The Impossibility of Perpetual Motion Machines
Summary
PBS Space Time explores the history and physics of perpetual motion machines, categorizing them by which thermodynamic law they violate. The episode reviews historical failures like the bascara wheel and modern "over-unity" devices, explaining why quantum mechanics and entropy make true perpetual motion impossible. It also features viewer-submitted designs for a hypothetical negative-mass energy generator and answers questions about cosmic microwave background data analysis.
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