Levitation, no longer a myth.

[Blue]

Taken from yahoo
Scientists reveal secret of levitation - Yahoo! News

LONDON (AFP) - Scientists have discovered a ground-breaking way of levitating ultra small objects, which may revolutionise the design of micro-machines, a new report says.


Physicists said they can create "incredible levitation effects" by manipulating so-called Casimir force, which normally causes objects to stick together by quantum force.
The phenomenon could be used to improve the performances of everyday devices ranging from car airbags to computer chips, say Professor Ulf Leonhardt and Dr Thomas Philbin from Saint Andrews University.
Casimir force -- discovered in 1948 and first measured in 1997 -- can be seen in a gecko's ability to stick to a surface with just one toe.
Now the British scientists say they can reverse the Casimir force to cause an object to repel rather than attract another in a vacuum.
"The Casimir force is the ultimate cause of friction in the nano world, in particular in some micro-electromechanical systems," said Leonhardt, writing in the August issue of New Journal of Physics.
"Micro or nano machines could run smoother and with less or no friction at all if one can manipulate the force," he added.
And he added: "In order to reduce friction in the nanoworld, turning nature's stickiness into repulsion could be the ultimate remedy. Instead of sticking together, parts of micromachinery would levitate."
Leonhardt stressed that the practise is possible only for micro-objects.
But he underlined that, although in principle it may one day be possible to levitate humans, that day is a long way off.
"At the moment, in practice it is only going to be possible for micro-objects with the current technology, since this quantum force is small and acts only at short ranges," he said.
"For now, human levitation remains the subject of cartoons, fairytales and tales of the paranormal."
Their research was to be published in the New Journal of Physics.

[Lux Aeterna]

Quite interesting. Suppose we'll just have to wait and see what happens with this new "technology."

[Tap]

If your interested in topics such as these i recommend checking out some articles on
Zero-Point Energy

[SilverTears]

Thats cool. They show you some levitation effects on youtube. What I don't get is how Criss Angel floats from building to building cool:

[Siris]

I think youtube also has videos explaining chris angel's magic tricks.

[SilverTears]

Yes, they explain simple levitations from like 5 feet in the air, and the disappear trick, but now floating in the air building height.

[Tap]

Thats cool. They show you some levitation effects on youtube. What I don't get is how Criss Angel floats from building to building cool:

Its a Tv show, They edit everything. ofcourse you cant see the lines suspending him in the air :/

[SilverTears]

How can they edit everything? The whole thing was from spov.

[The Mob]

i think that this is one step closer to perpetual motion. that is really cool

[EvilCaster]

How can they edit everything? The whole thing was from spov.

All of the spectators from Mindfreak are in on Angel's stunts. Dont let it fool you, i know the point of magic is to believe in it, but c'mon, floating in mid-air? Pfft.

[Siris]

Lol yes they do video editing. I saw proof of this by lighting contrast and an edIt it error when they did a different trick two different times. Now back on topic...

It would reduce a lot of friction but... doesn't it cost endergy to reverse the effect? Unless the gain out weighs the cost I don't see an imediate application.

[Pamela]

This is also useful in other thechnologies,if they keep up the research.It is similar to how those superfast trains work,in that the track rails repel the wheels of the train and reduces the friction substantially.

[Z3R0]

I think the force the scientists in that article were talking about refers back to the negative energy of the oppossing points of two magnents, which creates an equal and opposing force that pushed the negative point away with force.

[Adria]

I think it all applies to very very small objects tho

[BrioCloud]

I've seen this article a few months ago. Very interested to see what can be made from this. I don't believe they can have floating objects 8 feet off the ground though. I think it would look more like a few inches off the ground.

[Blue]

Levitation, no longer a myth.

08-06-2007, 10:42 PM #1 (permalink)

Thats because the person above you revived it. Thats why you saw it a couple months ago, this thread is a couple months old.