I wonder what was causing the measurement, then. Magnetic repulsion due to the current flowing through the cable?
The warp drive will have to wait
11–20 of 88 posts
Re: The warp drive will have to wait
#12I dont see any other article on the internets discussing these results
Re: The warp drive will have to wait
#13EM drive is not an argument such that it might be refuted. It is a device. As such it has fitness for purpose, which depends entirely on the purpose at hand. Snarkiness << skepticism.
"It doesn't work" is a fairly critical issue when talking about the device's fitness for purpose.
Re: The warp drive will have to wait
#14I dont see any other article on the internets discussing these results
Judging from the date in the URL of the linked paper [1] and the corresponding section in the Wikipedia article on the EMdrive suggests that you might have better luck looking at somewhat older news articles.
Publication date (and PDF metadata) seems to be 2015 though [2].
[1] https://tu-dresden.de/die_tu_dresden/fakultaeten/fakultaet_m...
Re: The warp drive will have to wait
#15If something sounds too good to be true, it usually isn't true.
Or, it's a scientific breakthrough. That won't happen often, but it also can't be ruled out completely.
Re: The warp drive will have to wait
#16I guess a cheap and efficient propulsion that doesn't fit our understanding of physics was too good to be true. Still, it's a bit sad, that would have been beautiful if it were true.
That was my thought as well. I'm glad someone spends the time required to refute a claim like this, because it did seem more long-lived and potentially within the realm of possibility than your run-of-the-mill claim that violates known physics.
If we never take the time to explore claims that violate our current understanding, our understanding will stop advancing. Too many scientists are overly dogmatic.
Re: The warp drive will have to wait
#17If something sounds too good to be true, it usually isn't true.
Or, it's a scientific breakthrough. That won't happen often, but it also can't be ruled out completely.
At the very least, if we can't figure out why it doesn't really work, we're likely to learn something new proving it doesn't.
Re: The warp drive will have to wait
#18If something sounds too good to be true, it usually isn't true.
'Usually'
But when it is...
Re: The warp drive will have to wait
#19I wonder what was causing the measurement, then. Magnetic repulsion due to the current flowing through the cable?
Yes, that is what is suggested by one of the experimenters at the end of the article.
Re: The warp drive will have to wait
#20I think the best sentence is this: "The theoretical expectation is that you don't measure anything. Now you're measuring something, and you can learn extremely much on this hunt for the error."
Sounds a bit like Fermi's quote:
"If the result confirms the hypothesis, then you've made a measurement. If the result is contrary to the hypothesis, then you've made a discovery."