Advanced Propulsion Research

Article Here:
www.msnbc.msn.com...

"We've got to think about everything possible that there is to think about," said Eric Davis of the Austin, Texas-based Institute for Advanced Studies. "We have got to turn over every stone, and look into the future to find out what's waiting for us. What can physics do ... where should physics be going?"

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"We can pick ourselves up off the ground and start using advanced, high-efficiency, high-powered, high-speed propulsion," Davis said, "to make access to space much more effective and much easier to do."

Be it laser beam propulsion, gravity modification, extracting energy from a vacuum, or traversable wormholes and warp drives — these and other concepts deserve attention, Davis said.

----------------- My Thoughts -----------------------------
It looks like some of the professionals are starting to feel that not enough money is going into realistic experiments for more advanced propulsion methods. I'm sure most of us on this board are well aware of this, but the pros are starting to speak out. I believe this is a good thing.

[edit on 12-3-2006 by Protector]

Originally posted by Protector
some of the professionals are starting to feel that not enough money is going into realistic experiments for more advanced propulsion methods.

This sort of thing get bandied about every couple years. The major problem is that there isn't yet the basic science behind it. It's sort of like forming a team to develop a human-level AI housecleaning and servant robot. It is not an engineering problem, it is a basic science problem. Even when big things like the Manhattan Project happened, the science was all already there and known by the world's scientists, it was just a matter of ironing out the kinks and figuring out the engineering specs.

I hearby bet my left nut on the following items:
1) In the next couple years there will be lots of talk in this forum and on the news about ideas for highly advanced propulsion.

2) Nothing will come of it.

Yeah, every year there seems to be a spotlight on scientific discoveries. I think we are in that phase. Unfortunately, nothing ever tends to happen. I remember when cloning and stem cell research were all the rage....

right before they became outlawed nearly world wide.

Wow, talk about destroying a chance to make the future only and arms length away. Of course, that's just my opinion.

With proper funding, and more specifically higher salaries, I believe that many more physicist, engineers, and other scientific professionals would be willing to move out of their comfort zones and get their feet wet in advanced theory research.

As it stands, you are paid about the same to design a toaster as you are a jet engine. Of course, advanced research is tough, ruins careers, and drains away your life... so I guess finding a happy medium would be a nice start.

1. There will be a revolution in propulsion methods.

2. The "Iron Age" is ending, the "Carbon Age" is beginning.

I think we are currently in the Hydro-Carbon Age if any: oil, gasoline, petrol, kerosene, plastics. I think the next great achievements will come in polymer sciences (both biological and other material), superconductivity, data compression, photo and electrochemistry, and finding copper alternative. Maybe someone will proof the Colatz Conjecture, NP-Complete or Riemman Hypothesis. That's just me, I am ignorant..

As far as these propulsion systems go, many of them are farout. Gravity manipulation and wormholes are more a thing of science fiction than any other ideas. Nuclear, laser, solar sail are far more feasible because we can at least demonstrate them in a crude enough fashion to suggest they are not merley day dreams, but it takes massive amounts of money to fund science research that will yield almost no return profit. So the evolution of propulsion systems goes as far as the world governments and few private companies want it too.

We are entering the Z age lol the Z machine wow you see the amount of power that thing can produce if harnessed makes all other power sources pretty useless if you ask me, could replace nuclear power stations even fission power stations which i think if i named it right was meant to replace nuclear power and was meant to be hot as the sun, well z machine went far beyond that 14X times beyond lol what a major discovery if you ask me, also doesn't the Z machine create more energy than put in it, so i ask could the Z machine power itself forever?? as long as magnetic containment held which why wouldn't it if it was powered of the Z machine too.

The Z machine isn't meant for power generation, it's meant as a testbed for materials under 'extreme pressure and temperature'. Keep in mind that the scientists at the Sandia National Labaratory still don't know why more energy came out of their experiments.
In any case, the Z machine, to my knowledge, is like a firecracker instead of a bonfire as far as sutainability goes. As soon as the tungsten (or, as was the case when output exceeded input, steel wires) are 'shot' the experiment is done and replacements will have to bu put in place. S'all.

On the point of this thread, neccessity is the mother of all invention. We'll develop the correct technology, I believe, when there is a societal need (overpopulation, resources, etc). Then again, maybe we'll NEED to find something cool to do when we've cured famine, poverty, disease, racism, warfare, abuse, and disparity on this world