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experiment, and constructed a crude device out of a glass column, But Cuthbert is in the Michael Faraday tradition of experimental half a pint of ferrofluid and two lead balls on a piece of string. To scientists, for whom theory must always take second place to his surprise, it appeared to work—but he knew that before experiment. pursuing the idea any further, he had to do some real science; in One day, while playing around with some weights, Cuthbert particular, he needed some hard data on the boundary layer saw something that made him wonder whether there might be a properties of ferrofluids. way around Newton's third law. Three months later, he had a test Cuthbert mentioned it the next time he talked to Ferrofluidics. device. He videoed it working and took the tape to the advanced "IT am only after the principle at the moment," he told MD Mike _ projects division of one of Britain's leading defence companies. Glossop. "All I'm saying is, 'Look at this; this is weird."" "We'll look at it on condition you mention our meeting to Glossop responded by funding a mini research project under the nobody," the company told him. “If it were known that we were aegis of a leading ferrofluids expert. Such people are pretty thin interested in this sort of paranormal stuff, our share price might on the ground, but, as it happened, a German physicist-engineer, plummet." Dr Wolf Fruh, had just taken up a research fellowship at Heriot- What made the company scientists sit up and stare at Cuthbert's Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland; he tape in disbelief was this: they saw a was working on a ferrofluid project for the machine that moved forward in mid-air, and gas and oil industry. yet was powered by neither rocketry nor Thus it was that, early in 1999, Cuthbert any other form of external thrust. The con- found himself driving his 15-year-old traption Cuthbert showed them was so Vauxhall Carlton the 600 miles from Wales crude, it could have come out of the pages to Scotland. Fruh, the university-educated of Rube Goldberg or Heath Robinson. theoretician, and Cuthbert, the self-taught What made the Reluctant to disclose too much before the experimental physicist, were an ideal com- . . . thing is patented, Cuthbert describes it like ination, although Fruh was initially highly company scientists sit up this: "The device can be best described at sceptical. "The second law of thermody- and stare at Cuthbert's this time as a rotary-to-linear conversion namics says perpetual motion machines . . . : effect utilising the angular velocity of mass. can't exist," he told Cuthbert firmly at the tape In disbelief was this: However, the effect generated is not outset. i directly gyroscopic." Cuthbert and Fruh decided to test the they saw a machine At first, the company scientists thought Gravity Engine concept using balls made of that moved forward In that they were seeing a simple "ratcheting" pastor foam on eng of mid-air, and yet was ug ec. nrea rouse ack cated than Cuthbert's own first set-up. powered by neither but friction will prevent it going back- Woke rocketry nor any However, Cuthbert already knew "IT made one rig over the summer other form of about this ratcheting effect and had and tried one of Tony's experiments, eliminated it. and proved that he was correct," said external thrust. To do that, he bolted the device to a Fruh. "We managed to repeat his metal plate and suspended it on an finding that a number of floating balls "air table"—a surface peppered with in the water column will pull another tiny holes through which jets of air ball through the magnetic liquid seal, are pumped. Nevertheless, even on overcoming the resistance it encoun- this totally frictionless surface, the ters when entering the ferrofluid." device still moves forward. And that But he remains sceptical that he has is what has puzzled the defence com- witnessed an embryonic perpetual pany scientists who have seen it, and motion machine. "It's quite an inter- has prompted them to give Cuthbert esting result," says Fruh, "but you cannot conclude that you could limited finance to develop the idea further. "It is probably some do anything useful with it." ind of unknown ratcheting effect," they told Cuthbert, "but if it Naturally, Cuthbert himself is much less pessimistic. "The isn't, we want to know what's going on." Gravity Engine isn't a perpetual motion machine. It's just a device The stakes could be high. The defence contractor sees its to extract energy from Earth's gravity field. In that respect, it's no _ potential as a possible satellite propulsion system, but Cuthbert's different from a water wheel," he says. "The next step is to find mind has already jumped far ahead. "If I am right and inertia can some funding to make a decent experimental rig." e eliminated, perhaps it will be able to travel beyond the speed of light," he says. "I think I already know how to modify inertia in A FASTER-THAN-LIGHT PROPULSION SYSTEM? an electro-mechanical model, but my ultimate goal is a solid-state In the meantime, while waiting for the right sugar-daddy to device." come along, Cuthbert has been working on yet another scientifi- Cuthbert has already designed it. "The technique uses very- cally "impossible" device. This one appears to break another sci- igh-speed switching circuitry, and will probably involve laser or entific canon—Newton's third law, which says that "action and microwave radiation," he explains to gobsmacked potential back- reaction are equal and opposite". The force of a rocket going ers. A university department of engineering is already taking the upwards is equal to the force of the rocket ga going down- concept seriously enough to check the mathematics behind it. tha on ne tha fa dic company scientists sit up and stare at Cuthbert's mid-air, and yet was powered by neither " rocketry nor any other form of A FASTER-THAN-LIGHT PROPULSION SYSTEM? In the meantime, while waiting for the right sugar-daddy to come along, Cuthbert has been working on yet another scientifi- cally "impossible" device. This one appears to break another sci- entific canon—Newton's third law, which says that "action and reaction are equal and opposite". The force of a rocket going upwards is equal to the force of the rocket gases going down- wards, in the same way as the force of a car going forward is equal to the force of the tyres trying to push the road backwards. 58 = NEXUS APRIL — MAY 2000 What made the external thrust. Continued on page 87