Good old Bob Park of the APS (American Physical Society) once more made our week for us when he announced that the United States Patent Office was re-considering yet another patent — number 6,024,935, this time — granted to Blacklight Power, who will edify you with a pretty heavy description of what they call "The Grand Unified Theory of Classical Quantum Mechanics," if you give them a chance. They're at www.blacklightpower.com.
This patent was for "Lower-Energy Hydrogen Methods and Structures," which they describe as a process for getting hydrogen atoms into a "state below the ground state," whatever that means. Yes, I'm admitting my ignorance of the subject, but I defer happily to Bob. The patent involved something called "shrunken hydrogen atoms, called "hydrinos." Bob writes:
. . . the patent Director became concerned that this hydrino stuff required the orbital electron to behave "contrary to the known laws of physics and chemistry." The Hydride Compounds application was withdrawn for further review and the other patent applications were rejected. Since the one patent already issued involves the same violations of basic laws of physics, there is a cloud over its status as well. BLP filed suit in federal court arguing that it was too late for the Patent Office to change its mind. The court was not impressed, so BLP appealed the decision. In denying the appeal, the court said the Patent Office has a responsibility to take "extraordinary action" to withdraw a questionable patent.
Bravo! But why, hard on the heels of re-examining other questionable patents (see three weeks ago on this page), would the Patent Office have happened upon this particular one, when there are so many in this category? The secret can be inferred from Bob Park's weekly column, where we find: "Prompted by an outside inquiry (who would do such a thing?) . . ." That rascal!
The very fact that the Patent Office has paid heed to the complaints that Park, the JREF, and others have made, speaks well for rationality. Let's hope that we can look forward to many quack devices and systems being re-evaluated. Let's see a lot more of this "extraordinary action" from the Director. As for Blacklight Power, says Park, "Their long-awaited IPO may have to wait a little longer."
More:
http://www.randi.org/jr/092002.htmlArticle: Bigger than fire? A scientific examination of Randell Mills' "hydrino" theory
Article from:
Skeptic
Article date:
January 1, 2001
Author:
Barth, Aaron J CopyrightCopyright Millennium Press, Inc. 2008. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All inquiries regarding rights or concerns about this content should be directed to Customer Support. (Hide copyright information)
A SCIENTIFIC EXAMINATION OF RANDELL MILLS "HYDRINO" THEORY
RANDELL MILLs AND HIS COMPANY, BlackLight Power, claim to have discovered a new, shrunken form of the hydrogen atom called the "hydrino," in which the electron is made to fall to an energy level below the lowest level allowed by the theory of quantum mechanics. Despite the fact that this idea violates well-established principles of physics, BlackLight Power has obtained millions of dollars in venture capital to develop energy generation systems and batteries based on hydrinos.
This article presents a scientific examination of the basis of the hydrino theory It shows that there are fundamental errors in NW work …
More:
http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-74174264.htmlHydrino Theory, Which Overturns Quantum Theory, Is In Turn Overturned By Doofusino Theory
by Scott Aaronson
On December 28, 1999, The Village Voice, long respected for its hard-hitting journalism and unimpeachable scientific integrity, ran a cover article entitled "QUANTUM LEAP" by Erik Baard. The article relates the epochal breakthroughs of Dr. Randell Mills of Princeton, NJ, a "Harvard-trained medical doctor who ... says he's found the Holy Grail of physics: a unified theory of everything." The article continues:
Mills says that with this new understanding he's produced clean and limitless energy and an entirely new class of materials and plasma that will reshape every industry in the coming decade. Mills also claims breakthroughs in artificial intelligence, cosmology, medicine, and perhaps even a form of gravitational jujitsu.
<snip>
But we must ask: now that hydrino theory has been incontrovertibly proven, what comes next? My purpose here is to announce that hydrino theory, as revolutionary as it was only a few months ago, must itself be superseded by the even more paradigm-smashing doofusino theory.
The recipe for creating a doofusino is simple. First pour two cups of chilled hydrinos into a greased pan, then add 3-4 tablespoons of polywater, a teaspoonful of magnetic monopoles, and a pinch of tachyons, dilute homeopathically until nothing remains, and finally stir thoroughly while chanting "Kumbaya" and wishing very hard. Assuming that it's an alternate Tuesday with Sagittarius rising and that you've been a good boy or girl this year, a doofusino will materialize and crawl out of the pan; you can recognize it by its fishy smell and its characteristic "duh-duh-duh" sound.
More:
http://www.scottaaronson.com/writings/doofusino.html