I just watched the 1 hour vid here:
http://pesn.com/2012/08/03/9602151_Bob- ... TeslaTech/
and despite I am not generally sympathetic with the kinds of stuff TeslaTech is into, this looks authentic. Should have its own thread here at T-P.
I'd especially like to note that though this is similar to the situation I normally avoid, where a supposed inventor such as Searl, has no explanation for why they designed what they did, this is not the case here. Papp apparently understood what he was doing. The reason that Rohner has been stumbling around with lower efficiencies and that physicists don't know how to explain what is going on seems to be that Papp took much of his knowledge to the grave.
The single biggest issue here is that this is NOT a heat engine. That's absolutely certain from the video. This nobel gas mixture is expanding and contracting at fantastic speed that cannot be explained through a heat cycle.
I'm surprised no one mentioned use of neutron detectors around the device, etc.
Truly fascinating subject that bears further examination! Even if the nobel gas fuels are too expensive for this to be a viable alternative to things like internal combustion in most places, this is a viable solution to power needs on long robotic deeps space missions. One of these engines could provide dozens or hundreds of kilowatts for decades at a time, without enormous heat rejection panels etc. This is the kind of thing that could enable things like the JIMO mission.
Finally, I think it's important to note the eye-witness testimony here given by the man in the audience who claimed to be a Cal-Tech grad who had had Feynman as an instructor. The account this guys gives is that back when Feynman was present to examine this engine that he could not fathom how it runs (because it is not a heat engine) that Feynman was the one who unplugged part of the electrical control system, whereupon the engine ran wild and exploded killing someone in the audience. It;'s extremely important to note the consequences if this is a true accounting of the event that certainly did end in the death of an observer.
If Feynman had been responsible, then there's every reason to accept how this technology was set aside for decades. The fact Cal-Tech has scrubbed its web site of all accounting of the story is significant. There are a host of authentic details about this issue that seem to explain why this technology has not been much pursued, all centering around the unhappy accident caused by Feynman.
Curiouser and curiouser. . .
I sent Rohner a note asking of they've used a neutron detector to get more info about what sort of reaction they have, and asked whether they've sent out the used gas for analysis to see what sort of reaction products they have.
"Courage is not just a virtue, but the form of every virtue at the testing point." C. S. Lewis