Perhaps the most persistent nonsense in physics: the perpetual motion machine. Bad ideas come and go in physics. But there’s one bit of nonsense that is perhaps more persistent than all others: the ...

Perpetual motion machines are impossible, right? They violate the laws of thermodynamics. And yet people have been trying to engineer one for centuries. YouTuber gzumwalt posted a video of what looks ...

A radical theory predicting the existence of “time crystals” — perpetual motion objects that break the symmetry of time — is being put to the test. In February 2012, the Nobel Prize-winning physicist ...

The search for a perpetual motion machine has been the chupacabra of physics for centuries. Multiple designs have been made, tested and, ultimately, found lacking. Perpetual motion machines are ...

Receive emails about upcoming NOVA programs and related content, as well as featured reporting about current events through a science lens. “Nature of Reality” blogger ) Frank Wilczek has gone public ...

How much does an M&M weigh in units of elephants? How many marshmallows would you have to burn in order to power the city of Las Vegas for a year? These are just some examples of the challenging tasks ...

Everyone loves perpetual motion machines. They are a representation of the highest level of creativity in finding loopholes in the laws of physics. Let's take a look at this one. What is a perpetual ...

Just imagine what it would be like if we could generate free energy. No need to worry about pollution, or fuel, or effort, or anything. It’s no wonder so many people have tried their hands at building ...

From diamonds to snowflakes to salt, crystals are common in nature. The arrangement of their atoms in orderly, repeating patterns extending in all three spatial dimensions doesn't just make them nice ...

The Physics of a Puzzling Perpetual Motion Machine | RealClearScience Perpetual motion—it's fun to say that. For some people, perpetual motion machines hold the secret to everlasting free energy that ...