Incredible Attempts at Perpetual Motion Machines

Perpetual motion machines have captured the imagination of inventors and engineers for centuries. Despite the impossibility of constructing a truly perpetual machine due to the laws of thermodynamics, ingenious and sometimes outlandish attempts continue to this day. As a passionate gamer, I‘m fascinated by these quests to "beat the system" and achieve the technological holy grail of limitless energy. Let‘s explore some of the most intriguing efforts and why they persist despite inevitable failure.

Defining Perpetual Motion Machines

First, a quick physics refresher. A perpetual motion machine is a hypothetical device that, once activated, operates indefinitely without any external energy input. Such a machine would violate the law of conservation of energy and the second law of thermodynamics, which state that a closed system‘s entropy (degree of disorder) always increases over time.

The concept was first popularized in India by mathematician Bhāskara II in the 12th century. He envisioned a wheel that would spin perpetually once set in motion. Since then, history has seen cycles of renewed enthusiasm and dashed hopes.

Tinkerers ranging from amateurs to serious scientists have taken up the challenge despite the underlying impossibility due to physics. But what truly motivates this endless quest?

Drive to "Beat the System"

As a passionate gamer, I love mastering games and finding creative ways to bend rules and mechanics to my advantage. Attempting perpetual motion feeds a similar mentality – the seductive dream of "beating the system" imposed by natural laws.

Defiance of scientific consensus also appeals to personalities who wish to prove themselves smarter than the academic establishment. Some invest their whole persona into an obsession that experts say can‘t be done…what a rush it would be to finally stand victorious and force the world to acknowledge your genius!

This underdog appeal against the odds persists no matter how many previous attempts have failed. After all, you can‘t win the lottery without playing again and again. But does such obsession promote progress or starve more practical solutions?

Early Mechanical Efforts

In the 17th and 18th centuries, self-winding pendulum clocks tantalized with their automatic motion. The most famous is the Beverly Clock, constructed in 1860 by British clockmaker Arthur Beverly, which has kept perfect time for 158 years without winding – making it the longest-running public science experiment!

The ingenious mechanism converts minor temperature/pressure shifts into spring-winding motion so gradual you‘d never notice the winding occurring. Essentially, it‘s a grandfather clock constantly repowering itself using science that seems almost magical.

While not truly "perpetual", its impressive longevity reveals the motive power subtly available in physical forces we take for granted. Imagine if such mechanisms could be scaled up to harness, say, ocean currents or atmospheric currents in the service of limitless green energy! Alas, entropy intercedes…but the appeal remains.

Bessler’s Wheels

Even more intricate was a clock created by reclusive German inventor Johann Bessler in the early 18th century. He exhibited a huge machine consisting of interlocking wooden spokes and heavy metal spheres that rotated continuously once set in motion.

Bessler fiercely refused to share specifics on its mechanism, wishing to sell it for riches first. Crowds witnessed its motion during month-long demonstrations, fueling rumors of magic. Skepticism eventually prevailed – but if only YouTube existed back then!

Radiometers and Accidental Discoveries

Serendipity emerges as another theme in these stories – with obsessive focus on a "dead end" sometimes leading to accidental discoveries.

Take the Crookes radiometer invented in 1873. Prominent physicist Sir William Crookes created a novelty device with four vanes inside a glass bulb that spun endlessly when exposed to light. This "light-mill" seemed to violate physics, intriguing Victorian minds. Scientific analysis eventually determined a new force – "radiation pressure" from light particles hitting the blackened surfaces caused the motion.

Here the quest for perpetual motion revealed a previously unknown effect propagating electromagnetic waves later critical to understanding Einstein‘s photoelectric effect! An engineer seeking only financial gain would probably not have noticed or bothered to share this anomalous observation.

Congreve‘s Intricate Contraption

Not all discoverers end up heroes. The 19th century saw William Congreve, a prominent British precision engineer obsessed with developing perpetual motion despite knowing better. His most ambitious machine debuted in 1827 – a Rube Goldberg cascade of spinning brass wheels interconnected by belts & levers that allegedly kept the system continuously moving once started.

He defended its possibility vigorously to doubting critics for years without ever demonstrating a working model. The machine was likely more an exercise in complex craftsmanship than genuine prototype. Congreve craved the prestige of making one of history’s great scientific breakthroughs – the fame outweighed actual progress toward that goal.

The seductive nature of "going viral" is still causing people today to promote questionable inventions promising more than can possibly deliver. But now the cycle operates much quicker!

Viral hype cycles come and go alarmingly fast these days – but the instinct that drives them persists through human history.

Oxford‘s Electric Bell

In 1840 the Oxford Electric bell was debuted by physicist Robert Stirling. Consisting simply of an electromagnet swinging a metal clapper to ring a bell, it was initially battery-powered. But the "dry pile" voltaic cell driving it utilizes unique materials allowing unusually slow chemical reactions across vast time.

As a result, this seemingly crude bell has rung continuously at Oxford for 182 years now, earning it recognition in the Guinness Book of World Records! Tests indicate the battery may last near 100 more years thanks to incremental power drain.

Once again, the gradual atomic shifts within metals that we dismiss as archaic technology contain latent motive forces still not fully utilized. The ingredients are abundant, so what patterns and processes might we still discover?

YouTube’s Video Illusions

Despite definitive rulings from science, YouTube videos demonstrating perpetual motion gadgets still draw millions of hopeful views from armchair physicists willing to suspend disbelief.

Clever editing or limited demo runs allow creators to suggest physics defiance with simple arrangements of magnets, gears and balls that clearly cannot operate indefinitely. Comment sections fill with debate trying to uncover their methods.

But much like Congreve’s machine, the objective now seems less about scientific advancement and more about the addictive allure of views, shares, controversy and fame for their own sake.

Notice the fabricated excitement around "discovering" whether it is fake or not – much more engaging than just presenting the sobering physics. Even critics boost the overall views. Ultimately, the debate just feeds more sharing.

Enduring Allure of Defiance

Systems of rules, whether games, laws or science, will continue attracting subversives seeking loopholes and exceptions. Perpetual motion’s seductive promise ensures new attempts despite failures, just like gamblers who keep buying lottery tickets or video game enthusiasts trying to exploit bugs and shortcuts to gain advantages.

The motivation varies – financial greed, prestige-seeking, underdog mentality or simple tinkering curiosity absent profit motive. But ALL require first believing authority can be defied. This glitch-seeking mentality may uncover interesting accidents benefiting science…or subordinate real progress to egotism.

Considering humanity‘s vast energy needs, don’t we have enough solvable challenges to occupy our inventor-gamers without being distracted by intellectual dead-ends? Our innovators may require guidance to channels where perseverance can still change systems, but without violating physics!

The longtime quest does highlight overlooked forces and matter properties worth further study. And the freedom to tinker should not be overly constrained. ButSequential failed attempts also demand reflection upon why we chase pipe dreams when solutions sit just out of reach. The debate continues as long as dreamers keep dreaming!