Answer: no, they weren't. The paper uses a maximum of handwaving ("granite is slightly radioactive and slightly ionizes the air, so it must be a critical part o

Answer: no, they weren't. The paper uses a maximum of handwaving ("granite is slightly radioactive and slightly ionizes the air, so it must be a critical part of the generator") and a minimum of numbers or data. Plus a giant heaping of credulity. The blog is not technology, not history, and not engineering.