8 years ago
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Here’s why scientists haven’t invented an impossible space engine – despite what you may have read
What if I told you that recent experiments have revealed a revolutionary new method of propulsion that threatens to overthrow the laws of physics as we know them? That its inventor claims it could allow us to travel to the Moon in four hours without the use of fuel? What if I then told you we cannot explain exactly how it works and, in fact, there are some very good reasons why it shouldn’t work at all? By Steven Thomson.
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There's always a huge disconnect between media reporting science, and science. Far too often, a scientist will say something like "Hey, this drug seems to reduce tumor sizes in mice!" and it gets reported as "SCIENTIST FINDS CURE FOR CANCER!" This seems to be the case here, where scientists simply published their findings and the news media turned it into a wild sci-fi story.
Agreed, though based on what I've seen there's a substantial amount of desire to believe as well.
Sounds to me like the EmDrive is this generation's cold fusion... Same story: unusual results in early verification experiments led the media to call that CF had "scientists stumped." Turns out it was mostly faulty experimental setup in the very few positive replications.
That made me think of something. While it's not cold fusion, there's something called muon-catalyzed fusion which works at lower temperatures. Just an interesting fun fact.