Adam Savage Reviews a "Perpetual Motion" Machine!

Adam unboxes a "perpetual motion" machine simulator after watching this device featured on @SteveMould's channel, and delights in the elegance of its design. Of course, this machine actually runs on batteries, but it cleverly hides its method of operation and produces a very satisfying motion loop! Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
The "Perpetual Motion" machine at The Royal Society: • Adam Savage vs The "Pe...
This Perpetual Machine Simulator: www.etsy.com/l...
Steve Mould's explanation of how this machine works: • You can't hide the bat...
Shot by Adam Savage and edited by Norman Chan
Music by Jinglepunks
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[@tested]

The "Perpetual Motion" machine at The Royal Society: kzbin.info/www/bejne/h5WolYycrbKrY5I This Perpetual Machine Simulator: www.etsy.com/listing/1253569674/perpetual-machine-simulator-perpetual Steve Mould's explanation of how this machine works: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qJCveGt8edloZ7c

[@I-0-0-I]

Adam, you might consider keeping all your batteries in a ventilated metal box, away from any wood. I do that with all my r/c aircraft batteries, and now with all batteries. Would suck to burn down my house, or your shop. Maybe being paranoid, but better safe than sorry.

[@iansaxby9264]

Dang, I was hoping to see Virginia again. She was awesome.

[@mattbell1907]

The fact that you couldn't get your perpetual motion machine working because you didn't have a battery is perfectly hilarious

[@willoughbykrenzteinburg]

Yeah, but technically, they don't claim that it is a perpetual motion machine. It's called a perpetual motion machine *_simulator._*

[@ElvesofZion]

Big fan of Steve. A proper collab with Adam would be amazing

[@tested]

We agree!

[@danquaylesitsspeltpotatoe8307]

@@tested Hand made? I bet the wigahs get to use machines for most of it!

[@Rostol]

his 2d visualizations are awesome. love Steve.

[@flutterguy965]

Adam liking Steve is not surprising, but I bet after seeing this Steve will feel like he was just given an award.

[@Chris-ut6eq]

The "Tested Approved" award or perhaps a "Savage Approval" award? I favor the latter.

[@Sembazuru]

​@@Chris-ut6eqOr, "Savagely Approved"?

[@Robalogot]

Nothing is more satisfying when design and engineering come together in simplicity

[@arrayofemotions]

I love this gadget because the motion of the ball is so fluid you don't really question the fact that under normal physics the ball would never fly back up that far (as Adam demonstrates when it's not on).

[@chilliewilly41]

I love how organic Adam's videos are. They just make me smile from the beginning to end.

[@tested]

Thanks so much - we appreciate the comment.

[@kimbearlysue]

Unfortunately my son has had the privilege of staying in several children's hospitals and each one had a complex perpetual motion machine. One was 2 stories tall. It always amazed me that no matter how many times I watched it I would find another little surprise. Thanks for allowing us to appreciate this machine even at its simplest form.

[@Vitaee13]

That is a thing of beauty. Absolute piece of art just from the way it's constructed. And it's very meditative as well.

[@SkyhawkSteve]

Absolutely! The wood grain is just stunning! They could have produced this with a plastic base, but took the time to make it a pleasure for the eyes as well as wonderful parlor trick.

[@dragonblaster-vu8wz]

It still amazes me how a single video on youtube can make a small shop blow up in popularity. I never would've heard of this product had it not been for Steve Mould's video. I probably wont pick one up myself, but it's still a need item for a desk

[@Animaniac-vd5st]

Steve Mould is such a great Science communicator. Half of his stuff is just silly small things - but from time to time he goes FAR deeper than i would have expected and he just explains quantum mechanical oddities and what not (just to explain something seemingly simple). And suddenly you realize that he has a masters degree in physics and didn't forget it all.

[@IroAppe]

I don't know why, but it's so satisfying to watch that marble go and jump around. There are two satisfying things: 1. The circling into the hole 2. The perfect jump and landing and catch

[@Dank_Lulu]

I'm really happy Adam put into words the thing I was thinking about this machine! Its design is to the point in the best of ways. Also, seeing Adam support other makers whose work he appreciates never gets old!

[@ryandury]

The design is absolutely fantastic and you described it so well. It's minimalistic nature lends itself to the focus of the piece.

[@PierceArner]

Adam is someone who is capable of absolutely _rockin'_ a Doc Brown!

[@cmdraftbrn]

thats heavy

[@TheTubejunky]

Adam & Morty! "Oh geez rick!"

[@SkullenB0nes]

Rumor has it that Doc Brown traveled back from the future rocking the Adam Savage...

[@FredtenKley]

Great Scott

[@walderlopes3372]

I wonder what the overlap between Adam Savage and Tom Clarke is.

[@kingawsume]

On your tangent about design, I remember reading a quote from a source I have long since lost and forgotten: "A good design is one that's has everything it needs. A great design is one that has had everything stripped away until it is JUST what it needs" or something to the effect thereof. It's an incredibly important ethos I've adopted for my own projects.

[@Deinonuchus]

When the power is on you can hear the ball bearing (or "bearing ball" if you're The Hydraulic Press guy) accelerating as it rides the rail. And Steve's channel is a lot of fun. Not surprised you're a fan.

[@lucitribal]

I love how Adam's hair is matching his enthusiasm today 😂

[@richard--s]

Finally we found Doc Brown in real life 👶

[@nonotyet7590]

This product has gotten the best advertising over the years of people disproving it

[@Dr.Eeftan]

I Love it whenever a experimental mechanical concept is built physically! One of my favorite things to see is peoples proof of concepts for engineering projects and things modeled in Cad.

[@Scott_Forsell]

In this house we obey the laws of thermodynamics!

[@PrimalRenegade17]

Sorry Adam but I love your messy its the perfect mad scientist look and it 100% suits you! Another fantastic video from Tested, while that isn't perpetual motion it such a beautiful work of art and something super fun to have on ones desk.

[@AndyAtHome]

What a fun toy! It makes some really satisfying sounds.

[@carlosortega3d]

His really brief Steve impression is so on point XD

[@mattdonlan7745]

Reminds me of a launch coaster, starts off slow, gives a kick on the way out. Cool toy.

[@619Slipk]

It's funny that this shows up in my recommended videos as I just yeasterday came across a video of a cat mesmerized by the metal ball moving in this contraption

[@paradigmcustomscales7832]

I am glad we could help you come to the conclusion that a THIRD battery draw will resolve your organizational needs. Happy Thanksgiving

[@peterkallend5012]

Happy Thanksgiving Doc Brown, I mean Adam. You're awesome, and I draw so much from your content (inspiration as well as technical know how).

[@davidmartineziii7343]

I love Adam's face the first two times the ball cycles lol the second face is gold!

[@johnburn8031]

The real trick of a perpetual motion machine is where you hide the batteries and the motor.

[@drtyslzy]

It usually gets hidden in the butt so nobody can see it

[@allanm2064]

Haha you've watched these kinds of videos before ;) clever

[@wompus_king]

@dreadbull5039 first off: If it WERE original. If you’re going to insult someone on thanksgiving, do it properly. Second off, you… you seem to have discovered the concept of a “meme” Where people reference memories/ideas that have been referenced before! Welcome to the Internet (which is for porn) (and both of those are also references and therefore memes) -Abraham Lincoln (probably), 1997

[@dreadbull5039]

@@wompus_king You win. Comment deleted. Well played

[@writerpatrick]

It might be more interesting if it was solar.

[@lawrenceveinotte]

HHO generators are still being sold as mileage improvers, your show on them was pretty good, they are a first cousin to perpetual motion.

[@Logical.curiosity]

7:13 The face that is the definition of a perfect blend of smugness and joy!! 😂😊

[@SocksAndPuppets]

I first saw this on Steve Mould's channel, so when I saw the preview I just thought "oh, Adam's got one of those too, I bet he loves it!"

[@mitzy183]

my friend found a similar designed machine in a local book farm ! someone decided they were done with it and left it for another person to enjoy ! love this thing

[@uidentity]

Or maybe they died

[@theodoreackerson1442]

Some machines are beautiful. This one is.

[@garywatson9296]

Hey Adam, big fan of yours...great to see your doing well...

[@seanedwards569]

I can see the Golden Ratio at work in the profile curve of the track.

[@niallpearce8043]

Unpacking 'perpetual motion' machine and needs to stop to source a battery :-) Perfect.

[@bartreardon5197]

At 5:47 - In software development we call that "rubber duck debugging". You have a rubber duck handy, and when you have a problem you explain it to the duck and more often than not, you get the answer you need 🙂

[@Felice_Enellen]

Am software engineer. Can confirm. Also, in some places they talk to a cardboard dog instead. Might be a UK thing? Technically, you don't actually need the duck or the dog. Just imagine one and talk to it. Don't worry, the other engineers know what you're doing.

[@michaeloconnor7849]

I'm going to give that a try, it's got to be easier than just talking to myself after all these years.

[@Felice_Enellen]

​@@michaeloconnor7849 Indeed, talking to _yourself_ is the problem the duck and dog are solving, because you're talking to someone _very_ intimately aware of all of the things you _think_ you know, so you can gloss over them when muttering to yourself. The goal is to talk to someone who is utterly _unaware_ of any details, to force yourself to explain all of those details you _think_ you already know quite well, which in turn often reveals what you didn't realize you were glossing over, assuming, or hadn't actually considered. _______ Side note: This is also how we fall into the "that sounded better in my head" trap.

[@arnisteingrimursteinunnars4489]

Mine is usually an email to a hypothetical (expensive) contractor that will solve my problem, but I have to explain the problem.

[@shorttimer874]

When I was a kid, some 60 years ago, there was a table at the local science center shaped like the funnel part of this. You would set a ball on a track which would start it spinning around the funnel, and they took quite a while to drop out of the bottom. I believe it was to demonstrate the principal of orbits.

[@cvirtue]

Those are such fun! These days I often see them incorporated into donations for various causes, with the idea that you roll a coin on-edge to get the motion, and thus the coin becomes the donation.

[@WittyDroog]

As Adam communicated what makes this design so effective is its simplicity. It's a lot like a traditional magic trick, distraction and redirection are crucial components of any illusion but while a big stage performance will employ pyrotechnics, beautiful stage hands, live animals, etc to keep your attention often the most *effective* magic tricks are ones where the performance is up close and intimate and the performer is able to hide the gaff or move in plain sight right before your eyes, the simplicity and lack of superfluous elements making the motivation of tricking you less obvious and the illusion of magic that much more believable

[@wolf0nkrack]

Love the brief appearance of the Way-Yu hat!!!!

[@chrisbrown1462]

Obsessed with Perpetual Motion machines....the combination of psychology and physics is my happy place.

[@ivanheffner2587]

The channel inception continues: Adam points to Steve Mould. Steve reference Technology Connections.

[@ecopennylife]

I could watch the ball looping around a whole day 😊

[@yarost12]

I look a little manic today Adam you've been looking manic for so many years

[@greeniehead]

Wow, what a beautiful little machine! Happy Thanksgiving Adam!

[@williammaxwell1919]

Verbalising a "train of thought" to a question leads us into talking ourselves into the solution.

[@chrisd1746]

Absolutely beautiful device even when it's not doing anything. When it's doing something it becomes an absolutely magical device

[@steve-175]

Cats would love. It'll need to have a clear cover on it, or they'll get the ball. Thank you for sharing this. Have a Happy Holiday 😊😊😊

[@Philippe.Baptist]

Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away. Antoine de Saint-Exupery

[@boriss.861]

That French Curve of the shoot has a inherent beauty to it.

[@only1ydk]

Happy Thanksgiving, Adam! 🦃

[@kleverich]

What's great about these videos is you see what is banging around in Adam's head in real time.

[@doctorpound]

I met Steve Mould years ago when he was doing a talk at a library while touring the US. What I didn't realize was this talk was demonstrating different science concepts to very small children. So the audience was a room full of young kids, their moms, and me. Steve was super nice and very entertaining.

[@freman]

I love that people I watch, enjoy and respect watch, enjoy and respect other people I watch enjoy and respect. It's weirdly validating.

[@explosivegardenreboot]

Big fan of your works Adam, been watching you since the earliest MYTHBUSTERS, so happy your still at it mate. great video as usual.

[@Artista_Frustrado]

Adam watching Steve Mould doesn't shock me, yet it does surprise me that he name dropped him

[@vaalrus]

I feel your battery pain. Our shop is the result of 50 collective years of “Yeah we can try building/fixing/making that for you” agglomeration of trades, while being the support facility for as many off-site projects from road building to wastewater treatment to… you name it.. So many things in our collection are also “once in 5 years” or “once every 10 year” use items...

[@kinglykong6987]

Stopping for the symmetrical spin ❤

[@DesertGardenPrepper]

I would like to have different color ball bearings. My sense in watching the motion is that sometimes one bearing is greedy and pushes the others out of the way so they can go again, probably because of a newton's cradle effect taking place in the funnel. I want one, lol.

[@theanxious]

I noticed that when he had 2 balls in the bowl that 1 of those balls fell through the hole 3 times while the other just stayed spinning in the bowl. It appeared the same ball was going to fall through the hole a 4th time but then he drops in a third ball and I lost track. Your suggestion is a great one! I'm going to have to buy one of these and get/make some different colored ball bearings!

[@turner3d1]

I love Steve Mould! I have subscribed to his channel for years. He does a great job of explaining interesting things in an entertaining and understandable way. Sort of like Adam!

[@jerrodbroholm4338]

The hair feels like a combo of Doc and James Gunn. Loved the video!

[@alexstarr1589]

"We'll include a link in the description" *Actually puts link in description* Thank you!

[@JohnBodoni]

The design is not finished when there's nothing more to add. The design is finished when there's nothing more to take away.

[@thatsagoodbingo]

Steve's video is great (as they all are) and he has references to Technology Connections, which are also fantastic videos.

[@Shendril]

Adam: starts off in full Doc Brown mode. - Ah wait, gonna fix that: puts on a Weyland-Yutani cap

[@rillegas08_vods]

the metal track is kinda shaped like the golden ratio. they're a bit horizontally squished, but it's a cool detail

[@JustaMuteCat]

One thing that I really appreciated on Adam’s video on this little device was the noise. On Steve’s video it didn’t sound as loud. While the visual kicks it gives when on are nice, I can’t help but not like the noise.

[@donevans1884]

Doc Brown Savage , brilliant video .

[@Jaxpinkpixie]

The white hair suits him so very well ❤ I love it!!

[@tabletopsolo]

The mechanism of that reminds me of Adam's description of the store window display he talked about in his amazing speech on failure. I wonder if seeing things like this ticks off a little voice saying, "maybe something like this would have worked in that situation".

[@davidrichter57]

A 24/7 livestream of one of these would be a huge hit. A money loser of a channel, but with insanely loyal viewship.

[@callmeshaggy5166]

You think this channel loses money?

[@ninjadragongamer6861]

Your mention (around 2:50) of what Steve Mould said about him creating the device reminds me of a quote from Mark Rober. I'm paraphrasing here, but essentially it was "As an engineer, if there's something that doesn't exist, and I want it to exist, I can make it exist". I'm assuming with the requirement that it's possible within the laws of physics, but I don't believe he specifically specified

[@Korhanne]

well, that's about the coolest thing ever.

[@arealcanadian419]

Adam, keep the hat on please!

[@thanksfernuthin]

Steve Mould is awesome.

[@wobblysauce]

The thing with this that makes it so good… is that it just looks like a block of wood and a bit of wire.

[@NicHills]

Love Steve Mould!!!

[@Cortaxify]

aw Adam, your hair today reminds me of Doc from the back to the future movies...perfect for a perpetual motion machine. :D

[@Batanuhtanah]

Brother your an awesome example of a person. Keep it up

[@watcherofwatchers]

Steve Mould makes amazing content!

[@CoolAsFreya]

Adam talking about perpetual motion machines whilst rocking the mad scientist hair!

[@anthonyj.adventures9736]

Speaking of motion. I bought a trailer from Facebook marketplace and fixing it while listening to this so I can get myself in motion

[@bjetpilot]

There is and can only be one perpetual motion machine in existence. We can't even make a little tiny one ourselves, because any machine we make is already a part of the one existing machine.

[@Pure_KodiakWILD_Power]

🤣 Yes, Adam, batteries go under _"BATTERIES."_ 🤣🤣

[@thechrisnorthwood]

looking forward to the re-invented battery drawer one-day-build coming up :-)

[@smashallpots1428]

steve mould is top tier dudes got great content

[@AkaraTheLost]

I like that this is a youtube channel referencing another youtube channel that references a third youtube channel in its video.

[@libertyauto]

I imagine that eventually the multitude of layered tape labels on Adam's scene clapper are going to have to be dealt with, one way or another.

[@josephchalwe8587]

Love from Zambia 🇿🇲

[@TheCardinalFang]

Steve Mould is one third of the Festival of the Spoken Nerd, along with stand-up mathematician Matt Parker, who has also appeared on here (one day I will make a rhombic dodecahedron infinity box like they did), and geek songstress Helen Arney. Can't help thinking an Adam Savage/ Spoken Nerd team up would be nerdvana!

[@djhvac5938]

Adam's hair today had a very "Muppet" kind of feel to it, which I feel is appropriate for him.

[@62-66]

Interesting thing ❤👍👍👍. The mystery of the perpetual motion machine has been solved))) It's nice to see how Adam glows like an Edison light bulb.

[@paultaylor7758]

Some good engineering or excellent trial and error get the glide mechanism to hit the target and not bounce out.

[@jasonallen19]

"I had to talk this through with you to come up with the answer" We call it rubber duck debugging - it's a handy tool.

[@emeraldoracle8706]

I've wanted to get one ever since I first heard about them.

[@jeffc5474]

Adam you are easily amused by some things! I can understand why.

[@dungaland]

The key to perpetual motion is "coincidence of opposites". Just like gravitational potential, vector potential can generate infinite amounts of energy

[@melaniegilbert3226]

No work will get done if I get one of these for my desk. I would spend all day watching it.