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 ...

A wheel weighted with swinging mallets. A cylinder rotating in a sealed, water-filled container. A siphon that transfers liquid back and forth in a seemingly endless loop. These may sound like the ...

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 ...

A classic example of M. C. Escher’s work is the Perpetual Waterfall/Waterwheel. Here we see a physical realization of Escher’s conceptualization. A classic example of M. C. Escher’s work is the ...

James is a published author with multiple pop-history and science books to his name. He specializes in history, space, strange science, and anything out of the ordinary.View full profile James is a ...

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 perpetual motion machine operates in a continual repetitive motion, indefinitely; without someone providing an energy source. Considering this concept, imagine a business operating with little to no ...

A wheel weighted with swinging mallets. A cylinder rotating in a sealed, water-filled container. A siphon that transfers liquid back in forth in a seemingly endless loop. These may sound like the ...