Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

The Museum of Unworkable Devices

Posted by timothy on from the more-fun-than-broken-packets dept.

Jippy_ writes "The quest for perpetual motion has been going on since at least the 11th century according to this site, and scientists have been getting it wrong ever since. Take a gander at some of the most valiant efforts (and ultimately the biggest failures) in trying to beat the laws of physics through the last 1000 years, along with other impossible inventions and devices."

2 of 306 comments (clear)

  1. Scientists ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    > scientists have been getting it wrong ever since.

    No. NON-scientists have been getting it wrong.

  2. Re:People will always try by Space+cowboy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I wonder which way (physics or perpetual motion) your interest swings. The Carnot cycle places a limit on even ideal circumstances for the thermodynamic production of Work from Energy.

    For a typical steam power plant, (800K hot, 300K cold), the maximum theoretically possible efficiency is ~60% for a 100% reversible reaction (hint: these don't exist in power plants). I seriously doubt it is possible get anywhere near 98% efficient without some new ground-breaking physics in the same vein as Newton -> Einstein.

    Simon.

    --
    Physicists get Hadrons!