What is "perepiteia"

Perepiteia is claimed to be a new generator developed by the Canadian inventor Thane Heins. The device is named after the Greek word for peripety, a dramatic reversal of circumstances or turning point in a story. The device was quickly attributed the term " perpetual motion machine" by several media outlets. Due to the long history of hoaxes and failures of perpetual motion machines and the incompatibility of such a device with accepted principles of physics, Heins' claims about Perepiteia have been treated with considerable skepticism.

In 2003, Heins filed a patent application in Canada but no patent was granted. Heins also founded Potential Difference Inc, the website of which contains a series of videos of the inventor demonstrating the machine. US patent #9,230,730 issued in 2016 pertaining to another of Thane's inventions, a bi-toroidal topology transformer.

Heins has recently stated that he is unsure whether or not the machine really produces energy, but in communications with science writer David Bradley of ScienceBase, Heins made claims of up to 7000% efficiency for the bi-toroidal transformer. Heins, who reportedly works 8–12 hours a day on the Perepiteia, insists that it is viable and that "This technology should be mainstream."