It happens every now and then. The videos of all such prior episodes are around, somewhere in the forgotten corners of the Internet.
Online TV talk show aggregator ZemTV, not run by the sharpest tools in the shed, have recently linked another such video, attracting serious online admiration from the commenters, moderated by the few sceptics.
Every now and then, some bright-eyed simpleton will have the idea of a machine that “makes” energy. Right from the outset, it would most clearly be a faulty idea. Not a scam, mind you, barring certain cases. Just completely flawed ideas, where the inventors haven’t really thought the science through, but are so excited with their supposed discovery, that they aren’t willing to look at things with a required rigour. All it takes is for a serious scientist or engineer to visit the site and ask the great mind a simple question, like okay, but why have you plugged this component in? Or, okay, you plugged it out after the initial “push” but how long did the motion last after that, and have you calculated exactly how much energy you’d fed in the system in the first place?
Without even going into the science of it, simply from a human resource angle, one can know for certain that all is not well. These characters are usually technicians. Not engineers, not scientists. It is possible, yes, for technicians to have done a measure of engineering through sheer perseverance, hitting the calculus books on their own and figuring the physics out. The Wright brothers are an example of the same. But to make the jump from being a technician to not just being an engineer but a scientist is one hell of a tall order. Specially if the science in question is the sort that would win the Nobel Prize (Physics) in this case, having disproven the Second Law of Thermodynamics. And another Nobel Prize (Peace) for giving a proof of concept of solving the world’s energy problems.
Occasionally, if the inventors of such contraptions are also a bit media-savvy, they can manage to work up a media storm, like Agha Waqar of the water-kit fame. Back then, senior TV political anchors and serving federal ministers took turns riding in the car. One otherwise sensible anchor also voiced his concerns for the safety of this great inventor, who might be hurt by foreign powers.
Of course, upon closer scrutiny by actual scientists, it was revealed that Waqar wasn’t really clear about his figures. All such closed systems, far from making energy, will dissipate energy into the atmosphere. He was plugging in more energy into the system than the amount he was getting out.
What is it, exactly, that holds an endless fascination with such subjects in the local media, specially in the vernacular press?
Well, there is the feel-good aspect, certainly, where we can bask in the warm, fuzzy feeling that comes from some bright mind of our own having done something cerebral that has otherwise stumped the rest of the world. Then there is the sweet release of the idea that soon our problems of the electric kind are going to be things of the past. Surely, this cited appeal would be universal in nature. Why does Pakistan seem to have an inexhaustible demand? Because as opposed to a lot of other countries, there is nothing by way of cynicism to stupid ideas. All of our cynicism quota has been eaten up by the distrust we have reserved for the government. Even under this current, featured video shared by ZemTV, there are comments to the effect, “good work; but govt will do nothing because this hurts oil and power plant lobby.”
