The impossibility of creating a perpetual motion machine is postulated by both the first and second laws of thermodynamics. Nevertheless, the line of those who wanted to lift themselves by the hair never dried up.
Despite the fact that since 1775 the Paris Academy of Sciences has not considered projects of a perpetual motion machine, many of the incarnations of the idea of perpetuum mobile have brought tangible practical benefits. For example, the battery of the Romanian engineer Nicolae Vasilescu-Karpen, who invented the device in 1950. Its battery has been operating to this day, that is, for 65 years, and is kept in the National Technical Museum of Romania.
Why this is happening - they still cannot answer. Scientists are inclined to believe that the battery contains some cunning secret and it is a banal hoax. However, very talented.
Let's find out the details …
Although the device of this battery was patented a long time ago, scientists still do not know, or do not agree on exactly how and on what principles this device, which has a scientific name, works at a constant temperature, works. That is why the existence of this battery is considered an anti-scientific fact in scientific circles, because a perpetual motion machine from the point of view of modern science cannot exist. The only working copy of "Karpen's battery" is now in the office of the director of the National Technical Museum.
The prototype consists of two galvanic cells that drive the galvanometric motor, and a switch, which closes the circuit for every half-turn of the motor and then opens it. The rotation time of the motor is carefully selected in such a way that it is sufficient for the galvanic cell to be completely recharged, thus changing its polarity. But the only purpose of using the electric motor and the switch plates is to continuously demonstrate the performance of the "Karpen battery" for a long time, now, of course, this can be done in other, more visual ways.
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As conceived by the inventor, the purpose of the motor and the plate was only to demonstrate that the batteries actually continue to generate electricity continuously. The motor and the plate are not needed for anything else (and now even more so, since any simple measuring device will allow you to easily determine any parameters at the output of the batteries, thereby fixing the fact of electricity generation).
In 2006, on February 27, journalists from the Romanian newspaper ZIUA (Day) arrived at the museum to interview the director, Diaconescu. He removed the instrument from the shelf and allowed journalists to measure the parameters of the invention at the output using a conventional digital universal measuring instrument. The batteries showed 1 volt - the same as in 1950. The journalists admitted that "the device of the Karpen battery is different from the device of a conventional thermoelectric battery, which is studied within physics in the 7th grade of a regular high school." It is noted that one of the electrodes of Karpen's device is made of gold, and the other is made of platinum. Between them, high purity sulfuric acid is poured as an electrolyte. Diaconescu stressed that if you increase the size of the device, then, accordingly, you can get more energy at the output."
It is reported that Karpen's battery was repeatedly presented to the attention of the scientific community at one time - at scientific conferences in Paris, Bucharest and Bologna. Then the principle of its work was very vividly discussed. Researchers from the University of Brasov and the Polytechnic University in Bucharest (Romania) have carried out entire scientific studies of the invention, but have not come to an unambiguous conclusion why the device still works. At one time, the French side fought desperately for the invention, but Romanian scientists managed to defend it, leaving the device in their country. And now, years later, the "infernal machine" continues to work, involuntarily suggesting that a perpetual motion machine is no longer a fantasy.
Most scientists agree that the device works using, nevertheless, the principle of transformation of thermal energy into mechanical work, but Diaconescu does not support their opinion. He believes (and is supported by all who have studied the theoretical work of Vasilescu-Karpen) that the battery, which the scientist designed, challenges the second law of thermodynamics (which imposes a restriction on the direction of heat transfer processes between bodies). Therefore, many consider this invention to be the same perpetual motion machine of the second kind, the existence of which is considered impossible according to the same second law of thermodynamics.
If Vasilescu-Carpen was right and his principles are correct, this will turn the usual view of many physical laws upside down, and this, in turn, will lead to conclusions and discoveries that are even difficult to predict. However, it is not known when this will happen, and if it does, it is clearly not because someone will make a discovery while studying Karpen's device. It seems that the museum will not soon receive the necessary amount to organize a study or even a safe demonstration of such a rare invention. Maybe the reason for this is not the scientific value of the device, but the electrodes made of gold and platinum? Who knows! While the invention continues to gather dust on the shelf in the museum director's office …
The question arises - if such an uninterrupted and autonomous power source really exists and is located not somewhere, but in a museum, then why crowds of visitors and journalists do not "swarm" around it? Not to mention the scientists, who should first of all be interested in this truly epoch-making discovery. The management of the museum explains everything simply - an invention cannot participate in the exposition and be demonstrated to scientists and visitors, since the museum does not have the money to ensure proper protection of such a truly invaluable example of science.
And while the scientific and pseudo-scientific world is struggling with the secret of Carpen's "perpetual motion machine", scientists from the US Air Force Research Laboratory claim that they have discovered the technology, thanks to which, in particular, rechargeable batteries for a laptop that work without recharging will be created … 30 years! Perhaps this technology has become somehow incredibly known to Vasilescu-Karpen, who implemented it in his mysterious device?
It is unlikely, experts say. The fact is that the Americans are hinting at the latest technology, which involves the use of semiconductor materials and radioisotopes. These are the so-called beta-galvanic batteries. They will play the role of an energy source. When radioisotopes are split, beta radiation will occur and electricity will be generated. Do not be alarmed - the process is absolutely safe for humans, according to the inventors. Well, while the Romanians jealously guard the invention of their fellow tribesman on the museum shelf, the world does not stand still and creates new, more compact, powerful and safe sources of energy, which, I want to believe, will soon enter every home.