@DjCytosol: In all fairness, the "John McCain created the blackberry" statement really can't be taken as a sign of how ridiculous or out of touch John McCain is...
... only how poor his judgment is when deciding who to hire/select/surround himself with/rely on.

92BuickLeSabre

I think I should go and start brushing up on my Chinese.

newdeepdan

Hmmm, they don't have a 3G network yet...and they want to build a space engine first?

jibbly

It doesn't violate conservation of energy, but it does violate conservation of momentum.

Here's a detailed description of why this is wrong and will not work: [www.assassinationscience.com]

readams

If they actually get these into the prototype stage, I will gladly offer to field-test four of these things strapped to my car pointing down...

Stang70Fastback

The comments will be full of snarky remarks, but seriously, more power to them, or to any nation or private party that can take the next leap forward in space propulsion technologies. America obviously can't keep its own affairs in order, let alone lead the charge when it comes to research like this.

peteH

I second that they totally start work on Number Six though I much perfer Number Eight.

newdeepdan

I'm surprised John McCain isn't taking credit for this.

DjCytosol

@strider_mt2k:
Man, that series got downright weird. Vampires, monkey men...

rxe7en

If they fill the thruster with water, it might work. Then we'd know Steampunk is not dead.

Otherwise, I'm not holding my breath.

DisposableInterloper

Or at least boldly photoshop their way into space...

[news.yahoo.com]

rxe7en

Reactionless thrusters?

I thought Human space bought them from Pierson's Puppeteers via General Products!

strider_mt2k

@jibbly: Hey they have that dude that built his own one man submarine on the project, so they've got that going for them...

Jrsy is the dude, playing the dude, disguised as another dude

If the chinese succeed, maybe the US can steal the technology from them instead of the other way around. How novel.

While the model pictured looks steam punked, methinks it's all lead and melamine. :)

meticans

@rxe7en: The premise is that the Hominids evolved to fill open niches in the vast Ringworld environment.

Niven rules.

strider_mt2k

Well, it doesn't violate one of the laws of physics. A large number of very respectable physicists, as well as a number of governments, have already stated that it does violate others (as mentioned above, conservation of momentum). It's designers have plenty of hand-waving obfuscation to get around this and one (that's right, one) Chinese scientist who says he thinks it will work. This was no more respectable than when New Scientist reported on it a year ago, and was resoundingly criticized.

icelight

Go RASA!

Jrsy is the dude, playing the dude, disguised as another dude

@DjCytosol: Just wait he might, or blame the financial crisis on it or perhaps same the engine is in the garage of one of the houses he can't remember if he has...

McLucky

Already got 2 of these in the garage....pieces of junk.

danatoth

anyone within a 2 mile radius of this thing is gonna get baked

Glavan27

@readams: Isn't wikipedia amazing?

ripfire

@readams: I read that and i would not say it was very detailed unless you are also looking at the paper he is talking about. He also sounds like a very angry person so i did not enjoy reading that.

Odd_Thomas

@peteH:
I agree with your first sentence, but your second is unfounded. China can't "research" anything unless somebody else has developed the technology and they steal or buy it. Sure they can make it cheaper, but not without cutting corners....

meticans

Pretty cool none the less. Am I right to think that this would only work in space, where they can gather up microwave energy from stars like the sun?

pevans34

I could be wrong, but it looks like it'll be able to accelerate something to a low speed extremely quickly, but not much else.
As speed increases, it looses the ability to produce thrust.
They mention that a magnetron the size used in a microwave can produce 4 tons of thrust... so I'm guessing it'd get a car up to about 0.2 mph in .002 seconds, but nothing after that.

MinskyBA

Are those nuts and bolts?

i_prefer_sasquatch

@pevans34:

The magnetron is what provides the Microwave energy. :) .

Kyang

@strider_mt2k: well, eventually we will buy technology from some alien culture. it's only a matter of time.
until then however, we try to build our dreams

zyberteq

I recall reading about this in Wired the other day. The guy who is researching this claims that it can be used to reach Mars in only 41 days. That's an average of over 100,000 mph, assuming that Mars is at it's closest point to Earth. And, has already been stated, it also violates the principle of Conservation of Momentum.

smartboydan hates college

FRAK ME!

mrxcel

@strider_mt2k: Just remember to also keep your fusion drive-- makes a handy weapon against the kzinti.

GenericWhiteGuy

Regardsless of whether it works or not, it's nice to see someone at least trying to create a new engine technology.

Engines are the key to space travel. Not ships.
I've always said that anyone, anyone can design a tin can to go to space. All you need is the right engine.

Every shuttle launch costs upwards or $500 million. If nasa was to scrap 2 lauches there would be a $ 1 Billion dollars to R&D research of engines. They could award 100 times $10 million to anyone with a good idea to at least try it... that would be 100 teams working on it.
But noooooooo, we are still running on liquid fuels, solid boosters and chemicals....

At this pace, we'll never get of the planet...

aec007

I'm not the only one who gets a warm fuzzy feeling looking at the copper prototype model shown. Despite the era this thing was built in, it still has a steam-punk feel, like it came out of the 1800s. It even looks a little like a train smoke-stack turned sideways.

scandalmonger

@meticans: Read The Robber Barons, it's no different than what we did to the British.

Pwnieboy

@DjCytosol: You mean Al Gore.

Pwnieboy

They said the engine power-up sequence began... By squeezing something that looks like a red ligament with blue veins on the right side...

tehdahl

So if I put a coffee can over my wifi router, will it rocket straight up to the moon?!

crazyshoes

Just don't let them paint it,or take milk onboard.

FiveLiters

Lol and i bet that under that ship is the fine print that says "Made In China"

The-Joker

@strider_mt2k: Just as long as I don't have to evolve into a human protector I'm fine.

Xenocide

That little box in the diagram that says "Magnetron" is incorrect. It should read "Magic".

inkswitch

@ShinySideUp: and self-loathing.

Mr.SithNinja

The Emo drive? Its powered by tears?

ShinySideUp

wow...

exer881

@strider_mt2k:

Uh, reactionless drive was sold to Humans by the Outsiders, not the Puppeteers. Duuuuh!!! NERD NERD NERD NERD NERD!

Mark 2000

From what I remember reading about this "magic" drive a long time ago is that it was the kind of thing that brainy people argue about ad nauseum like the rest of us argued about the merits of blue-ray and hd-dvd. The reality about unknown science is that we must use both known and unknown methods to EXPERIMENT to get the answer. Duhh. At least the Chinese get this. How do you think we got the answer to whether fission would work? There's a few less Pacific islands to prove it.

whiteknight

@jibbly: @jibbly:

Since when didn't China have 3G?
They're working on 5G right now...

Mr_LaZy

Debunked? Looking at their design, they don't appear to ever look at the force exerted on the side wall of the cavity. Only the two end plates. I haven't sat down to do the math, but it stands to reason that this will effectively demonstrate there's a zero net external force exerted by the cavity. You might as well just use a cylindrical cavity. How exactly do funding decisions work with peer review work in China? I might have to think about moving...

SilasEspesh

@Mark 2000: DOH!

Correction accepted with thanks!

strider_mt2k

@Mark 2000: Ah, but it turns out the Puppeteers were the ones who secretly arranged for the meeting between humans and Outsiders so that the humans could buy the reactionless drive.

I call your nerd and raise you a geek.

GenericWhiteGuy

Of course it will work. Remember this is being developed in the country that miraculously brought its capital city air pollution down to VERY low levels per its promises to the IOC.How do we know that this? Because they say so! (despite BBC testing to the contrary). Oh yeah, while we are at it hte girl gymnasts HAVE to be 16 - because their passports say so!

Skeptical_Geezer

@GenericWhiteGuy: Aaah, go rish a Kzin.

AmishJohn

@meticans: Yep, China can't research anything... the compass was ripped off from (I dunno, someone called Davey Compass I guess) and for sure the idea of gunpowder was stolen from John Wayne). Credit where credit's due...

professor

If it all go kaboom..

No continent is left :P

shanzi

So theoretically, when I switch on my microwave, it should go flying across the room!

Am I wrong here people?

Barfolemew

The funny thing about science fiction is that it can one day become a reality. Maybe the theory behind the drive needs some fine tuning in order to become a reality.

danjuan

I for one welcome our shiny metallic Chinese overlords

Nemesisesq

@professor:
I guess they've been too busy spying and oppressing in the last couple of centuries to make the next leap in technology.

It's a cultural thing for the chinese these days - copy or steal rather than innovate and develop. I'm not judging it, I'm just calling the spade a spade.

meticans

Sure, great... but does it have a cupholder?

EricAlder

So... If you could get a microwave oven to run with the door open, you could use it as a thruster? A very weak thruster?

Ben Zvan

Basic physical law says that this machine will not work. Shawyer claims that it obeys conservation laws, in particular the conservation of momentum, but it doesn't, and all the talk about "relativistic effects" is merely an inept attempt to sidestep the problem -- inept, because Einstein's relativity incorporates momentum conservation as a basic principle. Saying that the "EmDrive" can propel a ship through space is like saying you can make your car go forward by tossing a ball back and forth fifty thousand times inside it. Reality does not work that way.

MarlonAndreus

sweet, up next: heatless toasters!

Elasticity

sweet, next up: heatless toasters!

Elasticity