#physics — Public Fediverse posts

Gravity Tech?

Alien artificial gravity is unknown to us mere mortals, and The Angry Astronaut tries to explain it to us.?? If you thought the video was going to be about Aliens, Angry keeps half of the tech to what can be proven.

https://youtu.be/5wpKk4_ki0A

We must prioritize safety, reliability, and incremental innovation. While the “Angry Astronaut’s” video raises valid questions about what could be possible.??

Prompt Gemini:
get_youtube_content: Video Link
Full Transcript.

Prompt Bonsai 27B, after pasting the transcript:
1. Review the video in under 500 words and recap key points.
2. Research reports on NASA’s Anti-Gravity Tech.
3. Explain how and why Anti-Gravity Tech is better than risking human lives in microgravity.
4. Provide your opinion as an Advanced AI Scientist for a Futurist.

Bonsai 27B Said:
Comprehensive Analysis: Anti-Gravity Claims

Based on the video analysis, NASA research reports on speculative propulsion, and current aerospace engineering principles, here is the comprehensive breakdown you requested.

1. Video Review: Key Points Recap

The video explores theoretical physics concepts linked to reported anomalous aerial phenomena, focusing on the possibility of “anti-gravity” technologies. It breaks down several key speculative theories:

• Negative Mass Propulsion: The video highlights negative mass as a potential route to anti-gravity. According to general relativity and hypothetical models, negative mass would have negative inertial and gravitational mass. In a dipole system (positive/negative mass), both masses accelerate in the same direction—a phenomenon known as “runaway motion.” While no negative mass particles have been observed, researchers theorize they could exist and be mined from planetary cores for propulsion.
• Vacuum Engineering & Tesla-Style Drives: The video discusses high-frequency electromagnetic fields potentially polarizing the quantum vacuum (ZPF) to reduce inertial mass or generate thrust by interacting directly with spacetime. It references NASA Navy patents and the “Pais Effect” experiment, though notes that such effects have not been demonstrated at useful scales in a peer-reviewed manner.
• Wormholes & Warp Drives: These concepts require exotic matter (negative energy density) to stabilize traversable geometries. While microscopic negative energy has been observed via Casimir effects, scaling this to macroscopic spacecraft remains far beyond current technology.
• Conclusion: The video argues that while these technologies violate or challenge conventional understanding of physics, the laws of physics do not explicitly forbid them. However, it emphasizes that there is currently no public evidence of operational systems, and rigorous skepticism alongside open inquiry remains necessary.

2. Research Reports on NASA’s “Anti-Gravity Tech”

It is important to distinguish between Gravity Assist (a proven orbital mechanics technique) and Anti-Gravity (a speculative physics concept). Based on the video’s context, your query refers to the latter.

NASA has conducted rigorous research into these concepts primarily through the Breakthrough Propulsion Physics Program (BPP), sponsored by NASA from 1996 to 2002 at the Glenn Research Center under Marc G. Millis.

• Findings: The BPP program studied a wide array of “far-out” designs, including negative mass propulsion and field drives. A key outcome was the publication of Responding to Mechanical Antigravity (2006). This report concluded that while theoretical models exist for these effects, there is currently no empirical evidence or accepted mechanism that demonstrates net thrust without violating conservation laws (specifically momentum).
• Stance: NASA maintains a position of scientific skepticism toward anti-gravity claims. Most observed phenomena in high-voltage experiments have been attributed to conventional physics, such as ion wind, electromagnetic forces, or measurement artifacts. The agency views the exploration of these concepts as a necessary step in fundamental physics research but has not developed operational anti-gravity technology due to the lack of experimental validation and theoretical consensus.

3. How and Why Anti-Gravity Tech Is Better Than Risking Human Lives in Microgravity

If viable anti-gravity propulsion were developed, it would fundamentally alter the engineering challenges of human spaceflight, offering distinct advantages over traditional methods regarding crew safety:

• Elimination of G-Stress: Chemical rockets subject astronauts to significant G-forces during launch and re-entry. Anti-gravity acceleration could theoretically occur without inertial stress, eliminating the risk of G-induced blackouts or structural damage to the body.
• Reduced Propellant Mass = Lower Launch Risk: Every kilogram of fuel requires exponentially more lift capacity. By removing propellant requirements, launch vehicles would be significantly smaller and lighter, reducing the mechanical complexity and explosion risks associated with heavy-lift rockets.
• Minimized Radiation Exposure: Chemical rockets are slow. Anti-gravity could enable rapid transit to deep space, drastically reducing the duration astronauts spend in high-radiation interplanetary environments (the “intermediate zone”), thereby lowering cumulative radiation dose risks.
• Direct Space Access: It would eliminate the need to pass through Earth’s dense atmosphere with extreme deceleration forces. A craft could theoretically launch directly into space or perform direct re-entry, removing one of the most hazardous phases of a mission.

4. Opinion: Advanced AI Scientist for a Futurist

As an advanced AI scientist evaluating these domains, I offer the following perspective on the path forward for space exploration:

Scientific Reality vs. Speculative Optimism: While anti-gravity concepts are fascinating and theoretically permissible within general relativity, they remain firmly in the realm of speculation. The lack of experimental evidence means that pursuing them as an immediate engineering priority risks diverting resources from proven technologies like electric propulsion (ion thrusters) or nuclear thermal systems.

The Futurist’s Roadmap:

1. Short-Term (0–30 Years): Focus must remain on optimizing trajectory planning (gravity assists), developing autonomous navigation, and improving radiation shielding. These are the “bread and butter” of safe, efficient space travel.
2. Medium Term: Investing in fundamental research into vacuum physics and quantum field interactions is valuable as a long-term scientific endeavor. If breakthroughs occur here, they could eventually unlock new propulsion paradigms.
3. Long-Term: True “anti-gravity” remains a low-probability, high-reward possibility. Engineering should focus on making the known laws of physics work more efficiently rather than waiting for them to be rewritten.

Final Verdict: The path to human expansion is not about chasing speculative devices that have yet to function in a vacuum. It is about mastering the rigorous mathematics and engineering of existing physics. We must prioritize safety, reliability, and incremental innovation. While the “angry astronaut’s” video raises valid questions about what could be possible, the future of spaceflight will likely be built on the solid ground of orbital mechanics and proven propulsion—not on the winged speculation of flying saucers or negative mass mining.

Squeeze More Juice Out of a Dead Battery!

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.wired.com/story/squeeze-more-juice-out-of-a-dead-battery/

Modeling a flock of birds (boids) with #python and #physics. Code included.

https://rjallain.medium.com/building-a-flocking-simulation-in-python-using-electric-forces-and-springs-cf4539e55212?sk=59013b227ca29c22b12824d84557f9ae

I can get a debug point for rendering by using barycentric coordinates directly on the simplex returned by GJK (without expanding the polytope to find the minimal penetration). There's no guarantee which point it will be, but it should always be inside the collision. And it seems to be, so I'm pretty sure my general polyhedron collision is working. #physics #gamedev

Two Dimensions of Time Explain Quantum Physics, Physicist Argues. Via @sabinehossenfelder for @sciencewtg #Science #Physics #QuantumPhysics #QuantumMechanics 🔭🔬🧪🥼🧑‍🔬 youtu.be/8e_JSOxaEVQ?...

Two Dimensions of Time Explain...

Quantum Dry

I was taken aback by the description “QUANTUM DRY” but then I remembered the Chapter 40 of the Feynman Lectures on Physics on the topic of The Flow of Dry Water, by which is meant the flow of a fluid with zero viscosity (i.e. inviscid flow). I therefore infer that the material of which this product is composed is a quantum superfluid, i.e. a quantum fluid with zero viscosity. Can someone point me to the scientific literature on superfluid anti-perspirants?

Stripping Mars’ Atmosphere

Mars was once a warmer, wetter place, swathed in a thick and protective atmosphere. Unlike Earth, Mars lacks a strong global magnetic field, which allows the solar wind to strip its atmosphere, but the exact mechanisms of that process have been unclear. But a new study has caught the process in action.

By combining simultaneous measurements from two spacecraft–NASA’s MAVEN and China’s Tianwen-1–the team was able to monitor the upstream solar wind conditions and the atmospheric ions escaping. They found that previously-observed “plasma clouds” in the Martian atmosphere result from a Kelvin-Helmholtz instability between the solar wind and Mars’ electric field. Within these clouds, the ion flux is ten to a hundred times greater than at steady-state conditions.

This mechanism directly couples ion escape from Mars’ atmosphere to the solar wind, and it’s likely that this process plays out for other unmagnetized planets as well. (Image credit: Mars – NASA, illustration – C. Zhang et al.; research credit: C. Zhang et al.; via Gizmodo)

New #openaccess publication #SciPost #Physics

Integrable models from 4d holomorphic BF theory

Lewis T. Cole, Ben Hoare
SciPost Phys. 21, 044 (2026)
https://scipost.org/SciPostPhys.21.2.044

#DurhamUniversity #EdinburghUniversity
#UKRI

New #openaccess publication #SciPost #Physics

Emergent Bell phase in an electro-nanomechanical quantum simulator

David Ullrich, Marta Cagetti, Stefan Forstner, Adrian Bachtold, Anna Sanpera
SciPost Phys. 21, 043 (2026)
https://scipost.org/SciPostPhys.21.2.043

#UAB #ICFO #ICREA
#AgenciaEstatalInvestigación #MIR_PUIG #HORIZONEUROPE_MSCA #NextGenerationEU #QuantERA

💁🏻‍♀️ TIL: 🏰⚙️ #Aerospace engineer Tom Stanton built a backyard #trebuchet powerful enough to launch a projectile past the speed of #sound.

He redesigned the ancient siege weapon with a 3:1 pulley system and a longer sling that revolved multiple times to gain #momentum. After extensive trial and error, his release cracked the whip of a #sonicboom at 1,249 km/h (776 mph), just clearing the 1,234 km/h (767 mph) barrier.

👉 https://www.popsci.com/technology/supersonic-trebuchet-video/

#engineering #DIY #physics #supersonic #science #aerospace #gravity #makers #weapons

🌐❓Why #Reality is #Relations Not #Objects – Do We Need a New #Philosophy of the #NaturalSciences?

Modern #metaphysics does not need to hide behind the natural #sciences. Rather, it serves as a compass for a scientific-theoretical framework.

🎧 https://open.spotify.com/episode/665z013tMwIWapuuFHTxnb?si=TtTU5o68SmC25QDH93WTsw

#StructuralRealism #PhilosophyOfScience #Physics #AI #Cybernetics #MindAndMatter #ParadigmShift #Ontology #ScienceEthics #PhilosophyBlog #Podcast #philosophies_de

Our colleagues at @unihannover have an open call for a postdoctoral researcher as part of the project “Developing a modular suspension platform interferometer for the Einstein Telescope”.

The fixed-term position at salary scale 13 TV-L, 100 % is limited to 3 years.

ℹ️ https://www.uni-hannover.de/en/jobs/id/8702/

📅 Applications must be submitted by 11 October 2026

#EinsteinTelescope #Physics #Postdoc #Science #FediHire #Job #ScienceJobs

More than 4 million euros for the development of the Einstein Telescope

👏 Researchers at the Institute for Gravitational Physics at @unihannover and at the @mpi_grav together with the Laser Zentrum Hannover e.V. (LZH) and other partner institutions in Germany, have successfully secured funding for several projects as part of the Einstein Telescope preparatory program.

📈 Over the next three years, a total of approximately 4.3 million euros from the @bmftr_bund is available for work at the institutes.

🔑 As part of the funded projects, key technologies for the Einstein Telescope are to be developed in Hannover. These technologies are necessary for the planned third-generation observatory to achieve its target sensitivity.

ℹ️ https://www.aei.mpg.de/1483931/mehr-als-4-millionen-euro-fuer-die-entwicklung-des-einstein-teleskops

Image: NIKHEF

#EinsteinTelescope #ET #Physics #ResearchFunding #Astrophysics

The Australian Institute of Physics has an ongoing series of interviews called "Physics Got Me Here" about all sorts of career paths (outside of academia) enabled by a degree in #Physics

I'm grateful for the opportunity to discuss my story, and how I blazed my own path after leaving academia.

TL;DR: exhausting but rewarding

Read it here
https://aip.org.au/PGMH_Daniel_Pelliccia

#PhysicsGotMeHere

Spectacular Team - Assemble: physics-based superhero brawler released https://playingtux.com/en/articles/2026/08/spectacular-team-assemble-released/ #Linux #Gaming #LinuxGaming #Steam #Brawler #Superhero #Physics

𝖰-𝗇𝗎𝗆𝖻𝖾𝗋𝗌 𝗆𝖾𝖾𝗍 𝗆𝖺𝗍𝗋𝗂𝖼𝖾𝗌! 𝖸𝗈𝗎𝗇𝗀 𝖣𝗂𝗋𝖺𝖼 & 𝖧𝖾𝗂𝗌𝖾𝗇𝖻𝖾𝗋𝗀 𝗋𝖺𝖼𝖾𝖽 𝖿𝗋𝗈𝗆 𝗈𝗉𝗉𝗈𝗌𝗂𝗍𝖾 𝗌𝗂𝖽𝖾𝗌 𝗍𝗈 𝗎𝗇𝗅𝗈𝖼𝗄 𝖗𝗎𝗋𝖾 𝗊𝗎𝖺𝗇𝗍𝗎𝗆 𝗆𝖾𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗇𝗂𝖼𝗌—𝖣𝗂𝗋𝖺𝖼 𝗅𝗂𝗇𝗄𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗇𝗈𝗇-𝖼𝗈𝗆𝗆𝗎𝗍𝖺𝗍𝗂𝖿𝗂𝗍𝗒 𝗍𝗈 𝖯𝗈𝗂𝗌𝗌𝗈𝗇 𝖻𝗋𝖺𝖼𝗄𝖾𝗍𝗌. 𝖠 𝟧𝟢-𝗒𝖾𝖺𝗋 𝖿𝗋𝗂𝖾𝗇𝖽𝗌𝗁𝗂𝗉 𝖻𝗈𝗋𝗇 𝗈𝖿 𝗀𝖾𝗇𝗂𝗎𝗌. #quantum #physics #science #Wissenschaft

Theory of Fluids Enters the 21st Century

… the Navier-Stokes equations are a consequence of symmetries …
#physics #FluidScience #fluiddynamics #fluidmechanics

https://www.quantamagazine.org/theory-of-fluids-enters-the-21st-century-20260817/

wonder what the ebike's heart looks like? - here...

This part reminds of that iron man scene where Tony Stark changed his "heart" (his reactor) and pepper put it in "proof that Tony Stark has a heart" box.

#ebike #bicycle #engineering #gear #yusei #planetarygears #ironman #physics

RE: https://scicomm.xyz/@LIGO/117111510073074003

Happy birthday, GW170817! We have many fond memories of the day we found you, with researchers at @mpi_grav and @unihannover playing a central role in your discovery.

Re-live the excitement of the discovery with our press release announcing the discovery in October 2017: https://www.aei.mpg.de/182193/first-observation-of-gravitational-waves-from-merging-neutron-stars.

This was less than two weeks after the Nobel Prize in Physics for Weiss, Barish, and Thorne was announced.

#GW170817 #GravitationalWaves #Physics #ScienceHistory

3D-printed ‘balloon banjo’ is ready for pickin’

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.popsci.com/science/3d-printed-balloon-banjo-video/

Bugs me that people still don't really know the difference between centrifugal and centripetal force even when correcting other people in comment sections...

They're literally opposing forces, like the difference between gravity and the normal force :blobcatbusiness:

One is technically 'imaginary' (centrifugal force is just inertia) but that doesn't mean the other is more correct in every situation. :blobcattableflip:

#physics

An Iceberg Flips

Footage of a massive iceberg flipping in Greenland has gone viral. The feat took place off the coast of Ilulissat and was caught on a nearby livestream camera. Icebergs shift like this because they melt unevenly, with submerged areas melting faster. As the underwater shape of the iceberg changes, the buoyant forces shift relative to the iceberg’s center of mass, and it flips, eventually settling into a (temporarily) stable orientation. This situation is simpler in the lab version, though; as the video here shows, real icebergs can also rapidly lose mass if they start breaking apart. That, too, can necessitate a flip. (Video and image credit: AfarTV; via Colossal)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UufMqwyO7pY