--- url: "https://www.reddit.com/r/Amazing/comments/1whhxe5/this_is_the_heron_fountain_created_by_heron_of/" title: This is the Heron Fountain created by Heron of Alexandria in the 1st century AD. source_kind: reddit subreddit: Amazing author: sco-go captured: "2026-10-21T21:28:48+00:00" comment_tree: true topics: [other, humor, reddit, heron-fountain] summary: A joke thread about a plastic-bottle Heron fountain sparks comments on time travel, plastic durability, and ranch dressing. status: ok --- (no text body) --- ## Comments **cruiseruse11:** This is BS, you can tell he made this like yesterday. **TheGreatKonaKing:** I read that plastic bottles can take thousands of years to break down in a landfill so… maybe. **iamwhiskerbiscuit:** I'm pretty sure someone would have drank the water by now. **Birdlebee:** No, it's all creepy and red. It probably tastes like cough syrup. **Ok_Independence_9917:** Went to Rome to drink from this fountain. Can confirm tastes like blood mixed with cough syrup **3rdUncleMeatSandwich:** Dxm or codeine? I had this golden hydrocodone syrup once that was amazing. Not big on the cherry menthol stuff personally. Weird effects too. My body became a rubber band and I forgot who I was. Saw a 3-torus behind my eyeballs! Freaky shit! **Training-Willow9591:** I think the difference is when it's mixed with promethazine which helps combat nausea **stump2003:** Plastic is so invasive in our world, that it’s started to leak into the past **Environmental_Beat84:** Right? Where'd he get the straw and bottle caps in the 1st Century? The corner fucking bodega? Piss off! **Wooden_Exit2957:** I don’t think they sold soda at bodegas back then. Probably some peddler at like, an outdoor market. **xXPhoenixBlueXx:** Well played. **JD-Snaps:** What gave it away, the date on the bottle cap?😋😂 /s **tiny_chaotic_evil:** that's the best by date **CheesemonsterRain:** Big if true **Xplody:** Hahahahahaha! That actually made me laugh out loud. Farkin' hell... **DucklingInARaincoat:** Also how the fuck did he film it in 1AD!? Pretty sure there weren’t videos back then. **ForwardBias:** Pretty sure they didn't have plastic back then. **listgarage1:** You can tell because plastic water bottles looked way different back then. **youcallyourselfajerk:** You crammed so many layers in such a short joke. **youyouyouyouyouandme:** Yeah, like, WTF!?! They didn't have plastics 2000 years ago **FullBusiness219:** yeah but we don't have plastic straws now, so maybe **CautiousArachnidz:** Now make a perpetual ranch fountain and I’m in. **akiras_revenge:** https://i.redd.it/fhxaio325sph1.gif **SlipSilly1901:** https://giphy.com/gifs/7jnPjsh3L7WHm **Dan_flashes480:** https://giphy.com/gifs/JIsfyNln6LMD6 **MetricJester:** https://giphy.com/gifs/KzPq60dXiCsDo5VD7R **271502:** https://giphy.com/gifs/duiz2COlm2kmubWsWb **Kennyvee98:** https://giphy.com/gifs/3o72Ff1iOlcRsldf8I **Soft-Ad-8975:** https://i.redd.it/o8vrat1svsph1.gif **katelynnsmom24:** You guys are having a full blown Diedrich Bader conversation and I want in https://giphy.com/gifs/3o6Zt97Chw6B1N7Ny8 **SpecialCounter1000:** https://giphy.com/gifs/gH3FVCicTGgtVa16QS **bubba1834:** Break the wrist Walk away **pillowwow:** https://giphy.com/gifs/qpADSJEkvdlK0 **SpecialCounter1000:** I just watched this movie last weekend. Completely forgot he was in it 😂 **akiras_revenge:** I think you could pull it off with a ranch fountain **No_Self_3027:** https://giphy.com/gifs/IC3VpqaywrKZq **mahniskel:** https://giphy.com/gifs/5EWXn67F3uqoILvEsC **Touchit88:** Remember kids. Comma's are important. **Inevitable_Cheek_974:** I don't even own A ranch, let alone many ranches that would necessitate an entire fountain. **coffeeshopgeorge:** https://giphy.com/gifs/4Ya8UtZz4PEuk **OMP159:** Get the net. **my_little_throwny:** While that sounds nice, I personally like my ranch thiiiick and not runny https://giphy.com/gifs/GMdcBivU0d1ni **BigConstruction4247:** https://preview.redd.it/wbtor8ajadqh1.jpeg?width=960&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5e46b05b02775cfb32cb0670a120a47cb2904e14 **Lost_Department_2177:** That density could be used to power a decent generator. Just get a great hydrophobic coating on it. **Sethdarkus:** If made on a larger scale using a denser liquid I could see it, maybe something like mineral oil since it would have lower-non existent evaporation loss **SingleInfinity:** No, it couldn't. **Creatorman1:** It’s air pressure and water pressure **itsenikuluttaja:** I dont get the americans theyre always talking about ranch **ScaryBlanket_Reborn:** Ranch is how we heal ourselves from the bludgeoning of late stage capitalism **macguini:** Yeah I don't understand it either. I'm a blue cheese guy. And now I'm gonna get downvoted to hell for saying that. **curt725:** Man of culture **ScaryBlanket_Reborn:** Nah man. I respect you kisses forehead **tomiathon:** Y'all don't need to fight, they're both equally disgusting. **thepalestgray:** Chunky ranch **UsernamesNotFound404:** Ranch is the mid-west of dips. **Draven_crow_zero:** isn't that where they have the cattle and the cowboys. **Bullfrog_Paradox:** Me either. I'm American and can't stand the shit, but mostly it's become an internet meme more than a real thing. I've never met anyone who consumes ranch the way the Internet would have you believe. **cobgca:** I’m American and I still don’t get it. **VincoNavitas:** I wished I had an award to give you. **PsyopVet:** https://giphy.com/gifs/1SfxXOJ0Q2Xni **a2311m:** Are you the kid of dadchats lol **CautiousArachnidz:** I don’t know what is. I’m just a lover of the most supreme confinement choice in all the lands. **Lartemplar:** 🤢 **pogoscrawlspace:** Golden Corral did it with cheese and chocolate. **Same-Suggestion-1936:** I mean fondue fountains have been around since before Golden Corral but yes **Temporary_Event8451:** Yeah, just add batteries. All these devices are made with a solid non see through material to hide the batteries. There are videos on YouTube showing them made with see through parts. Perpetual motion with known public technology is not possible. If a device like this worked simply off gravity it would be employed for energy generation. Create a closed loop, let the turbines do their thing. **hackingdreams:** There's so much bad about this comment... Perpetual motion isn't possible period . The universe doesn't allow it. This device works simply off gravity. It is not a perpetual motion machine. It's not even close. It's an air-driven pump. The bottom funnel is pushing fluid into the lower air chamber, which is displacing air, driving fluid out of the reservoir into the cascading steps to continue to fill the funnel. This machine stops working when there's either no water left in the reservoir, or when the pressure is insufficient to lift the water, depending on the device's geometries. Heron of Alexandria figured this out like 1800 years ago. He didn't have batteries or plastic for that matter - his was built from clay with metal tubes. **loveslightblue:** https://giphy.com/gifs/VY4FPTlvCNStWSVhpZ **Sethdarkus:** Would more or less need the right air pressure + a fluid that doesn’t evaporate, mineral oil comes to mind but it isn’t thin enough for this application I would think unless it was on a larger scale, however to large and I don’t think suction would function **MWalshicus:** "The universe doesn't allow it" I mean in practice yes. But energy is not conserved at the universal scale so who really knows what exotic and improbable arrangement of things could do? **ChocolateSensitive97:** Exactly this👆 When equilibrium of pressures is reached flow will stop. **CantModerateMe:** theres no pump, and it isnt perpetual, it was primed by the energy introduced into the system by pouring the water in, it will eventually peter out when enough water flows into the lower bottle to equalize the pressure. **SubmissiveUslessFag:** No batteries it's just flowing from the top bottle to the bottom one with extra steps **KeeperOfTheLigher:** This is a model show cases how aqueducts work, it is not a perpetual motion device. It will cease to work when the system runs out of the energy supplied by the second pour. **Proper-Raise-1450:** > All these devices are made with a solid non see through material to hide the batteries. All these devices are made with a solid non see through material to hide the batteries. Ah yes, Heron of Alexandria's batteries in the 1st century lol. It's not batteries, it is stored gravitational energy. **Tarks-A:** "stored gravitational energy" But batteries used for storing energy indeed /s **Ambitious-Cup-6910:** Needs to incorporate a veggie ramp **Mrrrrggggl:** Lisa, in this house, we obey the laws of thermodynamics! **GisaNight:** There is nothing wrong with this though... It doesn't run forever, if you notice only air is being moved to the top bottle, so the flow is caused by that air pressure. Once that bottle is empty then it stops because the flow brings the liquid down to the bottom bottle. You then have to reset it to the top bottle. That's it. Thermodynamics is followed properly. **Sea_Prep_Tidal_26:** Oh someone here had to go and ruin all the fun with their ✌️science✌️ (j/k; spot on and succinct) **insomniacpyro:** At some point in Science class in the 90s we were tasked with making perpetual motion machines, either practical or theoretical. We all spent the better part of a week coming up with these brilliant ideas. In the end the teacher broke down how each one would inevitably fail, which was more eye opening about how various laws of physics worked better than any book or video could at the time. It left quite an impression on me, it caused me to very critically analyze things in my life that seem too good to be true, or solutions that seem too simple. **Sea_Prep_Tidal_26:** So…I take it you either : • never joined an MLM scheme • became the sole founder of a MLM scheme **Dub_Coast:** Nobody shows up to my Vemma events anymore how am I ever going to fill out my left down leg and finally cop that nice Vemma Beamer? Damn you Patrick **asphaltdragon:** I thought it was a pink Lexus RX350. It's always a pink Lexus RX350. **Gunmetalstorm:** I've been involved in a number of cults, both as a leader and a follower. You have more fun as a follower, but you make more money as a leader. **Some_Ebb_2921:** "Even though all your perpetual motion machines failed, I applaud the effort and you all pass this grade... except Timmy, as he broke the laws of physics and actually succeeded, he needs to take this grade again to learn not to break the law" **J5892:** In the past few years I've gone from "question everything" to "literally everything is a lie". **[unknown]:** [deleted] **During_theMeanwhilst:** Sciency people. Soooo annoying. **YOLTLO:** Lmao this is the first time I’ve seen ✌️ used for air quotes and I love it! **Kromehound:** https://giphy.com/gifs/MBVemoHuyw9Ik **Mr-_-Soandso:** https://giphy.com/gifs/Cz6TlrRVVyv9S **xteve:** Thank you for the explanation. Of course we all knew that the laws of thermodynamics prevail. We just didn't know how. **SapTheSapient:** Here's the thing now. Have the falling liquid spin a generator to charge a battery, and when the liquid runs out use that battery to power a pump that refills the top bottle. That's what the government doesn't want you to know! **No-Criticism-2587:** You can always push closer and closer to 100% efficiency, can't reach it for the most part though. **Theron3206:** Needs more magnets... **HyperbolicHyena:** https://giphy.com/gifs/3o6UBiAQ9Ws8UWdmqA **AboveGroundFool:** https://i.redd.it/6gbyz3jp8sph1.gif **DoubleClickMouse:** Why does this gif continue to the next scene? **heavydrinker12:** Best simpsons line ever **BodhingJay:** So can a nerd tell me why we cant slap a waterwheel for s turbine on a big scale of this bad boy and have infinite free energy? **Noctiluca334:** The fountain only runs until the air in the lower bottle is filled with liquid. It works because the air is displacing the liquid in the upper bottle. The fountain eventually stops when all the air is displaced **BodhingJay:** Dang it.. so i guess the waterwheel turbine cant be made to pump air into the bottom bottle with some energy to spare huh.. double dang it **sin-tax:** It would take more energy than is created **BodhingJay:** https://giphy.com/gifs/lGBecpB2dIMwt6ohfI **Smash_Shop:** You see, what you're looking for is a perpetual motion machine. What we have here is a pretty long motion machine. **WenatcheeWrangler:** I see. I didn’t realize. Where might I find the perpetual motion machine I’m looking for? **mawesome4ever:** I’ll tell you when I find it (after I make a lot of money from it) **michaelvf99:** I would sell you mine but it's broken.... It just keeps speeding up **EgorKPrime:** Just attach a really big arm to the moon and use kinetic energy that’ll run for at least a billion years **greenroombro:** I'm actually here looking for a perpetual lotion machine - is this the wrong place? **Alladas:** I thought diddy was in jail. **GetMeOffThisRidePlz:** Devastating, I know. **cubixy2k:** Only with that attitude **OwnStudy723:** well, give it more energy!!!! https://giphy.com/gifs/GP44KXi4LhTOw **abenevolentgod:** thanks nerd **Spamsdelicious:** ## Found the guy who's fun at parties. Edit: It's getting wierd over here. Who summoned the Knight Goon Brigade? Bunch of woolie bullies crawling out of the woodwork. No fun at all. 👎🙄 **JustHugMeAndBeQuiet:** I would be thrilled to hang out at a party with someone who can pull that level of explanation out at a moment's notice. **Appropriate_Car_8221:** Yeah, that would genuinely be a way more fun conversation than the typical get-to-know-you song and dance **RebelJustforClicks:** Towards the end of the video you can see the water level in the upper bottle going down. The water is going "somewhere" That somewhere is the lower bottle. The water drains thru the lids into the funnel, the funnel drops into the lower bottle, the lower bottle has an air pipe going to the upper bottle, the air pressure in the upper bottle forces water out the straw into the lids. It's basically a very fancy, ornate siphon. **zxylady:** True **bs000:** me knowing someone is wrong but not being able to explain in the moment without spending 15 minutes looking it up and verifying first **GooeyKablooie_:** Bro asked a question and he answered yet you still clown on him. I think you’re the real loser at parties bro. **Dripping_Gravy:** Anyway… here’s Waterwall 🎶 **The_Tooter_Snooter:** I mean … it’s the guy I would wanna talk to. But then, I’m not very fun at parties. **Fantastic_Smile9746:** I enjoy partying with not dumbs. **Be12NoOne:** My Timberborn experience told me this wasn't sustainable but I didn't have words as to why. Thank you. **fantasticsarcastic1:** Essentially the air in the bottom bottle ends up in the vertical bottle, displacing most of that liquid? **BranchFew1148:** People will see the first law of thermodynamics and be like "but what if we're REALLY sneaky about it this time?" **Ctowncreek:** It wont even go that long. The smal cup he pours liquid into represents the maximum pressure and therefore maximum height it can pump. That cup pressurizes the air in the bottom which pressurizes the top bottle of water. The top bottle has a strawfor the liquid to escape. As soon as the height of the straw at the top reaches the same height as the cup at the bottom it stops. (Height of liquid in each, because the pressure will be equal) **ProofHorseKzoo:** It eventually loses pressure and stops, only works for a couple minutes. Also a water wheel would add drag and then it stops even faster. **StingLikeButterfly:** I know you didn’t mean to insult or probably didn’t even give it much thought, but I have been thinking lately how we have started using the word “nerd” to make us feel better about our ineptitude. I mean seriously, someone is good at geography (I am not), let’s call him a nerd for knowing the smallest city of Thailand- that way my conscience doesn’t have to feel inferior. Just call them nerd and geek, box them into these borderline derogatory terms and I don’t have to feel bad for myself. **Excellent_Condition:** It's also embracing anti-intellectualism, and that is never good for a society. Everyone can learn, gain knowledge, and think, and choosing to do so is what creates progress and improvement for everyone. Also, props for kindly calling that out and to u/BodhingJay how they responded. **youcallyourselfajerk:** That was the initial intent behind that word, but it has mostly lost its derogatory meaning for a couple decades now. Nowaday I've seen it overwhelmingly used as an ironic insult and as a celebration of enthusiasm for niche interests. **ChronoFel:** The hardest part about building a perpetual motion machine is hiding the batteries **Minimum_Ad_303:** https://giphy.com/gifs/d3mlE7uhX8KFgEmY **0_o:** You are basically describing this , and it's not perpetual, free, or infinite energy at all. He did a lot of mechanical work by filling those bottles. He will need to do it again once the upright bottle is empty. **pixeltweaker:** Does no one see that the liquid is not returning to the vertical bottle? It’s just primed with pressure that is now siphoning the liquid out of the vertical bottle and into the horizontal bottle. Nothing perpetual about this. **Traditional-Roof1984:** Nobody said or insinuated this was perpetual I believe. We're still busy on getting unlimited energy out of nowhere 2000 years later. **ACorDC:** They had plastic bottles back then? Wow **Yesterday622:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heron%27s\_fountain **DckThik:** https://preview.redd.it/kqf8y76xctph1.jpeg?width=1206&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=045172fc7ef324a2aa9c1d28e1ca16a02aa675ff Nice **quatroquatro0:** This is giving me PTSD back to high school physics class **l27th1997:** Those plastic bottles and caps have held up extraordinarily well for being that old. **eaglefucker:** I'm gonna go pee real quick **POT3NT333:** C👀L **DrizzRizzII:** I didn’t know they had plastic bottles in the first century. That’s wild. **3720-to-1:** Don't lie to us, the date on the caps say June of 2025... 1st century. What do we look like? Idiots? **ggobrien:** Joke's on you, they didn't use our calendar, so 2025 would have been a different year than ours. totally legit plastic bottle from the first century. **PerodisCS:** The hardest part about making a perpetual motion machine is figuring out where to hide the batteries **Traditional_Isopod80:** Cool. **_tenneSevy:** Where’d he get the plastic bottles back then? **Kchasse1991:** Similar principle to how a ram pump works. **BearysWorkRedditName:** ehhh, they both move water upwards, but they really operate on fundamentally different mechanics. A ram pump uses the kinetic shock of the water hammer effect to force water up through the check valve, while this just has a sealed container of air pushing up. A Heron's fountain can't really perform work like a ram pump can, i.e., moving water higher than the net drop of its internal containers. Also, a ram pump requires an external, continuous source, whereas this just feeds on the initial setup until depleted. **Kchasse1991:** Thank you. This was my first attempt at using Cunningham's law. Thank you for sharing your knowledge! **BearysWorkRedditName:** lol, hilarious. You're welcome. **Kchasse1991:** Seriously, I appreciate that you shared that. More people should be educated on fluid physics and how different water pumps work. It's a highly valuable knowledge to have. **e37d93eeb23335dc:** That looks way too new to be from the 1st century. Did they eve have plastic water bottles back then? **-_-0_0-_0:** https://i.redd.it/prdpv96nyvph1.gif **Snoo-92859:** A fountain? Where does the water come from? Here, in the middle of the city? https://preview.redd.it/49eo9j1klwph1.jpeg?width=482&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8a6d56110cd345cc405cc63eb57428f3246b762e **Rootenheimer:** Funny, this is the first I’m Heron about it **Bitcoin1x:** Amazing they had plastic bottles back then **chosonhawk:** the greeks invented plastic too?!? **helen269:** Queen takes pawn. CHECKMATE, HISTORIANS! :-) **JRDub11b:** Ok, that's pretty damn cool. **PleaseHelpIamFkd:** The hardest part about a perpetual motion machine is hiding the batteries. **Mountain-Hospital-12:** What do you mean? **0neshoein:** Wow so this is THE fountain? Fascinating. **Could-You-Tell:** Plastic bottles, lids and all. Totally the original **Suspicious-Rock-2650:** Where did he get the plastic bottles? **Several-Hat-1944:** Actually, very interesting. Would Tito's vodka have the same ability? (getting a martini glass ready)🍸 **Super-G1mp:** Gin and vermouth. **Informal_Database327:** Dear god did I read that wrong **LivingOriginal7479:** And then it just goes forever or what? **I_Ponders:** Until the liquid displaces the air in the bottom chamber. Not perpetual sadly. **020600:** Heron loved Ribena and was a master at recycling plastic👍 **No_Criticism_5861:** In this house we obey the laws of thermo dynamics! **PoopsMcScoots:** Practical engineering did a video of this 2 weeks ago and now it’s everywhere. **GoatCovfefe:** OP lies, they didnt have plastic bottles or caps back then. **nvmenotfound:** i can’t believe they had plastic bottles back then /s really cool! **Ya-Dikobraz:** Very appropriate music. **Rare-Cobbler-8669:** I know what im making this weekend **ctiger12:** It’s not a closed loop so the upper reservoir will be drained eventually **PoupontheGrey:** Can we use it somehow to smoke weed? **CyborgSPIKE:** I love how so many people, including myself came here thinking they just solved the law of thermodynamics, but then we were all explained how we hadnt and we were sad again **GDBAKED81:** Now just make it bigger one for my backyard 👍🏾 **tnharwal55:** I didn't know they had plastic bottles back then **whereisskywalker:** Curious if you could use this kind of set up for water purification. Going to do some research, if anyone knows please comment. I'm always impressed with the brilliant minds. **Ninja_Prolapse:** Ok.. now, add a wheel. Join that wheel to a motor. Join the motor to a battery. Masturbate heavily. .. Profit? **Jibboolie:** I find this fascinating but it makes me sad.. sad that so many people born in this millennia have the potential to create and discover things, but most of them never will because they spend 0 time pondering and touching things. So much of their experience - at least in the States - is digital. Even art and music has been overrun by AI. It scares the shit out of me how reliant “we” are on the internet and immediate answers, instead of trial and error and actual hands on learning and experimenting. **FrozenShadow_007:** Where’s the battery? Or does it stop seconds after the video ends? **The_Dude_5757:** Damn, I had no idea they had plastic bottles back then **yarglof1:** I initially misread the title as "heroin fountain" **Rifleman519:** https://i.redd.it/kqaaubwsyaqh1.gif **xenaretos:** Read the title as "heroin fountain" initially... **Bright-Fun-1638:** My dumass read that as "heroin fountain" 🥀 **adinmem:** That’s in great condition for a 1st-century artifact. **MariaTPK:** Perpetual Motion Machine! Unlimited free energy! We're going to be rich, we're going to have it all!