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Those Amazing Antigravity Machines?
surfimp writes "Wired is running an interesting article about 'lifters', hovering UFO-looking vehicles that have no moving parts, no onboard power supply, and are capable of levitating simply through the application of high amounts of electrical current. Enthusiasts claim their vehicles are examples of a nascent antigravity technology, while more traditional scientists - including some funded by NASA - view them as nothing more than contraptions harnessing ionic winds."
Flying without moving parts! Why couldn't someone come up with this sooner?
blimps... hot air balloons...
I can see the media's interpretation already:
So, to lose weight, apply massive amounts of electrical current
Those Amazing Antigravity Machines
Joke completed.
The coolest voice ever.
Maybe we'll be in track to make hoverboards after all. Here I was all disappointed because I was promised flying cars by the year 2000.
Now, can someone help Dr. Brown with that Flux Capacitor project already? Thanks.
Everything is bigger than cold fusion.
"It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
The difference is moot as the fundamental princible is the same. It's just a matter of how you implement it.
In fact, had they have done the engine in java, you would have anti-gravity--but since they chose the implementation that they did, you have an ion engine.
What? A Geocities site taking the full brunt of slashdot? Not likely.
The concept of "defying gravity" by generating an upward force larger than the force of gravity pulling the object down is indeed very exciting.
May I interest you in a Boeing 747?
a grassroots movement of antigravity fans
Damn, man, just say geeks.
The coolest voice ever.
LOL, two of those suckers and a cockpit, and you have a TIE Fighter... *g*
(TIE = Twin Ion Engine)
Damn, I watch too much Star Wars.
Dreams, dreams, don't doubt dreams, dreaming children's dreaming dreams. Sailor Moon SS
We can levitate almost a pound using an ion wind created by 120,000 volts. Strikes me that you could send a pound half-way around the earth using 120,000 volts and a rail gun.
:)
Anyone else think Wired authors get paid by the word, with no maximum?
Sorry for the lame reply, I was trying to think of something witty just so I'd get modded up and the right person would read my sig.
Kind thoughts do not change the world
Why would you post this? You know how many
Lifters are antigravity devices. I am convinced of this. How do I know this, you may ask? Well, I could cite the numerous experiments carried out by other crackpots that show how lifters do not require an atmosphere. I won't do that, though. I know that lifters are real antigravity devices because the UFO that abducted me was powered by lifters.
Haha, you wish. Public funding has developed most major technical advances in the last 100 years, which were promptly handed over to private industries. Free market my ass, it's called socialism for the rich.
Quit moaning, and drink your Tang.
The real missing experiment is the one where we see what happens when you bother to read the article first.
Once equipped with the fantastic knowledge that they did, in fact, perform that experiment, I anticipate great things from you! Your blinding grasp of the obvious and your brave decision to criticize something you didn't read suggest that there are many exciting truths just waiting to pounce from your mouth!
...or, as it is known in most border towns in Texas...."fffrrrriiipppp!!! Damn, Roy...that was SOME good chili!!
I've even heard slashdot mentioned in wired. Are they just united in technolibertarianism or something? Or like owned by the same company? Does a single month go by without a wired magazine story ending up on /.?
-Libertarian secular transhumanist
Remember, you can't spell sex with EE.
That's why I use Trojan (TM) brand rubbers to protect myself in all those "sticky" situations, especially the ones that cause me to exert large amounts of energy.
That reminds me of a friend named Maurice. Not only did he accidentally kill himself with one of these things, but they couldn't bury him because his corpse wouldn't stop hovering six feet above the ground!
Have you seen those awesome hovercrafts in Matrix? Recall all the lightning around them? These must be it: "Nebukadnezar - powered by ionic wind!"
"You mortals are so obtuse." -Q
One time, with a small 4kv power supply (hurt, but not too much), I tried something like this. I put a wire near the flame, near the base, and charged myself with the other. I then put my finger next to the flame as to give the illusion that I was controlling the flame. Well, it worked too good, and the flame shot at my finger, bending directly onto it. I not only got burnt almost instantly, but got shocked a little as well! Heheh. Stupid me.
And exactly which situations cause you to exert large amounts of energy? Using Opera's Gesture Commands?
Buy Steampunk Clothing Online!
Well, it worked too good, and the flame shot at my finger, bending directly onto it. I not only got burnt almost instantly, but got shocked a little as well!
Trying to win a Darwin Award in multiple simultaneous categories?
Table-ized A.I.
Lets face it, you throw enough voltage into something, and you can make almost anything flip.
What if we consume an entire day's worth of electricity for the city of New York in electricuting a death row inmate? Would it turn out to be an uplifting experience after all?
.unsigged
John Hutchison's experiments have been exceeding difficult to replicate..
Well now theres a shocker.
'Last fall, they tested the contraption in regular air - shooting it with 27,000 volts at 20 microamps. Bingo: It generated 3 millipounds of force [...] "We're talking maybe even a pound of thrust out of one of these little devices the size of my thumb. We've got some promise here!"'
Millipounds? Pounds? What's that in bushels per hectare?
My god, no wonder they keep smashing things into Mars if their cutting edge research is done in pounds and by "rule of thumb".
If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
...kind of like a hernia in the fabric of space-time.
What happens when space-time collapses on the floor moaning in agony? That's not going to be a pretty sight.
Hey kids, there's only 5 days left 'til Yak Shaving Day!
In fact, had they have done the engine in java, you would have anti-gravity...
And if you did the engine in strong tea you would have an infinite improbability engine, right?