65 lines
3.4 KiB
Plaintext
65 lines
3.4 KiB
Plaintext
(word processor parameters LM=1, RM=70, TM=2, BM=2)
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Taken from KeelyNet BBS (214) 324-3501
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Sponsored by Vangard Sciences
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PO BOX 1031
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Mesquite, TX 75150
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Anti-Gravity?
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Japanese scientist's findings not expected to survive further
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investigation. Japanese scientists have reported that small
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gyroscopes lose weight when spun under certain conditions,
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apparently in defiance of gravity. If proved correct, the finding
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would mark a stunning scientific advance, but experts said they
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doubted that it would survive intense scrutiny.
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A systematic way to negate gravitation, the attraction among
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all masses and particles of matter in the universe, has eluded
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scientists since the principles of the force were first elucidated
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by Isaac Newton in the 17th century.
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The anti-gravity work is reported in the Dec. 18 issue of
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`Physical Review Letters,' which is regarded by experts as one of
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the world's leading journals of physics and allied fields. Its
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articles are rigorously reviewed by other scientists before being
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accepted for publication, and it rejects far more than it accepts.
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Experts who have seen the report said it seemed to be based
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on sound research and appeared to have no obvious sources of
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experimental error, but they cautioned that other seemingly
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reliable reports have collapsed under close examination.
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The work was performed by Hideo Hayasaka and Sakae Takeuchi
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of the engineering faculty at Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan.
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Unlike the exaggerated claims made for low-temperature, or
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"cold," nuclear fusion this year, the current results are
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presented with scientific understatement. The authors do not claim
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to have defied gravity, but simply say their results "cannot be
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explained by the usual theories."
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More important, the experiment is outlined in rich detail,
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ensuring that other scientist can try to duplicate and assess it.
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"It's an astounding claim," said Dr. Rober L. Park, a
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professor of physics at the University of Maryland who is director
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of the Washington office of the American Physical Society, which
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publishes `Physical Review Letters'. "It would be revolutionary if
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true. But it's almost certainly wrong. Almost all extraordinary
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claims are wrong."
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The experiment looked at weight changes in spinning
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mechanical gyroscopes whose rotors weighed 140 and 176 grams, or 5
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and 6.3 ounces. When the gyroscopes were spun clockwise, as viewed
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from above, the researchers found no change in their weight. But
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when spun counterclockwise, they appeared to lose weight.
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The rate of decrease was small, ranging up to 11-thousandths
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of a gram when the gyroscopes turned at 13,000 rpm. But two
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effects were significant. First, the weight loss increased as
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speed did. Second, the pattern was stronger with the larger
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gyroscope, indicating that the results might be applied to still
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larger objects.
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contributed by Ron Barker |