>The most recent non resident whipping boy, Arthur C. Clarke, was a big
>proponent of air cushion vehicles, forecasting their replacement of
>automobiles within 50 years (date of original projection: sometime in
>the 50's). Of course this never happened, partly because they are: a) so
>noisy b)so energy hungry and c) being frictionless meant that poor
>maneuveribility in the event of uneven terrain or wind made them
>unusable as a major transport form. Me thinks that for all purpose daily
>transportation, anti gravity will not become feasible, except possibly
>for mass transportation. Traffic is bad enough, imagine millions of cars
>careening about like discs on an air hockey board.
>
>Any feasible anti gravity technology would be most useful in aircraft
>and spacecraft. Now, replacing cars with personal antigravity propelled
>aircraft is somehting else entirely. With smart navigation technologies,
>using all of that volume in the air is a much smarter way to go about
>it. Of course, if there is an accident, expect to die, unless airbag
>technology is heavily used, in a manner like the Mars Pathfinder landing
>method. Bounce, bounce, bounce...
I'm very interested in anti-gravity technology which repels mass to achieve
lift. If two AG vehicles neared each other, wouldn't their two fields repel
away like opposing magnets? And without sounding too Star Trek, would it be
possible to have an inverse field on the inside neutralizing inertia so
that you'd never get tossed about... I imagine it being like a video game.
You'd be still inside the vehicle, but the whole time your experience would
be unaturally stable. Perhaps that would allow us to be better, safer
piolets. Now, I have no idea what kind of power supply would be needed to
energize such a device.. but it is certainly fun to dream about it.
Another interesting point of interest to me is oraganic life. If you are
traveling near the ground and a dog, squirl, insect or other life form gets
underneath your field, does it get crushed? Perhaps the vehicle could have
a sensor which would bend the field around animals. Gosh, a portable
version of this field generator would make an impressive anti-attack shield
for handicaped or those unable to protect themselves in dangerous
situations?
The mind reels.
I'm still interested in anyones opinions on anti-gravity. Has anyone seen
the CNN report on the Finish super-conductor researches who claim to have
generated a gravitational anomoly? Someone told me that they were
suspending a live chick in the field.
Jeff Taylor (rambling whipping boy..)