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Thrust from Microwaves - The Relativity Drive
dfenstrate writes "The latest New Scientist has an article about an engine that exploits relativity and microwaves to generate thrust. There is a working prototype." From the article: "Roger Shawyer has developed an engine with no moving parts that he believes can replace rockets and make trains, planes and automobiles obsolete ... The device that has sparked their interest is an engine that generates thrust purely from electromagnetic radiation — microwaves to be precise — by exploiting the strange properties of relativity. It has no moving parts, and releases no exhaust or noxious emissions. Potentially, it could pack the punch of a rocket in a box the size of a suitcase. It could one day replace the engines on almost any spacecraft. More advanced versions might allow cars to lift from the ground and hover."
"The latest New Scientist has an article about an engine that exploits relativity and microwaves to generate thrust.
That sounds a bit more advanced than these two guys, who exploit explosives and a microwave to generate thrust.
The theory of relativity doesn't work right in Arkansas.
It also warms soup, and is great for reheating food.
Roger Shawyer has developed an engine with no moving parts that he believes can replace rockets and make trains, planes and automobiles obsolete ... The device that has sparked their interest is an engine that generates thrust purely from electromagnetic radiation
Of course, his first effort was to create a drive that ran purely on improbability, but you could never be sure where you'd end up or even what species you'd be when you get there.
The theory of relativity doesn't work right in Arkansas.
Seriously, we were supposed to have these things *years* ago. The scientific community should be ashamed of themselves.
( yes, this is a joke )
Mod me down with all of your hatred and your journey towards the dark side will be complete!
I think you're forgetting that it involves relativity, therefore doesn't need to make sense. Plus I seem to remember that conservation of momentum was a by product of that 4-vector thing, so maybe something funny happens. Maybe.
"In this house we obey the Laws of Conservation of Momentum!"
I wouldn't tell anyone. I'd maybe show a few keen investors what my prototype could do, but that's it. Then I'd develop a flying car, a launch vehicle, whatever, and insidiously take over existing markets. "So, SpaceX has made you the best offer for launch services eh? I'll beat it." "What kind of safety guarentees can you give us?" "Err, umm, what kind of safety guarentee is SpaceX giving you, I'll beat it!" "Right.. hmm, ok. You don't even have a rocket do you?" "Look, do you want your satelite in orbit or what?" and so on. That's me though, could be this guy just doesn't have balls that big.
How we know is more important than what we know.
you can have it for free:
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If you don't know what AltaVista is (was), get off my lawn.
Um, I didn't read TFA, but wouldln't this require a power source? Specifically, eletricity? How does one generate that much wattage? Flux capacitor?
-matthew
"THERE IS NO JUSTICE, THERE IS ONLY ME." -Death
Now I can have what I've always dreamed of, a flying car with a Phantom game console running Duke Nuke'em Forever on HURD with Copland running in virtualization on a BitBoys Oy Glaze3D graphics system whose driver was programmed in Perl 6 running on top of Parrot!
I love it when dreams come true.
Mandatory : "Everybody said it was impossible, then a fool came who didn't knew and made it." It wouldn't be the first time in science history that something happens to work in spite of mathematics, not because maths are wrong per se but because the thing reveals an entirely unknown field of physics.
Potentially, it could pack the punch of a rocket in a box the size of a suitcase.
That seals it. The terrerists could use this, so we must ban all further research!
Hey, guys, while you are at it, I have this idea for an infinate power source! You see, you take an electric motor and you connect the axel to a lot of generators! You see one of the generators would power the motor and you could run the whole world on as many other generators as you tacked on! Use it! My gift to humanity! ;P
Seriously, all this guy is missing is the smoke.
It doesn't matter that one end of the frickin copper has a bigger diameter than the other, the walls are not normal to the surfaces and will absorb any force from the collisions with the photons as well. The 2 normal forces would be equal in each direction and thus would be 0 net force for the system. The only thing that would happen is the can would have a tendency to expand a very small amount more that what could be accounted for by thermal expansion alone at best.
Think about it. Otherwise conical objects would have a tendancy to rocket around on their own because of air pressure.
Yet it is precisely the friction between the wheels and road which make a car go forward. Friction with the car wheels is not bad, you need it. Friction with the air is bad, but not the wheels.
I thought it was the exhaust coming out of the back that propelled the car forward.. I mean, if electromagnetic radiation can propel something forward surely gaseos exhaust can?
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Maybe they are just borrowing the momentum from a future frame of reference.
>A) Any pressure from the microwaves on the walls.
... when do I get my flying car?
>B) Conservation of Momentum
Yeah, yeah
(If that sounds dubious, you can see why I'm skeptical of the premise.)
A PhD in physics.
I have a swimming pool with a tapered bottom. The force on the wall at the deep end is much greater than the force at the shallow end. I drive it around the city all the time. As soon as I can figure out how to turn it upright, I'll be giving free flights to slashdotters and Jerry's Kids.
Where can I locate the anonymous "Air Force visitor" who always gets trotted out as "proof" the inventor isn't a crackpot?
The only problem with this propulsion method is that you need an awful number of photons...
Hmmm, I'd always thought the major problem with matter-annihilation drives was the lack of antimatter deposits in the Earth's crust from which the fuel could be mined...
But alas, that's an impossibility of geometry.
If M.C. Escher was alive, he would find a way.
What?
That's the kind of problem I'm happy to have...
Kinda like the problem with solar powered cars is that the sun needs to be much closer...
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