EM space drive

Let's take a step back and think of the implications about this news.I remember when our contractors started using lasers instead of string lines at construction sites. There were some oldies that were absolutely against the idea of setting up string lines like they've been doing forever. I swear, one time an old timer asked "how do we know the laser is straight?" Sure, there were set-backs at first, but once the crews got used to the lasers, they proved to be a well worth investment. The crew no longer had to spend several hours stringing up the whole site.Then there was Guttenberg and his printing press. When I was assembling my stamp pad letters for my current project so I could simply stamp my approvals of the proposals from the project managers, it occurred to me. See, it took me 40 minutes to assemble the letters. But once I was done, that was it. I've been using that stamp for almost a year. Can you imagine old timers from Guttenberg's time dissing his printing press saying why not just sit down and write out the paper rather than spending hours assembling the letters? Well, if they were just doing 1 page, then a person with a pen could easily beat the printing press. But doing 100 or 1000 copies, then it's a different story.Or how about the steam engine or the coal engine versus the horse drawn carriage? The first race between a train and a horse was a disaster for the train. After that, most people dismissed the train as nothing but a toy and that nothing would ever replace the horse.In all those cases, it took ingenuity, patience, and open-mindedness to take a leap forward.That said, I'm some what disappointed at the reactions of the people who have posted responses in this thread. You're getting too hung up on how much force is exerted by this prototype. It's exactly like concentrating on how long the Wright brothers' plane was in the air and then dismiss it. Of course the engine didn't exert that much force. It's a prototype.Can't people see the implication of this technology for future space travel? Or are we too short-minded to just focus on how bad the prototype is and dismiss this technology overall?I for one think the this is straight from star trek. Just like how descendants of the steam engine had evolved into cars, trucks, tanks, airplanes, etc., distant descendants of this new technology will probably allow us to do long term space travels. Then our descendants will look back at us and see just how short-minded we were for not seeing the potential in something like this. You know, the same way we look at how our ancestors dismissed the various technologies in the past.

You're focusing on the wrong thing.2 oz of thrust might not sound much, but if you have a constant 2 oz of thrust for the next 10 years... A rocket engine might have a hell of a lot more thrust than, say, an ion engine, but the thrust usually lasts only minutes or seconds. And this is not to mention the enormous weight of the fuel the vessel has to carry.

As I said in my previous post, you're focusing on the wrong thing here. What they have right now is a very early version of a prototype of this technology. Don't focus on how much thrust they can produce at the moment. Focus on the fact that everything conventional tells us this is suppose to be impossible, and yet there it is.I'm sure future development of this technology will yield more thrust.Try to think of it this way. The early steam engine was extremely inefficient and didn't yield that much result. And yet its descendants have given us cars, trucks, motorboats, airplanes, etc.Never assume what the prototype can do is the limit of what the technology can achieve. Otherwise, we'd still be riding horses around right now.

Of course. I'm a skeptic myself. While I admit that I am hopeful that this will get confirmed, I am completely opened to the possibility that this may turn out to be another cold fusion debacle.Having said that, I think people are focusing on the wrong aspect of this. Yes, I know, 2 oz isn't neck snapping. But that's not what this is really about.It's like going to a baseball game and only focuses on the umpire's high pitch voice.I say these things because I work in an industry that lags behind everyone else in terms of technology. There are still some oldies that insist all our submitted reports are written by hand rather than typed on a computer and printed out. A couple years ago, a guy I know submitted a report along with a spreadsheet. The report got kicked back and he had to re-write everything out by hand. Same info. The old man upstairs just wanted to see everything done in hand writing. I find it incredibly sad that they only started allowing our contractors to use lasers in the last couple years.I'm a strong advocate of using technology to make engineering work more efficient and accurate. It's incredibly hard to do that when the people in power would ask a question like what if the laser is crooked?

I've seen this line of questioning before. The first light bulb was dim as hell. Imagine if people judged the technology and dismissed it off hand because the prototype was too dim for practical use. We'd still be using candles at night. So, instead of focusing on how dim the prototype light bulb was, instead try to see that there was light without fire.Like I said, progress is often times impeded by people focusing on insignificant details to judge the technology. I had to keep my eyes from rolling when a higher up engineer asked what if the laser light was crooked when we started allowing our contractors to use lasers instead of string lines. Even though work was done a lot more efficiently, the older guys kept on asking nonsensical questions to try to dismiss the lasers. And this was just lasers I'm talking about here. Us younger guys have been fighting for progress in the industry for years against stiff oppositions that just want to continue using the horse drawn carriage forever. Oh noes, they dare use the devil's gps to map out the site!Take the fax machine, for example. Instead of me signing an authorization for a change in the plans on my tablet and then email it directly from where I was standing, some oldies have told me they wanted to receive a faxed paper. Who uses fax anymore? Just open up the damn email and print out my authorization. They keep telling me they've been doing this for 40 years. I say it's time to get a computer. I swear, some people are trapped in some kind of time warp.Anyway, my rant aside, FREE TIBET!

I don't think it's an exception to the conservation of momentum at all, if it was real that is, just like how airplanes don't actually defy gravity. It does take some understanding of physics that most people lack.

Oh, the irony! Happening right on a forum where people have intellectual debates and whine about quote mining, you went ahead and quote-mined me.I was talking about airplanes.I've also said that this could very well be another cold fusion debacle. But the trekkie in me is really hoping it's for real.Regarding this thing violating the conservation of momentum, I was saying if this thing was for real it would not be violating the conservation of momentum. Much in the same way that airplanes don't defy gravity even though they would appear to. It just takes some understanding of physics (about lift and thrust) that most people don't have adequate understanding of.