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This is the story
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of an incredible
scientific adventure,
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of an unlikely collection
of scientists and engineers,
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dreamers and schemers,
who attempted the impossible...
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Aaaah!
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To control gravity.
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Gravity is the fundamental force
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that holds us to the earth
and binds the universe together,
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yet, we still don't
fully understand it.
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Gravity is the most mysterious
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of all the fundamental forces.
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The ultimate challenge
I can think of,
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as a scientist,
is to control gravity.
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The scientific quest
triggered a race
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between rival corporations,
government, and military.
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It can destroy the missiles
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or remove them
from their trajectory.
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Fueled by the paranoid fear
of missing
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the greatest technological
advance in history.
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If just one idea works,
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if only partly,
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you won the jackpot!
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If the dream of gravity
control ever came true,
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it would revolutionize the world
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and could send us to the stars.
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Aaaaah!
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Aaah!
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Captions by vitac
www.Vitac.Com
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captions paid for by
Discovery communications
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In the late 1980s,
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aerospace engineer Ron Evans
was working
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in the defense industry
in lancashire, england.
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He'd been trying to find a way
to detect stealth bombers
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using fluctuations in gravity
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and he wondered if he could
take it even further.
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Could he use gravity
to levitate a plane?
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Of course, it was impossible.
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But Ron did something
a bit reckless.
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He asked his employer
if they'd let him try.
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Ron's employer was
the biggest defense
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and aerospace contractor
in Europe: Bae systems.
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And, instead of telling him
to have a cup of tea and a nap,
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they listened.
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I had to go to the head
of the technology board...
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it's a panel...
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and persuade them
that it was worth doing.
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Now, clearly,
it was very speculative.
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I had to go away
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and come up with some concepts
and come up with some ideas
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that could actually
feature an antigravity
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or a gravity-type
propulsion system.
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Well, this is one of the designs
that we came up with.
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For start,
it wouldn't be limited
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to just flying in the air.
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It could fly anywhere,
into space, even into water.
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And, of course, it was
a vertical takeoff design
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because it had
a gravity engine inside.
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But it didn't look very exciting
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and so we asked the artist
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to put some green rays
underneath.
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That made it look
far more futuristic.
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Let's be clear
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that not everyone in the company
thought we should be doing it.
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There were quite a few that felt
"we make aircraft.
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We're good at it and that's
what we should be doing."
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But there were a few,
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and some very senior people,
that felt, "okay."
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Let's just have
a little look at the future"
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and the concept became known
as Greenglow.
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As head of Project Greenglow,
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Ron's job was to find
and develop
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advanced propulsion systems
to overcome gravity.
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The potential was
enormous, if it happened.
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It would totally change
aerospace.
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And Ron was not alone.
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At around the same time,
in the U.S.,
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NASA began a parallel project,
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headed by aerospace engineer
Marc Millis.
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It was around 1996
when I was asked
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to lead the breakthrough
propulsion physics project.
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Things like
nonrocket space drives,
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interstellar propulsion,
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and manipulating gravity,
things like that.
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For that project, the idea was
to think radical, think big.
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Today, NASA says it has moved on
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and doesn't want to look back.
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We can't go in there
to talk about it now
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because NASA's not doing
that work right now.
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At bae systems,
the same situation:
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The company no longer wants
to discuss Project Greenglow.
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We asked whether we could go
there and talk to them about it
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and they just said no.
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Gravity control
is a dark and dangerous science,
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but, like modern-day alchemy,
it promises a glittering prize.
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But it can destroy
your reputation.
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Years earlier, Ron had watched
a gravity experiment
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bring down one of britain's
best-known scientists...
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this time, I call
for a volunteer.
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Professor of engineering
at imperial college London
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Eric Laithwaite.
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And then, we're gonna SPiN up
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the biggest gyro of the
day, which is here.
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Like millions of others,
Ron had been spellbound
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by Laithwaite's
Christmas lecture
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at the royal institution
in 1974.
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I can make him raise it.
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Now...
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Laithwaite suggested
that, by spinning a heavy wheel,
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you could make it
counteract gravity.
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Ron has returned
to the royal institution
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to try and recreate the effect.
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- Does it feel light?
- It does. It feels very light.
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With the help of fellow engineer
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Dr. Adam Wojciech.
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If I slow down, it feels...
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what I think was at the back
of Laithwaite's mind
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was that there was a force
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in one direction
more than in the other
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and so the gyro
will start to rise up
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and that gives you the illusion
as though it's losing weight.
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It isn't.
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It's just an illusion.
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It isn't light.
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When a gyroscope is
rotated in the same direction
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it's spinning,
it's given an upward lift.
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And if I rotate
in the opposite sense.
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Ohhh, that does look heavy.
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Oh, careful, careful, careful.
Wow.
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When it's rotated
in the opposite direction,
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the opposite happens
and it seems to get heavier.
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Still hoping
to make gravity control
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a subject of serious research,
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Laithwaite acknowledged
his mistake.
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Yet, his reputation
was permanently damaged.
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He was snubbed by the
academic establishment.
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And felt compelled
to leave his position
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at the royal institution.
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Professor Laithwaite got
into a lot of trouble
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with this, really,
because of the claim
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that it got lighter,
which is antigravity,
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and academics jump
on any antigravity device
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as being impossible!
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Well, it's not impossible.
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It's just we don't know how
to do it.
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But we should look.
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It's like flight
in the last century.
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In those days, anybody
that said they could fly
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was looked upon as a lunatic!
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The difference is
that, before humans could fly,
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we knew birds could.
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We could study aerodynamics.
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But there was nothing we knew of
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that could actually
overcome gravity.
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The dream of lifting
effortlessly from the earth
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is not confined to engineers.
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Despite being so contentious,
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many academics are rather
seduced by the idea.
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Dr. Tamara Davis is among them.
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From a little kid,
I always wanted to go
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and visit other planets
and go up into space
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and to be able to have
a form of propulsion
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that could get me there easily
would be fantastic.
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But we don't yet know whether
we can manipulate gravity
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or have any control over it.
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There is one, fundamental force
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we know we can control,
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which we've used
to build our modern world:
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Electromagnetism.
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It gives us a tantalizing
illusion of gravity control
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when we levitate a magnet.
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Ta-da!
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Electromagnetic propulsion
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balances the weight
of the magnet
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by using the same magnetic
polarity in the base.
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We know that like charges repel,
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so, here, we just have
a magnetic field
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that's levitating a magnet.
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So this is nothing mysterious.
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This is just electromagnetism.
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Let's see if I can get
this across.
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Ah.
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The power of control
we get from electromagnetism
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lies in the fact that
we can change its polarity
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and make it either repel
or attract.
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So, in electromagnetism,
we have positive charges
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and negative charges and they
tend to attract each other.
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If you have a positive charge
and a positive charge,
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it will repel from each other,
but wouldn't it be great
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if we could get gravity
to where it can reverse
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and be able to levitate
things using gravity?
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Only problem is there isn't
any negative gravity.
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There isn't any antigravity
that pushes.
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Gravity always pulls,
as far as we now.
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The reason seems to be
that, unlike electromagnetism,
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gravity has only kind
of polarity:
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Positive.
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One mass is simply
attracted to another.
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Gravity and electromagnetism
are completely different forces.
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There's a very special
property of gravity.
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That is that it adds up.
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Inside an atom,
there's a positive nucleus
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surrounded
by negative electrons.
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So the electromagnetic
value cancels out,
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whereas, there's nothing
to cancel out its mass.
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So the force on one atom
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adds to the force
on another atom
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and so they generate an
attractive gravitational force,
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so, if you get enough
of those atoms together,
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like in a planet or in a star,
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then the gravitational force
is very strong.
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So, gravity is different.
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It adds up as you increase
the amount of matter,
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in a way the other forces don't.
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In 1996, a Russian
scientist working in Finland
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claimed to have done
the very thing
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the skeptics
said was impossible:
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Control gravity.
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00:12:19,460 --> 00:12:21,300
Dr. Eugene Podkletnov
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00:12:21,300 --> 00:12:24,360
had been using a machine
called a cryostat
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to cool electrical
superconductors
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when something
very strange happened.
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One evening, we were
working with our cryostat
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and one of my colleagues,
who was leaving at that time,
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just came to the laboratory
and said,
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00:12:39,850 --> 00:12:44,490
"guys, what are you doing here?"
And we said, "just working."
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And he was smoking his pipe.
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A very interesting person.
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It is, by the way,
not allowed, to smoke a pipe
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in the laboratory,
but it was late in the evening.
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And he blew his pipe
over the cryostat
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and the smoke went close
to the cryostat,
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hit some unseen barrier,
and, very fast, went up.
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00:13:09,380 --> 00:13:12,150
And it was pretty amazing.
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He repeated this several times
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and said, "you are working
with magic things" and he left.
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So that was the beginning.
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After months of investigation,
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00:13:23,930 --> 00:13:27,390
Podkletnov concluded
that what he'd created was
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an antigravity field.
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00:13:29,930 --> 00:13:34,000
So we have a vacuum chamber
with a disc
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which can be rotated over
10,000 rotations per minute.
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And this is a weight sample
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which can move freely
over the disc.
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00:13:44,440 --> 00:13:47,510
And when the disc reaches
a certain speed of rotation,
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00:13:47,510 --> 00:13:52,010
it exerts a repulsive force
on the weight sample
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and pushes it up.
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In fact, this is a direct
demonstration
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00:13:57,930 --> 00:13:59,490
of the gravity field.
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00:13:59,490 --> 00:14:04,320
This gravity field is,
in our case, repulsive
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00:14:04,330 --> 00:14:05,860
and, as you can see,
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00:14:05,870 --> 00:14:09,400
the repulsive force
is pretty big.
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00:14:09,400 --> 00:14:10,930
Hearing about the experiment,
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00:14:10,940 --> 00:14:13,670
Ron Evans organized
a team at Greenglow
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00:14:13,670 --> 00:14:16,870
to try to recreate
Podkletnov's breakthrough.
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00:14:16,880 --> 00:14:18,280
But they didn't have the budget
256
00:14:18,280 --> 00:14:21,520
to work with the highly
specialized superconductor.
257
00:14:21,520 --> 00:14:23,920
We couldn't replicate
what he'd done,
258
00:14:23,920 --> 00:14:26,660
so we couldn't say, yes,
he had found it, in effect;
259
00:14:26,660 --> 00:14:28,280
or no, he hadn't.
260
00:14:33,430 --> 00:14:36,830
By now, Marc Millis
at NASA also wanted to know
261
00:14:36,830 --> 00:14:39,570
if there was something
in Podkletnov's claim
262
00:14:39,570 --> 00:14:42,240
and he had a much bigger budget.
263
00:14:42,240 --> 00:14:45,170
We found people
who replicated the experiment
264
00:14:45,170 --> 00:14:49,370
with Podkletnov's help
and they even had 50 times
265
00:14:49,380 --> 00:14:52,650
the detection sensitivity
that Podkletnov had had,
266
00:14:52,650 --> 00:14:57,250
and did not find any effect.
267
00:14:57,250 --> 00:14:59,980
Despite exhaustive tests,
268
00:14:59,990 --> 00:15:01,520
no one seemed able to reproduce
269
00:15:01,520 --> 00:15:04,780
Podkletnov's
so-called gravity field.
270
00:15:04,790 --> 00:15:07,250
I think Podkletnov
had jumped to a conclusion,
271
00:15:07,260 --> 00:15:08,720
had seen some things,
272
00:15:08,730 --> 00:15:12,900
and did not take the rigor
to go through and make sure
273
00:15:12,900 --> 00:15:16,740
that he wasn't
misleading himself.
274
00:15:16,740 --> 00:15:19,380
Meanwhile, news
of Podkletnov's breakthrough
275
00:15:19,380 --> 00:15:24,000
had been leaked to the press
and the resulting media storm
276
00:15:24,010 --> 00:15:27,640
ultimately forced him to leave
his university position.
277
00:15:30,480 --> 00:15:34,650
So Podkletnov went back
to Moscow, to work in secret
278
00:15:34,660 --> 00:15:37,490
and, by late 2001,
he had claimed
279
00:15:37,490 --> 00:15:42,150
he had a new way
to manipulate gravity.
280
00:15:42,160 --> 00:15:45,620
Wary of the western media,
he contacted the one man
281
00:15:45,630 --> 00:15:48,660
he trusted to give him
a fair hearing:
282
00:15:48,670 --> 00:15:52,610
Ron Evans, at Greenglow.
283
00:15:52,610 --> 00:15:54,380
Because of his
security conCERNs,
284
00:15:54,380 --> 00:15:59,710
Podkletnov was only prepared
to tell Ron the basic concept.
285
00:15:59,710 --> 00:16:01,470
I presented to him
286
00:16:01,480 --> 00:16:05,950
my latest works with
impulse gravity generator,
287
00:16:05,950 --> 00:16:11,050
which gives a very sharp
impulse of gravity waves.
288
00:16:11,060 --> 00:16:13,890
It's really a giant
spark plug, really,
289
00:16:13,890 --> 00:16:15,960
but, according
to Dr. Podkletnov,
290
00:16:15,960 --> 00:16:19,630
someone way away,
a kilometer away,
291
00:16:19,630 --> 00:16:23,500
on the balcony of some flats
in line with the beam,
292
00:16:23,500 --> 00:16:28,400
were still able to detect
a slight effect.
293
00:16:28,410 --> 00:16:30,350
That was incredible.
294
00:16:37,640 --> 00:16:40,540
For years,
the gravity pulse concept
295
00:16:40,540 --> 00:16:44,610
remained shrouded in secrecy
and stayed unproven.
296
00:16:46,850 --> 00:16:50,720
But, by the early 2000s,
a new generation of scientists
297
00:16:50,720 --> 00:16:55,760
had picked up the Baton
from Project Greenglow,
298
00:16:55,760 --> 00:16:58,230
including Dr. Martin Tajmar,
299
00:16:58,230 --> 00:17:03,100
professor of space systems
at Dresden university.
300
00:17:03,100 --> 00:17:05,170
If you look for a challenge,
301
00:17:05,170 --> 00:17:08,100
always look for a big challenge.
302
00:17:08,100 --> 00:17:11,670
The ultimate challenge
I can think of as a scientist
303
00:17:11,670 --> 00:17:13,070
is to control gravity.
304
00:17:13,080 --> 00:17:16,850
That's maybe the most difficult
thing there is, right?
305
00:17:16,850 --> 00:17:19,450
Martin is about
to comprehensively test
306
00:17:19,450 --> 00:17:22,790
Podkletnov's concept,
once and for all.
307
00:17:22,790 --> 00:17:25,890
His claims are
that they can drill holes
308
00:17:25,890 --> 00:17:27,960
into brick walls
and this kind of stuff,
309
00:17:27,960 --> 00:17:30,190
which is an extraordinary claim.
310
00:17:30,190 --> 00:17:32,020
And, if you
have an extraordinary claim,
311
00:17:32,030 --> 00:17:34,630
you must have
extraordinary proof.
312
00:17:34,630 --> 00:17:38,530
Antigravity is a kind of
synonym for the impossible.
313
00:17:38,530 --> 00:17:42,160
But always be ready
for the surprise.
314
00:17:42,170 --> 00:17:43,660
This, in effect,
315
00:17:43,670 --> 00:17:46,770
is Podkletnov's
gravity pulse generator,
316
00:17:46,780 --> 00:17:49,910
recreated by Martin
and his team.
317
00:17:49,910 --> 00:17:52,770
As Ron Evans guessed,
it's based in a kind of
318
00:17:52,780 --> 00:17:57,810
giant spark plug; Essentially,
two electrodes in a box.
319
00:17:57,820 --> 00:17:59,620
Basically, you have
two electrodes,
320
00:17:59,620 --> 00:18:02,550
one here and one here
321
00:18:02,560 --> 00:18:06,360
and you're running
a very, very high
322
00:18:06,360 --> 00:18:10,890
electric current discharge
through that.
323
00:18:10,900 --> 00:18:15,400
This discharge goes
through a superconductor.
324
00:18:15,400 --> 00:18:16,930
According to Podkletnov,
325
00:18:16,940 --> 00:18:20,980
this somehow creates a pulse
of gravity which is picked up
326
00:18:20,980 --> 00:18:26,520
by a sensor acting
like an electronic pendulum.
327
00:18:26,520 --> 00:18:29,350
And let's say if you have
your pendulum here,
328
00:18:29,350 --> 00:18:33,850
that, when this gravitational
impulse hits the pendulum,
329
00:18:33,860 --> 00:18:36,590
you will actually get
a deflection of the pendulum.
330
00:18:36,590 --> 00:18:40,790
And so the claim is that this is
actually also creating
331
00:18:40,800 --> 00:18:42,600
not only an electric discharge,
332
00:18:42,600 --> 00:18:45,370
but a kind of
a gravitational impulse,
333
00:18:45,370 --> 00:18:48,310
a push to something
at a distance.
334
00:18:57,980 --> 00:19:00,680
The superconductor
is cooled with liquid nitrogen
335
00:19:00,680 --> 00:19:03,440
to remove its
electrical resistance.
336
00:19:05,950 --> 00:19:09,980
Podkletnov claimed the resulting
massive electrical discharge
337
00:19:09,990 --> 00:19:12,750
creates the gravitational pulse.
338
00:19:15,830 --> 00:19:20,560
They switch on the power
to charge up the system
339
00:19:20,570 --> 00:19:22,940
and wait for the discharge.
340
00:19:25,540 --> 00:19:28,310
Counting down.
341
00:19:37,990 --> 00:19:40,120
There is a reading.
342
00:19:42,620 --> 00:19:44,750
So here's the data.
343
00:19:44,760 --> 00:19:46,630
Gravity goes
with the speed of light,
344
00:19:46,630 --> 00:19:49,000
so you should see
an instantaneous peak
345
00:19:49,000 --> 00:19:51,430
and then the sound
from this bang,
346
00:19:51,430 --> 00:19:53,130
this takes some time
until it arrives,
347
00:19:53,140 --> 00:19:55,205
so we should see
two distinct peaks
348
00:19:55,206 --> 00:19:57,500
because we have such
a high time resolution.
349
00:19:57,510 --> 00:20:00,910
So that's the acoustic impulse
and exactly here,
350
00:20:00,910 --> 00:20:03,080
that's where the gravitational
impulse should be,
351
00:20:03,080 --> 00:20:05,450
where we don't see it.
352
00:20:05,450 --> 00:20:09,420
The sensor felt
the sound wave from the spark,
353
00:20:09,420 --> 00:20:12,090
but no gravity pulse.
354
00:20:12,090 --> 00:20:15,690
That's the most sensitive sensor
there is in the world
355
00:20:15,690 --> 00:20:18,790
and we don't even see something
out of the noise,
356
00:20:18,790 --> 00:20:21,760
so how can he make a claim
to say that it moved things
357
00:20:21,760 --> 00:20:24,760
meters away or that it actually
pushed pendulums away?
358
00:20:24,770 --> 00:20:26,900
So that's a really
outrageous claim.
359
00:20:26,900 --> 00:20:31,000
We haven't seen something
not even remotely like that, so.
360
00:20:31,010 --> 00:20:36,680
Unfortunately, but, yeah,
so far, no luck.
361
00:20:39,010 --> 00:20:40,840
None of Podkletnov's methods
362
00:20:40,850 --> 00:20:44,420
seem to be able
to alter gravity in the lab.
363
00:20:44,420 --> 00:20:48,590
Could the reason be
a simple problem of scale?
364
00:20:52,530 --> 00:20:53,860
There is one industry
365
00:20:53,860 --> 00:20:57,420
that has to deal with gravity
on a planetary scale:
366
00:20:57,430 --> 00:20:59,530
The space business.
367
00:20:59,530 --> 00:21:01,930
They're always clamoring
for some form
368
00:21:01,940 --> 00:21:04,210
of gravity-beating propulsion.
369
00:21:15,180 --> 00:21:19,780
Marc Millis ran NASA's
breakthrough propulsion project.
370
00:21:19,790 --> 00:21:25,830
One of its long-term goals was
to move away from using rockets.
371
00:21:25,830 --> 00:21:29,670
The problem with rockets is not
that they can't beat gravity.
372
00:21:29,670 --> 00:21:33,360
It's the amount of thrust
they need to do it.
373
00:21:33,370 --> 00:21:35,870
If you think
about the Apollo spacecraft
374
00:21:35,870 --> 00:21:39,270
and you imagine here's saturn 5,
375
00:21:39,270 --> 00:21:42,170
the very tip of that and then
a little bit below that
376
00:21:42,180 --> 00:21:44,010
was the actual
spacecraft, itself,
377
00:21:44,010 --> 00:21:47,170
and all the rest of this
was the propellant,
378
00:21:47,180 --> 00:21:50,840
the rocket fuel,
and that's just to the moon.
379
00:21:54,960 --> 00:21:57,660
NASA plans to get
humans to Mars and back
380
00:21:57,660 --> 00:22:00,460
within the next 15 years
381
00:22:00,460 --> 00:22:05,430
and, maybe one day, beyond
the solar system, itself.
382
00:22:05,430 --> 00:22:06,990
But just the martian step
383
00:22:07,000 --> 00:22:09,900
seems impractical
with conventional rockets
384
00:22:09,910 --> 00:22:13,480
because leaving the earth's
gravity takes some much fuel.
385
00:22:13,480 --> 00:22:16,280
The farther or faster
that you wanna go,
386
00:22:16,280 --> 00:22:17,580
or more that you wanna carry,
387
00:22:17,580 --> 00:22:20,350
you need this extra propellant
to do that and then,
388
00:22:20,350 --> 00:22:22,750
you need extra propellant
for the extra propellant
389
00:22:22,750 --> 00:22:26,180
and it adds up exponentially.
390
00:22:26,190 --> 00:22:29,025
If you wanted to go to our
nearest neighboring star,
391
00:22:29,026 --> 00:22:30,850
which is over
4 light-years away,
392
00:22:30,860 --> 00:22:32,860
and you wanted to do it
with the kind of rockets
393
00:22:32,860 --> 00:22:34,290
that are on the space shuttle,
394
00:22:34,300 --> 00:22:36,265
and say you wanna do it
in 50 years,
395
00:22:36,266 --> 00:22:38,760
you're having to go 1/10
of the speed of light.
396
00:22:38,770 --> 00:22:41,040
Well, the amount of propellant
you need for that journey is
397
00:22:41,040 --> 00:22:43,810
about the mass
of our entire sun.
398
00:22:52,410 --> 00:22:54,110
For Marc Millis and NASA,
399
00:22:54,110 --> 00:22:57,080
the focus was less
on controlling gravity, itself,
400
00:22:57,080 --> 00:23:00,610
than finding ways
to get to the stars.
401
00:23:00,610 --> 00:23:02,770
They didn't care how long,
402
00:23:02,780 --> 00:23:05,040
as long as it didn't need
rocket fuel.
403
00:23:09,260 --> 00:23:12,860
Then in 2002,
a new device appeared
404
00:23:12,860 --> 00:23:15,060
that seemed to offer a solution.
405
00:23:23,100 --> 00:23:26,160
Invented by a former defense
research engineer,
406
00:23:26,170 --> 00:23:28,100
Roger shawyer.
407
00:23:28,110 --> 00:23:31,810
The big advantage of emdrive
is that it's a device
408
00:23:31,810 --> 00:23:36,110
which creates a force,
but it doesn't have to
409
00:23:36,120 --> 00:23:40,020
shoot out a propellant
out of the back.
410
00:23:40,020 --> 00:23:42,920
Instead of using
rocket fuel to create thrust,
411
00:23:42,920 --> 00:23:47,020
the emdrive uses
microwave energy,
412
00:23:47,030 --> 00:23:50,830
just like a domestic oven.
413
00:23:50,830 --> 00:23:53,740
Microwaves bounce around
inside the box in waves,
414
00:23:53,740 --> 00:23:55,930
cooking your food.
415
00:23:55,940 --> 00:23:58,540
To stop that energy cooking you,
416
00:23:58,540 --> 00:24:01,810
there is a mesh on the door
with holes in it.
417
00:24:01,810 --> 00:24:05,350
The diameter of these
holes are so small that,
418
00:24:05,350 --> 00:24:08,050
instead of going through it,
microwave radiation
419
00:24:08,050 --> 00:24:12,520
is actually bouncing up and down
vertically in the hole.
420
00:24:14,590 --> 00:24:16,420
The holes trap the waves,
421
00:24:16,420 --> 00:24:20,450
slowing them to a standstill.
422
00:24:20,460 --> 00:24:21,860
According to Roger,
423
00:24:21,860 --> 00:24:26,390
the narrow end of his emdrive
does exactly the same job.
424
00:24:26,400 --> 00:24:29,470
The waves are going
faster at the large end
425
00:24:29,470 --> 00:24:32,010
than they are at the small end.
426
00:24:32,010 --> 00:24:35,280
This means that the force
at the large end
427
00:24:35,280 --> 00:24:38,310
is greater than the force
at the small end,
428
00:24:38,310 --> 00:24:42,640
which will cause the cavity to
move in the opposite direction.
429
00:24:45,490 --> 00:24:48,290
It would only produce
a small amount of thrust,
430
00:24:48,290 --> 00:24:51,260
but, in space,
that wouldn't matter.
431
00:24:51,260 --> 00:24:54,760
An emdrive thruster with
continuous electrical power
432
00:24:54,760 --> 00:24:57,020
gives you continuous
acceleration
433
00:24:57,030 --> 00:24:58,570
and therefore, you can achieve
434
00:24:58,570 --> 00:25:00,070
very large velocities
435
00:25:00,070 --> 00:25:03,500
and travel very large distances.
436
00:25:03,500 --> 00:25:07,000
Roger believes that,
if he could make it big enough,
437
00:25:07,010 --> 00:25:10,240
it could potentially
lift us from the earth.
438
00:25:10,240 --> 00:25:12,070
You suddenly have a lift engine
439
00:25:12,080 --> 00:25:13,615
which simply hovers there
440
00:25:13,616 --> 00:25:15,840
or, indeed, accelerates upwards,
441
00:25:15,850 --> 00:25:18,050
so, we can obviously envisage
442
00:25:18,050 --> 00:25:21,010
launching large payloads
into space
443
00:25:21,020 --> 00:25:24,520
on a emdrive-driven
space plane.
444
00:25:24,520 --> 00:25:27,320
Essentially, we are no longer
looking at ways
445
00:25:27,330 --> 00:25:29,600
that we can control
gravity, itself.
446
00:25:29,600 --> 00:25:33,830
We are beating gravity
the smart way.
447
00:25:33,830 --> 00:25:37,060
If it works.
448
00:25:37,070 --> 00:25:39,610
Though he didn't claim
to control gravity,
449
00:25:39,610 --> 00:25:41,740
Roger's emdrive concept
450
00:25:41,740 --> 00:25:45,870
was rejected by a lot
of theoretical scientists,
451
00:25:45,880 --> 00:25:49,180
who claimed the basic physics
just didn't add up.
452
00:25:55,620 --> 00:25:59,280
To settle the argument between
the theorists and engineers,
453
00:25:59,290 --> 00:26:03,490
Martin Tajmar had the perfect
test facility in Dresden.
454
00:26:06,570 --> 00:26:09,770
A large vacuum chamber
mounted on dampers,
455
00:26:09,770 --> 00:26:13,610
to isolate it
from the surrounding world,
456
00:26:13,610 --> 00:26:18,480
a carefully designed rig
to hold the drive
457
00:26:18,480 --> 00:26:21,950
with a finely tuned balance
to record any thrust...
458
00:26:24,480 --> 00:26:25,940
And, most importantly,
459
00:26:25,950 --> 00:26:30,050
a copy of Roger shawyer's
original emdrive.
460
00:26:30,060 --> 00:26:34,130
Martin's version is small,
but, if the principal works,
461
00:26:34,130 --> 00:26:36,260
there should be
measurable thrust.
462
00:26:40,300 --> 00:26:42,340
The vacuum chamber is sealed.
463
00:26:45,640 --> 00:26:48,910
The thrust recorder inside
is so sensitive,
464
00:26:48,910 --> 00:26:51,910
it can detect Martin
sitting down outside.
465
00:26:54,780 --> 00:26:56,440
We're here
in a laboratory on earth,
466
00:26:56,450 --> 00:26:58,420
so there's some
seismic movement.
467
00:26:58,420 --> 00:27:01,690
So the balance itself
will move just a little bit.
468
00:27:01,690 --> 00:27:03,460
That's the noise
we are seeing here.
469
00:27:07,290 --> 00:27:08,990
The emdrive is switched on.
470
00:27:12,700 --> 00:27:14,400
Nothing appears to move.
471
00:27:17,470 --> 00:27:21,370
But, on Martin's screen,
there is a reading.
472
00:27:21,370 --> 00:27:24,700
When we turn on the thruster,
the balance, indeed, reacts
473
00:27:24,710 --> 00:27:27,940
and we measure something which
looks actually like a thrust.
474
00:27:27,950 --> 00:27:29,350
What we are measuring here
in this case
475
00:27:29,350 --> 00:27:32,120
is of like 25 micronewtons.
476
00:27:32,120 --> 00:27:34,150
That's very, very small.
477
00:27:34,150 --> 00:27:35,710
You can compare this,
for example,
478
00:27:35,720 --> 00:27:39,020
to 1/10 of the weight force
479
00:27:39,030 --> 00:27:41,860
of a grain of rice,
Incredibly small.
480
00:27:41,860 --> 00:27:44,020
Still, however, useful,
for example.
481
00:27:44,030 --> 00:27:46,270
In space, we have
thrusters, actually,
482
00:27:46,270 --> 00:27:48,900
which have this tiny
amount of force,
483
00:27:48,900 --> 00:27:51,000
which is still useful
to maneuver spacecraft,
484
00:27:51,000 --> 00:27:54,400
for instance.
485
00:27:54,410 --> 00:27:58,650
The first results seem positive.
486
00:27:58,650 --> 00:28:01,150
But, when Martin
experimented further,
487
00:28:01,150 --> 00:28:03,580
he discovered a problem.
488
00:28:03,580 --> 00:28:06,140
So, with the thruster
pointing in that direction,
489
00:28:06,150 --> 00:28:07,910
we measured thrust
in that direction
490
00:28:07,920 --> 00:28:11,060
and, when we tilted it
90°, however,
491
00:28:11,060 --> 00:28:13,030
we still measured thrust
in this direction,
492
00:28:13,030 --> 00:28:15,800
which we shouldn't have.
493
00:28:15,800 --> 00:28:19,070
There can still be
some major influence from,
494
00:28:19,070 --> 00:28:21,035
for example,
the power-feeding lines
495
00:28:21,036 --> 00:28:23,090
that we still need to solve,
to find out
496
00:28:23,100 --> 00:28:25,960
what's the real thrust
produced by the emdrive,
497
00:28:25,970 --> 00:28:28,570
if there is any thrust produced.
498
00:28:34,950 --> 00:28:37,450
The great hope
of the emdrive was that,
499
00:28:37,450 --> 00:28:39,920
as a kind of
propellantless rocket,
500
00:28:39,920 --> 00:28:44,030
it would at least power vehicles
in space: NASA's dream.
501
00:28:47,630 --> 00:28:51,060
But NASA didn't pursue
the idea any further,
502
00:28:51,060 --> 00:28:56,560
or any other gravity-defying
concepts, because, in 2002,
503
00:28:56,570 --> 00:29:00,870
they discontinued
Marc Millis's project.
504
00:29:00,870 --> 00:29:02,870
The project ended
when the funding
505
00:29:02,880 --> 00:29:06,050
for all propulsion
research was cut.
506
00:29:06,050 --> 00:29:08,280
It wasn't just breakthrough
propulsion physics.
507
00:29:08,280 --> 00:29:11,780
It was a congressional earmark
to build a building
508
00:29:11,780 --> 00:29:13,880
in a certain state
and that took all the funding.
509
00:29:13,890 --> 00:29:16,590
It happens.
510
00:29:16,590 --> 00:29:20,930
Main progress that we made is
we took science-fiction notions
511
00:29:20,930 --> 00:29:22,900
and evolved them to at least
512
00:29:22,900 --> 00:29:25,070
the first step
of the scientific method.
513
00:29:25,070 --> 00:29:29,230
That step, by itself,
is a degree of progress that,
514
00:29:29,240 --> 00:29:30,670
if I don't accomplish any more,
515
00:29:30,670 --> 00:29:32,210
it's like "yeah,
that was pretty good."
516
00:29:44,820 --> 00:29:49,060
Ron Evans kept going
for another 3 years.
517
00:29:49,060 --> 00:29:51,520
But, when he retired, in 2005,
518
00:29:51,520 --> 00:29:54,850
bae closed down
Project Greenglow.
519
00:29:57,900 --> 00:30:00,030
Is it a shame?
520
00:30:00,030 --> 00:30:01,630
Yeah, I suppose so.
521
00:30:01,630 --> 00:30:06,300
I would like to have
worked at a company
522
00:30:06,310 --> 00:30:10,140
that actually made
this idea work.
523
00:30:10,140 --> 00:30:12,800
It was a lovely idea.
524
00:30:16,220 --> 00:30:17,780
When Greenglow ended,
525
00:30:17,780 --> 00:30:21,580
the hope of mastering gravity
seemed to end with it.
526
00:30:27,660 --> 00:30:29,700
If that was ever
going to change,
527
00:30:29,700 --> 00:30:34,740
we needed to go much deeper into
how gravity actually worked.
528
00:30:46,670 --> 00:30:48,640
Our understanding of gravity
529
00:30:48,640 --> 00:30:53,080
has come down from Galileo,
Newton, and Einstein,
530
00:30:53,080 --> 00:30:56,450
from observations rooted
in the motions of the heavens.
531
00:31:02,250 --> 00:31:06,380
Now those same heavens seem
to be showing us something
532
00:31:06,390 --> 00:31:09,830
that looks remarkably
like antigravity.
533
00:31:12,860 --> 00:31:14,560
The idea that the universe
534
00:31:14,570 --> 00:31:19,840
has some inherent form
of antigravity is tantalizing.
535
00:31:19,840 --> 00:31:24,380
If only we could get
our hands on it.
536
00:31:24,380 --> 00:31:28,210
The problem is no one knows
what this antigravity force
537
00:31:28,210 --> 00:31:33,940
actually is, only that it seems
to originate from space, itself.
538
00:31:35,550 --> 00:31:38,110
Although we think of space
as this emptiness,
539
00:31:38,120 --> 00:31:40,150
the absence of stuff,
it actually isn't.
540
00:31:40,160 --> 00:31:42,830
There is something
that's intrinsic
541
00:31:42,830 --> 00:31:48,030
to the nature of space
that imparted an energy.
542
00:31:48,030 --> 00:31:50,490
And one of the big mysteries is
543
00:31:50,500 --> 00:31:52,230
where does that energy
come from?
544
00:31:56,540 --> 00:31:59,110
A number of scientists
think the answer
545
00:31:59,110 --> 00:32:02,880
to this big question
could lie in the very small...
546
00:32:02,880 --> 00:32:09,220
the very, very, very small...
world of subatomic particles:
547
00:32:09,220 --> 00:32:12,790
Quantum physics.
548
00:32:12,790 --> 00:32:14,760
According to current
quantum theory,
549
00:32:14,760 --> 00:32:19,730
particles can spontaneously
appear from nowhere.
550
00:32:19,730 --> 00:32:22,130
Apparently, they just pop
into existence
551
00:32:22,130 --> 00:32:23,760
in the vacuum of space.
552
00:32:26,570 --> 00:32:30,340
Matter and antimatter, which,
because they're opposites,
553
00:32:30,340 --> 00:32:32,770
cancel each other out
in an instant.
554
00:32:35,150 --> 00:32:38,080
The lifetime is one-thousandth
555
00:32:38,080 --> 00:32:42,950
of one-billionth of
one-billionth of a second.
556
00:32:42,950 --> 00:32:48,880
We are now in an ocean
of particle/antiparticle pairs,
557
00:32:48,890 --> 00:32:51,690
permanently appearing
and disappearing.
558
00:32:53,930 --> 00:32:55,690
Dr. Dragan Hajduković
559
00:32:55,700 --> 00:32:58,440
thinks something else happens
to these particles
560
00:32:58,440 --> 00:33:01,270
to produce
an antigravity effect.
561
00:33:07,340 --> 00:33:10,010
For the briefest moment
of their existence,
562
00:33:10,010 --> 00:33:14,440
these particles can be
polarized, like iron filings.
563
00:33:14,450 --> 00:33:18,150
The trouble is to get it
in a random orientation.
564
00:33:18,160 --> 00:33:21,060
If there is a magnetic field,
565
00:33:21,060 --> 00:33:25,200
the random orientation
will change.
566
00:33:25,200 --> 00:33:26,930
Yes.
567
00:33:29,230 --> 00:33:30,490
According to Dragan,
568
00:33:30,500 --> 00:33:35,600
in the same way iron filings
respond to a magnet,
569
00:33:35,610 --> 00:33:38,880
pairs of quantum particles
respond to mass.
570
00:33:41,580 --> 00:33:44,780
With matter and antimatter,
pairs are briefly
571
00:33:44,780 --> 00:33:48,610
orienting themselves
in relation to that mass.
572
00:33:48,620 --> 00:33:51,220
Matter is attracted
to the positive mass
573
00:33:51,220 --> 00:33:57,750
of a planet or a star, while
antimatter is repelled by it.
574
00:33:57,760 --> 00:34:00,920
Dragan believes
this creates a halo of
575
00:34:00,930 --> 00:34:06,100
antigravity dark energy around
every mass in the universe.
576
00:34:06,100 --> 00:34:10,570
All these halos
together has negative pressure,
577
00:34:10,570 --> 00:34:16,040
what is exactly what we need,
in cosmological equations,
578
00:34:16,050 --> 00:34:22,320
to produce the accelerated
expansion of the universe.
579
00:34:22,320 --> 00:34:25,060
It means that there
are both positive
580
00:34:25,060 --> 00:34:28,130
and negative
gravitational charges.
581
00:34:28,130 --> 00:34:32,900
So far, we know that gravity's
only attraction.
582
00:34:32,900 --> 00:34:36,530
It may be that gravity
583
00:34:36,530 --> 00:34:39,560
is also repulsion, but not
between matter and matter,
584
00:34:39,570 --> 00:34:42,980
but between matter
and antimatter.
585
00:34:46,140 --> 00:34:49,370
Dragan's theory,
that the key to antigravity lies
586
00:34:49,380 --> 00:34:53,790
in antimatter,
is actually going to be tested.
587
00:34:56,620 --> 00:34:59,620
Here, in the world's
biggest physics lab,
588
00:34:59,620 --> 00:35:01,520
at CERN, in Switzerland,
589
00:35:04,130 --> 00:35:08,200
not in the famous
large hadron collider,
590
00:35:08,200 --> 00:35:13,440
but in the improbably named
antimatter factory,
591
00:35:13,440 --> 00:35:15,240
at its Alpha experiment.
592
00:35:19,310 --> 00:35:21,280
A team led by Jeffrey Hangst
593
00:35:21,280 --> 00:35:24,180
is building a machine that,
in a couple of years,
594
00:35:24,180 --> 00:35:28,310
will answer one of the biggest
questions in gravity research:
595
00:35:28,320 --> 00:35:33,720
Does antimatter fall down or up?
596
00:35:33,720 --> 00:35:35,180
Hi, Dragan.
Hi.
597
00:35:35,190 --> 00:35:36,690
- Welcome to Alpha.
- Good to see you again.
598
00:35:36,690 --> 00:35:39,690
Come on in. Let's take
a look at this machine.
599
00:35:39,700 --> 00:35:42,770
Alpha is part
of CERN's ongoing exploration
600
00:35:42,770 --> 00:35:44,700
into the nature
of matter and gravity.
601
00:35:44,700 --> 00:35:46,400
So, right now,
what we're doing is
602
00:35:46,400 --> 00:35:48,230
we're routinely
trapping antihydrogen.
603
00:35:48,240 --> 00:35:51,810
But, for Dragan Hajduković,
it will be make or break.
604
00:35:51,810 --> 00:35:54,150
Trapping antihydrogen
to prepare for the...
605
00:35:54,150 --> 00:35:57,670
if he's right,
creating antigravity on earth
606
00:35:57,680 --> 00:36:00,380
is at least a theoretical
possibility.
607
00:36:06,660 --> 00:36:11,400
From Einstein's perspective,
mass actually distorts
608
00:36:11,400 --> 00:36:15,130
the fabric of space and time,
or space-time, as it's called.
609
00:36:15,130 --> 00:36:17,960
That distortion is rather
like a well.
610
00:36:21,510 --> 00:36:24,680
So here's another object
that's moving nearby,
611
00:36:24,680 --> 00:36:27,880
our mass that has bent
space-time
612
00:36:27,880 --> 00:36:33,780
and, as it goes past, it bends
towards the massive object.
613
00:36:33,780 --> 00:36:37,250
But a negative mass would be,
in our analogy here,
614
00:36:37,250 --> 00:36:40,080
something like a mound,
instead of a depression.
615
00:36:40,090 --> 00:36:41,930
And then you run into problems.
616
00:36:44,090 --> 00:36:46,990
The problem,
according to Einstein,
617
00:36:47,000 --> 00:36:51,370
is that using a negative mass
would mean inverting space-time,
618
00:36:51,370 --> 00:36:56,540
effectively turning the fabric
of the universe inside-out.
619
00:36:56,540 --> 00:36:58,840
And what you end up
with is something
620
00:36:58,840 --> 00:37:01,900
that's called a runaway problem.
621
00:37:01,910 --> 00:37:05,070
You have physics that is just
running out of control.
622
00:37:05,080 --> 00:37:07,410
It'll accelerate away
arbitrarily
623
00:37:07,420 --> 00:37:11,220
with zero cost of energy
and, if that were really
624
00:37:11,220 --> 00:37:12,720
happening anywhere
in the universe,
625
00:37:12,720 --> 00:37:16,950
we'd see it spectacularly
becoming an unstable situation.
626
00:37:25,880 --> 00:37:28,120
If Clifford Johnson
627
00:37:28,120 --> 00:37:30,820
and other theoretical
physicists are right,
628
00:37:30,820 --> 00:37:35,320
antigravity propulsion
will remain an unworkable dream.
629
00:37:35,320 --> 00:37:38,880
It seems the laws of physics
simply don't allow it.
630
00:37:41,600 --> 00:37:44,700
At least, not as we understand
those laws today.
631
00:37:47,570 --> 00:37:50,570
Because, just as Galileo
gave way to Newton
632
00:37:50,570 --> 00:37:56,870
and Newton gave way to Einstein,
theories do change.
633
00:38:09,360 --> 00:38:11,130
And, in the meantime, well,
634
00:38:11,130 --> 00:38:14,400
the engineers get on with doing
what engineers do:
635
00:38:14,400 --> 00:38:18,130
Building new kinds
of propulsion.
636
00:38:18,130 --> 00:38:21,630
Today, that includes NASA.
637
00:38:21,640 --> 00:38:24,340
At the Glenn research
laboratory in Ohio,
638
00:38:24,340 --> 00:38:29,180
work is underway to produce
new forms of space engines,
639
00:38:29,180 --> 00:38:33,150
ones that really could take us
where rockets can't:
640
00:38:33,150 --> 00:38:37,850
Beyond our solar system.
641
00:38:37,850 --> 00:38:41,780
What we have here is
a high-powered ion thruster
642
00:38:41,790 --> 00:38:44,260
and the way it produces
thrust are
643
00:38:44,260 --> 00:38:47,190
ions are created
inside this ring
644
00:38:47,190 --> 00:38:49,860
and then, we establish
electrostatic potential
645
00:38:49,860 --> 00:38:54,730
that accelerates these ions out
and produces large velocities.
646
00:38:54,740 --> 00:38:56,010
And what that does is
647
00:38:56,010 --> 00:39:00,430
it gives us very efficient
production of thrust.
648
00:39:00,440 --> 00:39:03,300
This is
an ion thruster under test,
649
00:39:03,310 --> 00:39:07,750
pouring out a constant stream
of charged particles.
650
00:39:07,750 --> 00:39:10,190
It's less powerful
than a rocket, but capable
651
00:39:10,190 --> 00:39:16,220
of accelerating a spacecraft
almost indefinitely.
652
00:39:16,220 --> 00:39:19,920
These systems are ideal
for in space, you know.
653
00:39:19,930 --> 00:39:23,430
We operate them purely in space
because it's very gentle.
654
00:39:23,430 --> 00:39:25,270
You know,
the thrust level is low,
655
00:39:25,270 --> 00:39:29,040
but, over time, you can develop
much higher velocities
656
00:39:29,040 --> 00:39:30,940
than you can
with chemical rockets.
657
00:39:34,370 --> 00:39:37,300
NASA's focus is
on space propulsion
658
00:39:37,310 --> 00:39:42,040
beyond the earth's gravitation,
659
00:39:42,050 --> 00:39:44,120
yet there is
a propulsion concept
660
00:39:44,120 --> 00:39:47,790
that aims to revolutionize
all of aerospace,
661
00:39:47,790 --> 00:39:51,090
resurrected from the days
of Project Greenglow.
662
00:39:54,390 --> 00:39:58,220
10 years ago,
Project Greenglow ended
663
00:39:58,230 --> 00:39:59,460
and Ron Evans thought
664
00:39:59,470 --> 00:40:03,900
officially gravity research
had ended with it.
665
00:40:03,900 --> 00:40:05,730
But, today, he's been invited
666
00:40:05,740 --> 00:40:09,040
to witness a unique
gravitational breakthrough.
667
00:40:12,510 --> 00:40:15,410
When Ron first began
his gravity research,
668
00:40:15,420 --> 00:40:18,850
Could gravity be used
669
00:40:18,850 --> 00:40:24,050
to detect aircraft
that were invisible to radar?
670
00:40:24,060 --> 00:40:26,830
In the 1980s,
our complete inability
671
00:40:26,830 --> 00:40:30,760
to work with gravity
made it impossible,
672
00:40:30,760 --> 00:40:35,790
but, today, Ron is meeting
someone who says he's done it.
673
00:40:35,800 --> 00:40:38,800
This time, there are
no covert meetings.
674
00:40:38,810 --> 00:40:41,580
He's going inside england's
ministry of defence
675
00:40:41,580 --> 00:40:44,310
research laboratory
at porton down.
676
00:40:44,310 --> 00:40:45,540
Ron, good morning.
677
00:40:45,550 --> 00:40:47,580
Welcome to defence
science and technology.
678
00:40:47,580 --> 00:40:50,380
Neil stansfield
heads a department here
679
00:40:50,380 --> 00:40:53,980
that looks at what they call
disruptive technology.
680
00:40:56,690 --> 00:40:58,230
And they've taken
a potential step
681
00:40:58,230 --> 00:41:05,000
on the road to gravity control
using quantum engineering.
682
00:41:05,000 --> 00:41:06,400
So what we have here is
683
00:41:06,400 --> 00:41:08,940
our quantum gravity gradiometer.
684
00:41:08,940 --> 00:41:10,305
It's a small system.
685
00:41:10,306 --> 00:41:11,830
At the heart of the device,
686
00:41:11,840 --> 00:41:13,740
we have a vacuum chamber.
687
00:41:13,740 --> 00:41:18,950
The sensor uses lasers
to freeze a cloud of atoms.
688
00:41:18,950 --> 00:41:21,380
This cloud responds
to disturbances
689
00:41:21,380 --> 00:41:23,710
in the earth's
gravitational field
690
00:41:23,720 --> 00:41:26,820
caused by a moving mass.
691
00:41:26,820 --> 00:41:28,420
The atoms are sensitive enough
692
00:41:28,420 --> 00:41:30,280
to detect the mass of my body
693
00:41:30,290 --> 00:41:31,990
at a range of about 1 meter.
694
00:41:31,990 --> 00:41:34,420
So your gravitational field
is affecting this device?
695
00:41:34,430 --> 00:41:36,530
Yes.
696
00:41:36,530 --> 00:41:38,370
This is the first time
697
00:41:38,370 --> 00:41:42,840
Ron has seen anyone
actually using gravity.
698
00:41:42,840 --> 00:41:44,910
To me, this is
amazing technology.
699
00:41:44,910 --> 00:41:47,440
Getting into the quantum,
that's really allowing us
700
00:41:47,440 --> 00:41:48,800
to do things that
701
00:41:48,810 --> 00:41:50,745
were just unbelievable
30 years ago.
702
00:41:50,746 --> 00:41:52,300
Yes, some people use the phrase
703
00:41:52,310 --> 00:41:54,210
"they break the laws
of physics."
704
00:41:54,210 --> 00:41:56,010
I prefer to say they break
the laws of physics
705
00:41:56,020 --> 00:41:58,020
as we understand them today.
706
00:41:58,020 --> 00:41:59,050
A hundred years ago,
707
00:41:59,050 --> 00:42:00,850
we didn't understand
the quantum physics.
708
00:42:00,850 --> 00:42:02,980
The idea of being able
to measure changes
709
00:42:02,990 --> 00:42:05,030
in gravity?
Science-fiction.
710
00:42:05,030 --> 00:42:06,830
Could never happen.
Today, we can.
711
00:42:06,830 --> 00:42:07,960
Yes.
712
00:42:11,500 --> 00:42:14,840
Aaaaaaaaaaaaah!
713
00:42:16,940 --> 00:42:20,080
Ron Evans's mission
to control gravity began here,
714
00:42:20,080 --> 00:42:23,400
in a cold, wet corner
of lancashire,
715
00:42:23,410 --> 00:42:27,150
where people go
to live their dreams,
716
00:42:27,150 --> 00:42:31,750
where no one ever worried
about the word "impossible".
717
00:42:31,750 --> 00:42:34,280
Aaaaah!
718
00:42:34,290 --> 00:42:38,130
For Ron Evans, gravity control
is just something
719
00:42:38,130 --> 00:42:40,630
we haven't learned to do.
720
00:42:40,630 --> 00:42:42,160
Yet.
721
00:42:42,160 --> 00:42:43,690
I'm sure we will, one day.
722
00:42:43,700 --> 00:42:45,830
It's just a matter of time.
723
00:42:45,830 --> 00:42:47,160
Aaah!57140
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