Slashdot Mirror
Anti-Gravity Device Patented
October_30th writes "According to the United States Patent Office website, Boris Volfson has recently patented a "Space vehicle propelled by the pressure of inflationary vacuum state", which is essentially an anti-gravity propulsion device." The validity of this patent remains to be seen, but the general consensus of the physics community seems to be that it is complete malarky.
/me rushes off to get patent for inertial dampening
The real question is how can I, as an inventor, patent my time machine?
I mean, anyone can just go back in time with my intention and claim my patent!! WTF??
What are you eating? isItVeg?.
It's well-known that the only true anti-gravity device is a (Score:5, Funny)
Seeing bad movies only encourages them. Watch responsibly
...what I keep telling the scientists, this device has nothing to do with me!
Just like the patents for my cold fusion device and perpetual motion machine, plus convenient hair dryer.
Well even they agree that the patent examiners have been duped and it would never fly. For a interesting compilation of discussions going within the community have a look at this article.
Though real science aside, it would be very cool if it worked.
If an infinite improbability drive were possible, wouldn't it have already brought itself into existence?
Play Command HQ online
If you read the patent text he's basically describing the warp drive from star trek.
"whereby providing for the gravitational imbalance such that the lowered pressure of inflationary vacuum state is pulling said space vehicle forward in modified spacetime."
interesting i guess.
in normal fashion both slashdot and the reporting news outlet have got it all wrong. it's not a perpetual motion machine - becuase it requires input of a nuclear reactor to make it "go". It's no more a perpetual motion machine than a space probe launched from earth.
nor is this "anti gravity". the patent describes a device that will "modify" space time such that an area of "low pressure vacuum" and "high pressure vacuum" are created. the low pressure area is infront of the ship and the high pressure is behind the ship. the ship travels forward because it's caught in the middle. i guess.
not a physics major.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
We all know that the only real anti-gravity device is a (Score:5, Insightful)
Fact 1: cats always fall on four feet
Fact 2: bread slice always falls with the butter side down
So...put a bread with butter on top of a cat, and throw it through the window.
Antigravity device ready.
One that hath name thou can not otter
Since when is it good practice for any Patent Office to issue patents based on conjecture? There should be a valid working prototype before any patent is issued. Software patents are bad enough, but speculative patents are total b.s.
This is bad, because inventor was supposed to disclose the invention to obtain a patent and this implies using established terminology to describe it.
Allowing a patent with made up terms is equivalent to allowing wildcards "I patent a thing * that does * and is useful" - the owner of the patent can try to define these terms as legal opportunity presents itself.
The PTO does not require a working prototype because it does not want all the patents to belong to huge corporations. Pretend you create a nuclear fission reactor that's table-sized. (You're like the second coming of Albert Einstein or something.) If the PTO required a prototype, you would have to find someone with a lot of cash to build the prototype to submit to the PTO. The corporation might steal your idea and take the prototype to the PTO by itself.
So while this lack of a requirement looks ridiculous in this example, there may be other more realistic places where it has protected the small inventor.
A NYC lawyer blogs. http://www.chuangblog.com/