I have been thinking about the situation in the Middle East and also the rise of oil prices, peak oil, and the problem of a world economy based on energy scarcity rather than abundance. There is, I believe, a way to solve the problems in the Middle East, and the energy problems facing the world, at the same time. But it requires thinking “outside the box.”

Middle Eastern nations must take the lead in freeing the world from dependence on their oil. This is not only their best strategy for the future of their nations and their people, but also it is what will ultimately be best for the region and the whole world.

It is inevitable that someone is going to invent a new technology that frees the world from dependence on fossil fuels. When that happens all oil empires will suddenly collapse. Far-sighted, visionary leaders in oil-producing nations must ensure that their nations are in position to lead the coming non-fossil-fuel energy revolution. This is the wisdom of “cannibalize yourself before someone else does.”

Middle Eastern nations should invest more heavily than any other nations in inventing and supplying new alternative energy technologies. For example: hydrogen, solar, biofuels, zero point energy, magnetic power, and the many new emerging alternatives to fossil fuels. This is a huge opportunity for the Middle East not only for economic reasons, but also because it may just be the key to bringing about long-term sustainable peace in the region.

There is a finite supply of oil in the Middle East — the game will and must eventually end. Are Middle Eastern nations thinking far enough ahead about this or not? There is a tremendous opportunity for them if they can take the initiative on this front and there is an equally tremendous risk if they do not. If they do not have a major stake in whatever comes after fossil fuels, they will be left with nothing when whatever is next inevitably happens (which might be very soon).

Any Middle Eastern leader who is not thinking very seriously about this issue right now is selling their people short. I sincerely advise them to make this a major focus going forward. Not only will this help them to improve quality of life for their people now and in the future, but it is the best way to help bring about world peace. The Middle East has the potential to lead a huge and lucrative global energy Renaissance. All it takes is vision and courage to push the frontier and to think outside of the box.

If Middle Eastern nations annually invested hundreds of billions of dollars into research and development of alternative fuels and alternative energy technologies, they could definitely capture and lead the market in post-fossil-fuel energy technologies. They could provide energy itself to the global grid, as well as technologies for utilizing or generating non-fossil-fuel energy such as new kinds of engines or components, generators, batteries, fuel cells, and more.

By doing this, they could achieve two important goals: Their land would no longer be strategically important to other nations and so the foreign military presence in the region would diminish and eventually leave altogether, and secondly, they could ensure a tremendous long-term revenue stream for their nations (via patents, manufacturing, and supply of products). The Middle East could become a world center of excellence in alternative energy. This is really the future of the Middle East. They must sell abundance, not scarcity. They must lead the world in this.

Middle Eastern nations have another huge asset besides what is under the ground — it is what is above the ground — the sun and space itself. They have a lot of open space and a lot of sunlight annually. It is the perfect place to create enormous solar collection farms, and wind farms.  It would also be an ideal location to position rectennas for receiving space-based solar power (via microwave transmission). These are just the near-term opportunities. Longer-term, the Middle Eastern nations should and can develop specialized R&D labs, university programs, and major global corporations to develop, license and sell green energy, and alternative energy technologies to the rest of the world.

There are of course other very difficult political and social issues to resolve — for example the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the rise of Islamic radicalism, corruption, human rights, terrorism, etc. But I believe that the best way to make really positive progress towards resolving these problems is to focus on improving the level of education, economic prosperity and stability, self-esteem, and long-term opportunity in the region.

If the oil issue wasn’t there complicating all of the other problems in the region, it would change the game radically for everyone and might open up a range of new potential solutions that today are not even possible to consider.

My personal belief is that terrorism and war are obsolete and never solve problems. Violence begets violence and that will never lead to peace or prosperity in the Middle East. The solution is economic prosperity, education, human rights, and freedom. With regard to Israel, I believe that peaceful co-existence between Israel and other Middle-Eastern powers can and must be achieved, but that this will be
easier to achieve once the oil issue is off the table. Why? Because once the oil issue is off the table, much of the funding for terrorism will vanish. Similarly much of the foreign interest in a strong military presence in the region will also vanish. This will
significantly de-escalate and de-militarize the conflict for both sides, thus making it more likely that a peaceful, lasting solution can be found.

Ultimately, for a long-term peace in the Middle East to take place, moderates on all sides need to be driving the process. But moderates lead only when civilizations are prosperous and safe — when their people feel they have a good enough quality of life and future that they don’t want to risk losing that. A major step in this direction is to improve the economic situation for lower and middle-class citizens of Middle Eastern countries. People who have happy families, good incomes, and bright futures generally do not want to fight wars or become suicide bombers. Instead of pouring money into terrorism, counter-terrorism, military might, secret weapons, etc, money should be poured into creating and building more opportunity and prosperity for everyday citizens of the Arab world.

Fossil fuels are the real enemy of peace and prosperity worldwide: they are finite, dwindling, and controlled only by a minority as well as outside influences. This must change if peace and prosperity for the Middle East is truly important. In fact, there is a much great opportunity in renewable energy and alternative energy than fossil fuels. We must shift our world from one that is based on control of finite resources, to one that is based on distribution and use of abundant and/or renewable resources. This is the really the best path for the Middle East, and the rest of the world.

A group of physicists at MIT have come up with a new model for beaming wireless power to mobile devices, such as computers or cell phones. It promises to do for power, what wireless ethernet hubs do for network connectivity.

I’ve been interested in wireless power ever since I first read the biography of Nikola Tesla in the early 1990′s. Tesla was perhaps the most important inventor of the 20th century — he singlehandedly invented much of what enables the modern electrical power grid today. He also pioneered radio, and many other technologies. But his greatest dream was wireless power. He believed he had discovered a way to beam electricity to any point on earth and embarked on several ambitious projects to test and commercialize his appraoch. But sadly his projects were never completed due to funding problems and interference by competitors and investors who had conflicting business interests. By the end of his life Tesla was a lonely and forgotten man, feeding pidgeons in the park.  At his death, many of his lab notebooks were confiscated and classified as Top Secret by the US military — never to be seen again — (and at least some this confiscated information was later used as the foundation for the Star Wars particle beam weaponry program). The greatest electrical genius in history was just too far ahead of his own time.

Tesla’s work has still not been fully understood or replicated today. But what remains unclassified is a treasure trove of invention of great relevance to the world we live in today.  In 2003 I blogged an article, called "I Want Wireless Power" outlining why I want this technology. Another great article about this opportunity is here.

OK this is a clip from Fox News, which is not normally a source that I consider to be factual or trustworthy — but it cerrtainly is an interesting story. The video clip profiles an inventor who has developed a novel method of converting water to useful fuel. He powers a welding torch and a car in the video. It’s pretty interesting to watch. What is most strange to me is that although his welding torch can generate enough heat to burn holes in rock, the tip of the torch stays cool enough to touch. Check it out.

The head of the Russian space corporation, Energia, has been quoted as stating that Russia is planning on setting up a permanent mining base on the moon to mine Helium-3. Helium-3 is a non-radioactive isotope of helium that is rare on earth but plentiful on the moon. It is an ideal fuel for nuclear fusion. It can also be used to make next-generation weapons. Some have predicted a new energy frontier focused on helium-3 in the coming century.

Now this is really interesting! New research has found that certain parts of the body emit measurable numbers of photons. This may open up new diagnostic techniques. But that’s just the beginning. Spiritual healers from many different faiths have long said that they experience light coming from their hands, and can feel (and even see) energy from the hands, feet and heads of other people. And of course there’s the classical image of halos around the heads of saints, which can be taken metaphorically, or perhaps literally, in light of this new research. I wonder if the levels of light coming from different people indicates not only health, but perhaps alertness, stress levels, or state of mind. There are many interesting possibilities for this research…

Sept. 6, 2005 — Human hands glow, but fingernails release the
most light, according to a recent study that found all parts of the
hand emit detectable levels of light.

The findings support prior research that suggested most living
things, including plants, release light. Since disease and illness
appear to affect the strength and pattern of the glow, the discovery
might lead to less-invasive ways of diagnosing patients.

Mitsuo Hiramatsu, a scientist at the Central Research Laboratory at
Hamamatsu Photonics in Japan, who led the research, told Discovery News
that the hands are not the only parts of the body that shine light by
releasing photons, or tiny, energized increments of light.

"Not only the hands, but also the forehead and bottoms of our feet
emit photons," Hiramatsu said, and added that in terms of hands "the
presence of photons means that our hands are producing light all of the
time."

The light is invisible to the naked eye, so Hiramatsu and his team used a powerful photon counter to "see"it. 

The detector found that fingernails release 60 photons, fingers
release 40 and the palms are the dimmest of all, with 20 photons
measured.

 
The findings are published in the current Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology B: Biology. 

Hiramatsu is not certain why fingernails light up more than the
other parts of the hand, but he said, "It may be because of the optical
window property of fingernails," meaning that the fingernail works
somewhat like a prism to scatter light.

To find out what might be creating the light in the first place, he
and colleague Kimitsugu Nakamura had test subjects hold plastic bottles
full of hot or cold water before their hand photons were measured. The
researchers also pumped nitrogen or oxygen gas into the dark box where
the individuals placed their hands as they were being analyzed.

Warm temperatures increased the release of photons, as did the
introduction of oxygen. Rubbing mineral oil over the hands also
heightened light levels.

Based on those results, the scientists theorize the light "is a
kind of chemiluminescence," a luminescence based on chemical reactions,
such as those that make fireflies glow. The researchers believe 40
percent of the light results from the chemical reaction that constantly
occurs as our hand skin reacts with oxygen.

Since mineral oil, which permeates into the skin, heightens the
light, they also now think 60 percent of the glow may result from
chemical reactions that take place inside the skin.

Fritz-Albert Popp, a leading world expert on biologically related
photons at The International Institute of Biophysics in Germany, agrees
with the findings and was not surprised by them.

 
Popp told Discovery News, "One may find clear correlations to kind and degree (type and severity) of diseases." 

Popp and his team believe the light from the forehead and the hands
pulses out with the same basic rhythms, but that these pulses become
irregular in unhealthy people. A study he conducted on a muscular
sclerosis patient seemed to validate the theory.

Both he and Hiramatsu hope future studies will reveal more about
human photon emissions, which could lead to medical diagnosis
applications

A new source of inexpensive, renewable energy that depends on a modified form of hydrogen has quantum theorists up in arms: they say it violates the laws of quantum mechanics. The inventors, on the other hand, claim they have extensive proof that it works.

It seems too good to be
true: a new source of near-limitless power that costs virtually
nothing, uses tiny amounts of water as its fuel and produces next to no
waste. If that does not sound radical enough, how about this: the
principle behind the source turns modern physics on its head.

Randell
Mills, a Harvard University medic who also studied electrical
engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, claims to have
built a prototype power source that generates up to 1,000 times more
heat than conventional fuel. Independent scientists claim to have
verified the experiments and Dr Mills says that his company, Blacklight
Power, has tens of millions of dollars in investment lined up to bring
the idea to market. And he claims to be just months away from unveiling
his creation.

This organization has some very cool projects studying exotic new energy devices. Check out their Projects page.

This interesting abstract from CERN proposes a third form of matter that is between matter and antimatter: "unmatter." Interesting idea to track. It could have huge implications if confirmed.

Here is a fascinating article about DARPA’s "high risk, high payoff" quest to develop an exotic new Hafnium bomb — a new kind of weapon that emits huge amounts of gamma rays from a very small package. This thing packs the bang of a conventional nuke in a package as small as a hand grenade — and the gamma ray burst that results can penetrate deep into bunkers and through thick materials. Of course, it would really be a bad idea to toss a Hafnium grenade unless you could run incredibly fast. But that said, Hafnium weapons may be a big part of our future (or who knows, maybe they’re already part of our present?). Beyond military applications, it seems this technology could offer a very promising new non-fossil fuel energy source, if it weren’t so expensive to produce.

If you are interested in alternative energy, here’s something new to look at — a new magnetic motor based on ideas that originated with Nikola Tesla. The makers claim it is an "economical solution for the world’s power and energy needs." Well, we’ve heard that before, but it’s good to keep an open mind — maybe someone will get it right eventually. For more info, see their site, which has a lot more info on how it works.

It’s official, the US Air Force has looked seriously at teleportation. This recently released Air Force report details the history of teleportation science, the present state-of-the-art, as well as several new directions for research and an extensive bibliography. Fascinating reading!

I just received the following internal release from a company that starts alternative energy companies (Magnetic Power, Inc., which I am an investor in). MPI has a number of interesting alternative energy devices under development. My investment was in their superconducting project (ROOTS) — which focuses on room temperature superconducing polymers. But anyway, the article below is about research on magnetic motors — specifically it is news about one of their competitors, Perendev Power, who are now rumored to have a working magnetic motor nearing production. I am not an investor in Perendev Power. Please note that I am not endorsing Perendev Power by posting this — in fact I would caution any investor to be extremely careful when investing in the fringes of alternative energy R&D. I am blogging this release here with permission from MPI. The purpose is to point out that magnetic motor technology seems to be getting ready for “prime time.” Is it perpetual motion? No, it is not based on any violation of the Second Law — it is instead an extremely clever use of magnets to make amazingly efficient motors.

——————————————————————————-
Magnetic Power Inc. – MPI

A fuel-free magnetic motor is invented in South Africa

Michael J. Brady, head of Perendev Power Developments Pty. (Ltd.), a South African firm, after 5 years of experimentation, claims to have developed a 20 Kw magnetic motor driven generator set, requiring no input of any kind. Continental European and Russian market rights have recently been licensed to an undisclosed German firm.

Brady states that a prototype was delivered to Germany in March, and is now undergoing safety tests of the type performed in the U.S. by Underwriter’s Laboratories. Production is slated to begin within 60 days. According to Brady, no external power is required to start the motor, and tests indicate no reduction of magnet strength. Brady alleges that one prototype has run for two months.

Brady’s website is Perendev Power. The site includes a recent rotating prototype, as well as computer simulations of the device.

Magnetic Power Inc. has been following Brady’s work with interest, since similar fuel-free, magnetic devices, are under development in our laboratories. However, unlike Brady’s heavier prototype, several of MPI’s generators are lighter and more compact, having no moving parts, thus more easily adaptable to power homes and vehicles.

While in the past, Brady’s posted production schedule has been overly optimistic, if his current test results are correct, he has proven a principle, and made a major contribution to solving the world’s energy problems with a fuel-free, renewable, alternative.

© 2004 Magnetic Power Inc. All rights reserved.

301A North Main St. P.O. Box 880 Sebastopol CA 95473
office 707 829-9391 cellular 707 280-8210 e-mail mrb@ap.net

Here is a fantastic article on the futuristic physics of Dr. Nikolai A. Kozyrev, the Tesla of Russia. Kozyrev’s theories are only now beginning to be understood. He made fundamental proposals related to zero-point energy (the energy of the quantum vacuum) as well as gravity and “anti-gravity” propulsion, as well as hidden reasons for various similarities in nature. It’s a fascinating must-read; a gold-mine kind of article that connects with many other projects and ideas I am working on, not the least of which is my interest in ZPE (and my secret investment in a stealth ZPE venture). One caveat, this article is definitely “fringe” and subsequent chapters veer off into territory that is interesting but is increasingly speculative. I have an open mind so I’ll consider anything, but I don’t necessarily agree with all of the points therein. My main intent is to point out the article on Kozyrev, a thinker I was not aware of previously but who seems quite important to know about.

An inventor in Japan has designed a new motor that uses cleverly positioned permanent magnets to consume significantly less power than it should, and even to output more power than is put in! But before you dismiss it — read this detailed investigative article. This could be a very important innovation.

Evidence is mounting for the feasibility of desktop personal fusion. The technology is based on using ultrasound to generate and collapse explosive nanobubbles in a liquid, releasing light and heat. Temperatures inside the imploding bubbles reaches 10 million degrees.

Researchers have come up with a new way to split water molecules, based on studying plants. This may provide a new way to produce hydrogen fuel.

An article claims that Bush’s Moon initiative may be motivated by the lunar presence of Helium-3, a better source of fuel for nuclear reactors that just happens to be abundant on the Moon but virtually absent on Earth. The article proposes that whomever has space supremacy controls the near-earth Helium-3 supply and therefore has future energy supremacy as we move towards increasing reliance on nuclear power. Helium-3 could also be used to make weapons perhaps. Could this be what it’s all about? There aren’t a lot of other benefits for going to the Moon — other than perhaps using it as a launchpad for future missions to Mars.

After 160 years the first new technology to generate electricity has been announced. A novel nanotechnology technique for generating electricity has been discovered. It uses the movement of ordinary water! This could be a revolution.