Nasa is funding an anti-gravity machine!

October 10, 2000 9:51 AM

Nasa is funding an anti-gravity machine! Is this a good use of funds or a crackpot scheme? You be the judge.
posted by grumblebee (6 comments total)

Funding to the tune of $600,000 is not exactly a serious commitment on NASA's part. This is like some Wall Street tycoon throwing a few hundred into penny stocks, just in case one of them takes off. NASA probably spends more money on coffee every year than it's putting into this antigravity project.

I think it's both a crackpot scheme and a good use of funds. It's not much money, but in the unlikely event that it pans out, it'll be an incredibly valuable bit of research.

-Mars
posted by Mars Saxman at 12:45 PM on October 10, 2000

I don't see why everyone thinks it wouldn't pan out. I read the original article in the peer-reviewed journal they spoke of (god I love Science Magazine) and it certainly seemed legit.

Whether or not it is useful isn't really an issue. If it works at all, it is an amazing contribution to our understanding of physics.
posted by Ptrin at 2:13 PM on October 10, 2000

The one thing we do know is that superconductivity can do some weird things, and the other thing we know is that we've hardly begun to understand gravity. I think the "reduce gravity at launch sites" line is doubtfully something seriously considered, but this is promising enough to look into.
posted by dhartung at 2:46 PM on October 10, 2000

Just as a long as I get an anti-grav skate board out of the deal it's ok by me.
posted by Brilliantcrank at 3:29 PM on October 10, 2000

Unusual lines of research can lead to discoveries that the original project never predicited even if they don't work.
posted by davidgentle at 5:29 PM on October 10, 2000

Yeah.... the weakest force is still the least understood as far as how it works. What it works on (mass) we've got, but that's about it. No doubt this will spawn some new more practical technology, idea, or possibly (tho not likely) a big breakthrough just through the process.
posted by greyscale at 6:52 PM on October 10, 2000