Science Web World News: Copyright May 23rd 2006 Cleared for Distribution with SWWNews credit
High School Students View Real Warp Drive Video
by Cindy Shannon
The story seems to be all over the web. The search terms "warp drive" and "Bexley" seem to be enough to get the well distributed text to turn up in most search engines and what a story - according to United Press Internet News, on May 13th all 5 classes of a Bexley, Ohio physics teacher were able to observe and analyze a series of video tests that seemed to demonstrate a functioning warp drive.
The presentation was part of the SuperScience for High School Physics program that claims to present high school age physics students with real world, cutting edge "advanced concept" projects and theories. The teacher at Bexley High School, one Craig Kramer, had had the program in before, last year along with then science teacher Jack Minot. At that time, presenter and R&D engineer, Marshall Barnes, covered such subjects as why time is not the 4th dimension (in the literal sense), how to produce invisibility mirages with applications for security and military tasks, why massive black holes aren't viewable in a single reference frame from all viewpoints and errors in Kip Thorne's idea for using transversable wormholes for time travel. All far out subjects, mind you, but now in demand. Even Astronomy magazine featured the subject of time travel on its February 2006 cover. But this year, the focus was on solely breakthrough propulsion theories linked to Einstein's unfinished Unified Field Theory.
According to the UPIT report, the presentation included the video of research by Canadian John Hutchison who has been able to produce antigravity effects, among others. But the highlight of the presentations was the video showing the interior of a car with the speedometer clearly visible and then a radar sign that was positioned to give the speed traveled. Twice, the speedometer and the radar sign agreed, but on the third time, with a device called a STDTS engaged, the speedometer and the radar sign still agreed but the car had traveled a significant distance during the same elapsed time period. A distance that the students were involved in measuring after each take by comparing the position of the radar sign after the elapsed time had past. This would indicate the classic example of "warp drive" where a ship is accelerated through space by the warping of space in front of it. In other words, the radar sign and the speedometer are agreeing on the speed that the car is propelling itself - but the increase in speed, not visible to the radar, is due to space warping in front of the car.
It's the Unified Field Theory that Marshall says enables the device to produce what, by all accounts, appears to be warp, without the exotic matter requirements that most physicists say is needed to warp space.
Marshall pointed out that since the Unified Field Theory of gravity and electromagnetism implies a relationship between the two, it would explains the kinds of effects he and John Hutchison http://www.hutchisoneffect.biz/ are getting.
In general the kids were baffled by what they saw, though when asked, they seemed to offer their own ideas to explain the paradox, that is before Marshall let them in on what was actually happened. When they realized what it was all about, some asked if they could one for their cars. Marshall had to nix that idea because he said that the fact that a technology existed that would enable a driver to speed undetected by radar "just blew their minds", adding that "with the right amount of power, a person could be clocked at 65 mph but really be doing 95 mph or more."
So what's it mean for the future of space travel? When reached for comment, a spokesman for the program replied that further testing is needed and will be happening later this summer and fall, with a view toward a space attempt sometime in 2008.
"At the power that the STDTS has been tested with now, which is below 20 watts, after modified for space travel and pulsed, a trip to the moon would take under an hour instead of 3 days, once the ship was in space," was the reply. "That only after 90 pulses and that could be accomplished easily in under 5 minutes. That's just based on what we have and know so far."
In the meantime, a DVD about the whole affair is in the works, along with a subsequent TV special. As Picard used to say on Star Trek: The Next Generation - "Engage"!
High School Students View Real Warp Drive Video
by Cindy Shannon
The story seems to be all over the web. The search terms "warp drive" and "Bexley" seem to be enough to get the well distributed text to turn up in most search engines and what a story - according to United Press Internet News, on May 13th all 5 classes of a Bexley, Ohio physics teacher were able to observe and analyze a series of video tests that seemed to demonstrate a functioning warp drive.
The presentation was part of the SuperScience for High School Physics program that claims to present high school age physics students with real world, cutting edge "advanced concept" projects and theories. The teacher at Bexley High School, one Craig Kramer, had had the program in before, last year along with then science teacher Jack Minot. At that time, presenter and R&D engineer, Marshall Barnes, covered such subjects as why time is not the 4th dimension (in the literal sense), how to produce invisibility mirages with applications for security and military tasks, why massive black holes aren't viewable in a single reference frame from all viewpoints and errors in Kip Thorne's idea for using transversable wormholes for time travel. All far out subjects, mind you, but now in demand. Even Astronomy magazine featured the subject of time travel on its February 2006 cover. But this year, the focus was on solely breakthrough propulsion theories linked to Einstein's unfinished Unified Field Theory.
According to the UPIT report, the presentation included the video of research by Canadian John Hutchison who has been able to produce antigravity effects, among others. But the highlight of the presentations was the video showing the interior of a car with the speedometer clearly visible and then a radar sign that was positioned to give the speed traveled. Twice, the speedometer and the radar sign agreed, but on the third time, with a device called a STDTS engaged, the speedometer and the radar sign still agreed but the car had traveled a significant distance during the same elapsed time period. A distance that the students were involved in measuring after each take by comparing the position of the radar sign after the elapsed time had past. This would indicate the classic example of "warp drive" where a ship is accelerated through space by the warping of space in front of it. In other words, the radar sign and the speedometer are agreeing on the speed that the car is propelling itself - but the increase in speed, not visible to the radar, is due to space warping in front of the car.
It's the Unified Field Theory that Marshall says enables the device to produce what, by all accounts, appears to be warp, without the exotic matter requirements that most physicists say is needed to warp space.
Marshall pointed out that since the Unified Field Theory of gravity and electromagnetism implies a relationship between the two, it would explains the kinds of effects he and John Hutchison http://www.hutchisoneffect.biz/ are getting.
In general the kids were baffled by what they saw, though when asked, they seemed to offer their own ideas to explain the paradox, that is before Marshall let them in on what was actually happened. When they realized what it was all about, some asked if they could one for their cars. Marshall had to nix that idea because he said that the fact that a technology existed that would enable a driver to speed undetected by radar "just blew their minds", adding that "with the right amount of power, a person could be clocked at 65 mph but really be doing 95 mph or more."
So what's it mean for the future of space travel? When reached for comment, a spokesman for the program replied that further testing is needed and will be happening later this summer and fall, with a view toward a space attempt sometime in 2008.
"At the power that the STDTS has been tested with now, which is below 20 watts, after modified for space travel and pulsed, a trip to the moon would take under an hour instead of 3 days, once the ship was in space," was the reply. "That only after 90 pulses and that could be accomplished easily in under 5 minutes. That's just based on what we have and know so far."
In the meantime, a DVD about the whole affair is in the works, along with a subsequent TV special. As Picard used to say on Star Trek: The Next Generation - "Engage"!
