"Hurricane Katrina produced more energy than all the power stations on Earth combined" (news article)

• Heat
• Basic Physics
• 100% Relative Humidity
• Adiabatic Heating and Lapse Rates in Cyclones
• The Tropopause, Above and Below
• Hot Towers
• Microbursts
• Two Mechanisms for Cyclone Genesis
• How Sublimation contributes to a Paradox 

Heat

The temperature gradient that initially drives a storm is miniscule when compared to the temperatures used in industrial power production. For efficiency, industry strives for a 1000 degrees or more to drive it's generators but the largest storm commonly works on no more than  20^oC-30^oC . How is this so?  To top

Basic Physics.

According to Boyle's Law, as free-flowing air is heated within the atmosphere, it's volume expands by a small amount. (ie ~1/270th/ per degree centigrade.) Thus, an increase in air temperature of 27^oC will cause the volume of the air to increase by10%. This modest expansion is enough to make the air lighter and then rise by convection.

However, when water expands to vapour, it expands by a factor of 1700. Whilst water and water vapour make up only a small percentage of air they are by far the most significant mechanism in driving what we call our weather.

The main ingredient in driving the increasing wind speed and the intensity of any storm is condensation which can occur with an  almost instantaneously drop in atmospheric pressure should a vortex be initiated.  To top

In a desert,  the dry air will heat rapidly in the morning and the volume of the air may increase by 20% over the period of an hour as the tempersture goes from 0^oC-50^oC.  And at night, as it cools, the process is reversed. However, the presence of water vapour changes the whole process, slowing the heating proces and generally keeping temperatures more even. However, with high temperaturs and a high moisture content, the situation can change dramatically.

More vapour increases the air's volume and makes it lighter. As the air rises the air will cool and relative humidity increases, making the air increasingly unstable until, at 100% humididty, even the smallest disturbance can potentially trigger the so-called 'Butterfly Effect', the vortex phenomenon that can trigger a storm. 

When the air is super-saturated, the smallest vortex will trigger a  'positive feedback mechanism' that can turn all the available vapour into condensate or liquid water. This collapse can flow through the whole air mass within seconds turning vapour into condensate. On a hot and humid afternoon the air's volume could potentially reduce by 40% within minutes once the trigger is effected.  To top

100% Relative Humidity

As the temperature of the air drops, relative humidity rises until the dew point is reached. At that point, the volumetric collapse of vapour to liquid condensate will potentially cause an inflow that may ultimately trigger a storm. The storm may be an isolated event but it can also develop along a frontal system as a Cool Change

As a Cool Change becomes established, relative humidity rises and as more vapour condenses, a positive feedback cycle becomes established that will continue until all the available moisture is drawn in and condensed. In just minutes, in coastal cities like Sydney and Melbourne, a cool change will typically whip up high winds and cause air temperatures to plummet by as much as 20^oC in a matter of minutes. The heavy rain that commonly accompanying these events can cause significant local flooding.  To top

Adiabatic Heating and Lapse Rates in Cyclones

As air rises it expands and the adiabatic process of pressure reduction with height allows the air to cool. As it descends, air pressure increases and the process acts in reverse. These effects vary very significantly depending on the vapour content of the air.  The Lapse Rate of Dry Air (DALR) is a constant 9.8^oC/1000m (ie for all intents and purposes,10^oC/km) and applies mainly to air in or drawn down from the Stratosphere. In stark contrast, the Wet Air Lapse Rate (WALR) of 6.5^oC/km* applies to most of the air in the temperate regions within the lower atmosphere or Troposphere. the region mostly affected by weather. [*The WALR.is technically a variable but in reality and for various reasons varies very little across a wide humidity range]

 Any event that causes dry air to be drawn down from the Stratosphere will heat at the DALR (ie 10^oC/1000m) which is far higher than the WALR  normally associated with the air of the tropopause though which it will pass.  Should  the eye of a cyclone cause an incursion of dry air from the Stratosphere into the lower regions of the atmosphere it will potentially have a quite dramatic effect, adding vast amounts of heat to the wet air through which it passes. Indeed, the author believes this is precisely how a cyclone gains much of its power.

Air drawn down from just below the Tropopause (at say 10,000m) will heat as it descends at the WALR ( 6.5^oC/km) by 65^oC. However,  dry air from the Stratosphere just above will heat 50% faster (ie by 100^oC), . Although mixing and radiation could be expected to mitigate the extremes, the heat gained adiabatically within the heart of an IRV nevertheless becomes a major potential contributor to cyclonic weather systems. Potentially adding gigawatts to the energy potential of this unique type of storm, cyclones are clearly a major player in reducing global warming. To top

The Tropopause, Above and Below

At the Tropopause  the temperature remains a constant -56^oC. In both directions, both above and below this imaginary demarcation line, the temperature gradually increases. Below the Tropopause, in the lower atmosphere (ie the Troposphere), the atmosphere is dynamic. And, until the recent discovery of Hot Towers, the atmosphere above the Tropopause was always considered essentially inactive or static. To top

Hot Towers

Whilst the water to ice phase-change also involves a significant energy exchange and the possible release of electrical discharges, it involves only a negligibly small change in volume. However, ice particles can  trigger massive condensation and they thus play a significant role in the development of major storms. Dumps of icy cold air from so-called 'Hot Towers'  (see sidebar 4) are of particular relevance in cyclone genesis. To top

Microbursts

Commercial aircraft have been brought down on a number of occasions by the occurrence of a microburst from a major storm cell. Strong and impressively powerful downdrafts of cold air from the base of a thunderstorm can rob an aircraft of lift. The danger is especially critical as it comes in to land. It is thought that microbursts occurring over the sea, possibly as a result of a Hot Tower, are strongly linked to cyclone genesis.

Two Mechanisms for Cyclone Genesis

The eye of a cyclone is an inverted ring vortex (ie an externally-driven IRV). The IRV requires a very specific trigger mechanism to get started and is normally only seen in a cyclone's eye within an encirdling ring of conventional storms.

1. The recently identified 'Hot Towers', seen (by satellite thermal imaging cameras) just prior to cyclone formation  would seem to provide the most likely mechanism for cyclone genesis. As the Hot Tower looses its upward momentum and collapses back below the Troposphere, the (now frozen) vapour particles and hail may gain sufficient momentum to trigger a microburst and the formation of an inverted ring vortex (IRV).

2..An alternative mechanism could possibly be provided by the known process of vortex decay that occurs when a conventional NRV is tilted for more than a few seconds. Such tilting would almost certainly occur if  an NRV should collide with the tilted base of a  Tropical Depression and could equally well result in ice and frigid air being  dumped into the sea.

It would seem entirely possible that either or both mechanisms in unison could contribute to cyclone genesis. To top

How Sublimation contributes to a Paradox

In the overall global circulation of the atmosphere (and in arctic storms) the sublimation of ice directly to vapour is a major factor but can largely be ignored in the context of the basic research. However, it may be of consideratble significance in the longer term if global warming melts the (north) polar ice sheet.

Air flowing northward from the south pole is affected by gravity to flow down from the high antarctic plateau. Air flowing south from the North pole is floating on the sea and is thus not flowing downhill and circulation toward the equator occurs less strongly, simply to replace the warm air lifting in storms at low latitudes. The circulation in the two hemispheres is thus clearly quite different.

In so-called 'normal' conditions the cold, dry air at the arctic will still pick up some moisture from the ice and over time this will generate storms, as occur in the Antarctic. However, the situation can be expected to change significantly if global warming melts the polar ice at the North Pole each summer.

With open water, the volume of vapour released is 20x greater than when the sea is frozen and will inevitably generate far more snow than is considered the norm. Ergo, Global warming in the Northern Hemisphere creates more open water in summer and (apparently paradoxically), open water in the summer could potentially create a Northern Hemisphere Ice Age. By the obvious and quite simple mechanism, blizzards in the Fall generate vastly more snow than would have occurred had the sea been frozen over all year.

That an Ice Age could be a result of Global Warming may seem paradoxical but is easily understood within what is already known about the circulation globally within each hemisphere.

The various weather events of storm, cyclone, tornado and waterspout are all triggered by quite different basic phenomena and I saw learning how to make each one as basic to developing the methods to control, harness and utilise the power they each are able to develop. In the event, it involved two quite different basic techniques and a range of possible approaches, depending upon the specific application.

To top

In principle, the ACE Mechanism is an artificial trigger for starting a cyclone, the most powerful of all Nature's storms. The cyclone, also known as a hurricane or typhoon, is the only phenomenon within Nature with the innate ability to continuously generate a totally sustainably supply of fresh water and clean energy from the open sea at any latitude. As the  key to a long-hidden secret door, the ACE Mechanism could soon allow access to an inexhaustible supply of fresh water and clean energy.

Although highly sophisticated, the basic technology is nevertheless surprisingly simple and could be used night or day, almost anywhere on the planet to make fresh water and clean energy available to anyone who needs it. Unlike all the other types of storm, once established, a cyclone no longer has any need for a continuing supply of warm water or vapour to keep it going, it will continue producing both, without any help for as long as it remains over open water and its vortex remains unbroken

The story revealed here is of the rediscovery of a long lost technology that could change our world forever and to explain why this extraordinary knowledge has remained hidden for so long. I've included some rather curious background information that may help.

A Basic Truth

250 years after the start of the Industrial Revolution, ‘global warming’ has finally awakened us to the rather obvious fact that a truly sustainable future cannot possibly lie with fossil fuels, nor can it lie with nuclear fission since it too relies upon a non-renewable and strictly finite resource. There is only one possible resource that could potentially meet all of our needs and clearly that answer lies with Solar but not in any form we might presently recognise.

The hard-to-accept reality is that if Solar, as a technology, is to meet our every-growing energy needs then it must be developed in a form that is available anywhere to everyone, all year round and 24/7.

Of the popularly promoted and available and sustainable energy alternatives, Solar, at best, is only available when the wind blows or the sun shines. Tidal energy has the insurmountable problem of slack water. and geothermal is too unpredictable and costly to establish to ever fill the gap, except in places like Iceland, These are critical factors that mean they can never be taken seriously in supplying our basic energy requirements.

We need something better. We need a technology to extract energy from the one and only inexhaustible reserve of clean, sustainable solar energy anywhere on our planet that has the clear potential, day or night, to meet all our possible requirements for both energy and fresh water. We need a technology to extract energy from the sea. The only question that remains is “How can it best be achieved?"

Perhaps surprisingly, all we needed to tap into this global and inexhaustible supply was to study Nature, study the weather and look to the mysteries of our distant past.

Nature’s storms have been producing a virtually unlimited supply of power and fresh water since the oceans first formed, a time long before even life had emerged. If we now copy and/or enhance the best in Nature, then within a decade all the clean energy we could ever possibly need could be made available to >80% of our global population. And the rest would follow on in short order.

And, astounding as it might seem, there is a blueprint of precisely how to go about it laid out in exquisite detail in evidence that can still be deciphered in the ruins of the earliest advanced cultures on our planet. These highly developed cultures were the first to develop the more advanced forms of atmospheric ring vortex technology (ARVT or simply RVT) and, in many cases, all they left behind to do no more than prove they existed, are miles of desert and a number of incredibly massive pyramids. Soon to be on its way to a city near you, RVT comes in two distinct flavours and is based entirely upon exploiting the natural physical differentials in energy that are found within our environment throughout the world. From controlling local and regional climate, to a complete ‘alternative’ energy resource, the details of this lost technology can most easily be described by my leading you on a short study tour of four of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The first and the last of these ancient wonders define the technology and the two in the middle demonstrate just a little about its ultimate scope and its truly immense power and potential.

The 1^st Ancient Wonder, the Great Pyramids at Giza.

The Great Pyramids at Giza are collectively the oldest and only remaining of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. They are also without doubt the initial and principal key to these revelations but their study merely opened the door to further mysteries that were ultimately uncovered by my reveloping a model of the Pharos Lighthouse at Alexandria, the last of the Seven Ancient Wonders.

In his book “Our Inheritance in the Great Pyramid”, Englishman and 'Astronomer Royal of Scotland', Charles Piazzi Smyth first defined the incredible precision of the Great Pyramid, describing it as “accurate to within 8 inches”. His book was a massive best seller of its time (1865) and, in direct consequence, to this day, Smyth's definition is still commonly quoted and widely accepted as totally accurate even by those who should perhaps know better.

Around 2000, I happened to get into discussion with a noted uni professor and leader of a major field research project at Giza, about their knowledge of the extraordinary precision in the construction of the pyramids. (I withhold their name. to give them the courtesy they failed to show me). I asked them for their response to what to me at that time was new but highly reliable evidence that Smyth was in error and that the pyramid was indeed far more accurate than he (Smyth) had defined 'by an order of magnitude'. In response, the eminent professor told me in no short order that I was clearly mistaken and I was summarily dismissed from further debate. I got no response either, when I later sent them chapter and verse from arguably the most eminent and reliable of sources, Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie.

Unfortunately, as proven by Flinders Petrie in 1881, (and later confirmed by JH Cole in 1925), the egotistical Smyth had promoted a number of grave errors that were to have the direst of consequences of truly historic proportions but not in any way that anyone is/was or would ever be likely to predict. [ Author's Note: Some of Smyth's errors were also discovered by myself in the mid-1960's and were in fact almost entirely responsible for my independent course of research over the next 50 years, research that providentially ultimately lead to the discoveries now being discussed.]

In his 1883 book, “Pyramids and Temples at Gizeh (sic)”,Petrie defined the true precision as being 12x more accurate than is (still) commonly thought but, due to the strangest of circumstances (see "The Greatest Fraud in History? - or innocent Misdirection', elsewhere on this site ) that truth remained hidden for well over 100 years. This misdirection has seen science totally miss critical knowledge that would otherwise almost certainly have revealed this technology 150 years earlier.

Whilst Smyth had defined something that for the majority was already almost beyond belief, Petrie went further and showed that in fact Smyth’s description had seriously under-stated the precision of the Great Pyramid by significantly more than an order of magnitude, a fact that no one within academia appeared to notice or consider in any way significant.

The error in scale and achievement is somewhat like passing off the Hubble telescope as simply a magnifying glass. A magnifying glass can certainly provide revelations but it cannot rationally be compared to the mind-blowing achievement or scale of the Hubble telescope.

Flinders Petrie was later knighted (in 1934) as ‘the father of scientific methodology in Archaeology’ but the long-term suppression of his extraordinary early discoveries at Giza has undoubtedly delayed their full appreciation by at least 150 years.

Arguably, it can still be shown that, its original condition, the Great Pyramid was by far the most massively perfect and accurate structure ever built on our planet, bar none. It was perfectly aligned to the earth’s axis (and is still within 1/200th degree) but was originally sheathed with a highly reflective (possibly gilded) surface of polished marble that was removed in the 14^th century to rebuild Cairo after a major earthquake.

However, it is notable that even the subsurface blocks still remaining were shown (by Petrie) to have a mean error (or accuracy) in their alignment of 1/8^th inch (4mm) or better. We can never truly know how accurate the original surface was but it can hardly have been less precise than the extraordinary precision of the foundation structure underneath, that even after 4500 years, still approaches perfection. [NB It is further estimated that at least a half of the tiny measurable error in alignment that now exists (~1/200 degree) can be put down to movement of the earth’s tectonic plates.]

Clearly, when first built, each polished and slightly concave face of the Great Pyramids was at least as accurate as the blocks of the core that still remain. Clearly too, it was as close to perfect as it was possible to achieve and was used as a four-sided optical instrument to focus sunlight for reasons that no one truly understood or comprehended for a great many centuries.

The 2^nd Great Pyramid is still commonly ignored because of its slightly-less-than-perfect construction when compared to its partner. However, it did have some further very evidential refinements in the construction techniques used (see my 2002 book "The Perfect Pyramid") and it was clearly built as an effective ‘twin’ in its perfectly matching total elevation and other dimensions. In modern parlance it can now be shown the second pyramid quadrupled the total effectiveness of the base technology, creating a “Virtual pyramid" with a base measurement of around 500m, more than 4x as large as the single, initial structure. This “virtual pyramid’ passively and largely automatically affected the local climate to create regular and massive thermal activity in the atmosphere and significant rain along the borders of the Sahara, the largest and hottest desert on earth.

Massive water erosion has recently been discovered around the base of the Sphinx, a structure contemporary with the pyramids and a part of the same complex. The erosion is near-to-positive proof of a massive increase in local rainfall that obviously occurred in the time since these structures were all built.There would otherwise appear to be no logical explanation for this erosion although, in an ironic twist, this same evidence has been argued as proof the Sphinx must be 50,000 - 1000,000 years older than the pyramids.

Proving a negative is difficulty at best and, 4500 years after its construction, proving the truth of a long-lost but passive technology is next to impossible, especially one that is so simple in its basic concept. However, two negatives make a positive and the true purpose of the ‘Great’ and the ‘Second’ pyramids can now be defined somewhat more conclusively by looking back from the next great leap in solar technology taken 2000 years later, around 300BCE at Alexandria in Egypt.

Ancient Wonders 2 and 3

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon

The link in chronology might be thought a little tenuous but it appears the famous Hanging Gardens of Babylon may give us a marker tying to an early part of pyramid technology that pre-dates the Egyptian period by a significant margin. The Sumerians who built the Hanging Gardens apparently appeared from nowhere around 4500BCE and they built at least one ziggurat close to every town across Sumer, (later Mesopotamia or modern day Iraq). Ziggurats are an ancient or early form of the stepped pyramid and it is also widely accepted that the Hanging Gardens may have been in the form of a ziggurat that was later covered in a tiered façade of greenery.

TheTemple of Jupiter at Baal Bek

Perhaps more conclusive, is evidence of the scale and/or power of these lost technologies as seen beneath the Roman Temple of Jupiter at Baal Bek. The interest here is not the Roman temple per se, but in the platform upon which it was built. Apparently  dating from a much earlier period, the platform consists of 27 massive blocks of stone, all estimated to weigh in excess of 400 tonnes. The three largest, now known as the Trilithon, are each estimated to weigh well in excess of 800 tonnes.

Although larger weights can now be lifted, it requires the largest cranes in the world and occurs as a straight, vertical dead-lift and the Trilithon can still claim the three largest blocks ever transported over land and we still have no idea about how it was done, or why. It may even have been done purely as an example to future generations of what was physically possible all that time ago by a long-lost civilisation. The fact that a larger 1200-tonne block, the ‘Stone of the South’ still remains in the original quarry, unmoved (and possibly unmovable) gives some credibility to this interpretation.

Ancient Wonder No 4, the 7th Wonder of the Ancient World, The Pharos Lighthouse at Alexandria.

The Pharos Lighthouse and the closely associated projects of the Alexandria Canal and the double harbour at Alexandria (still one of the largest artificial harbours in the world) were all built at around the same time and all can now be shown as being individual parts of a more advanced and pro-active form, of the same technology as seen in the pyramids.  A reconstruction reveals the Pharos was principally designed to trigger and sustainably harness the physical phenomenon of the cyclone’s eye in order to provide the new city of Alexandria with a year round supply of clean fresh water.

Only from my earlier experience with the very similar but passive technology of the pyramids has it been possible to recognise piece together the far more complex and intricate subtleties of the Pharos project but they now provide an extraordinary level of proof by cross-referencing between them.

In the ultimate analysis it seems both projects made use of atmospheric ring vortexes but they did do so in totally different ways. Whilst the technology of the pyramids can certainly be enhanced it is essentially and almost exclusively a very simple and passive technology. However, the known existence of a viaduct at Alexandria clearly suggested (to me) the Pharos may (or even must?) have produced fresh water. Reverse engineering then revealed the rest of the technology at an ever-increasing and quite extraordinary pace.

Further research and the construction of a 1:100 model have since allowed me to deduce and largely replicate this ancient and potentially immensely powerful technology. It seems that over two or more millennia, the Ancient Egyptians first developed a passive solar technology with the potential to influence the weather and that later they developed it further as an active technology with the potential to extract unlimited fresh water (and energy) from the sea. Ultimately, this technology would seem to have the potential to totally take charge of our global climate and supply us with unlimited fresh water and energy.

The Keys to Unlimited Fresh Water and Clean Energy

• A Dream no more
• A Case to be Made
• Whirlpools of Complexity
• A Basis in Practical Research
• Re-addressing Chaos Theory
• Testing the Principle
• The Normal and the Inverted Ring Vortex
• More on the NRV v IRV
• Basic Concepts
• Potential Unlimited
• Two for the Price of One
• High Flying Potential
• Introducing the ACE Mechanism
• The ACE Mechanism in an Aircraft
• From Cyclone Prevention to...
• ...Automatic Climate Control
• Getting Back to Nature

A Dream no more

Tests on a series of models have revealed in exquisite detail the basic secrets of what appears to be a sophisticated and remarkably complete ‘Alternative Technology’, well matched to meeting the requirements of a modern high-rise urban society. The viaduct alone (see the image above) is powerful evidence the building produced fresh water and, with only minimal adjustments, suggests that variations of the exact same techniques could equally well provide continuous and unlimited electrical power and/or propel an entirely new type of VTOL aircraft with virtually unlimited capabilities in load, speed and range. The reverse form of this same technology will also once again find use in potentially mitigating the devastation caused by major land-based weather events like tornados.

Since time immemorial people have dreamt of harnessing or controlling storms that occur at every latitude. Now, by reverse engineering from the ancient evidence I have recovered a library of long lost technologies and can demonstrate, at least in principle, how those ancient dreams can become reality. In essence it's all about reinventing the past and taking control of the most powerful atmospheric phenomena seen in Nature, storms, waterspouts, cyclones and of course tornados.

From observations of the weather, by deduction and by trial and error over the last 10 years, I have pieced together evidence from the past that has allowed me to gradually recover an ancient technology that will make it possible for anyone, anywhere on earth to extract free energy and fresh water from the atmosphere at any time.

Based somewhat on the principle of the so-called 'Butterfly Effect, the exact same phenomena that Nature employs can be triggered artificially in an entirely controlled manner. Once started, assuming suitable conditions prevail, these effects could clearly be made to provide a continuous supply of power and fresh water. To top

It has long been assumed that copying how Nature extracts energy from the air was either impossible or would required unlimited power. However, the infamous 'Butterfly Effect' from Chaos Theory rather suggested otherwise. Indeed, it now seems that by triggering the quite basic effects seen every day in Nature, it is entirely possible to bring the weather and possibly our whole climate under effective human control with the simplest, the oldest and the most enigmatic form of technology known to Man, one that links to the earliest evidence of civilisation, the 43,500 (identified) ancient pyramids, found on every continent and on strategic islands right around the world.

The ability to control the vortex phenomena of our weather will provide numerous additional benefits. Unlimited energy and fresh water is a given but it also includes a super-efficient VTOL aircraft that harnesses the lifting force so often demonstrated to deadly effect in tornados.

Of possibly even greater significance, is that all of this technology was almost certainly used before in the distant past. Indeed, it's recovery is based on my study of evidence left over by ancient civilisations around the world who essentially left behind a blueprint from which to work. By applying the techniques of reverse enginering to evidence at a thousand ancient sites, the knowledge is simply waiting to be re-applied. To top

A Case to be Made

Everyone knows that our weather is solar powered and simple observation soon reveals that various vortexes and vortex combinations are the primary mechanism driving every major storm. The difficulty has been in understanding the many possibilities and  work out how they affect the events we see every day in the weather. It was then necessary to work out how they might be harnessed and artificially controlled.

Starting with evidence from the Great Pyramid, the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, further illumination has come to light, somewhat appropriately, from a study of the last of those Seven Ancient Wonders, the Pharos Lighthouse at Alexandria. In every sense, these two ancient and monolithic structures have revealed in exquisite detail the scale of the use of this technology in the distant past. I am now able to define in some significant detail, exactly how these buildings worked and why. And its all about atmospheric ring vortexes, those oddly fascinating phenomena we commonly know as smoke rings. To top

Whirlpools of Complexity

There are two types of vortex, the ring and the linear. They commonly interact and are frequently found in any number of different orientations and combinations. Both types can rotate internally in either direction and can be produced in either a conventional or inverted orientation.

All vortexes require a trigger mechanism to get them started but once started the ring vortex in particular can continue to grow and grow and grow, often from the smallest of beginnings, as proverbially suggested by the scenario of the so-called 'Butterfly Effect'. To top

I have now developed an understanding of the various mechanisms and how they apply in all the major events of our weather, covered in more detail in 'How the Weather Works'. I have also developed techniques to harness and control a vortex combination not found in Nature. (The closest to it is that scourge of aviators known as windshear or a 'microburst'). More specifically, these elements produce a miniature form of the phenomena we know as the eye of a cyclone, the central element of the most powerful of all storms.

As demonstrated in the Pharos Lighthouse at Alexandria, my final construct, the ACE* Mechanism, makes use of a phenomena too unstable to occur spontaneously in Nature, an inverted form of the tornado funnel (or 'normal' linear vortex, NLV). This Inverted Linear Vortex or ILV, is produced artificially by combining a number of factors that in Nature quite normally affect air pressure and humidity. In this case they are produced and controlled by the ACE Mechanism.

When used in the appropriate combination, these elements trigger the core event of the eye of a cyclone, the Inverted Ring Vortex (IRV). The mechanism is driven by two of Nature's most powerful vortex phenomena the tornado (now inverted) and the closed ring of convection essential to sustaining the inverted ring voertex (IRV). This unique combination offers free energy, free water and a new type of aircraft propulsion that draws on the power potential of the tornado. *ACE, for Atmospheric Cyclone Event. To top

The most significant mechanism involved is the ring vortex or, more specifically, the horizontal ring vortex (HRV). The ring vortex is only completely stable when formed horizontally but can be produced in either the 'normal' (NRV) or 'inverted' (IRV) forms. The HRV provides the amplification essential for all useful applications and the precise way in which this extraordinary phenomena achieves its magic has been the basis of my research.for the past 5 years. However, whilst the HRV is by far the most important phenomena in producing sustainable and usable power, it is in the development of methods to control it with a linear vortex that the secret lies in providing the means to its control.

In Nature the common (normal) Ring Vortex (NRV) is ubiquitous. It occurs spontaneously as a result of convection and is the major engine behind almost every type of storm*. The alternative form, the Inverted Ring Vortex (IRV) is only witnessed in Nature in wind shear and microburst events and within the eye of a cyclone where it drives the largest of all.nature's storms, the dreaded cyclone, known also in different places as the typhoon or hurricane. *the one exception is the smaller of the two types of tornado (more on this elsewhere) To top

Ultimately, as will be shown, it is the inverted form of the HRV, the IRV, as seen in the eye of a cyclone, that is the key to unlocking the secret energy of the atmosphere. Evidence recently analysed suggests the IRV was used in the distant past and now, once again, it is being made available with what (to us) is a new technology.

The secrets of this long-lost technology are written in the evidence left over from our past, most especially in the technology of the Great Pyramid and the Lighthouse of Alexandria, the two largest and most enigmatic of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. To top

With a suitable supply of energy, once it is started, even the smallest HRV can continue growing exponentially to become a major storm, a concept widely recognised within Chaos Theory as the basis of the so-called 'Butterfly Effect'. In the ultimate scenario, as its name suggests the mere 'flapping of the wings of a butterfly' could be enough to utimately trigger a major storm. It has become a basic element of my original hypothesis to replace these butterflies with something a little more practical.

By combining Chaos Theory with a better understanding of Horizontal Ring Vortexes the keys are now to hand to unlock the unlimited FREE energy and fresh water available everywhere within our earth's atmosphere. Both the energy and the water are available as a part of the entirely natural physical balance occuring within a planetary climatic system like Earth's, that is based specifically on the phase-change properties of ice, water and water vapour. This newly recovered technology will serve to mimic Nature as the ultimate form of Solar Power technology. To top

A Basis in Practical Research

From building a series (of around 100) practical models of the vortex phenomena seen in our weather, I’ve discovered the extraordinary role played in every major storm by the horizontal ring vortex (HRV). The HRV is most commonly recognised as a smoke ring or infamous 'mushroom' cloud but in the natural phenomena of our weather an additional, highly significant ingredient is introduced. That magic ingredient is simply water vapour. In conditions of high Relative Humidity, the basic HRV evolves into the natural energy amplifier of the vast majority of the recognised major weather events. To top

By creating a pressure differential, atmospheric vortexes extract energy from the water vapour held naturally in the air. When formed in a horizontal ring (whether in the 'normal' or 'inverted' form) such a vortex  becomes the primary driving force behind the creation of all major storm activity.

There is now every reason to believe these effects can be triggered artificially and more or less at will. As suggested in the 'Butterfly Effect' scenario, the appropriate triggers are obviously more easily effected in conditions of high relative humidity. However, once started the exact same phenomena can still potentially produce usable energy wherever vapour or vapour-making effects can be created. In the most extreme example, as commonly referenced in ads and articles (about the application of commercial heat pumps), the energy to heat your office or your home can in theory be extracted even from ice and snow.

My research suggests Horizontal Ring Vortexes (HRVs) could well provide our civilisation with the basic solution to some of its greatest problems: a cheap, effective and entirely sustainable method of gaining access to unlimited clean energy and clean, fresh, potable water. The technology can make both clean water and clean energy freely available anywhere within the atmosphere or sea. In an ironic twist, this is the exact same source responsible for global warming. To top

Re-addressing Chaos Theory.

Controlling the weather is clearly all about introducing the right influences at the appropriate point in space and time to trigger the desired effects. Of course, with our modern engineering capabilities, we can replace the butterflies with something more effective but the basic principle remains and, to extend the allegory, if we can efficiently control the 'butterflies' we can certainly control the weather.

Producing the desired effects obviously requires the application of an appropriate force, applied either automatically and/or by a deliberate and specific act. In the majority of situations on land, effective control could potentially be achieved entirely automatically with basically passive structures, designed to trigger the appropuriate ring vortex. The most obvious of these structures in the past included the pyramids but also potentially include minarets, stupas, zigurats and pagodas. However, at sea, where the majority of major storms originate, a different technique is required. To top

Artificially producing rain in a desert obviously requires a significant regional source of (sea?)water, some heat and (preferably) a relatively massive trigger mechanism to get things started. In the opposite situation, where extreme storms (ie tornados) are the main problem (as occurs in the central states of the USA), a large number of quite small trigger mechanisms will arguably serve more appropriately. Where extremely humid air can be mixed with a layer of colder and/or dryer air, a large number of small trigger mechanism units (most recognisably pyramids) could set off numerous much smaller storms to pre-empt the build-up over time of potentially far more dangerous conditions.

Perhaps surprisingly, I believe there is very good evidence globally that these techniques were used widely in the distant past. There is also evidence in more recent times that the evidence has simply gone unrecognised with somewhat disastrous consequences. (More on this later). To top

Testing the Principle

Simple experimentation, reproducing the basic phenomena seen in storms, has demonstrated that quite simple man-made structures could have a major influence on local climate by acting to trigger storm activity whenever suitable conditions prevail and certainly far sooner than would occur naturally without this intervention. And once the simple principles are understood, it is quite obvious the basic effects can also be greatly enhanced in any number of ways. In the central US states it would seem entirely possible to potentially trigger 100's or 1000's of (relatively) small storms and thus largely prevent far more dangerous tornados and (supercell) storms from ever eventuating. (MOTL)

The idea of controlling the weather initially seems so far beyond our technology that few have given it really serious consideration. However, the basic concepts arising from Chaos Theory suggest it could be far simpler than was ever previously thought possible and so far this is born out in my simple tests.

As far as I've been able to determine, it's simply a matter of taking it one small step at a time and developing methods by which to trigger the desired effect. By triggering the appropriate mechanisms (introduced later) where they will generate the most effect, it would seem entirely possible to mimic any of the events recognised in Nature, making it possible to greatly mitigate the more extreme weather events, both of drought and major storms. To top

Whilst it's clearly impossible and indeed highly undesirable to significantly change the seasons, the concept of mitigating the worst effects of major storms would seem highly desirable and well within our present engineering capability. It simple requires that we understand and appreciate how the major mechanisms of the weather work within Nature, and in particular this involves the role of HRVs.

Far from preventing storms, the basic principle of effective Climate Control is to trigger storms as soon as is physically practicable and so pre-empt the development of far more serious events. Although the prevailing trade winds will always carry these storms downwind there is also every reason to believe that regional climates everywhere could quickly come under some level of human control. To top

The 'Normal' and the 'Inverted' Ring Vortex.

All vortexes have the same inate ability to grow exponentially from the tiniest of beginnings, for as long as a suitable source of energy is available, generally in the form of atmopheric water vapour. All types of vortex can and indeed do interact with one another to produce the different phenomena we commonly identify as the different types of storm. Different regions have different names, (ie the twister, typhoon, hurricane etc., etc) but all major storms essentially come within the three main categories, identified as the basic thunderstorm, the tornado and the cyclone. The waterspout is also of interest in rain creation and desalination. And although rain also quite obviously results from less enegetic interactions, at the moment they can be disregarded.

The proverbial butterfly creates wingtip vortexes that are essentially linear but in truth it is the Ring Vortex that is the primary stable amplifier of power within our weather and then only when formed or triggered Horizontally.

Within Nature the HRV is the essential element that amplifies or concentrates the available energy. In a general sense and by contrast, the linear vortex is commonly more an element of a decaying vortex system. (NB. Within seconds, convection within its core will cause any non-horizontal ring vortex to break up into two counter-rotating linear vortexes and although potentially extremely dangerous, they can for the moment be categorised as linear and for the purpose of this discussion, ignored.) To top

It is thus the highly stable Horizontal Ring Vortex (HRV) that is by far the most significant phenomena in powering different types of storm and our weather as a whole. The complexity seen in the various forms of extreme weather is produced by the fact that the basic (HRV) phenomena comes in two orientations. For clarity, I’ve named them the NRV and the IRV, (for the 'normal' and 'Inverted' Ring Vortex, respectively).

The NRV is ubiquitous and is the natural mechanism behind every storm. The far rarer, Inverted Ring Vortex (IRV) however, is potentially more powerful and, once established, more amenable to direct control. It is of note that the IRV is also far more effictive at accessing additional energy from sources not otherwise available.

So, whilst the NRV is ideal as an automatic and essentially passive control mechanism, the IRV is arguably the more significant phenomena when it comes to harnessing energy by artificial means since, on a global basis, it plays the major role as the driving mechanism of the cyclone. To top

In the ultimate application, HRV technology could be developed to generate cyclonic IRV activity in order to prevent the later occurrence of a far more serious storm. There is also the technical feasibility of developing a specific mechanism to automatically produce an IRV or Atmospheric Cyclone Event (ACE). A mechanism to automatically produce an ACE would require any of a number of entirely predictable elements but (IMHO) there is one excellant example in the historical archives that would seem to fit the known and predictable facts in every possible way.

More commonly known as the Lighthouse of Alexandria, the extraordinary Pharos of Alexandria is the last of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and its known physical features would appear to precisely and very specifically match the requirements of a desalination plant that (with relatively minimal additions now possibly lost beneath the sea) could have been powered by an entirely automatic ACE mechanism. [1]. To top

More on the NRV v IRV

Both forms of the HRV are of interest as the basic engines of our weather but they have remarkably different characteristics that are of particular interest in relation to the effects they produce and how those effects might be harnessed.

The NRV is self-starting and can easily be made largely automatic in operation. It is the trigger mechanism behind most storms and has major potential to be applied to automatically control our climate, both in bringing rain where required and in limiting the power of major land-based storms. Quite clearly the essence of Climate Control is the specific control of wind and rain (especially on land) and the highly specific characteristics of NRVs are thus of immense significance in this regard. To top

In contrast, the IRV requires a very specific set of circumstances to get started but once established is more efficient and potentially far more powerful. Also, by being more adaptable and amenable to artificial control, the IRV has the potential to play a major role in a wide range of secondary applications.

In its controlled form, the IRV can potentially produce unlimited power and potable water; it can control and/or mitigate cyclones and also serve to power a new green, clean and highly versatile VTOL aircraft. I believe identifying the many roles and applications of the IRV to be a discovery of truly major significance. To top

Basic Concepts.

As a physical phenomena, vortexes are a natural and extremely efficient energy exchange mechanism or heat pump. Mechanical Heat Pumps are the basic machines of the refrigeration and air conditioning industry and are able to extract the free energy of latent heat from the atmosphere, the sea or even from snow and ice. This is entirely accepted physics.

A normal refrigeration and/or air conditioner unit produces an 'energy gain' of around 3.6 but unfortunately this gain is (generally) based on the use of power from the National Grid. The use of air conditioning equipment in both extremes of the weather is thus a major problem for energy suppliers. An air conditioner that needed no connection to the grid would, on its own, be a very significant breakthrough. To top

The energy 'gain' figure of ~3.6 is based on the well-accepted fact that (nominally) a conventional air conditioner will use 1kw of electrical energy to drive a motor that will then produce 3.6kw of usable energy that, (depending on the machine's internal switching) can then be used to either heat or cool your home. These figures can of course be scaled and the efficiency can be improved with a suitable source of energy. The problem though, is that the output (3.6kw) of these machines is so-called 'low-grade' energy but the input (1kw) must be 'high-grade'  energy in the form of electricity. Until now, no one it seems had thought to seriously challenge how Nature does exactly the same thing entirely automatically in every storm and of course, without the ‘high grade’ energy drain on the national grid. To top

Potential Unlimited

It would seem self-evident that it should be possible to create artificially, all the effects produced by the weather within Nature. It would also seem self-evident that achieving such a goal would essentially allow us to recreate almost at will all the major events of our weather. The only problem remaining is 'how to do it?'

Wind and rain, essentially on demand would provide obvious benefits since both could clearly be more easily harnessed if produced in controlled circumstances but the phenomena available within this new technology also includes the mighty tornado with its incredible ability to destroy buildings and throw cars and trucks into the air. If vortex technology can be developed there is every reason to believe that the ability of the tornado to lift incredible weights can also potentially be brought on line for human use. Thus, in addition to all the effects of our weather, the controlled use of vortex technology has potential to open up an entire new form of aviation that is non-polluting, cheap and super efficient. To top

It is entirely accepted that the two most energetic weather events, the tornado and the cyclone can each produce a drop in atmospheric pressure well in excess of 100mb or 10% below the norm. Indeed, from the atmospheric norm of ~1012mb, a record LOW of 870mb was registered in 1979 in Pacific typhoon Tip (a % drop of 13.8%). It should also be remembered that Nature's storms, driven entirely by solar energy, are able to produce entirely similar effects at any latitude.

A (nominal) 100mb pressure differential represents a potential lifting force of 1000kg/m² (1tonne/m²). This is approximately 3x the lift provided by the most efficient high-performance wing of a modern jet airliner. Equalling what Nature already does on a regular basis is seen as the absolute minimum for a new technology that, like Nature, extracts its energy from the NEGATIVE side of the MEAN temperature line and, as a by-product, simply produces fresh water and cool air (see fig). To top

Two for the Price of One

Both the NRV and IRV have the innate capacity to extract energy from the water vapour held naturally in the atmosphere but the two ring vortex mechanisms otherwise have very different characteristics. Like any storm cell, the NRV is able to extract water and energy from the air. However, the IRV in the heart of Nature’s cyclone has the ability to efficiently tap into not one but TWO additional sources of energy. It is this extraordinary capability, detailed next, that sets the IRV apart as being of extra special interest.

By its natural characteristic of driving down toward the ground and by spanning the whole lower atmosphere all the way up to the Tropopause, the IRV in the eye of a cyclone is far more efficient than the common NRV in its ability to tap into energy from the sea. In the cyclone it also has the additional, unique ability to extract energy from the Stratosphere (the layer above the Troposphere) by engaging the adiabatic process. (Described in more detail in the section on "How the Weather Works", see sidebar). To top

High Flying Potential.

As a basis of research, it seemed to me self-obvious that it must be possible to replicate what Nature does 50,000 times every day (in every storm) and the possibility presented an obvious route to a free and unlimited source of fresh water and energy. All that was needed was to learn how mother Nature performed her daily miracles. It was not even essential that we fully understood the detail, although that understanding would surely come with time.

We rely explicitly on the energy and water that Nature produces every day in every storm. It is the basis for all life on the land and the results are defined in every weather report and need no further explanation. Despite my limited engineering ability, in well over 50 practical tests, I have found it relatively easily to replicate the effects seen in Nature and have finally refined those mechanisms to two basic, definable phenomena, the IRV and the NRV.

The IRV is the trigger and engine of the cyclone. It also provides the pro-active version of HRV technology. In Nature, the cyclone's eye is its defining mechanism and is thus by far the most significant power source in our weather, adding enormously to the total power of the cyclone as a unique and specific type of storm. To top

By its ability to generate evermore vapour from a ground-hugging IRV, over the open ocean the core vortex of the cyclone has a uniquely powerful ability to grow in power. The cyclone's eye sucks energy from the sea in a way unmatched by any other storm phenomena.
NB It is of some significance that in Nature, cyclones cannot start or be sustained over the land.

Once the eye is established and whilst it still remains over the open sea, a cyclone can continue growing exponentially, dropping sea temperatures to a significanr depth by as much as 5^oC. The IRV of a cyclone naturally aligns the four forces of convection, evaporation, cooling and adiabatic heating in the most effective manner possible to maximise the total efficiency of the storm. To top

In stark contrast, the NRV of a basic storm is self-limiting in its diameter and the forces created give it a strong potential to climb. The NRV is thus more or less limited to drawing energy from the vapour already in the atmosphere and has minimal ability to access energy drawn as vapour from the sea.

We thus have two forms of the same phenomena that offer extraordinarily different capabilities, so different they represent the basis of two totally new areas of technology. The two forms can also combine to potentially bring solar technology in from the cold as the energy source of the future. To top

Introducing the ACE Mechanism

My research finally became focussed on perfecting a specific trigger mechanism to bring the powerful IRV under human control. My mechanical version of the Atmospheric Cyclone Engine has the ability to replicate all of the phenomena of that unique engine of Nature, normally seen only within the eye of a cyclone.

By it's basic characteristic, whilst a NRV tends to climb against the surrounding atmosphere, an IRV is naturally forced down and into ever-closer contact with the ground. This downward force also grows exponentially as part of the feedback cycle as the vortex intensifies. As a result, for as long as a suitable source of energy and vapour are available, the natural forces within the cyclone's eye maximise the development of a strong region of low pressure within the area contained by the central vortex ring. To top

The ACE Mechanism would seem to have three major applications

1. As the autonomous drive mechanism and power plant of a novel type of aircraft

2. For use in climate control as a mobile trigger mechanism to pre-emptively initiate storm activity to mitigate potentially greater damage in the predictable future.

3. As a coastal, self-powered desalination plant (see The Pharos Lighthouse).

The ACE Mechanism in Aircraft

Within the ACE Mechanism, the essential ground plane can be created as an artificial and integral part of the machine. This arrangement isolates the low-pressure vortex affecting the body of the machine from the real ground beneath, isolating it as a unit from the normal atmospheric pressure that exists external to the machine as a unit. The whole machine thus develops a pressure differential top-to-bottom that inevitably results in the production of very significant lift.

Although the pressure below the machine stays at the atmospheric norm, by the very nature of its design, the top of the machine is under the influence of the vortex attached to the machine's perimeter. This makes the whole top surface of the machine act as an extremely efficient wing. The steepness of the pressure differential or 'bell curve' normally associated with a conventional wing surface is maximised by these effects, making for a VTOL aircraft with, potentially, an extremely high wing loading. Since the wing is also the body of the aircraft, it also makes for an extremely compact aircraft. To top

By definition, ring vortexes largely recycle the energy they use and also draw in more energy from vapour in the atmosphere around them. Thus, except for safety, starting and issues of general versatility, an ACE aircraft would have little need of heavy engines or a massive fuel load in any accepted sense. Also, being essentially VTOL like a helicopter (but much faster and vastly more efficient), the ACE-powered aircraft has no need of a heavy undercarriage or large airfields with long runways. Since wind noise and (possibly) hissing steam above the craft are the only sounds being generated the machine would also be relatively quiet and could fly with point-to-point precision to and from city centres.

Compared to conventional aircraft, the list of advantages includes super-efficiency, relatively high speed and potentially unlimited range and payload. Since it would also have virtually unlimited on-station endurance, there is further potential as a high-altitude communications station with space launch and recovery potential and other benefits too long to list in any detail at this time. Even if only a half of this potential is realised, the IRV-based ACE aircraft will still have significant advantages in every performance area over all existing aircraft types and is clearly the way of the future. To top

From Cyclone Prevention to...

NRV technology has a major role in mitigating the weather extremes of land-based storms but as a mechanism they are potentially bulky land-based structures. Cyclones however develop at sea and a system of controlling or preventing them requires a somewhat different, less bulky and highly mobile approach to cover the vast geographic areas involved and the specific nature of storms generated at sea.

It is generally accepted that sea temperature is a key factor in the development of larger storms. When the sea temperature is 25.5^oC the Category 1 - 3 cyclone that eventuates is generally not a major problem and causes minimal damage. However, with the sea just 2^oC warmer at 27.5^oC, a Category 2 or 3 storm can rapidly grow into a deadly Category 4 or even, potentially, a catastrophic Category 5 storm. It is notable that when it struck New Orleans, Hurricane Katrina had just been downgraded from a Category 4 to a Category 3 storm. To top

To prevent major damage from such storms there would seem to be two options. The more obvious would be to build hybridised craft with the potential mobility benefits of the ACE Mechanism being combined with NRV technology for use when these craft were suitably deployed. However, although copying the approach used on land would seem the obvious way to go, it leaves open a seriously dangerous possibility. Since the machine nominally provides no physical containment of the vortex it produces there would be significant potential for the ACE aircraft to inadvertently trigger a cyclone as it landed on the sea.

A safer and far more effective solution may simply be to acknowledge this possibility and instead use the ACE Mechanism in a far more pro-active role to deliberately trigger numerous mini-cyclones as and where necessary across the whole vast area of over-heated ocean. The technique would presumably generate numerous Category One storms but if done as a part of an ocean-wide management program, it would seem possible to prevent sea temperatures from ever rising to dangerous levels. ACE technology thus has potential to entirely prevent the occurrence of the larger and more damaging storms. To top

...Automatic Climate Control

The automatic process within Nature that triggers a rainstorm is commonly started when a bubble of warm vapour starts to rise from tthe ground as described in 'How the Weather Works". The process of vortex formation this triggers can be focussed and enhanced most efficiently with a square pyramid, preferably one with a high thermal mass and surrounded by a moat of warm water that releases lots of vapour.

A square, sun-warmed pyramid is ideal for accelerating the rising air currents, forcing them to accelerate as they close in toward the top of the pyramid from every side. And the faster the air currents rise, the faster the vortex rotation and the greater the surface evaporation and lift potential of that air.

With strong rotational energy, air accelerated in this way will readily form a ring vorvex, giving it a far stronger chance of reaching the dew point than would occur simply by similar events occurring spontaneously and naturally within the landscape. To top

Getting Back to Nature

Although success in any research program can never be totally guaranteed, the principle of copying Nature can hardly be faulted. The mechanism of reproducing storms by artificially inducing powerful thermal activity would also, as a technique, seem beyond reproach and easily tested by any research body with sufficient funds.

The ACE Mechanism will not be described in detail at this time but also appears extremely close to final success but whether that success comes in a week, a month or a year I cannot predict. After more than 3 years of experimentation, I believe I have most of the bugs ironed out for this particular, fully autonomous version of the technology but when that final result might come will depend on a number of possibilities. ie On the availability of time, money and solving the remaining unknown hitches etc, etc. To top

Whoever takes those final steps, I am confident that the many potential advantages of Vortex Technology as a whole will eventually prove out, to provide solutions to the many problems we presently face with energy, global warming, pollution and transport. Indirectly, it will also open the door to our past and a future whose potential we have yet to even dream about.

1] IRV rotation has also been identified in modified form within the global circulation of each planetary hemisphere. (MOTL).