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On 10/18/2011 10:39 PM, Saul Luizaga wrote:
> In the History Channel 'UFO Files' at the end of one of the episodes a
> young man levitates a triangle induced with 50,000 volts, he said at the
> moment science can't explain it yet.
If the levitating triangle was this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ionocraft then the guy was delusional or
flat out lying when he said that science can't explain it. The upshot
is that the voltage induces a slight air current through the triangle,
and since the triangle is very lightweight this is sufficient to lift
it. I believe it's not currently practical for "real-life" use because
the voltage source would weigh significantly more than the lift it
generates (which is why the demos you see are powered by an external
voltage source).
As an aside, I believe the Mythbusters covered the ionocraft in an
episode on levitation techniques. If I remember correctly the craft
worked, but took a large voltage supply to operate and, as you would
expect, didn't operate in a vacuum.
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