Image: Luis M. Molina/Gizmodo (Getty Images)
Five years ago, NASA researchers experimented with an object called the EmDrive (or electromagnetic drive), a Y-shaped metal chamber in which, they reported, thrust could be produced without propellant. Such a contraption would refute core principles of physics as we know them and eliminate a huge barrier to deep space travel by nullifying the need to carry fuel. Ultimately, the hope riding on EmDrive was that propellant-less thrusters would make travel to distant objects, like the outer solar system and even nearby extrasolar systems like Alpha Centauri, manageable in human timescales.
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Testy nemožného motoru EmDrive ukázaly, že opravdu nefunguje
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Ultra-precise experiment finds hints of unseen particles in the universe
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ExtremeTech
‘Impossible’ EmDrive Actually Is Impossible, Comprehensive Test Shows By Ryan Whitwam on April 6, 2021 at 7:03 am
Humanity has come a long way in understanding the universe. We’ve got a physical framework that
mostly matches our observations, and new technologies have allowed us to analyze the Big Bang and take photos of black holes. But the hypothetical EmDrive rocket engine threatened to upend what we knew about physics… if it worked. After the latest round of testing, we can say with a high degree of certainty that it doesn’t.
If you have memories from the 90s, you probably remember the interest in cold fusion, a supposed chemical process that could produce energy from fusion at room temperature instead of millions of degrees (pick your favorite scale, the numbers are all huge). The EmDrive is basically cold fusion for the 21st century. First proposed in 2001, the EmDrive uses an asymmetrical resonator cavity inside which electromagn