In the earlier Sheehan paper abstract, I was struck by the fact that this would be possible to achieve perpetual motion, if one could find an almost perfect mirror reflector of IR (gold works well to 1.5 microns). Does anyone have the full paper?
Funny thing - they mention a Crookes radiometer with alternating blades of Rh and W - but was the spinner inside a mirrored sphere with a partial vacuum of hydrogen gas? The Rh would heat the W by conduction at the axis, and the vanes would spin because of the differential emission. The loss is manageable with a good reflector, and hydrogen bond asymmetry provides the gain - but since they did not mention it - apparently they did not get that far. Perpetual motion would be the result, but did they actually see it? From: David Roberson This result seems reasonable since a hot black body can emit IR radiation from its surface. This process is in effect changing internal thermal heat energy into radiation energy which can be harnessed to perform work. I have long pondered this apparent loophole. Dave
