Anti-gravity
 

Here is a perhaps a more technologically feasible puzzle than retina's recent relativistic rocket.

Is it possible, with current technology, to build an anti-gravity machine? If not, explain why not. If so, give a design.

As always, Google will find a great deal of material on the subject, some of it ludicrously wrong, some of it just wrong, and some of it correct under certain (but not always well specified) conditions. I urge you to try to answer the question from your own current knowledge and, especially, not to post links to resources on the Interweb thingy.

Paul

Unless we're talking about airplanes and helicopters(technically, anti-gravity machines imo) I don't see how present technology could create an antigravity machine. We don't even know how gravity is made, much less how to cause anti-gravity.

I think a better question is whether or not mass and inertia are 100% linked, or is it possible to, say, have a heavy object with very little inertia, or a light object with a lot of inertia.

And now I'll probably get flamed for not rigorously defining the problem. "Durrrr, you can throw something light really hard, then it'll have more inertia you maroon."

What's the term I'm looking for? Natural inertia?

[QUOTE=jasong;250933]Unless we're talking about airplanes and helicopters(technically, anti-gravity machines imo)[/QUOTE]Nope, we're not talking about them. You opinion is, I believe, very much in the minority.
[QUOTE=jasong;250933]I think a better question is whether or not mass and inertia are 100% linked, or is it possible to, say, have a heavy object with very little inertia, or a light object with a lot of inertia.[/QUOTE]This is a very profound question.
[QUOTE=jasong;250933]
And now I'll probably get flamed for not rigorously defining the problem. "Durrrr, you can throw something light really hard, then it'll have more inertia you maroon."

What's the term I'm looking for? Natural inertia?[/QUOTE]My best guess is that you're searching for the word "momentum".

Paul

does levitation work?
supraconductor + magnetic field+ liquid nitrogen = levitation = antigravity?
[URL]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KehU8LL_Z7c[/URL]

What do you mean by 'anti-gravity machine'? Something that creates a volume of space shielded from the effects of gravity or something else?

[QUOTE=firejuggler;250947]does levitation work?
supraconductor + magnetic field+ liquid nitrogen = levitation = antigravity?
[URL]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KehU8LL_Z7c[/URL][/QUOTE]Nope. Reason in next post.

[QUOTE=Flatlander;250954]What do you mean by 'anti-gravity machine'? Something that creates a volume of space shielded from the effects of gravity or something else?[/QUOTE]Ah, a sensible question at last. My puzzle was (deliberately) stated imprecisely so that would-be solvers would need to state the conditions under which their solutions were valid.

Your "Something that creates a volume of space shielded from the effects of gravity" is a pretty good definition of an anti-gravity machine --- perhaps not the only one but defintely a good one --- so why don't you attempt the puzzle with that condition in mind?


Paul

And that 'machine' would be on earth? (being inside a pool... is it considered being in an 'antigravity' space? since gravity pull you down, and water push you up...)

[QUOTE=firejuggler;250963]And that 'machine' would be on earth? (being inside a pool... is it considered being in an 'antigravity' space? since gravity pull you down, and water push you up...)[/QUOTE]It can be anywhere you wish.

Paul

Hmmm...I just had an interesting thought. [SPOILER]Could we use super massive black holes to create gravity waves, and use wave-cancellation techniques to make dead spots where almost all gravity is cancelled out?[/SPOILER]

[QUOTE=Zeta-Flux;250970]Hmmm...I just had an interesting thought. [SPOILER]Could we use super massive black holes to create gravity waves, and use wave-cancellation techniques to make dead spots where almost all gravity is cancelled out?[/SPOILER][/QUOTE]Nice thought. I can't immediately see why it shouldn't work but it may be rather hard to implement with current technology.


Paul