EmDrive: the mysterious propulsion technology that seems to defy physics

In 2001, a researcher named Richard Shawyer created something he called theEmDrive. He described it as a new space propulsion technology that can create thrust without propellant. It uses microwaves and electricity and he claimed it could theoretically push spacecraft through space without using any rocket fuel. If it really works, it will revolutionise space travel. We could get to Mars in 10 weeks without rocket fuel.
Although Shawyer created a working model, the EmDrive wasn’t accepted by the scientific community. For it to work the way Shawyer describes it, the EmDrive must defy our current understanding of physics. He wasn’t the first person to make physics-defying claims so it’s no surprise that physicists didn’t take him seriously. Shawyer and his creation probably would have faded into obscurity if it wasn’t for the fact that 4 independent labs, including NASA’s Advanced Propulsion Physics Laboratory, have recreated the drive and reported that it does create thrust. They just can’t explain why.

http://www.gadgette.com/2016/04/26/...ulsion-technology-that-seems-to-defy-physics/

 

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This is good news. Good that the independent labs recreated the drive and did their own tests. Even better that they could verify the propulsion effect.

Now, I'm super curious about the explanation of the drives mechanism.

Thanks for this the link! This is the most exciting thing that I saw since a long time. There are many strange inventions, but almost never there is an indpendant confirmation that they actually work.

I still wait for more news on the cold fusion front. There seem to be strange effects, but much obscurity, too. I wish it was the same like here, that the inventors allow inependant verification of their devices.

Edit: Very interesting thoughts about inertia in the article. Had not read it all when I posted my reply here. Definitely worth reading.

 

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The only new news here is the claim of Unruh radiation as 'the real reason it works'. Otherwise, the subject has been hotly argued before - e.g.
http://www.sciforums.com/threads/electromagnetic-drive-produces-thrust-in-vacuum-nasa.145905/

 

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Scuttlebutt has it that this is due to the Unruh effect (q.v.).

 

EmDrive paper has finally passed peer review

An independent scientist has confirmed that the paper by scientists at the Nasa Eagleworks Laboratories on achieving thrust using highly controversial space propulsion technology EmDrive has passed peer review, and will soon be published by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA).
Dr José Rodal posted on the Nasa Spaceflight forum – in a now-deleted comment – that the new paper will be entitled "Measurement of Impulsive Thrust from a Closed Radio Frequency Cavity in Vacuum" and is authored by "Harold White, Paul March, Lawrence, Vera, Sylvester, Brady and Bailey".
There is also a line of text that EmDrive enthusiasts believe could be from the paper's extract, which reads: "Thrust data in mode shape TM212 at less than 8106 Torr environment, from forward, reverse and null tests suggests that the system is consistently performing with a thrust to power ratio of 1.2 +/- 0.1 mN/Kw ()".
Rodal also revealed that the paper will be published in the AIAA Journal of Propulsion and Power, a prominent journal published by the AIAA, which is one of the world's largest technical societies dedicated to aerospace innovations.

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/emdrive-na...assed-peer-review-says-scientist-know-1578716

Great news, if true.