There's oxygen in water, so it could work

Yeah, as long as no other energy is put into the system, nothing will happen. Since the two parts are statically attached to the same object, so no additional movement or energy means no effect on the overall object.

It is basically like putting two nails in a piece of wood and stretching a rubber band between them. Nothing will happen without additional steps

You think it would work if one end is a magnet and the other ferrous metal?

No, because the force of attraction is still working in both directions just not as strongly as it would with two magnets.

Huh, try putting it next to the phone

I love listening to Richard Feynman talk in those interviews

No, atoms with a symmetrical subatomic structure could never be magnets! And what would be the point of somehow enlarging the electrons orbit? You surely know a magnet needs a positive pole!

You are also definitely wrong about your third statement!You could never explain anything based on just the electron cloud, much less physics; a whole scientific field that generally works with the atomic core

Oh boy, this is very incorrect, because it sounds like you are attempting to explain magnetism with electrostatic forces. Here is a basic model which separates the difference between the two:

1. Electrostatic forces are caused by the electric field. Something produces an electric field simply by having an unbalanced charge. Positive attracts negative, negative repels negative, positive repels positive.

2. Magnetic forces are caused by the magnetic field. Something produces a magnetic field by having an unbalanced charge AND is moving.

This is why when trying to explain how solid magnets work, we focus on the electrons because electrons are charged particles that are always moving. So they produce both an electric field (being charged) and a magnetic field (being a moving charged system).

Rhaedas is sorta correct. Any solid system has the capability of being a magnet, but this takes an incredible amount of physics work where iron is special. Iron's electrons are able to easily maintain a synchronous orbit with each other which results in magnetic forces being observable at a macroscopic scale (seeing iron magnets pull on each other). In most other materials, the electrons orbits are chaotic, so even though magnetic fields are still being produced by their electrons, the lack of order results in no magnetic force being observable on the macroscopic scale; but if you place this non-iron material within a very strong magnetic field, you may be able to align their electrons orbits so that it becomes magnetic on the macroscopic scale (like iron).

Not with that attitude they won't.

What we need for true perpetual energy is to just capture that guy Blanka from Street Fighter.

Surely that dude has to eat a lot in order to produce so much energy, no? Or is it just all stored somewhere in his body?

That's not how a railgun works, that's how a coilgun works. Railguns create a loop of electric current that flows into one "wire" (the rail), through the projectile into the other wire, and back down to the starting point again, this configuration creates a force that pushes the projectile down the rails