# Another "miracle" power source from 10 years ago **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 30, 2025, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-miracle-power-source-from-10-years-ago/1022608 "2025-08-30T17:57:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2025, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-miracle-power-source-from-10-years-ago/1022608/1 "2025-08-30T17:57:00Z")
I really wish I could remember more about this contraption (or bookmarked the damn thing, duh). I think it was about 10 years ago and we did discuss it. It was, as best as I recall, similar to those types of perpetual motion machines where there are sliding weights on arms and the weights go outwards to pull the wheel rim down then retreat to the center as they go over the “upward” side of the wheel. Maybe. I dunno. But this thing was freakin huge! Massive beams like a locomotive. It was going to produce prodigious amounts of power. Much of it had been built and there were photos. It had some connection (probably tenuous) with an accredited company or university. All it needed was a little tweaking. Anyone remember this beast? I’m guessing it didn’t work. ---
**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2025, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-miracle-power-source-from-10-years-ago/1022608/2 "2025-08-30T18:03:13Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > I’m guessing it didn’t work. Oh, of course it worked. But it was suppressed by the Big Cat powercompanies, with assistance from the Elders of the Protocols of Zion. I shouldn’t even be sayi ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2025, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-miracle-power-source-from-10-years-ago/1022608/3 "2025-08-30T19:28:19Z")
I’m not quickly finding anything, but I think the terms you’re looking for are “overbalanced wheel” and/or Bhāskara’s wheel > **[Bhāskara's wheel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bh%C4%81skara%27s_wheel)** > > Bhāskara's wheel was a hypothetical perpetual-motion machine design created around 1150 CE by the Indian mathematician Bhāskara II. The wheel consisted of curved or tilted spokes partially filled with mercury. Once in motion, the mercury would flow from one side of the spoke to another, thus forcing the wheel to continue motion, in constant dynamic equilibrium. > Like all perpetual-motion machines, Bhaskara's wheel is a long-discredited mechanism. To truly overbalance the wheel (so that torque i... ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2025, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-miracle-power-source-from-10-years-ago/1022608/4 "2025-08-30T19:35:20Z")
It’s not this monstrosity, is it? [![](https://catracalivre.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/rar_energia.jpg) ](https://catracalivre.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/rar_energia.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2025, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-miracle-power-source-from-10-years-ago/1022608/5 "2025-08-31T03:20:58Z")
Yes, it is!! Any more information on it? ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2025, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-miracle-power-source-from-10-years-ago/1022608/6 "2025-08-31T03:28:39Z")
Found a video https://www.youtube.com/embed/r9BV6nb79fA?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque&list=PLvF-8qbMP43Z8bJhkA0wH9igSCXHsU16v ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2025, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-miracle-power-source-from-10-years-ago/1022608/7 "2025-08-31T04:09:45Z")
May I politely ask for a quick summary? There’s not enough incognito mode in the world to dare put that sort of stuff in my search history and have my feed filled with the worst sort of get-rich-quick/alt-science quackery! ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2025, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-miracle-power-source-from-10-years-ago/1022608/8 "2025-08-31T13:17:56Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > Yes, it is!! Any more information on it? I don’t have anything more on it, but it sure sounds/looks familiar. I feel like I’ve read something about it here or seen a video on it on youtube, but I’m not finding anything when I search those places. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2025, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-miracle-power-source-from-10-years-ago/1022608/9 "2025-08-31T16:05:55Z")
Man, that’s a lot of effort for someone to put in without having a working proof-of-concept. ---
**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2025, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-miracle-power-source-from-10-years-ago/1022608/10 "2025-08-31T16:30:18Z")
Are we sure those photos and the YouTube video aren’t computer-generated? Some of that stuff is getting very good these days… ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2025, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-miracle-power-source-from-10-years-ago/1022608/11 "2025-08-31T16:51:56Z")
All of the information and the photos and video are from 2013. Nothing since then so I guess that tells us something. What little information was written states that RAR Energia tested various sized prototypes before building the big version to “optimize” output. The video isn’t much - just showing stages of construction. I would love to see those big beams swinging back and forth. Rar Energia has a web site which shows a few photos of basic solar panels. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2025, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-miracle-power-source-from-10-years-ago/1022608/12 "2025-08-31T17:04:02Z")
> [@xtenkfarpl](#): > > Are we sure those photos and the YouTube video aren’t computer-generated? This site (also from 2013) says it’s real. To be clear, they’re not saying it works, just that it exists. > **[Gravity-Powered Generator: Real Or Fake?](https://hackaday.com/2013/11/30/gravity-powered-generator-real-or-fake/)** > > You thought we forgot about your favorite Hackaday comment game, didn’t you? Well, not only is ‘Real or Fake?’ back with a new installment, but this time it concerns everybodyR… > Now, before you all scream “Photoshopped,” take a gander at a [FotoForensics](http://fotoforensics.com/)analysis of [one of the images](http://fotoforensics.com/analysis.php?id=ab4112d55880f269ec59cd566c049fed0ac0ceb0.332047), where ELA (error level analysis) seems to indicate [consistent levels of compression](http://fotoforensics.com/tutorial-ela.php). [EXIF data shows](http://regex.info/exif.cgi?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Frarenergia.com.br%2Fimagem5a.JPG) the pictures were shot with a Sony DSC-WX5 and saved in PhotoScape. It may be simpler than that: you can easily recognize the same employees in different shots from different angles, and there are quite a lot of photos. RAR Energia’s most recent endeavor—a second machine in Gilman Illinois—seems to have been erected in the past two months. The Gilman warehouse is located on property belonging to bio-diesel manufacturing firm [Incobrasa Industries](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incobrasa_Industries) (named a “Company of the [RAR Energia] group” on the RAR Energia site). Here’s a little internet sleuthing for your consideration: a [photo of the completed warehouse](http://rarenergia.com.br/gilman%20oficial%2008%20eng.JPG) and a [Google maps link to the location in question](http://maps.google.com/maps?q=40.763176,+-88.012706) (40.763176, -88.012706). Note the distinctly shaped building in the background (another view [here, during construction](http://rarenergia.com.br/imagem01be.JPG)), which can be found due south of the location indicated in the Google maps link. We’re not suggesting that you completely rule out image manipulation, but if it’s Photoshopped, it’s a damned elaborate job. A lot (all?) of those links no longer work. ---
**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2025, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-miracle-power-source-from-10-years-ago/1022608/13 "2025-08-31T17:04:13Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > I would love to see those big beams swinging back and forth. Right, it looks so Victorian doesn’t it? Something that Brunel might have built! ---
**Author:** ![DemonTree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demontree/32/8646_2.png) [@DemonTree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonTree)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2025, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-miracle-power-source-from-10-years-ago/1022608/14 "2025-08-31T23:32:49Z")
Dunno why people are still trying to build perpetual motion machines when we [already know](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydroelectricity) how to generate power from gravity. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2025, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-miracle-power-source-from-10-years-ago/1022608/15 "2025-08-31T23:53:22Z")
There are clear aerial photos of the Gilman, IL plant and the only new building there since the early 2000s was built in 2021. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2025, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-miracle-power-source-from-10-years-ago/1022608/16 "2025-09-01T00:21:55Z")
The sun provides plenty of free energy. Maybe they should try that avenue. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2025, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-miracle-power-source-from-10-years-ago/1022608/17 "2025-09-01T12:14:34Z")
Personally, I’ve found the best source of free energy is the extension cord I ran from the outlet on the side of my neighbor’s house.