They’re back! The guys from Ireland who claim to have created a magnetic machine that generates energy from nothing. It’s a story that refuses to die.

Now the guys have set up a public demo in Dublin. Their failed demo in London a couple of years ago drew widespread ridicule. Now their ‘Orbo’ is spinning and you can watch it live here.

But just as Steorn doesn’t seem to be giving up, the reason to suspect their technology aren’t going away either. And I am not just talking about the scientific laws that say you can’t get energy out of nothing. First their was the failed scientific jury. Steorn built their whole case on attracting a worldwide jury of scientists who where supposed to provide credible validation of the technology. The jury fell apart and no validation was provided. Then there was the highly publicized demo in London which failed because of overheating parts.

Now, there is a new focus of attention for the naysayers. A battery!

Sean McCarthy, Steorn’s CEO describes this as an ‘energy reservoir’ that gets charged from Orbo itself. He says the system produces 3 times more energy than is being put in (in the form of work and heat). But having a battery there just makes one feel as if this just a fancy electric motor.

Regardless of what really is going on with this demo, what bugs me personally with this story is that Steorn gave us the impression that their technology was almost manufacturable and implementation ready three years ago (when they published their famous Economist ad). For example, in a live public chat with Steorn CEO in 2006, he answered my question about the cost of implementing their technology in mobile phones, by saying that he expected the cost to be close the current battery technology being used, which seemed like a confident answer about a technology close to implementation. Three years on, their public demo is a rotating device with a battery that raises questions.

Three yeas ago, Steorn also talked about a water pump in Africa that was supposed to be powered by their technology. What happened to that?

I don’t know. It’s just weird and unclear.

In February 2009 Steorn announced a tour of universities starting in the Middle East. I wonder what they got out of it.

A more detailed blog post about the demo can be found here.