Oooh, levitation

[Gaelbert]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070806/sc_afp/britainsciencelevitation_070806132733
Levitation. Fun. Discuss.

[Amotis]

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e367/amotis/someplaces.jpg

[Gaelbert]

And I was just about to go swimming after dark, too. Nipped that idea in the bud.

[Siwenna]

That thing is freaky! It looks like an insane mage crossed a dog, fish, and humanoid together.

But the levetation thing is neat. It's amazing how quickly technology is advancing.

[Tor the Fallen]

Wow, it says on the nanoscale, it could possibly reduce friction altogether.

This is madness!

[Ikkitosen]

Meh, all kinds of crazy crap goes on at tiny scales, this is no different.

I would certainly like to see how they manipulate the Casimir force though - that'd be interesting.

[Lucky]

Yeah, that is the part I'm really curious about. Throughout the article, they neglected to say how they planned to do it.

[Ikkitosen]

Scientist: You know, we can make this force repel and reduce friction

Press Pseudo-Scientist: *thinks* Like levitation you mean!

S: *looks aghast* Erm...maybe?

PPS: Stop the presses!!



Seriously, these things tend to get published waaaaay before they should, but that's the nature of the press. Might help them get funding I suppose...:smalltongue:

[Lucky]

I did find this quote from wikipedia interesting:


Further research has shown that, with materials of certain permittivity and permeability, or with a certain configuration, the Casimir effect could be made repulsive instead of attractive, although there are no experimental demonstrations of these predictions. (However Professor Ulf Leonhardt and Dr Thomas Philbin, from the University of St Andrews in Scotland claims to have worked out a way of reversing this phenomenon.[1])
It still doesn't say exactly how, but it does say that you need certain types of material.

[Ikkitosen]

Is the reference any good? A paper maybe?

[Lucky]

It sites this (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/08/06/nlevitate106.xml) as its reference, but I've yet to read it over.

Er, wait, that's just the reference for those guys who claim to have figured it out.

[Ikkitosen]

More journalistic pseudo-scientific babble. Until they publish I wouldn't read too much into it!

[Rawhide]

Uhh, guys, I have seen proof.

http://icanhascheezburger.files.wordpress.com/2007/08/thats-levitashun-homes.jpg

[Ikkitosen]

Lol @ arm in top right corner of the pic - dropped cat much!?! :smallbiggrin:

[Archonic Energy]

Scientist: You know, we can make this force repel and reduce friction


Press Pseudo-Scientist: *thinks* Like Mag-Lev you mean!

fixed. :smallamused:

[Death, your friend the Reaper]

Lol @ arm in top right corner of the pic - dropped cat much!?! :smallbiggrin:

Can you imagine how many drops it took them to get it right though?

[Ikkitosen]

Can you imagine how many drops it took them to get it right though?

More than I'd put a cat through no doubt. Still, funny and only slightly mean.

[SurlySeraph]

Levitation = cool, theoretically, if it works, though it's not that useful.

Amotis's Dire Bug-Manatee-Shark-Whale-Eyeless-Monster Thing = DO NOT WANT!

Rawhide's levitating cat = aww, it's so cuuute.

[Attilargh]

Wow, it says on the nanoscale, it could possibly reduce friction altogether.

This is madness!
This... Is... Science!

[reorith]

Uhh, guys, I have seen proof.

http://icanhascheezburger.files.wordpress.com/2007/08/thats-levitashun-homes.jpg

that isn't a reputable source :(

[FdL]

that isn't a reputable source :(

I'm thinking nothing written in "lolcat" can be taken as a scientific proof :p

[Rawhide]

*cough (http://lolcode.com/)* *

[FdL]

*cough (http://lolcode.com/)* *

Yeah, kinda, but...come on! :smalltongue: This is clearly a work of people with too much time on their hands. :smallsmile:

[Dragonrider]

Yeah, kinda, but...come on! :smalltongue: This is clearly a work of people with too much time on their hands. :smallsmile:

:smallamused: and what are we on Giantitp, then?

[PlatinumJester]

:smallamused: and what are we on Giantitp, then?

Nerds just filling up the 10 letter limit

[Ceres]

And now: Frigging flying sausers! (http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30200-1278332,00.html)

Well, not really levitation, but still pretty awesome.

[Gaelbert]

I gotta get me one of those flying saucers. Those look awesome.

[MountainKing]

Yeah, kinda, but...come on! :smalltongue: This is clearly a work of people with too much time on their hands. :smallsmile:

Wait, so what's a theoretical physicist? :smalltongue:

[PhallicWarrior]

Nerd Lite. (Even they have less free time then we do.)

[AtomicKitKat]

*snip*

He said Levitation, not Leviathan!:smalltongue:

[Amotis]

He said Levitation, not Leviathan!:smalltongue:

Finally someone got it!

I laughed. :smalltongue:

[Gaelbert]

Finally someone got it!

I laughed. :smalltongue:

Whoops. I thought it was about the quote about how man shouldn't go/do certain things/places. Silly me.

[Ivellios]

I have a feeling that this technology will develop more quickly then they let on. It's revolutionary, to say the least. The possibilities for this once they perfect the technology are endless...