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NEWSCIENCENEWSCIENCENEWSCIENCE The surges began about one month THE POTENTIAL OF VACUUM In 1993, Daniel Cole of IBM in before the quake, and lasted for about a ENERGY Vermont, and Harold Puthoff of the month afterwards. Free energy—the ‘holy grail' of modern Institute for Advanced Studies in Austin, The drawback is that these low-frequen- physics—could well be within reach, Texas, published calculations showing that, cy waves travel for only about 15 kilome- according to several scientists who claim in principle, both heat and other energy tres through the ground, meaning that there is indeed a loophole in the so-called forms could be generated "from nothing” earthquake detectors need to be spaced Law of Conservation of Energy. using the Casimir Force between two con- According to quantum theory, the 'vacu- ducting plates. The problem was that the um! of space is not entirely empty, and the amount of energy that could be extracted uncertainty principle implies that the uni- was extremely small. verse is jam-packed with subatomic parti- Dr Puthoff is now exploring the idea of cles and anti-particles which constantly pop using huge numbers of microscopic plates into and out of existence, during which collapsing in on each other, and then col- time they give rise to “vacuum energy”. lecting the resulting power before the But cosmologists studying the origin of _ plates actually touch. the universe have had to concede that the Meantime, Arthur C. Clarke, the noted "Big Bang" theory violates the Law of — science fiction writer, is developing his closely together to be of any value. The Earth's magnetic field also often experiences wild fluctuations for the 48 hours before an earthquake or volcanic eruption, but this is not really useful infor- mation for an earthquake early-warning system, either. No one knows why a geological fault should produce electromagnetic waves, although there are varying theories. Conservation of Energy as it cannot own vacuum-energy extraction device. Another researcher who has suggested ex nJain where all that heat and matter came While details are scant, apparently it is a that earthquakes have electromagnetic pre- fromm in the first place. free-energy conduit shaped like a metal cursors is the Greek scientist, Panayiotis Jy _1957, scientists at the Philips drainpipe. Varotsos, of the University of Athens, who Research Laboratories proved the existence © When asked to explain, the visionary has made the controversial claim that short- of yacuum energy. They demonstrated that _ said, "It's too big to talk about... The world lived electric currents, lasting an hour at by bringing two highly polished metal _ as we know it, the fossil fuel era, is coming most, can herald a quake several weeks plates together, a force magically appears to an end. If we can make this break- later. (See NEXUS, Global News, vol. 2 between them, bringing them closer. They through, it will be the story of the century. no. 27, Aug-Sept 1995.) concluded that this so-called Casimir Force All hell will break loose.” (Source: New Scientist, 23-30 December was created by the seething sea of the vac- (Source: The Sunday Telegraph [UK], 31 ——___— £095) um hammering on the plates. December 1995) 45 42 ¢ NEXUS SOR ne