Open letter from James Randi to Steorn

[shruggedatlas]

A user on Steorn's forum received this from James Randi, of the Randi Foundation and the $1 million Randi Challenge.  This confirms that the prize is available to an inventor of an overunity or perpetual motion device.  So this is some added incentive for the people here.

Website: http://www.randi.org/joom/content/view/38/31/

******************

I only examined about 40 of the comments here, after being directed to the
site by an interested reader, and there was enough material to convince me
that I should offer a few of my own comments on the string of canards that
are strewn throughout the exchanges that I see being repeated. Now, I don't
expect that any attention will be paid to these comments of mine, because
the woo-woos need to deny the fact that the JREF prize is available and
winnable - if the evidence is produced. Steorn has withdrawn from
acceptance, and has instead offered validation by a team of "scientists" -
which has not materialized in the long months since it was promised! - but
which in any case is of no interest to us, because opinions and affidavits
are not evidence. SIMPLY DEMONSTRATE THAT THE MACHINE WORKS AS ADVERTISED,
AND THE JREF PRIZE WILL BE AWARDED. That's a simple, direct statement - the
kind of statement that we've always issued, and which Steorn, and all the
other claimants, have chosen to ignore.

Any "bias" or lack of expertise or capability on my part cannot enter into
the testing procedure, since the testing is done by mutually-agreed-upon
experts, not I. I simply put my money where my mouth is, the experts use the
protocol, and I am legally obligated to pay over the prize money; I don't
have any choice in that matter.

We don't "debunk," which would imply that we go into an investigation with
the attitude that "This isn't true, and we're going to prove it's not true."
We investigate, and publish the results. When we investigate, we essentially
don't know whether or not the claim is true; we try to find out, which is
the real scientific approach.

And yes, any and all perpetual-motion or free-energy claims are eligible for
the JREF prize.

I see here many fevered discussions about what will be done with the JREF
prize, when it's been won. I suggest that you win it, first, then do with it
what you will.

As we've tried to get across to you, there is never any "judging" procedure
needed or invoked; the results of any testing procedure have to be
self-evident. For example, if Steorn gets its machine working as advertised,
they win, you see? No judge has to decide that, because it simply WORKED!
What's not clear about that.?

That's it. The woo-woos will continue to carry on, and I don't care. Steorn
has not produced the evidence, they refuse to do so, and they've retreated.
So be it.

James Randi.

[PhysicsProfessor]

A user on Steorn's forum received this from James Randi, of the Randi Foundation and the $1 million Randi Challenge.  This confirms that the prize is available to an inventor of an overunity or perpetual motion device.  So this is some added incentive for the people here.

Website: http://www.randi.org/joom/content/view/38/31/
[snip]

And yes, any and all perpetual-motion or free-energy claims are eligible for
the JREF prize.

I see here many fevered discussions about what will be done with the JREF
prize, when it's been won. I suggest that you win it, first, then do with it
what you will.

As we've tried to get across to you, there is never any "judging" procedure
needed or invoked; the results of any testing procedure have to be
self-evident. For example, if Steorn gets its machine working as advertised,
they win, you see? No judge has to decide that, because it simply WORKED!
What's not clear about that.?

That's it. The woo-woos will continue to carry on, and I don't care. Steorn
has not produced the evidence, they refuse to do so, and they've retreated.
So be it.

James Randi.

I'm curious about this JREF prize, but the link above to the Randi site did not disclose the details of the prize.  Randi writes:

And yes, any and all ... free-energy claims are eligible for
the JREF prize.

Can anyone help with the detailed criteria to meet for this prize?  (and a link?)[/b]
Thanks!

[Omnibus]

Randi is the biggest woo-woo of all. On the other hand why won't Steorn do that? One of the conditions should be for them to publish what they claim in Nature and in Physical Review Letters and have other labs reproduce it. Why don't Steorn ask Randi to assist in that. Nature, at least, listens to him.

Of course, as I said earlier, nothing can beat presenting a self-sustaining device, a device even an uneducated person such as Randi can understand. It's too bad scientific judgement nowadays is in the hands of the uneducated hiring the knowledgeable to express opinions they can always ignore.

[neptune]

I fail to understand why so many people want to discredit James Randi . In my opinion his letter speaks for itself .He is a man of integrity and honesty who does not suffer fools gladly . I have spent much time studying this man .As he says , show me a working machine and I will give you the money .How can you not understand that ?

[Omnibus]

I fail to understand why so many people want to discredit James Randi . In my opinion his letter speaks for itself .He is a man of integrity and honesty who does not suffer fools gladly . I have spent much time studying this man .As he says , show me a working machine and I will give you the money .How can you not understand that ?

You fail to understand, right? Then read again the last sentence of my last post. The guy has no idea what constitutes a "working machine" even. His is a pathetic enterprise which should have never existed had science and its mechanisms of assessment the reality of claims functioned properly.