Hyperspace Engine A Go?
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in ScienceIncredible stuff…if it works…
From the Scotsman:
The US air force has expressed an interest in the idea and scientists working for the American Department of Energy - which has a device known as the Z Machine that could generate the kind of magnetic fields required to drive the engine - say they may carry out a test if the theory withstands further scrutiny.Professor Jochem Hauser, one of the scientists who put forward the idea, told The Scotsman that if everything went well a working engine could be tested in about five years.
However, Prof Hauser, a physicist at the Applied Sciences University in Salzgitter, Germany, and a former chief of aerodynamics at the European Space Agency, cautioned it was based on a highly controversial theory that would require a significant change in the current understanding of the laws of physics.
“It would be amazing. I have been working on propulsion systems for quite a while and it would be the most amazing thing. The benefits would be almost unlimited,” he said.
Amazing indeed, but something tells me this isn’t going to pan out given the whole “highly controversial theory that would require a significant change in the current understanding of the laws of physics” line.
Of course stranger things have happened. I can’t think of what right now…hmm…maybe stranger things HAVEN’T happened.
I’ll get back to you all on the whole “stranger things” scenario.
This entry was posted on Friday, January 6th, 2006 and is filed under Science. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
January 7th, 2006 at 2:38 pm
I very much favor this, especially the designation “Z machine.” When my wife and I wrote Animorphs we tossed off the concept of Z-Space, Zero Space, a dimension through which intersteller travel was possible. If they end up using that ‘Z’ designation we’ll look like prophets, rather than a couple of scientific illiterates who just pulled the idea out of our butts.
January 7th, 2006 at 6:15 pm
This sounds a lot like Star Trek’s warp drive. The movie Star Trek: First Contact has the first successful warp flight taking place in the year 2063. The article doesn’t give a timetable for the development of this engine, but if the Department of Energy is already confident enough in the concept to publicize it, maybe it will actually turn out to be a few years ahead of the Star Trek timeline.
January 9th, 2006 at 1:07 pm
Would be fascinating if it works but I’ll hold off judgement until there’s a little more evidence to back it up. Fortunately, with the 5 year timeline for a test machine they postulate, it seems likely we will have evidence on one side or the other relatively soon - assuming said test doesn’t have a several hundred million dollar price tag on it.
If it does indeed prove true it could be one of the more significant retunings to occur in theoretical physics since Einstein.
March 22nd, 2006 at 9:23 am
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August 27th, 2006 at 6:29 pm
YOU ARE WRONG. Star Trek warp drives work by combining matter and anti-matter into the same space, creating a ‘whole lotta energy’ I remember this line exactly.
August 27th, 2006 at 7:13 pm
THW? Shut up, dude. :) Haha.
Cool article, though. If something like Katherine Applegate’s/Michael Reynold’s “Z-Space” eventuates, that would be so awesome.
August 28th, 2006 at 1:56 pm
Seems like there is nothing to back it up in my opinion.Although,India published an article about reverse engineering alien technology and the “hyper drive” was on it.Also it was published publicly.Makes you wonder yeah?Anyways,the only way that this would be possible is through Space Vortex Theory.Which is not accepted amonst the Academics in the current time.A completely new view of the laws of physics is an understatement.But hey,even the best are usually proven wrong so it could happen.Ill wait for further developments.