Many times now, friends have introduced me to friends of their's that need help on some kind of engineering or are seeking investors for some new kind of techno

Many times now, friends have introduced me to friends of their's that need help on some kind of engineering or are seeking investors for some new kind of technology. I heard about magnetic bubble memories, new logic gate designs for digital ICs, and improvements to starting batteries for internal combustion automotive applications. These seemed possible but quite risky. However, some of the most interesting presentations were different. They seemed to be simply impossible inventions thought up by well-meaning, passionate people. For example, two high schools kids swore that they had invented a video compression algorithm that worked better than existing ones such as H.264, while at the same time being lossless. They were trying to obtain investors and their parents had already contacted a public relations firm to promote their work. All they needed were some outside investors so that they could work out the kinks. I was quite skeptical about their claim since: (1) they wouldn't reveal their methods nor any example of the algorithm in action, (2) they were completely unfamiliar with any literature on video compression, (3) didn't know how to program, and (4) couldn't understand the notation used for a mathematical discussion of the issues. Here's a quote: "What do the big E symbols all over the page mean?" (they were capital sigmas). The P.R. firm arranged for me to do a couple fo days of consulting with them to untangle what was going on. Unsurprisingly, the check I received for consulting with them later bounced. Another time, a likable young guy claimed to have invented a purely mechanical, reactionless propulsion engine. It was a memorable experience. I listened and watched the "inventor" describe the weights, arms, and rotating parts. Forces were going in all kinds of directions and were quite dynamic. I explained that conservation of momentum meant that it wouldn't work and his reply was "Okay, but just explain why this part wouldn't push the whole thing forward when it swung around, [etc. etc.]" He simple didn't believe that conservation of momentum would keep his device from flying though space, on its own without expending any mass. Because I refused to calculate every force and integrate them over time as the parts revolved and slid back and forth he felt like I hadn't refuted his intuition about the mechanism. He had no understanding of vectors or calculus or physics. Every so often after our initial meeting I would hear from him again. He was a earnest, nice guy. Every time I see an article like this I think briefly that I should send him a link to it, but it's probably better that I don't.