Whoa! New type of space drive discovered

[Charmonium]

I like that they are cautiously analyzing instead of just writing it off like Thunderf00t did.

The point is, we're trying to determine if the effect is real, even if we don't fully understand how it works.

I didn't get the part about why it can't be virtual particles. He seems to say that they only exist for a planck length but that has to be an exaggeration. But even if it isn't, why would the distance matter? You get thrust from the initial transfer of momentum, right? And that happens instantaneously. So what am I missing?

 

[SMOGZINN]

I didn't get the part about why it can't be virtual particles. He seems to say that they only exist for a planck length but that has to be an exaggeration. But even if it isn't, why would the distance matter? You get thrust from the initial transfer of momentum, right? And that happens instantaneously. So what am I missing?

My understanding is that it can't be virtual particles because they are always created in matched opposite pairs and should have a net zero thrust, they don't leave any energy behind.

 

[Charmonium]

That's true but for the instant that they exist, they have mass don't they? I remember reading about one theory of why light is affected by gravity. The idea was that it's not because space is curved. It's because photons are constantly morphing between massless photons and matter-anti-matter particle pairs. During the time that they are matter, they are affected by gravity.

This idea was used to explain why neutrinos could reach earth sooner than photons from a supernova. The neutrinos have almost no mass so wouldn't be affected as much by passing through intervening gravitational fields.

 

[ctbaars]

Neutrinos interact with the matter much less than other particles and photons so they escape much easier. Light takes a minimum of 4000 years to leave the suns core. even in a collapsing star, the material is quite opaque to Neutrinos.

 

[Ichinisan]

I put my penis in the test chamber and the thrust measurements were off the charts!

6 years after this thread started, I'm not optimistic.

Still it would be pretty cool.

A Mythical Form of Space Propulsion Finally Gets a Real Test

Scientists have debated for decades whether the propulsion concept known as EmDrive is real or wishful thinking. A sensitive new tool may at last provide an answer.

www.wired.com

 

[brianmanahan]

I put my penis in the test chamber and the thrust measurements were off the charts!

6 years after this thread started, I'm not optimistic.

they make a pill for that now

 

[Ichinisan]

they make a pill for that now

Don't need it.

My groin is producing anomalous thrust.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Wasn’t NASA going to put a mini version on this in orbit that would decay in something like 21 months to test if the thrust worked as in the orbit would last longer?
I’m sure some of my statement may be wrong but the idea is NASA putting something into orbit and if the drive produced thrust the orbit would last longer than expected.

 

[Pohemi]

Wasn’t NASA going to put a mini version on this in orbit that would decay in something like 21 months to test if the thrust worked as in the orbit would last longer?
I’m sure some of my statement may be wrong but the idea is NASA putting something into orbit and if the drive produced thrust the orbit would last longer than expected.

I'm surprised that would be easier/cheaper than further testing on Earth in a vacuum chamber to determine actual thrust.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Don't need it.

Your wife told me otherwise.

 

[Fritzo]

Don't need it.

I need it sometimes

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Aw bummer

Scientists Just Killed the EmDrive

After failing critical thrust tests, the "impossible" engine has proven to be just that.

www.popularmechanics.com

Simple summary….it doesn’t work…..
Previous readings were incorrect, more sensitive instruments confirmed no force.
Side note: original measurements seemed to be measuring parts of the structure that expanded due to heat of the “engine”

 

[Red Squirrel]

I kinda figured it would not work, but was still worth trying.

 

[Ken g6]

It Something is back:

NASA Veteran’s Propellantless Propulsion Drive That Physics Says Shouldn’t Work Just Produced Enough Thrust to Overcome Earth’s Gravity

A veteran NASA scientist says his company has tested a propellantless propulsion drive technology that produced one Earth gravity of thrust.

thedebrief.org

My first reaction is, if this thing has enough thrust to fly, why aren't they showing me a flying thing? Even if support equipment means it has to hang from two wires on one side, I'd like to see something!

 

[Paratus]

It Something is back:

NASA Veteran’s Propellantless Propulsion Drive That Physics Says Shouldn’t Work Just Produced Enough Thrust to Overcome Earth’s Gravity

A veteran NASA scientist says his company has tested a propellantless propulsion drive technology that produced one Earth gravity of thrust.

thedebrief.org

My first reaction is, if this thing has enough thrust to fly, why aren't they showing me a flying thing? Even if support equipment means it has to hang from two wires on one side, I'd like to see something!

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. The EM drive was found to be thermal and testing effects not thrust if I recall.

If these guys are really getting 1G of thrust others will be able to reproduce it. Exciting if true, worth verifying , not gonna hold my
breath.

 

[MrSquished]

I heard that Donald Trump's farts/shitting his pants smells in court have created a whole new kind of space drive - we will soon be an inter-galactic species.

 

[Ken g6]

I took a closer look at the article, and this jumped out (without propellant!)

Another unusual result from their tests was that sometimes the tested devices did not require a constant input of electrical charge to maintain their thrust. Given that the device already appears to violate the known laws of physics by creating thrust without propellant, this result even stumped Dr. Buhler and his team.

“We can see some of these things sit on a scale for days, and if they still have charge in them, they are still producing thrust,” he told Ventura. “It’s very hard to reconcile, from a scientific point of view because it does seem to violate a lot of energy laws that we have.”

That really doesn't make sense...unless the device is interacting with its test chamber. Then it's in a simple static (electric) equilibrium.

Violating conservation of energy should be an indication that something is wrong. Unfortunately, I think this is something all emissionless drives do, if you point two opposite each other and tie them together.