Scientists from China say they are about to test in spaceEM- drive- a quantum engine that does not need external source energy. This is not only a scientific and technological sensation and a breakthrough in space research: if the Chinese really manage to bring their perpetuum mobile to mind, traditional energy sources such as Russian oil and gas will someday become unnecessary.
China has created an EM-drive power plant that operates on a quantum principle and does not need an external energy source. The new engine has allegedly already been tested in laboratory conditions and now must pass "sea" tests in space. It will be launched into low Earth orbit and will undergo a series of tests.
The information was aired by the Chinese TV channel CCTV-2, and a test commercial is available on the Daily Mail. Nevertheless, the video recording does not make it possible to make a reasonable conclusion about the scientific viability of the declared project.
The idea of perpetuum mobile, which draws energy from the interaction of an asymmetric resonator and a magnetron, was born 13 years ago (that is, in 2004) by the British physicist Roger Scheuer, founder of the Satellite Propulsion Research company.
A working prototype of the EM-drive was assembled in 2006, and research is being carried out both at the Chinese Research Center (Professor Yang Juan's laboratory) and at NASA (USA).
A report on the successful testing of a new type of electromagnetic engine, conducted by the Eagleworks laboratory (a division of NASA), appeared in November 2016 in the American Journal of Propulsion and Power, which is published by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Prior to that - in 2015 - the publication had already published an article-report "Direct measurements of EM-drive flow quantities and possible side effects"(M. Tajmar, G. Fiedler).
However, for all the temptation of the dream of a perpetual motion machine, there is also an obvious contradiction with the basics of physics: the absence of a consumable working fluid violates the law of conservation of momentum. The positive results obtained by the researchers are attributed by their opponents to instrumental errors. At the same time, they, characteristically, do not find fault with the purity of tests in the NASA laboratory. And its employees attribute their success to the pilot wave theory. It is extremely little studied, but is the first known example of a theory with hidden variables, presented back in 1927 by the founder of quantum physics, the French scientist Louis de Broglie. David Bohm, who finalized it, provided a theoretical foundation for the interpretation of quantum mechanics as a deterministic theory. Its mathematical proof, in particular, is substantiated with the help of the quantum Lagrangian and derivations from the Schrödinger equation.
In general, the opponents failed to refute the physico-mathematical constructions of the researchers, who, it seems, have already passed into the experimental phase for several years.
As far as we know, in Russia such developments are not declared, but are actively carried out by some laboratories.
One of the competent scientific sources of our editors commented on the American and Chinese results in the field of EM-drive tests: "The engine, presumably, operates due to the emission of microwave waves, no cosmic radiation. Why is there so much controversy about the engine - its thrust is very difficult to measure.
The discrete opinion of the Russian physicist coincided with the conclusion of such a recognized authority in the field of physics as A.P. Shergin (Scientific Secretary, Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Professor of the A.F. Ioffe Physical-Technical Institute). He is cautious about the results obtained in American and Chinese laboratories: "The laws of conservation of energy are carried out one hundred percent. There can be no violations. When it seems that energy came from nowhere, in fact it simply transformed from another type of energy."
The conclusion that a certain innovation cannot work because "it can never work" is a painful reaction to someone else's discovery that is quite common in the scientific community. After all, behind any stable theory there is a whole school with recognized authorities, founding fathers and functionaries from Big Science. Inventors, on the other hand, are, as a rule, young initiative enthusiasts who have yet to prove their case and become venerable scientists, and on the way to overthrow some of the authoritative opinions of their predecessors (which, to put it mildly, is not to the liking of the authorities themselves).
A Romanian enthusiast built and launched an EM-drive at home:
Almost a hundred years before the research before the EM-drive, Nikola Tesla, ahead of his time, created a power plant, the principle of which contemporaries were clearly unable to understand and appreciate. The mystery of his experiments has not been solved to this day - perhaps because free energy will destroy the economy of consumption of fossil raw materials and the nuclear industry. Naturally, Russia, as one of the world's largest energy exporters, does not really need to use an EM-drive engine on the ground. Nevertheless, our country is one of the recognized leaders in the field of space exploration, and there these engines can become indispensable.
The hypothesis about which does not need fuel was put forward by NASA some time ago. But the space agency failed to create a working version of such a device. But, probably, the Chinese succeeded - at the same time, oh technical specifications device is not reported.
As part of EmDrive - a magnetron that generates microwaves, and a resonator that accumulates the energy of their vibrations. The unit can develop thrust at the level of 1.2 millinewtons per kilowatt, working in a vacuum. EmDrive feature is that it works without fuel. This reduces the weight of the unit and partly compensates for its power. The creation of such an engine can be a real breakthrough for all mankind.
This violates Newton's third law, which states that the force of action must be equal to the force of reaction. The fact that the engine does not use fuel can directly contradict the law of conservation of momentum: it creates a forward force without an equal and opposite force acting in the other direction.
What does it give to humanity?
If such an engine really succeeds in making it a reality, then it will be able to deliver a spacecraft to Mars in just 10 weeks, experts say. And, for example, the current satellites can be half the size, since they do not have to carry fuel with them. People will also be able to travel further into space, getting fuel directly as they travel along the way. But when the concept was first proposed, it was considered implausible because it clearly contradicts the laws of physics.
Chinese against physics
The Chinese TV channel CCTV-2 reported on the planned tests by Chinese scientists of a working model of the EmDrive engine in space.
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Chinese scientists from the Northwestern Polytechnic University in Xi'an announced the successful testing of a conceptually new engine. An unusual power plant called EmDrive could potentially be used in space technology and in flying cars.
The Chinese development is based on the invention of the British engineer Roger Shiver, who was ridiculed in his native country for pseudoscientific forgery. Why did EmDrive cause such a reaction? The fact is that this engine creates traction in an unusual way: no combustion of fuel and no moving parts at all.
EmDrive is a closed conical container that resonates under the influence of microwave radiation and creates thrust from the wide side of the "nozzle". At first glance, an engine that does not emit a jet of hot gases, does not consume fuel, but only emits microwaves, violates the law of conservation of momentum and simply cannot create thrust. However, Schiver argues that the engine is running and the thrust is there because the microwave waves have a group velocity that is greater in one direction than in the other. However, can this create a useful jet thrust? Most of the scientists who have evaluated Schiver's work argue that this EmDrive is an erroneous concept, if not quackery.
Chinese prototype EmDrive. Compared to modern jet engines it is incredibly simple and cheap to manufacture
His theory, Schiver in 2003 built a demonstration engine that developed a tiny thrust of 16 millinewtons. However, instead of the triumph of the British engineer, a new batch of attacks awaited. In the end, critics, including experimenters from NASA, agreed that Shaiver's "success" was due to electronic interference, unaccounted for the influence of drafts, gravity, etc.
The principle of operation of EmDrive is based on the well-known phenomenon of radiation pressure: electromagnetic radiation, moving at the speed of light, has a certain momentum, which is repeatedly reflected and creates thrust in one of the directions
Chinese scientists have chosen a more thorough and cautious approach. First, they conducted theoretical studies and found that, in principle, the Shaiver engine can create thrust. A prototype engine was then created that, in testing, converted a couple of kilowatts of input power into about 720 millinewtons (72 grams) of thrust.
Such thrust may seem negligible, but Boeing's XIPS ion engine, with 2 times the power consumption, creates a quarter less thrust. At the same time, XIPS requires for operation not only a source of electricity, but also a large supply of fuel.
It is possible that Roger Shiver's "wacky craft" will turn out to be a real breakthrough, which will provide space and atmospheric technology with a completely new amazingly efficient engine. This is actually "anti-gravity" - soaring in the air without the roar of jet streams and the noise of propellers. So far, EmDrive produces a small amount of thrust, which is only enough to accelerate small satellites (which, in principle, is a huge achievement in itself). However, Schiver believes that the use of superconductors will increase thrust many times - up to the possibility of separation spaceships from the planet's surface and into Earth orbit. By 2016, the engineer plans to build the first prototype on superconductors, which will allow in the future to increase the thrust of EmDrive thousands of times.
If the same breakthrough occurs in energy sources, and compact generators capable of delivering hundreds of kilowatts appear, then flying cars and “pleasure” flights into orbit will become commonplace.
catalyst using iron nanoparticles. According to them, it is capable of "forever" from ordinary carbon dioxide and hydrogen to produce a mixture of hydrocarbons that are similar to gasoline, the site reports with reference to RIA Novosti.
"Over the past 200 years, coal, oil and gas have been the main engines of our civilization, the basis of its economic and social development. Fuel combustion has led to the release of gigantic amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere, which today causes negative climate change. Turning CO2 into fuel and chemicals is not only help us fight warming, but also solve the problem of depletion of minerals," say Jian Sun from the Institute of Chemical Physics in Dalian (China) and his colleagues.
IN last years scientists are actively trying to find a way to convert atmospheric CO2 into biofuels and other useful material. Last July, for example, Chicago physicists built a solar array that uses light energy to break down CO2 and produce carbon monoxide and hydrogen, and in October, their colleagues at Oak Ridge National Laboratory created a catalyst that converts carbon dioxide into ordinary alcohol.
In principle, both can already be used to store energy, but these catalysts have two major drawbacks. They quickly fail and require cleaning after several tens of hours of operation, and also emit a lot of by-products.
Sun and his team solved both of these problems - their catalyst converts virtually all carbon dioxide into hydrocarbons, which form the basis of gasoline and other high-octane fuels, and at the same time works for at least 1000 hours (one and a half months) in "normal" industrial conditions.
It consists of two components - nanoparticles from a compound of iron oxide and sodium, as well as the so-called zeolites. Zeolites are hollow aluminum silicate nanoparticles, which are widely used today for water purification and for "packaging" various catalysts, the entry of molecules of which into zeolites significantly changes their properties and often makes them behave much more actively than in a free form.
As scientists note, each component in this case plays a different role - iron nanoparticles "break" carbon dioxide molecules and force it to combine with hydrogen atoms, while zeolites and their filling contribute to the combination of such "semi-finished products" into long chains of hydrocarbons.
The combination of these components, according to Chinese chemists, makes it possible to achieve the actual "eternity" of such a catalyst. Its effectiveness, according to scientists, decreased by only 6% in the first 300 hours of operation and then did not change, which suggests that it is stable and will remain in this form for much longer than 1000 hours. In addition, 96% of carbon dioxide is converted into an analogue of gasoline, and only 4% of CO2 is converted into methane.
Moreover, the "bouquet" of hydrocarbons can be flexibly changed by increasing or decreasing the proportions of hydrogen and CO2 in the mixture and by varying the type of zeolite used as a "packaging" for iron nanoparticles. Using solar panels as an energy source for heating this mixture of gases and pumping it through the catalyst, it is possible to efficiently and fairly cheaply store solar energy in the form of fuel familiar to all, without causing harm environment, conclude Sun and colleagues.
Scientists from China claim that they are about to test in space EM-drive - a quantum engine that does not need an external power source. This is not only a scientific and technological sensation and a breakthrough in space research: if the Chinese really manage to bring their perpetuum mobile to mind, traditional energy carriers such as oil and gas will someday become unnecessary.
In general, the opponents failed to refute the physico-mathematical constructions of the researchers, who, it seems, have already passed into the experimental phase for several years.
As far as we know, such developments are not declared in Russia, but are actively carried out by some laboratories.
One of the competent scientific sources of our editors commented on the American and Chinese results in the field of EM-drive tests: "The engine, presumably, operates due to the emission of microwave waves, no cosmic radiation. Why is there so much controversy about the engine - its thrust is very difficult to measure.
The discrete opinion of the Russian physicist coincided with the conclusion of such a recognized authority in the field of physics as A.P. Shergin
(Scientific Secretary Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Professor of the Physical-Technical Institute named after A.F. Ioffe). He is cautious about the results obtained in American and Chinese laboratories: "The laws of conservation of energy are carried out one hundred percent. There can be no violations. When it seems that energy came from nowhere, in fact it simply transformed from another type of energy."
The conclusion that a certain innovation cannot work because "it can never work" is a painful reaction to someone else's discovery that is quite common in the scientific community. After all, behind any stable theory there is a whole school with recognized authorities, founding fathers and functionaries from Big Science. Inventors, on the other hand, are, as a rule, young initiative enthusiasts who have yet to prove their case and become venerable scientists, and on the way to overthrow some of the authoritative opinions of their predecessors (which, to put it mildly, is not to the liking of the authorities themselves).
Almost a hundred years before the research before the EM-drive, Nikola Tesla, ahead of his time, created a power plant, the principle of which contemporaries were clearly unable to understand and appreciate.
The mystery of his experiments has not been solved to this day - perhaps because free energy will destroy the economy of consumption of fossil raw materials and the nuclear industry. Naturally, Russia, as one of the world's largest energy exporters, does not really need to use an EM-drive engine on the ground.
