That's what the host kept saying, but invariably the response was "rules could be broken"
They could be. Nobody has actually done it yet, though.
While it isn't free energy as Danoff pointed out I've had a theory.
I've had a theory similar to an automotive charging system.
Why can't we create an electric motor efficient enough to power a generator yet power itself?
As usual in electric systems the most power used is starting the system and the amperage drops to a running level.
I'm sure with the right combination of pulley sizes it could be done.
Not sure if serious...
Is this about
perpetual motion machines? If so, I think it's a lie.
There are people who invent perpetual motion gadgets or objects like spinning fans and so on. But those are not machines. The moment you'd harness any energy from those "close" perpetual systems, they would eventually stop / stop immediately. They're only perpetual if no energy is being harnessed, which make them useless.
They're not even perpetual, just very low energy loss. They would stop even if you never attempted to tap the energy.
The EmDrive is said to actually work, but physicists don't understand it (actually they hate it), since it violates Newton's 3rd law, conservation of momentum.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RF_resonant_cavity_thruster
Physicists don't hate things that seem to violate known laws. They find them fascinating. But when you're up against very well established laws of physics, you better bring some damn good proof that you're actually violating them or you'll be viewed as another snake oil salesman trying to dupe the public and bring good science into disrepute.
The EmDrive, while interesting, still hasn't made it out of the phase where they're actually sure that the effect is from the EmDrive rather than some artifact of the test. Attempting to duplicate the "successful" experiments has been a mixed bag, which usually isn't a great sign of a solid effect.
Zero point energy is quantum technology promising free energy, but its time has not yet come.
Zero point energy is woo. If you could extract energy, it wouldn't be a zero point any more.
That begs the question: Who, then, does understand it?
There's two ways of looking at this, considering that the effect isn't universally accepted.
If it's not producing net force, any decent scientist understands it. If it is producing net force, then nobody understands it and a lot of people will be looking to make their names by explaining it. The person who did so in a rigorous manner would probably be the next Einstein in terms of the revolution in science it would bring.
As it stands, there are a few people doing tests and the rest of us waiting for more information to come forth.
"He says he's done it, and I've seen the proof but he can't show it to you"
Anyone who says this is a charlatan. A real perpetual motion machine would have the inventor rolling in cash for life, hailed as a genius by every country in the world, and offered jobs and opportunities by anyone and everyone.
"I can't show you" is code for "you'd immediately realise that it's a fraud".