fandomhigh | Mythbusting, Tuesday, 8/18

By classic handwavy email arrangement, class today met in one of the labs at Stark Industries. And if they were there in part so Tyler could keep an eye on Tony, he would never, ever admit it.

"Welcome to Tony Stark's lab," Tyler greeted the class. "The management has told me to make it known that if you break or steal anything, you should assume Tony Stark owns your soul. He will claim it painfully and very, very slowly."

His smile showed teeth and wasn't very nice.

"We're here to build a perpetual motion machine in a real-world lab. Perpetual motion machines are devices that produce more energy than they consume. Now, physics say a perpetual motion machine won't work -- it violates a couple laws of thermodynamics. That doesn't stop idiots from trying to make and sell them as 'free energy' machines. Your job is to try to invent the first working perpetual motion machine. In an hour. If it were possible anywhere, it would be possible in this lab."

He quickly showed the students around the lab, enumerating tools, circuits, computers with only basic functions accessible, and the projector. "This will let you test your design," he said, showing a quick demonstration with a drawing of a drinking duck thing.

... never let it be said he lacked a sense of whimsy.

"To give you a head start, I'm passing out blueprints for a few kinds of machine. We have the ring oscillator, the Minto wheel, and the water fuel cell. As far as I know, none of these work, but you should try building them anyhow."

He gestured to the lab. "Go to it. I'm here and Tony's around to claim your soul if you mess anything up. And Ino, Anemone, thank you for covering last week."

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Agnes built a large-ish box out of very thick wood, with a few small holes drilled in the top, and was very secretive about what she put inside it. The box was connected by an axle to a wheel, in order to demonstrate the motion.

Agnes set the box down in front of Tyler and waved her hands over it dramatically, and the wheel began to turn.

Tyler looked from Agnes to the wheel and back to her. "Was that magic?"

"I promise you, magic is not turning the wheel," Agnes answered.

"That's a very specific denial," Tyler noted, and prodded the box with one forefinger. "How does it work?"

Yes. Yes, it was. "Mechanically," Agnes told him. "The box generates motion, which turns the wheel."

A thin root snaked out of the bottom of the box and tried to tap into the table. Agnes nonchalantly plucked it away.

"And it grows roots," Tyler observed, trying not to laugh. "What exactly within the box generates the motion, Agnes?"

"I promise you that if you provide it a little light, and maybe some water from time to time, it'll move more or less perpetually," Agnes told him.

A thin green shoot snaked out of one of the holes on top, and started growing leaves and flowers.

A little worried, Agnes glared at the box, trying to figure out how to quiet the plant down again.

"Because it harvests the energy from the growing plant," Tyler said. "Which has to be magic, since plants don't grow that fast."

He stared at the box. "You get an A for creativity. I'm generous today."

"It's not much magic," Agnes tried to explain. "The plant wants to grow anyway; I just gave it a little push."

She finally managed to take back the little push and slow the plant down, and nodded at it in satisfaction. The wheel slowed down, but not before the flowers poking out the top had withered, turned into seed pods, and ripened. Just as the wheel ground to a halt, one of the seed pods burst, sending sesame seeds in Tyler's direction.

"It is still turning," Agnes pointed out, gesturing at the wheel, which... wasn't. "Just more slowly, now."

Mythbusting, Tuesday, 8/18

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