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An Engineer Says He's Found a Way to Overcome Earth's Gravity(popularmechanics.com)
4 points by Stevvo 13 hours ago | 3 comments
elmerfud 13 hours ago | parent | next [-]

I'm not sure where these people get the idea that some kind of thrust via the expulsion of mass is a requirement for moving and object. We know that gravity isn't really a force but an acceleration from the curvature of spacetime. The only way we currently know how to warp spacetime is with mass. There is no contradiction of conservation of momentum with our understanding that acceleration from the curvature of spacetime is a thing.

So, if there's some efficient way to manipulate the fabric of spacetime then it would allow for a propulsion method that doesn't need the ejection of mass. Far fetched? Absolutely. Possible that it might be discovered, it's possible.

sunscream89 13 hours ago | parent [-]

I’m pretty convinced accelerating a counter weight towards the speed of light will allow a craft to propel without ejecting mass.

We aren’t there, however the physics is plausible.

The electrostatic method I have heard of in several contexts (Lorentz field propulsion for instance) though holding breath in anticipation of working model.

wrp 11 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Reactionless drives[1] have been investigated in other ways. James Woodward[2] proposed something that at least hasn't yet been debunked.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reactionless_drive

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodward_effect