ust imagine if out of nowhere we as humanity discover rocks that are electrically charged. Free electricity right? The rocks were allegedly discovered in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and have sparked much curiosity due to the fact that such rock will likely transform batteries and power storage forever. The discovery of these rocks has gone completely viral across all social media platforms as people remain baffled about how something like this could exist.
However, as is typically the case, not everything is as it appears, and scientists have since stated that such mineral-producing energy is, to the best of our knowledge, impossible. Minerals within rocks lack the necessary molecular makeup to store or release charge; the best they can do is transfer it along. That is most likely what is going on here: the frame is trimmed so that the edge of the rock cannot be seen in the sparking video, implying that wires are linked to the mineral (pyrite, according to experts) and the rocks are conducting the current between them.
When the LED is not linked to the rock, there are certain frames when the light remains lighted, indicating that there is some form of current coming from somewhere other than the rock. Alternatively, there could be a capacitor somewhere retaining a small amount of charge that powers the battery when the connecting wires complete the circuit. The same can be seen from the current meter.
What everyone agrees on is that this is neither “vibranium” or a magical material that generates electricity from nothing.
“We don’t know of any mechanism, thus far, that actually supports that kind of phenomenon,”
Yaoguo Li, a professor of geophysics at the Colorado School of Mines
Minerals lack the chemistry required to hold charge in the same way as batteries do. Batteries do not actually store electrical energy, but rather energy in another form (usually chemical) that is then turned into electrical energy by chemical processes between the anode, cathode, and electrolyte. Minerals, on the other hand, will not release the electrons required to store and create charge.
To be a “natural battery,” as the films suggest, the mineral must contain an anode and a cathode that can interact. Unfortunately, it may be more sleight of hand and video trickery than groundbreaking new material.
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