Editing 1404: Quantum Vacuum Virtual Plasma
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This comic is a reference to the [http://nasawatch.com/archives/2014/08/jscs-stealthy-s.html recent news] of a {{w|Quantum vacuum plasma thruster|microwave thruster}} which allegedly produces thrust without expelling any propellant or microwaves, a violation of {{w|Momentum#Conservation|conservation of momentum}}. This type of thruster would provide delta velocity without conventional limits. After researchers hooked their device up to a measurement apparatus in an air-filled stainless-steel chamber, applied RF input and measured changes in the apparatus, their interpretation of the results as a tiny ''thrust'' explainable under the moniker of "quantum vacuum virtual plasma" was at best controversial. An official statement by NASA's {{w|Johnson Space Center}} is still [http://nasawatch.com/archives/2014/08/jsc-is-still-si.html missing.] | This comic is a reference to the [http://nasawatch.com/archives/2014/08/jscs-stealthy-s.html recent news] of a {{w|Quantum vacuum plasma thruster|microwave thruster}} which allegedly produces thrust without expelling any propellant or microwaves, a violation of {{w|Momentum#Conservation|conservation of momentum}}. This type of thruster would provide delta velocity without conventional limits. After researchers hooked their device up to a measurement apparatus in an air-filled stainless-steel chamber, applied RF input and measured changes in the apparatus, their interpretation of the results as a tiny ''thrust'' explainable under the moniker of "quantum vacuum virtual plasma" was at best controversial. An official statement by NASA's {{w|Johnson Space Center}} is still [http://nasawatch.com/archives/2014/08/jsc-is-still-si.html missing.] | ||
| β | The title of the comic directly refers to this hypothetical new physics mechanism of interacting with the "quantum vacuum virtual plasma," a [ | + | The title of the comic directly refers to this hypothetical new physics mechanism of interacting with the "quantum vacuum virtual plasma," a [https://plus.google.com/117663015413546257905/posts/WfFtJ8bYVya combination of] [http://scienceblogs.com/principles/2014/08/04/impossible-thruster-probably-impossible/ physics words] that don't normally go together. |
The first part of the comic has Megan commenting on how the engine was, in layman's terms, "twitching," and states that with that much power she'd expect something more forceful. "Twitching" is an expected outcome for various complex systems, including biological ones, when arbitrarily large amounts of electric or microwave power is injected. The last panel is a joke about the scientific method, where equivalence between twitching and the hypothetical new physics is pooh-poohed, because Megan was not previously revealed to operate by the principle of "quantum vacuum virtual plasma," to which Megan responds that she is a complex entity and very well might have new physics inside her. | The first part of the comic has Megan commenting on how the engine was, in layman's terms, "twitching," and states that with that much power she'd expect something more forceful. "Twitching" is an expected outcome for various complex systems, including biological ones, when arbitrarily large amounts of electric or microwave power is injected. The last panel is a joke about the scientific method, where equivalence between twitching and the hypothetical new physics is pooh-poohed, because Megan was not previously revealed to operate by the principle of "quantum vacuum virtual plasma," to which Megan responds that she is a complex entity and very well might have new physics inside her. | ||
