1 upvotes, 1 direct replies (showing 1)
View submission: xkcd: Quantum Vacuum Virtual Plasma
It should be viewed skeptically anyway. This is a simple proof of concept test that was only looking at whether or not the devices were producing detectable thrust in various configurations. From the looks of it they were doing everything they could to eliminate outside influences, though there's always room for unknown errors to creep in. This isn't the first time an EM drive has been said to produce detectable thrust, but it's arguable that this is the first time it's coming from a credible source.
If there is an unknown process going on here it's worth investigating. If there is an error causing the readings that's also worth finding as it may indicate problems with the measurement equipment that was unknown before. Either way, this needs to be scaled up and replicated on different equipment by a different team just as the superluminal-neutrino result was.
Comment by djimbob at 07/08/2014 at 04:10 UTC*
1 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Well, paywalled writeup prevents me from making any conclusions about their experiment. But to me it looks like they did the experiments over two days last August plus 6 days of setup. It wasn't in vacuum as their RF amplifier used electrolytic capacitors that wouldn't work in vacuum (according to wikipedia).
But the major reason I'm skeptical is there seems to be no explanation for how it jives with conservation of linear momentum (or why the laws of physics no longer have the symmetry of spatial translations). Sure laws of physics can and will change in the presence of overwhelming evidence and/or beautifully compelling theory, but neither seem to be present in this case. The theory "paper" is shockingly vague[1], appears to be riddled with mistakes (using group velocity of the photons in the Lorentz equation????) and unconvincing.
1: http://emdrive.com/theory.html
Again, if the experiments are repeated in vacuum with more data convincing that its not due to photons carrying momentum leaking out, or heating with the outside edge, or the device screwing with the readings of the torsion pendulum somehow.