Physical Journal D. 32 (3): 347–354. Bibcode:2005EPJD...32..347S. doi:10.1140/epjd/e2004-00192-1. S2CID 117346954.
- ^ de Castro, Antonio S. (April 4, 2007). "Orthogonality criterion for banishing hydrino states from standard quantum mechanics". Physics Letters A. 369 (5–6): 380–383. arXiv:0704.0631. Bibcode:2007PhLA..369..380D. doi:10.1016/j.physleta.2007.05.006. S2CID 14214907.
- ^ "Ruhr-Universität Bochum information page on Hans-Joachim Kunze". Ruhr-Universität. Retrieved February 20, 2011.
- ^ Kunze, H-J (2008). "On the spectroscopic measurements used to support the postulate of states with fractional principal quantum numbers in hydrogen". J Phys D. 41 (10): 108001. Bibcode:2008JPhD...41j8001K. doi:10.1088/0022-3727/41/10/108001. S2CID 122153555.
External links
- Robert L. Park: BlackLight Power: Some Ideas Are Simply Too Dumb to Die!, in his newsletter What's New, January 13, 2006
- General media
- "Hydrogen result causes controversy". Physics World. Institute of Physics. August 5, 2005.
- "Blue Light Special". Popular Science. June 2, 2003.
- Park, Robert L. (May 15, 2000). "The Alchemists Of Energy". Voodoo Science. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-514710-3.
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ignored (help) - Raeburn, Paul (December 15, 2008). "Weird Science (Reporting) – CNN covers unfounded claims about new energy technology". Columbia Journalism Review.