Posted on 08/06/2007 8:31:10 AM PDT by AFreeBird
Levitation has been elevated from being pure science fiction to science fact, according to a study reported today by physicists.
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In earlier work the same team of theoretical physicists showed that invisibility cloaks are feasible.
Now, in another report that sounds like it comes out of the pages of a Harry Potter book, the University of St Andrews team has created an 'incredible levitation effects’ by engineering the force of nature which normally causes objects to stick together.
Professor Ulf Leonhardt and Dr Thomas Philbin, from the University of St Andrews in Scotland, have worked out a way of reversing this pheneomenon, known as the Casimir force, so that it repels instead of attracts.
Their discovery could ultimately lead to frictionless micro-machines with moving parts that levitate But they say that, in principle at least, the same effect could be used to levitate bigger objects too, even a person.
The Casimir force is a consequence of quantum mechanics, the theory that describes the world of atoms and subatomic particles that is not only the most successful theory of physics but also the most baffling.
The force is due to neither electrical charge or gravity, for example, but the fluctuations in all-pervasive energy fields in the intervening empty space between the objects and is one reason atoms stick together, also explaining a “dry glue” effect that enables a gecko to walk across a ceiling.
Now, using a special lens of a kind that has already been built, Prof Ulf Leonhardt and Dr Thomas Philbin report in the New Journal of Physics they can engineer the Casimir force to repel, rather than attact.
Because the Casimir force causes problems for nanotechnologists, who are trying to build electrical circuits and tiny mechanical devices on silicon chips, among other things, the team believes the feat could initially be used to stop tiny objects from sticking to each other.
Prof Leonhardt explained, “The Casimir force is the ultimate cause of friction in the nano-world, in particular in some microelectromechanical systems.
Such systems already play an important role - for example tiny mechanical devices which triggers a car airbag to inflate or those which power tiny 'lab on chip’ devices used for drugs testing or chemical analysis.
Micro or nano machines could run smoother and with less or no friction at all if one can manipulate the force.” Though it is possible to levitate objects as big as humans, scientists are a long way off developing the technology for such feats, said Dr Philbin.
The practicalities of designing the lens to do this are daunting but not impossible and levitation “could happen over quite a distance”.
Prof Leonhardt leads one of four teams - three of them in Britain - to have put forward a theory in a peer-reviewed journal to achieve invisibility by making light waves flow around an object - just as a river flows undisturbed around a smooth rock.
Need a tech ping.
This really is “hugh.”
Could be series if it fell into the wrong hands.
ping!
Somebody’s done gone and invented both a cloaking device and a tractor beam. I guess someone better get to work on deflector shields and warp drive... /nerd
They threw themselves to the ground and missed.
somehow I don’t think they’re gonna give away all their secrets just yet. At least not in the Telegraph. Have to wait for the science journal and peer review.
And don’t forget photon torpedoes and the “best diplomat” (according to Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott), a fully charged phaser bank. :)
Well shoot, have magicians been doing all this for years. Why not just ask?
From the university website.... “
The research is due to be published in the August edition of the New Journal of Physics.”
$28.95 at GadgetBargains.com
The peculiar properties of a perfect lens could lead to a reversal of the Casimir effect, say the theoretical physicists.
From: http://news.scotsman.com/scitech.cfm?id=1227042007
Another good article on the subject: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn12429-three-ways-to-levitate-a-magic-carpet.html
Until you can stay cloaked and still use the phasers, now that would be a step forward.
Advanced science is magic to the uninformed and uninitiated.
“Physicists have ‘solved’ mystery of levitation”
- I personally solved this ‘mystery’ back in 1978 (at the age of 8) by realizing that the hippie movement had not yet come to an end.
Hmmm. Maybe those hippies that levitated the Pentagon were onto something ;)
Levitate a person? No way. This may be interesting for nano-devices but not for large scale objects.
I guess it depends on how well they can scale the process. I wonder how much power it would require.
Of course levitation is real. I see David Blaine and Chris Angel do it all the time.
Been trying to look up the article on the Journal website, but it's unresponsive. You'd think a bunch of physicists could configure a server to handle a little traffic.
The mystery and magic of magnetism.
The scale of the effect is about 10 nm. There’s no way to “power” the levitation as far as I can see - creation of the repulsive effect seems to be a matter of materials choice (graded permittivity).
It is a fascinating effect.
Doesn’t really say that they can levitate anything. Just reverse those little forces between really really little things. Net knowledge gained from article = nothing.
I needed a little levity this morning ;-)
I’d love to know how Blaine does it. That’s weird stuff.
Messing with the very fabric of creation?? will it be like the destruction of the Universe, by a Tralfamadorian testing a new fuel????
Enquiring minds, want to know.
This should give a huge boost to the cosmetic surgery business in the future. :)
Not a word though in the article about how it’s supposed to work.
What a cutie.
levitation pong
"Holy rope burn, Batman. Why don't you invest in one of those new levitation devices?"
It’s been my fondest dream, all my life. However, I’m not buying one until you invent the emergency weight belt to keep the levitator from drifting into the stratosphere.
Can’t make up my mind which technology to use for the soap holder. Do I want one that levitates the soap so there’s no soggy mess, or one I can’t see at all?
And will this new technology help jack up my porch? Or my cheeks? Will it keep homecoming schoolchildren off my lawn? If you throw it in the water will the fish come up so I can pick them up with my hands?
If we use too much of it, will the moon go away?
First published in the Journal of Unclear Physics.
They reverse the effect via a lens, the construction of which is “daunting”.
In other words, they have the math, but no lens.
I don't know if that's correct or not. I seem to recall seeing a special on how they can walk on walls and ceilingsl. They examined the feet of the lizards and they found they had teeny tiny microscopic hairs that actually penetrated the equally teeny tiny crevices inherent on all surfaces regardles of how smooth they appeared to be thus allowing them to "get a grip" and walk........
Probably alternating rather than “series” circuit.
Right now tho, I'm in no hurry to see an 80 year old woman with silicon implants........and tattoos......
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