Chyba, Hand, Hossenfelder and generating electricity from a stationary magnetic field? It does not work

Sabine Hossenfelder (2025) is advertising a strange invention, almost a perpetuum mobile, which is supposed to stand static relative to the surface of Earth and produce an electric current from:

1.   the dipole magnetic field B of Earth, and

2.   the rotation of Earth as the device stands static relative the surface of Earth.

The claim that such a simple device can extract energy is very suspicious.

https://backreaction.blogspot.com/2025/04/this-new-device-creates-electricity.html

The original paper of Chyba and Hand (2016) is here:

https://journals.aps.org/prapplied/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevApplied.6.014017

J. Jeener (2018) refutes the result of Chyba and Hand:

https://arxiv.org/abs/1712.04283

From where would the energy to the electric current come? The dipole magnetic field of Earth does not change anything

Let us assume that Earth is a rigid charged sphere whose magnetic field is produced by charges which are static relative to Earth.

If the device of Chyba and Hand would produce in a circuit loop L an electric current I which can do work, it should be able to tap the rotation energy of Earth. The device must be able to send some of the angular momentum J of Earth to space, through electromagnetic waves.

Specifically, if the current I in the circuit loop does work on a resistor Ω, then the radiation of angular momentum to space should be so much larger that some energy can be extracted locally in the loop.

Let us first assume that Earth is uncharged, rotating, and there is a current I in the loop L.

Let the amount of of angular momentum radiated by the system be

       dJ / dt.

Does it change if we add a static dipole magnetic field B₀ to Earth?

Far away from the system, the electric field E of the radiated electromagnetic wave oscillates or rotates. The Poynting vector

      S  =  1 / μ₀  *  E  ×  B₀

is, on the average, zero. Adding the static dipole field B₀ does not change anything, in terms of the radiation.

The energy extraction of the device does not depend on the magnitude of B₀ in any way. We cannot say that the magnetic field B₀ of Earth helps the device in any way.

The device can extract energy from the rotation of Earth if it contains an electric charge or a permanent magnet. Then the device radiates the angular momentum of Earth slowly away in electromagnetic waves. But this not the mechanism which Chyba and Hand allege to exist.

We conclude that the claim of Chyba and Hand is erroneous.

Electromotive force in a circuit loop

https://phys.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/University_Physics/Physics_(Boundless)/22%3A_Induction_AC_Circuits_and_Electrical_Technologies/22.1%3A_Magnetic_Flux_Induction_and_Faradays_Law

Faraday's law states that the electromotive force (the path integral of the voltage) around a circuit loop is

       dΦ / dt,

where Φ is the magnetic flux through the loop.

The device of Chyba and Hand stands static on the surface of Earth. As time progresses, there, obviously, is no change in Φ through the loop. There is no electromotive force and there is no current.

Empirical measurements by Chyba, Hand, and Chyba (2025)

https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.15790

The measurements supposedly show power generation which almost fits inside the error brackets of the measurement. This is typical for claims about perpetuum mobiles. The device never produces 1 kW or 1 MW of surplus energy. That would be easy to detect.

It is always something which is very difficult to measure – because it does not really generate any power.

The same was true for "cold fusion" experiments.

Conclusions

It is extremely unlikely that the device of Chyba and Hand could produce electric power. Sabine Hossenfelder should correct her video blog to include the refutation by J. Jeener (2018).