AnalogKid
Talking about the small
Depression in the base of the pyramid, he said:
"There is absolutely no reason..."
Actually, yes there is. Enter the Wayback Machine and come out in an 8th grade
Science class. "Most things expand when heated and contract when cooled." Well, that was easy.
Injection molding was patented in 1872, and the problem of sinking showed up that afternoon. The plastic pyramid is thickest through the center of the base to the top point. As the resin cools, it contracts. The thicker areas contract more. The sink can change depending on how the object and mold are positioned with respect to gravity, but there always will be a sink if the mold design, temperature, feed rate, pressure, blah blah blah are not controlled.
Lotsa things affect the repeatability of the sink, like the amount and distribution of the metal flakes, but my guess is that the mold was oriented point-down, so the resin could simply be poured in the big open base and allowed to level itself. This is the *worst* possible case, and guarantees a sink.
There are similar, relatively simple explanations for his other claims, and none of them involve magic. Putting stuff (carbon, stainless steel, boron, etc.) into plastic resins can give them amazing properties (insert photo of Boeing 787). But *n*o*n*e* of them spontaneously create electron flow unless the addatives happen to be two reactive metals, and then we're back in the 8th grade making a battery out of a potato.
ak