[Dean's World] Dave Price: Artificial Gravity Update

[notify at powerblogs.com]

Posted by Dave Price:
Artificial Gravity Update
http://www.deanesmay.com/posts/1178231972.shtml


   I [1]posted on the experiment demonstrating artificial gravity in
   rotating superconductors last year, and since then the head researcher
   on the project, Martin Tajmar, has given a couple [2]appearances and
   [3]interviews.
   Basically, the theory seems to be this: there's always been a
   discrepancy between the observed and expected mass of [4]Cooper pairs
   (electrons bound together) in superconductors. The pair is supposed to
   mass slightly less than two electrons (the lost mass goes into the
   force binding the pair), but instead they mass slightly more, a
   phenomenon no one has been able to explain in the decades since it was
   discovered. Tajmar's theory is that, similar to the [5]London Moment
   in which moving Cooper pairs generate a magnetic field, moving Cooper
   pairs also generate a weak gravitomagnetic force which accounts for
   the aforementioned discrepancy in expected mass versus observed mass.
   Interestingly, the effect observed in the ESA experiment is,
   inexplicably, about 20 orders of magnitude greater than relativity
   predicts. So it may serve as an experimental wedge between quantum
   muchanics and relativity, allowing us to extend or revise those
   theories.
   Of course, it's still possible the whole thing was experimental error
   (in fact, it's arguably still the most likely explanation, though
   Tajmar and his team worked hard to eliminate that possibility), so
   replication is essential. Hopefully we'll see other facilities testing
   this phenomenon in the near future.

References

   1. http://www.deanesmay.com/posts/1177960477.shtml
   2. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5004801918617708857
   3. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8222045907997981867
   4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooper_pairs
   5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_moment