Scientists Make Very Small Objects Levitate

[JAE]

Scientists Make Very Small Objects Levitate
Tuesday, August 07, 2007

By Jonathan Richards
The Times

A natural force which causes tiny particles to stick to one another has been reversed by scientists, effectively enabling them to create a type of levitation.

The "Casimir force," which is sometimes referred to as a "sticky quantum" force, makes very small "nanoparticles" attract one another. One example of it is a gecko's ability to stick to any surface with one toe.

A pair of physicists at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland have discovered a way to reverse the force, meaning that they can make small objects repel, rather than attract, one another in a vacuum.

Their findings, which are reported in the August edition of New Journal of Physics, may have applications in "micro-electromechanical systems" — such as those in automobile airbags — where friction can be a problem.

"The Casimir force is the ultimate cause of friction in the nano-world," Professor Ulf Leonhardt, of the university's School of Physics and Astronomy, said. "Tiny mechanical devices which trigger a car airbag to inflate, or which power tiny 'lab on chip' devices used for drugs testing or chemical analysis could run smoother and with less or no friction at all, if one can manipulate the force."

Professor Leonhardt, who published the research with a colleague, Dr. Thomas Philbin, added: "Instead of sticking together, part of the micro-machinery would levitate."

The technique would apply only to micro-objects, and for the time being there is no way to levitate human beings, Professor Leonhardt said. "For now, human levitation remains the subject of cartoons, fairytales and tales of the paranormal."

For us structural engineers - here comes anti-gravity paint to put us all out of business.

 

[Pressed]

Those mythbuster guys did one where they applied a charge to a small triangle and the ionization caused lift. When they placed it in a vacuum, nothing happened.

Maybe they need to talk to Criss Angel.

[URL unfurl="true"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlIwcVAxZsU[/URL]

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Business Site

http://mech.e.tripod.com

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Cycle Utopia.......

http://www.tailofthedragon.com

 

[WGJ]

Cavorite, at last !

Bill

 

[0707]

As a nano machine maybe it works…At least on the animated graphics

luismarques

 

[aspearin1]

They call it levitation, but it's really 3D repulsion? By the same principles, would we levitate a human, or disperse them, particle by particle?

Aaron A. Spearin
ASQ CSSBB
Engineering Six-S'$

http://www.Engineering6ss.com

"The only constant in life is change." -Bruce Lee

 

[ewh]

I saw something on Modern Marvels on the tube the other day. The largest electro-magnet in the world is supposedly located in Tallahassee, FL. They showed a frog being levitated inside of a magnetic field.

 

[0707]

Maglevs

The electromagnetic force is used to counteract the effects of the gravitational force

.

Luismarques

 

[prohammy]

I have resisted this one for a day or two so far, but generally I find that if a scientist has found something small that he can levitate, then the normal results are the standard blindness and hair on the back of his hands......

Sorry (Kev, the engineer)

Kevin

“It is a mathematical fact that fifty percent of all doctors graduate in the bottom half of their class." ~Author Unknown

"If two wrongs don't make a right, try three." ~Author Unknown

 

[rhodie]

Somewhere, 'Cold Fusion' is smiling...

 

[Comcokid]

Another source for the article JAE originally posted can be found at:

http://www.newscientist.com/channel/fundamentals/dn12429-three-ways-to-levitate-a-magic-carpet.html

This article briefly mentions in the introduction other levitating means by magnetic fields and the example of levitating a frog in a magnetic field.

Other odd anti-gravity effects are under current investigation by some serious physicists (while being dismissed by other physicists at the same time). The most interesting one is an effect notices while testing the gyroscopes on Gravity Probe B spacecraft:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/gpb/index.html

The gyroscopes in this probe contain quartz spheres that are the most spherical objects ever made by man. In early lab testing of the super accurate, super cooled, super conducting, gyroscopes used by the probe a repulsive effect was noticed on monitoring instruments. Several physicists have continued to study the effect in repeated experiments.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/03/060325232140.htm

and

http://www.newscientist.com/channel/fundamentals/mg19225771.800-gravitys-secret.html

Of course, the topic is more suitable for a forum such as Where is Physics Going In The Next 5 Years but as engineers, we may have to deal with it in about 20 years as we try to fix the grandkids Mattel HoverBoard (as found in Back to the Future parts 2 and 3):

http://www.ketzer.com/Hoverboard.html

 

[jmw]

Hey, I have in my possession a Levitron, bought for me by a well intentioned relative.
It has a top which when you spin it, levitates and remains floating for many minutes.
Of course, it plays merry hell with floppy disks, TVs (or any CRT) and no matter how man times I tell her not to, my wife, when tidying up, will still keep stacking all these non-compatible items together, so the Levitron is now consigned to the back of a cupboard away from anything susceptible to magnets.
But, the main point is that it is a "toy" which is about as practical an application as you can find for some of these things.

JMW

http://www.ViscoAnalyser.com

 

[SomptingGuy]

So long as these "toys" don't appear to create energy, who cares how they work? Who cares what sub-atomic particles they exchange to provide their positive or negative forces between atoms?

 

[sreid]

Don't dismiss the Levitron too quickly. It demonstarted that passive magnetic bearings are possible.

 

[jmw]

Well its a fact.
At least, according to the Daily Telegraph today:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/mai.../08/06/nlevitate106.xml&CMP=ILC-mostviewedbox

This article also claims scientists can make a cloak of invisibility..... so there really is a Klingon Cloaking device where the light flows around the object like water round a rock?
Incidentally, the picture looks suspiciously like that of a a Levitron.
On the same page, a link to a publication telling us how we can all levitate like David Blaine.... I don't think I'll be parting with any money.

JMW

http://www.ViscoAnalyser.com

 

[msquared48]

You think these same scientists could work on the Federal Budget to make it less burdensome? Gravity must be linked to the budget in some way...

Mike McCann
McCann Engineering

 

[PSE]

jmw,

Yes there is some research out there with the advent of negative refractive index materials (metamaterials) leading to potential cloaking devices. I have seen some papers published by the Optical Society of America and articles in the American Institute of Physics publications. So far, it appears theoretically possible at a single wavelength or frequency. Making the materials omnidimensional seems to be a challenge as well. Still fun to consider the possibilites . No longer the realm of science fiction.

Regards,

 

[jmw]

A bit like finding a 3D holgram or polychromatic hologram (or did they do that yet?)

JMW

http://www.ViscoAnalyser.com

 

[PSE]

Yes, both of those exist. I did some of that back in my college days (both amplitude and phase modulating holograms). Somewhere I might actually still have one or two of the plates I created. Here are a couple of companies involved in the development of displays. There are considerably more companies involved as 3D video or interactive displays are the end goal.

http://www.3dmirage.com/content/production_holographic.asp

http://www.poc.com/emerging_products/3d_display/default.asp

Regards,