IUBio

Mindforth

Gordon D. Pusch gdpusch at NO.xnet.SPAM.com
Thu Jan 23 11:17:47 EST 2003


jmdrake_98 at yahoo.com (jmdrake) writes:

> forthprgrmr at hotmail.com (Gary Bergstrom) wrote in message news:<988c5166.0212091505.65f0981d at posting.google.com>...
> > > > jmdrake wrote:
> >  
> > > http://www.americanantigravity.com/
> > > 
> > > While on the surface it may seem "cranky" the fact is that their
> > > flyer actually works.  Now if it works by true "antigravity" or
> > > by some other force is a big question.  But the plans are pretty
> > > simple and the results have been reproduced many times over.
> > > However someone might mislabel them "cranks" just because they
> > > have the word "antigravity" in their URL.
> > > 
> > > Regards,
> > > 
> > > John M. Drake
> > 
> > The first time I saw this was on the cover of a Popular Science (I
> > think) in the '60s.  Not antigravity, just propulsion by moving air. 
> > The models are so light, because it's hard to move much air without
> > arcing.  (That old model on the cover was square rather than
> > triangular, but otherwise looked the same!)
> > 
> > And yes, I would label (NOT mislabel) them cranks because of the word
> > antigravity. 
> 
> Unfortunately you are confusing ion wind devices with Biefeld-Brown 
> effect devices.  These are not the same thing.  No one has yet come
> up with an explanation as to why the Biefeld-Brown effect works, but
> only that it does.  

Correction: The so-called "Biefeld-Brown effect" is an urban legend
propagated by _SAGA UFO Monthly_ and other UFO / "free energy" crank
publication. Its "explanation" may be found in crank psychology, via
the bizarre willingness of overly credulous people to prefer to believe 
in stupid, illogical claims in contradiction to all evidence and reason,
and to promote bizarrely complicated irrational "conspiracy" theories
as to why their pet belief is being  "suppressed" by the "establishment."


> And it has been tested in a vacuum.  

Also an urban legend. The alleged "vacuums" it has been "tested" in are
of the crappy quality that can be produced by a common mechanical pump,
as evidenced by the visible glow discharges shown in the photographs.
Such "vacuums" contain residual gas in excess of 1e14 atoms per cubic
centimeter, which provides plenty of reaction-mass for an "ion wind."


> That rules out it being "propulsion by moving air" 

No --- it rules out the possibility that a person who would make such 
a claim based on urban legends and crank websites is knowledgable,
intelligent, and capable of critical thought.


> although it does not prove that it is "antigravity".  And no, the site
> does not make the claim that it is "antigravity" only that it is an
> electromagnetic propulsion device whose effects haven't been fully
> explained yet.

It can and has been fully, quantitatively explained in terms of electro-
hydrodynamic effects: Ions from the corona wire are accelerated toward 
the collector plate. Because their mean free path in air is short, they
transfer momentum to an enormously larger number of neutral air molecules
via collisions, and the netrals entrain more neutrals into the bulk airflow,
producing a Newtonian jet reaction that lifts the device. David Sinclair, 
who replicated the "lifter" experiments, writes: 
   ``...My first impression was surprise at the large amount of air being
     pumped by the device. I was standing 1 meter away and could immediately
     feel the draft as it hit the table and washed out sideways...''
<http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&selm=a5uss4%24j9b%241%40lust.ihug.co.nz>
Sinclair measured the force exerted by the downdraft, and found it to be
equal to the weight of the "lifter."


> This from their site:
> 
> Is This Antigravity?
> Lifter technology is currently being investigated to determine if the
> anomalous side-effects noticed in testing are in fact gravitational in
> nature,

Translation: They are not yet willing to give up their wishful thinking,
despite the fact that the electrohydrodynamic wind from the device is
easily perceptible and palpable.


> Lifter technology is a method of producing directional thrust using an
> electromagnetic propulsion system that has no moving parts. 

Except for the moving air that is quite perceptibly and palpably responsible 
for the "lifter's" thrust.


-- Gordon D. Pusch   

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