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Been reading those old Tom Swift novels again, have we?

http://steamcommunity.com/app/...
"ishanda --- Kerbal Space Program Apr 17, 2013 @ 2:29am; If you REALLY want Star Trek Style impulse engines why not mod them yourself? All you really need is to make copies of the relevant part files, change the name of the Xenon Tank to "Deuterium" and change the Ion Engine to "Impulse Engine" and then change a few values to make them super efficient. Done."

Still looking forward to seeing how the real device pans out though... Just like I'm still wondering about all the claimed cold fusion results which may also be exploring new areas of physics and chemistry with the behavior of hydrogen atoms at the edges of metal lattices or in cracks in them perhaps in interaction with electro-magnetic pulses ...
http://www.extremetech.com/ext...

I'm still waiting on "Tom Swift and his Space Solartron" though: :-)
http://www.tomswift.info/homep...
"The main invention in this book is, of course, the Space Solartron. The Space Solartron was probably Tom Swift's most amazing -- and far-fetched -- invention. Its purpose was to make space travel practical by creating oxygen, water, and food from sunlight -- not a simple task, to be sure."

I've mused about even better tech that will extract energy and mass from zero point energy. Although we might then get a "tragedy of the commons" as so much mass and energy is created in nearby outer space as to collectively form a black hole? Now that might be another good mode for the multi-player version of Kerbal Space Program to see what happens politically as that "tragedy" plays out as the outer space equivalent of anthropogenic global warming? :-)
http://www.pcgamer.com/2013/11...

Perhaps that political problem might already be playing out at the core of out galaxy? :-)
http://science.slashdot.org/st...

Back to the EmDrive device, it would not surprise me if the impulse provided by the microwave device is much less than the impulse imparted by photons and/or solar wind on any satellite's solar panels to capture needed electricity. But that might be a non-issue if you have a small "Mr. Fusion" fusion reactor or cold fusion LENR device onboard the satellite? :-)

Of course, station keeping is even easier if you have a "HyperEdit" debugger hook into the simulation. :-)
http://www.pcgamer.com/2013/11...
"If you still think MechJeb is cheating, take a look at HyperEdit. It is cheating. Install it, tap Alt+H, and you're given a menu full of options that let you tweak and edit the game. With a few clicks, you can teleport your craft to the orbit of any planet on the solar system, then use the landing options to gracefully touch down. Alternatively, you can instantly replenish your fuel, obliterate a selected craft, or readjust Kerbin's gravity to make escaping its atmosphere unnaturally difficult. HyperEdit is a flexible toolbox that, when used without restriction, completely destroys the difficulty. With a little imagination, though, you can use it to create your own custom scenarios. It's as simple as popping an abandoned craft on a distant planet, and suddenly you've got the basis for a tricky retrieval mission."

See also:
http://www.simulation-argument...
"This paper argues that at least one of the following propositions is true: (1) the human species is very likely to go extinct

Golly gee wiz. It's Tom Swift and his Ultrasonic Cycloplane!

...pulled this off four or five decades ago! In Asia as I recall.

Inventors these days just don't cut the mustard!

they came up with a lot of intriguing gadgets and ideas to wrap the book's formula around when I was in the 6th grade

To this day, I still enjoy saying "Subocean Geotron"

http://www.tomswift.info/homepage/geotron.jpg

http://www.tomswift.info/homepage/diving.html

Piers Anthony is great when you're 10 - 16, starts to lose it after that.
Orson Scott Card, check.

I read most of the Piers Anthony stuff, and frankly, still regret wasting the time. ("Sos the Rope", anyone? I thought not). Most of it is pretty hacky now, and was so then. I also find Orson Scott Card to be filled with trivial ideas (which, to me, is what science fiction is about) and have dropped him from my reading list.

I personally got started on Tom Swift, Jr (I must have read 20 of the 33 published) and moved from there to everything Heinlein ever wrote ("Have Spacesuit, Will Travel" for openers, and never looked back). I can also recall having read TLotR, oh, about 25 times so far. Might have to crack it open again for old times sake.

I guess I'm the only one who was reminded of Tom Swift and his Diving Seacopter. (Although this one doesn't seem the be submersible.)