Can gravity be neutralized, will true levitation ever be possible?

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  1. Credence2 profile image79
    Credence2posted 11 years ago

    I would like the opinion of you science professionals as to if this is something that we could accomplish by the end of the century? Could it be one of those structural aspects of the universe that cannot be overcome through any technological advance?

    1. wilderness profile image91
      wildernessposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      There is not only no known method of negating the force of gravity, there is no known hint that it even might be possible.  It appears to be a built in function of mass.

      Barring some completely unforeseen discovery, then, it is highly unlikely that we will be able to do that by the turn of the century.

      1. Credence2 profile image79
        Credence2posted 11 years agoin reply to this

        So, gravity is an inate property of matter. That is too bad. So, I will have to put my science fiction literature back on the shelf.

        Thanks, Wilderness

        1. wilderness profile image91
          wildernessposted 11 years agoin reply to this

          Oh, I wouldn't do that.  Maybe there really is a Cavorite just around the corner.  The odds do not favor such a substance, but who really knows?  We have learned very little about gravity outside of it's effects on matter.

          1. Credence2 profile image79
            Credence2posted 11 years agoin reply to this

            I saw that movie, too. From Earth to Moon (1964). After reading a little Arthur C. Clarke, one of my favorite science fiction writers. he explained that a substance like cavonite would have found its way off the earth eons ago. I wish it were that simple. The late AC Clarke wrote a book many years ago, 1977, entitled Profiles of the Possible, about his estimate of what technological breakthroughs could be reasonably anticipated by 2100 and others that will either take much longer or are physically impossible. What he said about gravity control was that if it were possible it would be found by accident as a byproduct of reseach in another realm of physics. He wasn't too optimistic as to the prospects, much like physical objects exceeding the light barrier

            Great to find that we share common interests....
            Check this out, you might find it interesting 
            http://www.futuretimeline.net/21stcentury/2020-2029.htm

            1. wilderness profile image91
              wildernessposted 11 years agoin reply to this

              Wrong story.  From the earth to the moon (Jules Verne, 1865) features men being shot from a big cannon to get to the moon.

              The First Men in the Moon (H G Wells, 1901)  Introduced the world to Cavorite.  Alas, Clarke must have been right, and all the Cavorite has long since flown away into space. smile

              Interesting link, and I'd bet as well that many of the predictions come true.

              1. Credence2 profile image79
                Credence2posted 11 years agoin reply to this

                Thats right, got carried away, thanks

        2. Silverspeeder profile image60
          Silverspeederposted 11 years agoin reply to this

          Have a read up on tachyons, although hypothetical these things have a habit of coming to fruition after research.
          If there is such a thing as a tachyon then they would not be affected by any of the known laws of physics and therefor anything could be possible (yes even time travel).
          Mind you it would happen way past my time on this big blue planet, maybe future generations would come back in time and give me some clues about perpetual cell regeneration.




          Still waiting!

          1. Credence2 profile image79
            Credence2posted 11 years agoin reply to this

            Hi, Speeder

            I hear the word tachyon often in the Star Trek series. After reading up a bit, it seem like the scientists are looking for such a particle, even though there has been no compelling evidence of its existance as of yet.

            Of course, the discovery of such a particle would turn all physics on its head. It has got to alter the world as we understand it. I hope that they find it, as it might allude to the possiblity that "C" is not the universal speed limit after all.
            I wait anxiously, as well.

  2. profile image0
    mbuggiehposted 11 years ago

    Hmmm...

    Anti-gravity stuff (ideas, devices, machines, fiction) seems to be the Holy Grail of the 21st century.

    Levitation can, and has been, achieved  with sounds waves and with a strong magnetic field---the  maglev train is a good example of this. Each works to counter gravity and in countering gravity is manifest (at least to the viewer) as a sort of neutralization of gravity.

    That said, neutralization of gravity by whatever means (if Einstein was right) is probably not a good idea at the level of the universe.

    1. Credence2 profile image79
      Credence2posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      mbuggieh, thanks for dropping by, our ability and that of the birds to fly is overcoming gravity, a relatively weak force with stonger one like aerodynamics. A good bar magnet could suspend an object in defiance of force of gravity attributed to a mass the size of earth. Yeah, we can overcome it with sufficient energy, but can I turn it off? Much of the Star Trek 'Enterprise's" shuttle craft that seem to have no source of propulsion operates with such a device that controls, neutralizes and reverses gravity providing lift allowing it to rise out from a celestial body's gravitational well. That is the explanation I get when I wonder how do those damn things fly? In the last TV series of Star Trek "Enterprise" much is spoken about 'gravity plating'

      You guys will admit that such and achievement stands up there with the invention of the lever, and changes the foundation of physics, like Einstein theories put much of Newtonian physics on the shelf.

      1. profile image0
        mbuggiehposted 11 years agoin reply to this

        Exactly...we can and do overcome gravity mechanically every day.

        I wonder, perhaps I hope, that someday we shall find that the laws of physics are not what Einstein tells us now and that a larger, perhaps even universal, overcoming of gravity might be possible after all.

        Have you ever seen "Alien Engineering" on the History Channel? Several well-known/well-respected physicists engage in this very conversation and it is VERY interesting.

  3. profile image0
    mbuggiehposted 11 years ago

    I think the tachyons in "Star Trek" enabled the Romulan cloaking device and/or create a space-time fissure (depending on which generation of "Star Trek" one is viewing).

    But my favorite: In the series pilot of "Eureka" (SyFy Channel) a scientist creates a "tachyon accelerator", activates it and because of (not in spite of) the  laws of physics the very  fabric of space-time itself begin to unravel...wink

    1. Credence2 profile image79
      Credence2posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I have heard the term tachyon pulse used more than once by the crew of the Enterprise, 'Star Trek', the Next Generation.

      "I think the tachyons in "Star Trek" enabled the Romulan cloaking device and/or create a space-time fissure (depending on which generation of "Star Trek" one is viewing)."

      Star Trek, I have seen them all and remember such being the explanation for the phenomena that you mentioned. I have not checked out, although, I heard heard of it.  I may be missing out.

      1. profile image0
        mbuggiehposted 11 years agoin reply to this

        A friend of mine who is a mega-"trekkie" mentioned it...wink

  4. profile image0
    mbuggiehposted 11 years ago

    Matter and mass are not the same thing.  There is relationship between mass and gravity (see Newton and Einstein).

    1. Credence2 profile image79
      Credence2posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      hi, mbuggieh, lets recap, I understand matter to be 1 or a group of atoms and/or molecules The possession of mass is a property of matter Yes, it also appears that gravity is an inate property of matter, matter, as part of its very definition has to have mass
      Professor Einstein showed us that weird things begin to observed about those relationships, that neither Newton or any of us would be able to measure walking down a typical road  A testimate to Einstein's genuis, discovering the mechanisms of the Universe

      1. profile image0
        mbuggiehposted 11 years agoin reply to this

        The properties of matter are: mass, weight, volume, and density. One could argue, however, that gravity is a "relational function" of matter, rather than an innate property.

        So, can we neutralize a function? Perhaps, and IF we can present some counter-function.

        1. Credence2 profile image79
          Credence2posted 11 years agoin reply to this

          That's interesting, can matter be matter without its possession of a gravatational field?
          I am looking for a solution that would be the biggest breakthrough in physics in a long time. What ever mechanism we find, will probably consume energy as the workings of the universe does not allow one a free lunch.

          I need it to be switched off like a light as any other form of propulsion would be merely a counterbalance to gravity and we can do that now.

          1. profile image0
            mbuggiehposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            The question might be: Can matter be matter without participating in this thing we call a gravitational field?

            If matter itself possesses a gravitational field and if it could "switched off",  then all Newtonian and Einsteinian bets might---might,  be off.

            1. Credence2 profile image79
              Credence2posted 11 years agoin reply to this

              If matter itself possesses a gravitational field and if it could "switched off",  then all Newtonian and Einsteinian bets might---might,  be off.

              That is scary, the very foundation of our understanding of physics will be shaken.

              Could gravity be anything like electro magnetism? As we see day to day this force is used to create energy, like in any bar magnet, one can reverse polarity. Can gravity be considered a force where it is just a matter of finding the key as to how to change polarity? As with anti-matter, which has a proven existence in the world of physics,  does the universe allow for the possiblity of matter that is repulsed in the present of a gravitation field rather than attracted?

              On Star Trek. Enterprise, they speak of 'gravity plating' and they use it to support its shuttle craft.

              1. profile image0
                mbuggiehposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                Fascinating questions!

                So, does anti-gravity exist and if it does, then does it co-exist with gravity in the way that matter and anti-matter exist?

                1. Credence2 profile image79
                  Credence2posted 11 years agoin reply to this

                  Exactly, that is what I am thinking. If there is anti-matter, it does not take a great leap of faith to believe that there is anti-gravity. It just hasn't been discovered yet. Perhaps in our further investigation of the nature of anti-matter it can be compared with matter to see how many of inate properties carry over. I think it is a hypothesis worthy of study.

                  1. profile image0
                    mbuggiehposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                    Most definitely!

 
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