Levitate with the power of science!

[mr_pikachu]

Scientists reveal secret of levitation (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070806/sc_afp/britainsciencelevitation_070806132733)

Yeah, I'm sure at least half of you thought the thread title was some sort of a joke. It wasn't.

The possibilities for manipulation of the Casimir force are extraordinary. Imagine what might happen if a perpetual-motion machine was produced for the purposes of energy production, for instance. And on a larger, more theoretical scale, consider the astonishing developments that might be made in transportation! (Any Back to the Future fans want a hoverboard?) What about medical nanomachines or computer systems?

I don't think I even need to say this, but... discuss!

[RedStarWarrior]

Jeeze, only took them 20 years longer than me to figure it out. Scientists are such noobs.

Anyway, I love when such advancements are made. The possibility that can derive from such simple breakthroughs are astonishing.

[Roarkiller]

The possibilities are near naught outside the said fields. The mere weight of the object would render the force zero.

Besides, electromagnetic fields have been known to levitate much larger and heavier objects. We're better off with those. Maglev trains are already benefitting from the technology.

And perpetual motion machines, if at all conceivable, would have to be microscopic to use this technology.

[RedStarWarrior]

You have to realize that it doesn't matter about the limitations of this particular discovery, but rather the advancement in our ability to manipulate the world around us. Besides, with the ability to exert control over the Casimir-Polder force, micro and nano machine research and development will greatly benefit.

[Magmar]

Yay, physics discussions!

*is a physics major*

*everyone yells, NERD!!!!!* "i'm not a nerd...........T___T;;;"

But anyways, I think that's a very, very important breakthrough, and could easily symbolise a dawn of a new era, where we no longer have to walk! Just float!

Imagine how *expensive* life would become to pay for all that tech stuff!

[RedStarWarrior]

We could end up like the Federation in Star Trek and forgo money.

[DarkTemplarZero]

Oh no, how could we ever live without money? Without gross symbols of excess, what would Americans have to look up to?

And Roarkiller's right, you're not going to be levitating by Casimir effect any time soon. According to wiki, force on a pair of conducting plates due to the Casimir effect is inversely proportional to distance ^ 4, so it gets really small really fast, not to mention that the force has a coefficient of ~ 10^-28, so its pretty damn weak too. Might be useful someday, but for now it's just a cool mathematical concept ^_^

[Blademaster]

Oh no, how could we ever live without money? Without gross symbols of excess, what would Americans have to look up to?

Chuck Norris. :hellyeah:

[RedStarWarrior]

DTZ, did you even pay attention to its usefulness? Technically, it is levitation on a small scale. It would probably be used to reduce or eliminate friction in the development of nanotechnology.

[Roarkiller]

DTZ, did you even pay attention to its usefulness? Technically, it is levitation on a small scale. It would probably be used to reduce or eliminate friction in the development of nanotechnology.

Hence my first statement, and what DTZ said supports that. While at some point the force is usefully large, we're still talking about micro and nanotech here. And to the vast majority of the engineering world, that's alien talk.

Add the fact that micro and nanotech is still under development and you realize my lack of enthusiasm. Like I said, there are at least two other ways to levitate MUCH larger objects, at least one of which is already in widespread use.

[RedStarWarrior]

Yeah, but I don't care about levitating myself. :)

I just don't think all scientific discoveries should be belittled. Of course, it takes a lot to wow people nowadays.

[DarkTemplarZero]

DTZ, did you even pay attention to its usefulness? Technically, it is levitation on a small scale. It would probably be used to reduce or eliminate friction in the development of nanotechnology.

Yeah, but my point is that it's levitation on an exorbitantly scale, gravity makes it really suck. For example, with the casimir effect at a distance of 1 mm, a plate could hold up another plate with a mass of around 10 ^ -17 grams. Since they're conducting plates, it would be so much easier to just run antiparallel currents through them, they'd attract more strongly. Not to say that is discovery isn't kickass and I'm loving the mathematical derivations and such, but I can't really see it being useful in the immediate future. But who's to say, nobody thought electromagnetic waves were in any way practical when Maxwell came up with them, and look at what happened there.

[RedStarWarrior]

Despite the degradation over distance, gravity is still a weaker force, though.