How exactly do you expect to launch a missile with no exhaust plume, if you still need to use jet engines for any forward momentum? I can distinctly see contrails every time a jet passes overhead.

You can't, he's a crackpot.

so this one minute video or cell phone quality video is supposed to prove to me that he made a hover engine and its making device slowly turn in a perfect circle, I have seen more proof that bigfoot exist.

Technology like this carries the potential to revolutionize the world we live in. Just wait 20 years until we've all got hover cars thanks to Roger Shawyer's creative genius. Then we'll see who the crackpot is.

Well, if you're emitting energy, you are creating thrust. The particles emitted are (very, very slight) reaction mass. It would be very unpleasant, I think, in the vicinity of this device. If you take dark (Kali) energy as the main force that is expressed in the four forces of the Standard Model, then you might have more success by using high frequency waves to partially block dark energy, as mass would necessarily do, to emulate a gravitational mass to offset gravity. And the exhaust plume is from the initial thrust to achieve flight. Once off the ground, there is an exhaust trail, but no telltale plume that signals initialization of a flight. We're all cracked pots in the end. Until all is known, we are all stumbling in the darkness. Except Fatio, of course, who emulated Icarus and fell into the sea of political discourse from approaching too near the light.

Why not use this in an automobile to reduce weight of the vehicle and use a smaller engine to generate power and speed with the smaller weight on the ground? Wouldn't this make a full sized car able to have the economy of a compact car? Also, a reduction of the emdrive during braking would make strong braking power. Just a thought....

interesting...but when ever something this revolutionary is revealed...I expect more then a minute long video then some thing spinning...

I hope its true, but I doubt it.

The amount of energy needed to counteract gravity is not negotiable.

Google for "Dean Drive." It's been done. The inventor died, or was killed, or was disappeared, depending on whose story you believe. The details likewise are missing.

Calling this "anti-gravity" is a misnomer, even if it does work. The 'inventor' claims that it generates thrust, thus it is no more anti-gravity than a hot air balloon, although they share other similarities as well.

Calling this "anti-gravity" is a misnomer, even if it does work. The 'inventor' claims that it generates thrust, thus it is no more anti-gravity than a hot air balloon, although they share other similarities as well.

This video is about two years old...got anything more recent?

I am not sure if this is true, but I hope to believe this is.

It would be a HUGE jump in technology in astronomy and automotives.

Imagine if we could put one of these on a ceiling in space that creates thrust downwards... We would be able to put gravity in our ships, which would let us stay in space for much longer (as long as the engine itself doesn't create radiation).

This is not antigravity, it's just a device creating action without reaction, so to say. It involves some advance physics, i think this is the first propulsion device that exploits theory of relativity.

And to the nitpickers who complain that the device doesn't fly and only spins, the thrust is already much better than that of ion engines, so it will be soon used in space probes.

Not convinced...and they call me gull-a-bull

Thunderbearr, you're confusing weight with mass. Though the car would weigh less due to lift, its mass would remain the same, meaning it would need the same amount of energy to move it.

I think that if this device could be realized, it would be a revolutionary new technology. However, until an official team of scientists builds one and tests it successfully, I'm not convinced. That video didn't really show much other than a slowly spinning object. That could have easily been mounted on a turntable or something. I'll be convinced if I see a video that shows the device leaving the ground with nothing supporting it. Still, the prospects are amazing for a technology like this.

gRis said - "This is not antigravity, it's just a device creating action without reaction, so to say. It involves some advance physics, i think this is the first propulsion device that exploits theory of relativity."

you talk about it like it works. I would need a HUGE amount of proof to believe that this guy, outsmarted Einstein.

I would like to see more proof. But this would be huge leap in technology. So my hopes are up.
If this was a real anti-gravity device the device would go flying through the roof and out into space. Because the earth is moving around the sun and the only thing holding the device to ground would be gravity. With gravity cut out there be nothing holding the device to the ground and it would stay in the same position relative to the sun not the earth.

The thought of an anti grav engine sounds cool (or at least an engine that can ignore or somehow counteract it's own mass and that of the vehicle it's attached to), and would someday revolutionise travel. I really have no idea what I'm supposed to be looking at in this vid though - a bunch of what appears to be random junk rotating slowly, as if attached to a turntable of some sort. I will definitely give this guy the benefit of the doubt and reserve judgment until something more tangible turns up, or doesn't. But this video doesn't adequately get across what it is supposed to convey.

I just want the hover board from "Back to the Future 2". This takes us one step closer.

I would wager money that this "breakthrough" comes to nothing. While he's at least not flogging yet another perpetual motion machine (a la "Stoern Energy", etc), truly reactionless drives (which is what he is actually claiming to have created) are not going to be made anytime soon.

As soon as an inventor starts skipping the actual physics of how it works, and instead starts talking about hyperspace planes, moon missions and "military applications", you can be pretty sure he's just after 15 minutes of fame. Yes, it would be great if true - just like it would be great if there really *was* a Santa, or Unicorns that farted rainbows. Note - scientists might eventually figure out how to make a reactionless drive - but it won't be buy someone who refuses to have his science peer-reviewed. We've been here, done that, about a hundred times in the past decade (lots of hype, laypeople are sure it's something, and then... disappointment, and the whole thing is forgotten).

"...it would stay in the same position relative to the sun not the earth."

No, it wouldn't, because it would be operating in the earth's frame of reference. If what you said was true, then hot air balloons would suffer from a similar issue.

Bear in mind that the scientist involved states that the physics involved do not break the laws of conservation of momentum, so if he's correct it doesn't violate any of our currently held physics principles.

Also note that this is not an ion drive - there are no particles leaving the cone: none at all.

It will be interesting to see where this goes. If his calculations are correct and are actually detecting reactionless thrust, then this is the future. However, at this point there isn't enough proof to accept this idea, and the lack of peer review and replication is worrying.

If this EmDrive works it could change everything, but how many of you want a bet that if its succesful Lockheed ,Boeing and the already expensive thieving airline companys will just cry foul like all big corporations do, and snuff it out.

As with most inventions of this type it all comes down to power availability.
Assuming that the design of the engine is sound and it works as advertised. He said it needs 6kw to run, 6000 watts.
Just doing an internet search, I found an alternator that produces 50amps at 24vdc... My applied physics is a little rusty, but I remember that if you hook them in series you will up the voltage... so if you up the voltage to 120vdc you will end up needing 5 of these alternators for every one unit that creates 300lbs of thrust... the alternator weights 28lbs so almost half the thrust is taken up with power generation not including what the engine itself weighs. But, I guess if this guy is smart enough to build this machine that uses microwaves for propulsion, then he can engineer a solution to give it enough power to fly un-tethered. Ahh, Wheres mr fusion when you need him?/

SO, here is the real trick. does it compete with a commerical or black ops funded concept somewhere? If not then it will happen somehow in the near future.
Reality aside - think about it.
The concept solves NASA's problem of lift, mix in the new "plasma" engine and you have a very viable first gen starship.
But then if man was to fly he would have wings, no one can go faster then sound, and automatic transmissions will never catch on.

http://emdrive.com/ has a lot more detailed information, including a long FAQ and explanations of how the design conforms to scientific laws.

I don't know if it will pan out, but I don't think the guy is sincere. To my understanding of the physics, it sounds rather like he's developed an electromagnetic wing to generate the lift he claims, in that a normal wing experiences lift because of different forces on differently shaped wing surfaces. His device generates force because of the difference in behavior of the microwaves on the different shaped parts of the chamber.

I can't say whether it does or will work, but if you take the time to read his work I think you'll find it at least plausible.

P.S. murc: the guy didn't outsmart Einstein, in fact if it works it is because he is applying Einstein's theory of Special Relativity to a practical use. Respecting Einstein's work enought to actually use it is quite the opposite of claiming to outsmart him.

oops - that should have said, "but I don't think the guy is INsincere" - in other words, I don't think he's a crackpot. Typos ...

@Gamerguy1701

Sorry, but thunderbearr is correct. Reducing the weight of a vehicle by using one of these drives to counteract the force of gravity would mean less friction between the tires and the ground, which is what a car engine is ultimately overcoming to be able to move the car.

Is this "antigravity emdrive" a 33 or 45 speed engine?

@Azrael, "No, it wouldn't, because it would be operating in the earth's frame of reference. If what you said was true, then hot air balloons would suffer from a similar issue."

Face palm... a hot air balloon is filled with air that is warmer than the air surrounding the balloon. Unlike this "emdrive" it uses the overall medium (our atmosphere) it occupies to propel itself.

The supposed emdrive counteracts gravity, which effectively removes it from the earths frame of reference and creates its own frame.

And if you think this video shows anything revolutionary, I have a perpetual motion alarm clock you can invest in. Just send me all your money and I promise it will also have a "spin in place turntable" mode.

If you can overcome gravity, you can overcome inertia. Any actual device capable of nullifying gravity will be a drive on its own and will not require any other thrust.

A missile launched high enough at the proper angel and velocity can direct itself to the target by steering its way back down to it with wing flaps. They already have technology that does that now its just they use rockets right now. Not that hard to do.

@roadkill

The "friction between the tires and the ground," aka traction, is actually what makes the car move in the first place, along with controlling it while it is moving. That is why tires and roads are designed to increase friction (otherwise, we'd all be driving on bald tires on smooth as glass roads). The friction that vehicles have to overcome (outside of the friction inside the engine itself) is air friction, which is why we keep working to make cars more aerodynamic, and not bricks like the original cars.

if u can lift it up with em drive why not use it to move forward??????????

The physics is sound (I'm just am amateur), in fact the principles applied here have been sound theories for decades. This is entirely feasible for the intended application - Satellite propulsion. This means moving object of little mass in a microgravity environment - not much propulsion is required (with a good sat navigator on hand). This means extended satellite lifetime, no valves, engines or propellant. I would expect the power source to be solar (lots of that is available in the upper atmosphere). The real breakthrough here is taking electrical energy and producing radiation pressure with very little parts & equipment. This is not anti-gravity and nothing whatsoever to do with dark matter, this is a pressure differential drive that uses radiation as the medium. A layman's example would be the Russian supersonic torpedoes of the 1960's. These could travel at a theoretically impossible speed under water by removing the water from the torpedo's path using a little of the exhaust up front at the tip, I believe the most recent actually create a vacuum that allow sub-aqua speeds only limited by the propulsion system, if fact if it were possible to create the vacuum cavity only no propellant would be required for these either. This Emdrive creates a radiation differential that causes inertia using a low radiation pressure cavity, hence the higher pressure radiation within the drive will (with no other influences) want to move toward the cavity. I don't think these guys are crackers and I do think you need your head examined if you expect this to be of any use on earth - microgravity or zero gravity is a must for this to be of any realistic application.

If this thing "counteracts gravity" then immediately upon engaging it would not only go up but also West - and at an alarming rate (about 1000 mph). Thats just the effect of the Earth's rotation, it doesn't include the movement of the Earth relative to the Sun, nor of the solar system relative to the galaxy. As I recall, Asimov used this as a plot point in a short story called "The Billard Ball".

Assuming that some law of physics or effect of the device limited it only to "reducing the effect of gravity", then that puts it in the physics simple ballistics, as in just like a cannon ball or a model rocket. Assuming it is aimed straight up, if it goes up high enough then it won't land in the same spot due to the effect of wind and the ground having moved below it.

But it doesn't matter - because even if (and this is a BIG if) the science is sound and the guy isn't a crackpot, this thing will never be able to operate untethered - the power requirements - and the weight of the components needed to run this contraption - have already been discussed.

Too bad, I am still waiting on my jetpack.

Anyone who is modeling parallel universes understands that the bane separating two parallel universes may be theoretically bridged with high frequency, high energy wave/particles. The resonant frequency of the “theoretical” strings (describing the resonant wave nature of the particles) that enable this is in the microwave spectrum, and must exceed an energy/pressure threshold, the value of which is as yet not well understood. It has been postulated that the conservation of momentum requirement of this application is accomplished with the particles “partitioning” their momentum in the two universes, resulting in forward momentum in one universe, and reverse momentum in the bridged universe.

This physics of this application are indeed far deeper than anything that is immediately obvious by superficial analysis using simple vector analysis (such as that evident in the “aussie” rebuttal), the physics involved in the proper explanation of this phenomena are not yet well understood, and require further investigation. The US would be well advised to pursue this merely for the sake of the pure physics involved.

If it is possible, this would be a wonderful breakthrough. My problem with the video is that we cannot really see the unit "lifted" off its base. For all we know, the unit could be attached to a metal rod and rotated via a turntable!

urvile: or simply vibrating, and rotating due to contact with the table.

If this did create thrust you would think he would hang it from a rope, or if it did counteract gravity he would hang it from a scale. This 'technology' keeps popping up every few years. He sold it to the chinese in 2007, and they were going to have a working prototype by the end of the year. Then it was by the end of 2008, and now it is the end of 2009 and still nothing.

Fantastic breakthrough!

@new hidden object games, "Fantastic breakthrough!"

yeah a breakthrough to people's inner gullibility.

The B-2 Spirit is rumored to have a similar type of drive to enable a sort of super-cruise to provide virtually "free" thrust to extend the range of the airplane. Imagine equipping cars with augmented thrusters to make the engine work less and provide a super-cruise capability for the masses... Instead of thinking about flight and using 1:1 or greater lift, think how to make existing technologies work better in concert with such a device saving energy... Ever think of that guys?

If any of you idiots read Einstein, it takes energy to make energy. Mass is just a point in the equation. Create an electro-magnetic sphere and reduce the mass to a null point, hence the warp drive. With a counter electro-magnetic force, polar opposites, anti-grav is possible.Granted the power would be great, but could be done. Check the Jap Aerotrain before throwing stones.

What if you use that plasma drive (or even the ion drive) that I saw not too far back on here as a propulsion device rather than a conventional rocket engine? would cut down on fuel use.

P.S. I want my hoverboard! Naow!

hmmm as id do recall the Jetsons car did make a very high pitched noise once underway so it ws not completly silent!

as for mkaing this work with out leaving vapors tralls how do you think they achive this with warp engines ala star trek it is entirely possible to do this depending on the fuel used to propell the car it could be worked out eventually you are problay one of those who stands there and sees the evidence right in front of there eyes and then says ti will benve r catch on like the telegraph telephone radio television air[lanes trains jets comprters etc et all!

ther is always one in the crownd who denies it can happen but then it does and they have to shove there foot in ther mouth for all enteitly because it work's

C'mon guys this is ovbiously an anti earth gravity machine with a built in G.P.S. (Galactic Positioning System) that automatically compensates for unwanted gravitational effects leaving the driver to choose just which gravitational field he wants to be anti to. It obviously also includes a built in inertia remover thereby allowing it to be propelled by a passing breeze.

C'mon guys this is ovbiously an anti earth gravity machine with a built in G.P.S. (Galactic Positioning System) that automatically compensates for unwanted gravitational effects leaving the driver to choose just which gravitational field he wants to be anti to. It obviously also includes a built in inertia remover thereby allowing it to be propelled by a passing breeze.

C'mon guys this is ovbiously an anti earth gravity machine with a built in G.P.S. (Galactic Positioning System) that automatically compensates for unwanted gravitational effects leaving the driver to choose just which gravitational field he wants to be anti to. It obviously also includes a built in inertia remover thereby allowing it to be propelled by a passing breeze.

C'mon guys this is ovbiously an anti earth gravity machine with a built in G.P.S. (Galactic Positioning System) that automatically compensates for unwanted gravitational effects leaving the driver to choose just which gravitational field he wants to be anti to. It obviously also includes a built in inertia remover thereby allowing it to be propelled by a passing breeze.

C'mon guys this is ovbiously an anti earth gravity machine with a built in G.P.S. (Galactic Positioning System) that automatically compensates for unwanted gravitational effects leaving the driver to choose just which gravitational field he wants to be anti to. It obviously also includes a built in inertia remover thereby allowing it to be propelled by a passing breeze.

C'mon guys this is ovbiously an anti earth gravity machine with a built in G.P.S. (Galactic Positioning System) that automatically compensates for unwanted gravitational effects leaving the driver to choose just which gravitational field he wants to be anti to. It obviously also includes a built in inertia remover thereby allowing it to be propelled by a passing breeze.

C'mon guys this is ovbiously an anti earth gravity machine with a built in G.P.S. (Galactic Positioning System) that automatically compensates for unwanted gravitational effects leaving the driver to choose just which gravitational field he wants to be anti to. It obviously also includes a built in inertia remover thereby allowing it to be propelled by a passing breeze.

C'mon guys this is ovbiously an anti earth gravity machine with a built in G.P.S. (Galactic Positioning System) that automatically compensates for unwanted gravitational effects leaving the driver to choose just which gravitational field he wants to be anti to. It obviously also includes a built in inertia remover thereby allowing it to be propelled by a passing breeze.

C'mon guys this is ovbiously an anti earth gravity machine with a built in G.P.S. (Galactic Positioning System) that automatically compensates for unwanted gravitational effects leaving the driver to choose just which gravitational field he wants to be anti to. It obviously also includes a built in inertia remover thereby allowing it to be propelled by a passing breeze.

Sorry about that - damn interweb kept saying it lost itself - something about gravitational interference

There is for over there or it is there. Their is the possessive form as in put their foot in their mouth and they’re is the contraction for they are. I am not even going to go into all of the other grammar and spelling mistakes I see. The people here are so worried about what is and what isn’t what they should be worried about is getting a better education so they don’t look like idiots in the real world.

It'll never replace Cavorite.

ok i have one problem the weight does not look even on this thing so it should be lean one way or the other. I'm not sure what part creates the lift but unless its all over or in the middle with and even weight around the outside shouldn't it still lean

This doesn't seem like much "proof"however,I would hope that there is enough potential there to stimulate some serious work.

I didn't believe this to begin with, but I would like to give special thanks to these posters who managed to sum up all the cons quite eloquently:

By Mihos at 5:36 PM ON 10/29/09
The amount of energy needed to counteract gravity is not negotiable.

By Drixoral at 4:12 PM ON 11/03/09
If this thing "counteracts gravity" then immediately upon engaging it would not only go up but also West - and at an alarming rate (about 1000 mph). Thats just the effect of the Earth's rotation, it doesn't include the movement of the Earth relative to the Sun, nor of the solar system relative to the galaxy. As I recall, Asimov used this as a plot point in a short story called "The Billard Ball".

By Raz at 4:46 AM ON 11/05/09
C'mon guys this is ovbiously an anti earth gravity machine with a built in G.P.S. (Galactic Positioning System) that automatically compensates for unwanted gravitational effects leaving the driver to choose just which gravitational field he wants to be anti to. It obviously also includes a built in inertia remover thereby allowing it to be propelled by a passing breeze.

(+2 to you all)

I don't know that this is for real as it was not certain proof but i do believe it is possible to make a anti-gravity device which would lift anything off the ground, how far and how fast etc. no idea but if we can send men to the moon then anything is possible, JFK has always inspired me since a child to think outside the box and although i have yet to come up with anything or if i even will i believe someone will it's just a matter of time.

This video doesn't even show what's goin' on underneath the machine. How do you know it's even floating. This is a gag to get seed money.

There's no hand held camera movement to show the underside of the machine. This is just a scam to get seed money.

Didn't see anything flying in the video! Just a bulky machine rotating very slowly.

Baby steps. for a long time the idea of quiet small form factor vehicles has been a thing of sci. The idea of getting rid of the highway as we know it. the fact that rocket or jet engine tech would be needed makes this a semi tech Idea. Energy costs per pound weight vs how much lift is another. speed and reliability are still to be worked out. Baby step or just and Idea thrown at the dart board of the next big engine jump. We will see

looks like a magnetic unit to me.

a true antigravity system woudent provide that lift at the beginning

my apologies if this is a repeat

erm... did you read any of the links? the device is sitting on an air bearing (a low-friction turntable), and is providing thrust PARALLEL TO THE GROUND.

No, it's not floating, it's pushing tangentially to show that it is indeed directing force.

Why couldn't this tech merge with current magnetic rail tech. The potential would be a faster rail system with lighter vehicles (cars, trains, busses, etc,) for mass transit.

So it's just another type of reaction engine, Thank heavens for that. I have to confess I got momentarily excited when I saw this article as I am trying to come up with a sci fi / science / engineering solution for a floating city scenario in a story I am trying to write. As I refuse to subscribe to mythical explainations such as warp engines, I'm struggling somewhat. Having dismissed this as a basis plus being able to extract Higgs Bosons to get rid of mass, I think I'm going to go down the route of an industrial strength diamagnetic effect. Just need a small enough power source ( see hand held fusion devices previously mentioned here ) - a feasible way of generating large enough magnetic fields and a way to construct a strong and large enough pyrolytic graphite base for the city. Any comments would be gratefully received.

Give me a break... I could recreate a better video to make it more believable. Why didn't he make it "take off" from the floor or a level table, instead of a somewhat uneven looking platform. Was he trying to make it look more effective? It's a hoax. If you believe the video, then I have a bridge you might be interested in...

Emdrive? Is an that Electro-Magnetic Drive system? You wouldn't get me near the thing with a 500 meter cattle prod, after the waves of nausea, and paranoia that I personally experienced after working in a factory that had way too many electrical press machines. I started vomiting, then I went crazy thinking everyone was after me, I then punched 2 shift managers, and lost my job. It took 4 days for the nausea to pass, and 2 for the paranoia to disipate.
If the machine is actually working the way he describes, why was the stand/table beneath the machine undisturbed? An electro-magnetic drive system pushes everything away from it. Somewhat like a hovercraft. The table would have moved, or buckled. A 1000 pound vehicle is going to have to apply at least 1250 lbs. of force on the ground, for minimal (2-3 inch) lift. And it will need a heck of lot of power. You wouldn't want to be underneath it, if it ever reached an altitude of say 20 ft., you'd be crushed.
Now that having been said, look closely at the video. Specifically, center and below the device. See the black shaft going to the ground, a small-ish black rectangle extends from the side of the shaft. Look closely, it's there, and hard to see from that camera angle. I do believe that rectangle is a gear system or small electric motor, set to spin the shaft slowly.
This man is both a charlatan, and a con man, trying to get a government grant for his "miraculous" crap machine. And, please, pardon my run on sentences.

@Anonymous at 4:30 AM ON 11/05/09

Way to fail at physics. Magnetic trains aren't anti-gravity, they apply a force greater than or equal to gravity to levitate. Anti-gravity implies nullifying gravity, not fighting it with a different force such as airplanes, rockets, hot air balloons, every other known flying thing.

If this thing is being powered by an intense EM field, why isn't it interfering with the camera, or that laptop?

Picture this: if the above video is true. . . you could use the earth's magnetics to move around, anywhere, on earth. But to propel yourself in space you need a Plasma Rocket .

Can't believe junk-science makes it on this blog. Of course it fits nicely with silly shows that chase ghosts and monsters. So maybe it's fully inline wit SyFy's intended audience.

The device claims to generate thrust by bouncing photons back and forth in a cavity. This can not create thrust. Clearly the video shows absolutely nothing of interest at all. I kept waiting for something to happen and all I see is a box with wires moving a bit. Ha! I've seen better David Copperfield shows. If this is indeed so revolutionary it should be TRIVIAL to show a compelling demo: Side shot with the box on the ground. Plug in the box, it lifts itself of the ground (not sure what would make it stop but assume this thrust is controllable). Now take the camera and rotate all the way around the device, showing that it's not supported anywhere, the power wire being the only connection. Of course it would be even better if it showed a battery powered version. I mean this is all cute and nice but power generation needs to be lifted by the device for this to be at all feasible.

http://scienceblogs.com/sunclipse/2008/09/the_emdrive_story_or_how_to_pr.php

I have a decent understanding of engineering how magic tricks work to believe this vid without seeing it up close and personal.

Even if it does really work and uses microwave energy to move, the amount needed just to move something that size would be to dangerous to be practical.

As for calling this guy a crackpot? Well it may be true but Tesla was considered one in his day also. :)

lol @ all the "enlightened" physics major kettles calling the "crackpot" pot black, as they smuggly retire to reading about their parallel universes, vibrating string theories, hyperexpanding infinite universes, and massles boson dark energy gravity holes.

Damn fools!

I did not read all comments but you surely cannot see all the way around the device.

Oh good lord. This is an OBVIOUS HOAX; it is just a collection of JUNK attached to a framework of metal made to hang electrical conduit from in buildings. I VERY CLEARLY recognize : a car radiator, a transformer out of an old AC Arc welder, a medical Variac commonly used to modulate the speed of a centrifuge, a Tektronix 454 Oscilloscope, and a very OLD laptop - a Dell Armada or maybe a NEC Versa.

Yeah, sure, the "Back to the Future" fan in me WANTS TO BELIEVE that you could make some Antigravity Generator or EM Levitation Device out of a hundred dollars worth of yard sale junk; but PLEASE. That's ALL IT IS. A PILE OF JUNK.

mnem
This guy's reality check just bounced...

http://emdrive.com/dynamictests.html

If you want a REAL explanation of what exactly is going on in the video, and what the machine is being tested for, look here.

If you read up on the machine, you'll recognize the copper-colored chamber near the rear (if the laptop is considered to be at the front) of the machine is the "waveguide", inside which the microwaves generate thrust. The thrust is generated in the direction that the "big end" of the roughly conical chamber is pointing. If you'll look, the "big end" is not pointing down, but sideways. This video is not meant to display the device "levitating", but simply to show it creating thrust (hence the circular motion). Read my previous link. Sorry for double posting.

Well, I stand corrected. Having seen a higher resolution image, and seeing what has been demonstrated... I am STILL NOT IMPRESSED.

This demonstration shows developed thrust of 96 milliNewtons at 334W input, with a field strength (even at this nearly infinitesimal amount of thrust) equivalent to 17MW dissipation. By their own admission, there is enough loose microwave radiation at THIS LEVEL to interfere with the camera taking the pictures.

Now let's look at the numbers and consider...

The earth's gravity exerts a little over 9.6 newtons of pull on a 1 Kg object at sea level; that is 100 times the thrust generated here, and THAT assumes essentially NO FRICTION LOSS. This means that in order to create enough thrust to levitate 1Kg, we need to input 33,400 watts into such a device, and this will generate field strengths within the waveguide equal to 1700MW...

This means that if you COULD provide the power to run this thing for a 1Kg load... you would be irradiating the earth underneath with the power of 370 microwave ovens. Talk about "scorched earth"...

No, this guy IS a crackpot. These tests are no more useful than the tests done in the '60s & '70s on the reactive thrust output of a LASER; it is entirely ACADEMIC, as NOBODY IN THEIR RIGHT MIND would be stupid enough to actually attempt to USE such a heinously inefficient and inherently harmful mode of generating thrust.

mnem
Microwaves~~~~~! Microwaves~~~~~~~~right here! Get 'em ~~~~~~~~~WHILE THEY'RE HOT!

The action shown in the video can be recreated with a toy gyroscope. I see nothing in the video suggesting anything like antigravity. The phenomenon is called precession, well known and understood, and utterly useless for powering any sort of craft - though it can be used for attitude adjustments.

If it is real, as a launch vehicle it is ideal. Go straight up for a several thousand feet, then ignite the jet engines. As for power, commercial generators are no good any way. Give the problem to the military, let them throw money at it until the problem is solved. Or use the new acid free batteries that are powering high end electric cars and that should solve the problem. And as for the demo video, his rig looks a lot like an electromagnet that I made in school. Two opposing ones and you get lift or at least enough for a crappy cell video.

I think the conflict here is based in misunderstanding. First thing we need to clear up, the primary interest most people should have in this technology is NOT "now we can be like the Jetsons!" I too am healthily skeptical about the ability of this drive to effectively overcome the pull of gravity in any efficient manner. I await the results of the multitude of scientists testing it out right now. What we CAN be confident in is the application of this technology to spacecraft. Think about it:

this drive can put out 222411 mN of thrust per 1kW, compared to the 23.6mN/kW of the best EXPERIMENTAL ion drive out there.

This drive requires NO propellant. A spacecraft equipped with the "emdrive" could run indefinitely powered only by solar panels. This is probably the most important part.

Though an electrostatic gridded ion thruster will last a VERY long time (we have yet to see one simply "wear out"), the simplicity of the emdrive implies an unprecedented lifetime. Unless it encounters some sort of hazard, such a drive could likely outlast our race.

Even if it turns out that the drive puts off harmful amounts of radiation (which I doubt, considering that teams in multiple countries are now testing the tech) it wont matter to an unmanned spacecraft.

I admit, the idea of using this invention as a "hover car" drive is an exhilarating one, but I feel that one should not indulge themselves in wishful thinking. I cannot say whether this will work as such, but it would be foolish to discredit Shawyer's claims so early.

Basically, I don't think this video is a hoax - if it were, it would be much more convincing :) I think this tech will do exactly what it looks like it's doing in the vid, which is certainly enough for a revolution in spacecraft design, if not in anything else.

Ok, I think everyone is a little confused.

First, the video above is not a levitating body, its an emdrive mounted sideways on a rotating platform. The emdrive is pushing the device in a circular rotation, hence the markings on the board to indicate distance. I believe this is just an old proof of concept video, not a crazy levitation device.

Second, please go here http://emdrive.com/principle.html
It is a very simple explanation of the physics behind the drive (I am no physicist and I found it simple to comprehend). The emdrive is not an massive leap forward in technology, it is a simple application of a known and well recorded physical concept, radiation pressure. Just as light hits a white object and bounces off, the emdrive uses the minute force of a microwave bouncing of a surface to propel this body forward. This is newtonian physics at it's simplest!

Third, this has nothing to do with anti-gravity. Please get over your conspiracy theories.

You know this is going to give us all cancer...