08-01-2014, 02:37 PM
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#8
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The new goggles also do nothing.
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Calgary
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http://arstechnica.com/science/2014/...rives-just-yet
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The NASA report wasn't much help either, since it only delved into the practicalities of testing one of the devices. At first glance, however, it looked quite interesting, stating, "Approximately 30-50 micro-Newtons of thrust were recorded from an electric propulsion test article." If you push a bit further, it looks much less promising:
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Thrust was observed on both test articles, even though one of the test articles was designed with the expectation that it would not produce thrust. Specifically, one test article contained internal physical modifications that were designed to produce thrust, while the other did not (with the latter being referred to as the "null" test article).
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In other words, the negative control in the experiment worked. Which means that the experiment as a whole tells you nothing. Clearly, the device (even when disabled) appears to produce a force. But Lee suggested a variety of ways that this could happen and indicated that there are ways to monitor the device's operation to see if any of them play a role (for example, he suggested that a mass imbalance of as little as 3 mg could account for the small force the NASA researchers found. "All in all," Lee concluded, "it will take a lot more information before we can judge whether the thrust is really a thrust or not."
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__________________
Uncertainty is an uncomfortable position.
But certainty is an absurd one.
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