Electrogravitics

Electrogravitics is a hypothesis proposed by Nikola Tesla and Tesla's subsequent extensive experimentation and demonstrations of the effect. The term was in widespread use by 1956. The effects of electrogravity have been searched for extensively in countless experiments since the beginning of the 20th century. To date, other than Tesla's experiments and the more recent ones reported by R. L. Talley, Eugene Podkletnov, and Giovanni Modanese, "no conclusive evidence of electrogravitic signatures has been found". Recently, some investigation has begun in electrohydrodynamics (EHD) or sometimes electro-fluid-dynamics, a counterpart to the well-known magnetohydrodynamics, but these do not seem a priori to be related to Tesla's "electrogravitics". Electrokinetics is a term used by Thomas Townsend Brown for the electrically generated propulsive force. No widely accepted experimental data yet supports these calculations.

Biefeld–Brown effect

Research, based upon Thomas Townsend Brown's hypotheses, includes the idea that electrogravitics could be used as a means of propulsion for aircraft and spacecraft. Electrogravitic processes use an electric field to charge or, more properly, polarize an object with a specially-constructed shape. Brown's disks, for example, used an "asymmetrical" capacitor, sketches of which can be found in the literature pertaining to the Biefeld–Brown effect. The field became popular in the mid-1950s, but rapidly declined in popularity within mainstream science after a startlingly successful demonstration of Brown's "tethered disks" to an audience that included U.S. military observers. Reportedly, with the polarization voltage for the "asymmetrical capacitors" that made up the disks newly increased to about 150,000 volts, the disks flew around their tethered track at "frightening" velocity^{[citation needed]}. This level of performance strongly suggests that the Biefield-Brown effect involves physics very different from simple electrostatics^{[citation needed]}, which can be used to "levitate" objects under suitable conditions, but certainly cannot produce "frightening" velocities^{[citation needed]} as in Brown's demonstration.

Electrostatic levitation is used, for instance, in Robert Millikan's oil drop experiment and is used to suspend the gyroscopes in Gravity Probe B during launch. Earnshaw's theorem shows that no static arrangement of classical electrostatic fields can be used to stably levitate an object. There is a point where the two fields cancel, but it is unstable. It is possible to design a feedback control system that uses dynamically changing electric fields to hold an object in position, but these purely electrostatic systems do not lend themselves to producing the kinds of acceleration demonstrated in Brown's tethered-disk experiments.

The Biefeld–Brown effect was initially investigated by Thomas Townsend Brown (USA) and Dr. Paul Alfred Biefeld (Germany) in the 1920s. Research continued through the 1950s and 1960s by Brown and other researchers. The use of this electrogravitic propulsion effect was further explored during the publicized era of gravity control propulsion research, which included the United States gravity control propulsion initiative. The effect was almost certainly included in the research conducted at Martin Aircraft's RIAS (Research Institute for Advanced Studies) unit in Baltimore during this period, which is reported to have been specifically interested in gravity, and which hired Burkhard Heim as a consultant because his "Heim Theory" appeared to have significant implications for the nature of gravity.

Seversky's patent

During 1964, Alexander P. de Seversky had in fact published a lot of his own work in U.S. Patent 3,130,945. Unlike Brown, he believed that what he was seeing was a strictly electrostatic effect. To forestall any possible misunderstanding about his devices, he termed these flying machines as ionocrafts.

Criticism

Byron Preiss considered electrogravitics development to be "much ado about nothing, started by a bunch of engineers who didn't know enough physics". Preiss stated that electrogravitics, like exobiology, is "a science without a single specimen for study".

NASA funded a study in 2004 entitled "Asymmetrical Capacitors for Propulsion" in which it created a simple ion drift model wherein ions drift "... from one electrode to the other under electrostatic forces, and imparting momentum to air as they underwent multiple collisions." The report concludes that "... the ion drift model explains how a thrust is developed by ions pushing on air" and that there was no evidence to support "...new physical principles being responsible for the thrust" produced in lifters.

Talley's report

In May, 1991, the U.S. Air Force Systems Command, Propulsion Directorate, published a Final Report on a project by Veritay Technology, Inc., led by Principal Investigator R. L. Talley, entitled "Twenty First Century Propulsion Concept". The Abstract summarizes as follows:

"This Phase II SBIR contract was concerned with exploring the Biefeld-Brown effect which allegedly converts electrostatic energy directly into a propulsive force in a vacuum environment." ... "...no detectable propulsive force was electrostatically induced by applying a static potential difference up to 19 kV between the electrodes of test devices under conditions in which electrical breakdowns did not occur. Near the conclusion of this program, force generation effects were examined using a high dielectric constant, ceramic piezoelectric material between electrodes of an asymmetric test device under voltage conditions which caused repetitive electrical breakdowns to occur. Very limited test results of this type suggest that anomalous forces were produced, and these may warrant further consideration in the future."

The report concludes by recommending that no further experiments be done with static DC voltages, but that further experiments should be done using pulsed excitation to "piezoelectric and/or select dielectric materials". It should be noted in this context that a 1956 article in InterAvia Magazine reported that the highest possible product of dielectric constant and mass density had been found, according to their sources, to be important for optimizing the effect, and that voltages of not just 15 kV but perhaps as high as 15 Megavolts were thought to be needed to obtain dramatic effects.

Haisch, Puthoff and others

More recently, Bernard Haisch, Harold E. Puthoff, and several other physicists have shown intriguing connections between electromagnetics, notably the electromagnetic zero-point field, and inertia, and have speculated about possible further connections with gravity. Physicist Ning Li and engineer Eugene Podkletnov have, respectively, shown theoretically, and reported observing experimentally, anomalous gravitic attenuation effects above a superconducting disk spinning in a strong magnetic field such as is produced in a Meissner effect demonstration apparatus. According to Li, rotating ions create a gravitomagnetic field perpendicular to their spin axis. If a large number of ions could be aligned, (in a Bose–Einstein condensate) the resulting effect would be a very strong gravitomagnetic field producing a strong repulsive force. The alignment may be possible by trapping superconductor ions in a lattice structure in a high-temperature superconducting disc. Giovanni Modanese has conducted further experiments on the phenomena seen by Podkletnov, and has reported some additional much stronger, but transient, anomalous gravitational effects.

Additional reading

Other research

• Dominick J. Marrone, "A New Paradigm: CubeSat Electric-Gravtic Propulsion - Orbital Transport Vehicles & Space Platforms". CalPoly CubeSat Workshop 2007 Lecture, 2007.
• "Conquest of Gravity: Aim of Top Scientists in the U.S." N.Y. Herald Tribune, November 20–22, 1955.
• Nicola E Romanski, EGRD / D.I.S.C. Laboratories 1994 to present - Electrogravitational effects of MHD and microwave (dielectric frequency modulated) plasmas in superconducting / superdiamagnetic energy storage flywheels, Advanced Spintronic devices and magneto electronic systems. EGRD Research.
• Yin, Ming, Michael Bleiweiss, and Timir Datta, "Ambient and Tidal Effect in an Electrogravity Experiment". American Physical Society, The 69th Annual Meeting of the Southeastern , abstract #NC.002
• "Electrogravitics Systems". Special Weapons Study Unit of Aviation Studies Ltd., 1956.
• Thomas Valone, Progress in Electrogravitics and Electrokinetics for Aviation and Space Travel. Integrity Research Institute, Washington DC. PACS 89.40.Dd; 41.20.-q; 03.50.De
• Dale Goudie and Jim Klotz, Electrogravitics Systems: An examination of electrostatic motion, dynamic counterbary and barycentric control.
• Theodore C. Loder, III1, "Outside the Box" Space and Terrestrial Transportation and Energy Technologies for the 21st Century.
• DR Buehler, Exploratory Research on the Phenomenon of the Movement of High Voltage Capacitors. Journal of Space Mixing, 2004
• Patrick G. Bailey, "Overview Of Antigravity Technology: Consensus, Conclusions, And Concerns". June 25, 1999.
• Jefimenko, Oleg D., "Causality, electromagnetic induction, and gravitation : a different approach to the theory of electromagnetic and gravitational fields". Star City [West Virginia] : Electret Scientific Co., c1992. ISBN 0-917406-09-5
• Heaviside, Oliver, "A gravitational and electromagnetic analogy". The Electrician, 1893.
• Aviation Studies (International) Ltd. "Electrogravitic Systems: An Examination of Electrostatic Motion, Dynaimc Counterbary and Barycentric Control." Report GRG 013/56 by Aviation Studies, Special Weapons Study Unit, London, February 1956. (Library of Congress No. 3,1401,00034,5879; Call No. TL565.A9).
• Innovative Environmental Technologies. United States Congress. Senate. Committee on Environment and Public Works, 2003. 116 pages.
• Di Mario, D., Electrogravity: a basic link between electricity and gravity. Speculations in Science and Technology, Volume 20, Number 4, 1997, pp. 291–296(6)
• S Bose, N Dadhich, "Electrogravity duality and global monopoles in scalar-tensor gravity". arXiv:hep-th/0001119, 2000.
• IE Bulyzhenkov, How to test vector nature of gravity. arXiv:gr-qc/0001071, 2000.
• IE Bulyzhenkov, Einstein's gravitation for Machian relativism of nonlocal energy-charges. Int. J. Theor. Phys., v47, p. 1261-69, 2008.
• N Dadhich, On Electrogravity Duality. arXiv:gr-qc/9805068, 1998.
• N Dadhich, N Banerjee, Global monopoles and scalar fields as the electrogravity dual of Schwarzschild spacetime. arXiv:hep-th/0012015, 2000.
• BV Ivanov, On the gravitational field induced by static electromagnetic sources. arXiv:gr-qc/0502047, 2005.
• RR Sastry, Unity of Fundamental Interactions. arXiv:hep-ph/0004099, 2000.
• Robert Stirniman, Electrogravitics Reference List. Fri, 1 Mar 1996 15:40:06 -0600 (CST)
• Stuetzer, 0. M. (1959). Ion drag pressure generation. Journal of Applied Physics, 30(7), 984—994.
• W Gunston, Electrogravitics, Air Int, 2000.

Books

• Luke Fortune, UFO How-To [1]", Volume II - Electrogravitics [2] Luke Fortune; 1st edition (2007) 541 pages.
• Thomas Valone, , Electrogravitics Systems: Reports on a New Propulsion Methodology. Integrity Research Institute; 2nd ed edition (November 1995). 102 pages. ISBN 0-9641070-0-7 ISBN 978-0964107007
• Thomas Valone, , Electrogravitics II: Validating Reports on a New Propulsion Methodology. Integrity Research Instititue; 2Rev Ed edition (July 1, 2005). 160 pages. ISBN 0-9641070-9-0 ISBN 978-0964107090
• Jen-shih Chang, Handbook of Electrostatic Processes. CRC Press, 1995. ISBN 0-8247-9254-8
• Nick Cook, The Hunt for Zero Point: Inside the Classified World of Antigravity Technology. Broadway; 1 edition (August 13, 2002). 304 pages ISBN 0-7679-0627-6 ISBN 978-0767906272

Video

• T.T. Brown Electrogravity Vacuum Experiments

Patents

Non-American

• GB300311 - A method of and an apparatus or machine for producing force or motion (accepted 1928-11-15)

American

• U.S. Patent 666,457 - Privacy device apparatus for polystation telephone likes
• U.S. Patent 1,920,080 - Electrogravity lock
• U.S. Patent 1,974,483 - Electrostatic motor (1934-09-25)
• U.S. Patent 2,949,550 - Electrokinetic apparatus (1960-08-16)
• U.S. Patent 3,018,394 - Electrokinetic transducer (1962-01-23)
• U.S. Patent 3,022,430 - Electrokinetic generator (1962-02-20)
• U.S. Patent 4,975,182 - Waterflow differential electrical charging process for ores
• U.S. Patent 6,255,954 - Detection of wear-particles and other impurities in industrial or other fluids

Websites

• Electrogravity.com
• EGRD.NET
  • Spinning Disks Defy Newtons Law
• RS Electrogravitic References: Part 2 of 19
• Electrostatic levitator — Marshall Space Flight Center
• Electrostatic levitation raises dust particles off the surface of the moon
• Hybrid electric/acoustic levitation
• Electrostatic levitation and transportation of glass or silicon plates
• OVAL Eco tech Electrogravity Page Magnetohydrodynamics