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PHVSICS OF ÏHE IMPOSSIBLE
that will eventually destroy the stars and galaxies, turning the sun into
a supernova, and destroying the Earth with it.
Since recorded history, the holy grail for inventors, scientists, as
well as charlatans and scam artists has been the fabled "perpetual motion machine," a device that runs forever without any loss of energy.
An even better version is a device that can create more energy than it
consumes, such as the Electron Pump, which creates free, limitless energy.
In the coming years, as our industrialized world gradually runs
out of cheap oil, there will be enormous pressure to find abundant new
sources of clean energy. Soaring gas prices, falling production, increased pollution, atmospheric changes-all are fueling a renewed, intense interest in energy.
Today a few inventors riding this wave of concern promise to deliver unlimited quantities of free energy, offering to sell their inventions for hundreds of millions. Scores of investors periodically line up,
lured by sensational claims in the financial media that often hail these
mavericks as the next Edison.
The popularity of perpetual motion machines is widespread. On
an episode of The Simpsons, entitled "The PTA Disbands," Lisa builds
her own perpetual motion machine during a teachers' strike. This
prompts Homer to declare sternly, "Lisa, get in here ... in this house
we obey the laws of thermodynamics!"
In the computer games The Sims, Xenosaga Episodes I and 77, and
Ultima VI: The False Prophet, as well as the Nickelodeon program Invader Zim, perpetual motion machines figure prominently in the plots.
But if energy is so precious, then precisely what is the likelihood
of our creating a perpetual motion machine? Are these devices truly
impossible, or would their creation require a revision in the laws of
physics?
PHVSICS OF ÏHE IMPOSSIBLE
that will eventually destroy the stars and galaxies, turning the sun into
a supernova, and destroying the Earth with it.
Since recorded history, the holy grail for inventors, scientists, as
well as charlatans and scam artists has been the fabled "perpetual motion machine," a device that runs forever without any loss of energy.
An even better version is a device that can create more energy than it
consumes, such as the Electron Pump, which creates free, limitless energy.
In the coming years, as our industrialized world gradually runs
out of cheap oil, there will be enormous pressure to find abundant new
sources of clean energy. Soaring gas prices, falling production, increased pollution, atmospheric changes-all are fueling a renewed, intense interest in energy.
Today a few inventors riding this wave of concern promise to deliver unlimited quantities of free energy, offering to sell their inventions for hundreds of millions. Scores of investors periodically line up,
lured by sensational claims in the financial media that often hail these
mavericks as the next Edison.
The popularity of perpetual motion machines is widespread. On
an episode of The Simpsons, entitled "The PTA Disbands," Lisa builds
her own perpetual motion machine during a teachers' strike. This
prompts Homer to declare sternly, "Lisa, get in here ... in this house
we obey the laws of thermodynamics!"
In the computer games The Sims, Xenosaga Episodes I and 77, and
Ultima VI: The False Prophet, as well as the Nickelodeon program Invader Zim, perpetual motion machines figure prominently in the plots.
But if energy is so precious, then precisely what is the likelihood
of our creating a perpetual motion machine? Are these devices truly
impossible, or would their creation require a revision in the laws of
physics?