Selectively turn off parts of your Brain

Here is an errie and a bit scary demonstration using strong magnetic fields to selectively disable areas of the brain. They call it therapeutic I can see a somewhat darker use.

Thane Heins' Perepiteia device

I will be the first to admit that I am not the brainiest person going, however I think I have a basic grasp of physics and conservation of energy as well as a working knowledge of thermodynamics. So when someones asks what happens when you put an electrical load on an engine or generator, I have to say that the load is 180 degrees in opposition so the net effect of the load is to slow the whole system down by a factor dependent on the work being done by the system and the load applied. That being said, take a look at Thane Heins' Perepiteia device. Quite simply it is an induction engine with a magnetic core inserted into it rotor. To this engine's rotor is coupled a ring of magnets and facing these magnets are inductor coils. In other words a generator. Anyone that understands basic electricity knows as you spin the engine the magnets will induce a current in the coils. If you hook up a light to the coils, which is a load, you will slow the system down because your causing resistance in the coils. Now the exercise here is, what happens when you put a maximum load on the coils or "shorting" them? This puts infinite resistance on the system from the motor's perspective so that to maintain the same level of "work" more power must be supplied to the engine.

Enter the Perepiteia and a major headache. Remember the only difference in this machine and a generator is that the Perepiteia has an inductive core in the rotor. When the device is started all the coils report voltage - as you would expect. Then when Heins shorts out the coils, instead of slowing down the system as you would expect - the motor speeds up. Heins explains that the coils load is back emf (electro motive force) which is inducted into the engine by way of the inductive core in the rotor, thus strengthening the motor's existing magnetic field.

Oh I hear the BS! and capacitive inductance! cat calls....but I watched the videos of this piece of
black magic in action, I can not see the trick. Check it out, I need an asprin.

Here is the Boing Boing article and a link to the videos of the device in action.

Spacecraft may surf the solar system on magnetic fields

Future spacecraft may surf the magnetic fields of Earth and other planets.

These electrically charged craft would not need rockets or propellant of any kind.

The idea, for this revolutionary propulsion method, is based on the fact that magnetic fields exert forces on electrically charged objects.

To start the process, a satellite could charge itself up in one of two ways – either by firing a beam of charged particles into space, or simply by allowing a radioactive isotope to emit charged particles. Then the charged satellite could then be gently pushed by Earth's rotating magnetic field, enabling it to change orbit and even escape to interplanetary space.

On possible configuration for a satellite would be long, thin filaments, on the other which have a lot of charge-holding surface area. A possible design involves many filaments attached to the spacecraft. The setup would have a rather comical look – because of the static charge, the filaments would stick out in all directions, like newly brushed dry hair.