 Thomas Ricker at "Engadget" suggested that Steorn's free-energy claim was a ruse to improve brand recognition and to help them sell Hall probes, while Josh Catone, features editor for "Mashable", believes that it was merely an elaborate hoax.In its advertisement in "The Economist", Steorn challenged scientists to form an independent jury to test their technology and publish the results.Within 36 hours of the advertisement being published, 420 scientists contacted Steorn and, on 1 December 2006, Steorn announced it had selected a jury.