Interesting website involving exotic energy sources

[Occulus]

here's a clip from http://www.altenergy.org/home/homeframeset.html :

"The search to tap electromagnetism has been going on for decades, and researchers have approached it both theoretically and in actual experimental application. Electrogravitics is described as a synthesis of electrostatic energy and gravitics, which sets up a local gravitational force independent of the Earth's. The essence of electrogravitic thrust is the use of a very strong positive charge on one side of a vehicle and a negative on the other, producing a driving force from a region of high-flux density to low-flux density. Scientists first began considering this propulsion concept in the 1920s, but the field literally took off after World War II when American physicist Thomas Townsend Brown constructed a prototype aircraft propelled by electrogravitic force. Brown designed and built a flying aircraft whose thrust was derived by an electrogravitic charge combination, a feat he repeated many times with demonstrations witnessed by scientists and the military."

Has anyone else ever heard of "American physicist Thomas Townsend Brown"?

(I found this site while searching for exotic new energy sources- things on the bleeding edge of physics research. This is from one of the pages I found.)

edit: I discover from the same page that the above excerpt is from a book... sold on the site. Imagine that.

[Birthmark]

1. <cough, cough>

Bullshit.

[Occulus]

2. I'll agree for now

I've never, ever heard of this form of propulsion... if it worked, we'd be using it by now, especially if it's been considered for "decades".

On the other hand, there are some very legit physics theories that really are worth a second look (so-called "zero point energy" is one I can think of right now) that this site also discusses.

So why have I never heard of what they're talking about?

[Birthmark]

5. If this crap worked...

...it would be everywhere by now. The Nobel Prize and lasting fame could hardly be passed up by any scientist. Instead, we'll hear about how the government has kept a fundamental breakthrough in physics quiet, maybe some strange deaths, and other assorted and unsubstantiated claims. You know what they say, "Publish or get derided by Birthmark." :)

[CJCRANE]

3. It may be but

I have read mainstream news articles about the British and US military researching antigravity, so there's probably more to this field than meets the eye.

[Occulus]

4. antigravity seems possible using these ideas

it would seem the door would swing both ways, as it were.

You know all those reports of things in the sky in the western US and elsewhere that appear to move really fast, stop on a dime, and shoot off in a different direction? The ones that do things in the air that are seemingly impossible with known aircraft and are thusly dismissed as crackpot sightings?

If you know anything at all about the research that's been going on, you could easily come to the conclusion that a breakthrough has been made and it's being kept quiet for whatever reason. However, that behavior of the strange things in the sky could be explained by an application of exotic energy devices.

If you still think I'm nuts (not that you do, but whomever reads this) consider this: we absorb science fiction like a sponge today. we want computer screens that hover in midair, cars that float, and so on. There are realms of theoretical physics that are really very exciting when it comes to exotix forms of energy and propulsion. They're being researched, and publically at that.

Maybe we, the US, have made a major breakthrough that will make the need for oil irrelevant, as we have this new form of energy- unlimited, clean, and free- we can use instead. Hell yes we should keep it quiet until it's perfected!

I wonder, I really do. Maybe those "crackpots" out west really are seeing strange things in the sky after all.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

6. here's an article about new, more efficient photoelectric cells

They are made with a patented new material that is 70% to 80% efficient in transforming sunlight into usable energy. Current cells are only about 10% to 15% effective. Is it strange that the Exxon corporation offered to buy this guy's patent? Aren't they involved in the oil business?

http://www.luminet.net/~wenonah/new/nsolcel.htm