The patent shown is for an aircraft to be powered off the ground using a plasma technology. Subrata Roy, a University of Florida aerospace engineer, proposes the existing technique of passing a magnetic wave through a conducting fluid can produce a force strong enough to lift an aircraft off the ground. Granted, the example in the patent is only 15 cm, and attempts by others haven’t gone particularly well. But with phrases like magnetohydrodynamics being thrown around, I keep flashing back to the space travel scene in Contact and getting excited. Subrata Roy must be a poet. [WIPO via Ubergizmo]
MF4218
Sunday, May 11, 2008 at 10:50 AMHmm… interesting… and I had this idea when I was 13. From books made in 1975. It’s nice to know I’m as smart as some other people.
Just who would listen to a 13 year old?