[Geezer (OP)]

Many thanks everyone (excluding Yoron) for the many helpful suggestions. I must confess that I am still the teeniest bit confused about what a person might actually do with a gravity transformer if, for example, one was to fall out of a packet of corn flakes of a morning.

Would I be correct in assuming that I could use it to multiply the effect of gravity by some factor? If so, presumably I could multiply gravity by 0.00001 or other values, which might be quite entertaining.

However, I'm concerned that transformers (at least the ones that I'm familiar with) only seem to work on alternating current. Would this mean that a gravity transformer would only operate on alternating gravity? If so, I imagine that might present a few problems.

[CliffordK]

Obviously the ability to control gravity would have significant repercussions everywhere, especially with space travel, but also in building and construction, and other fields.

We could levitate objects, and create things like the Star Wars speeders (although we can make hovercraft now).  It would certainly aid in the launching and landing of space ships.

We could create artificial gravity fields independent of acceleration and rotation of space craft. 

Once I tried to calculate what speed we could accelerate a space ship around a circular accelerator, say the size of Jupiter, and limited the acceleration one would expose the human body to about 100G's, both in centrifugal/centripetal acceleration as well as forward acceleration.  The results were disappointing both in time required for the acceleration as well as the total speed if the goal was to get to a high fraction of the speed of light.  Artificial ways to counteract gravity would potentially expand these limits.

And, if gravity links the universe in ways we don't currently comprehend, then it may be the key to generating some kind of warped space travel.

I suppose the question would be what the cost of such an antigravity device would be.  If it was extremely large, cumbersome, and energy intensive, then it would only be useful in the most extreme of conditions.

[LeeFord]

However, I'm concerned that transformers (at least the ones that I'm familiar with) only seem to work on alternating current. Would this mean that a gravity transformer would only operate on alternating gravity? If so, I imagine that might present a few problems.

Alternating gravity does sound tough but alternating mass flow - say a compressed (non-flammable) gas in a doughnut shaped pressure vessel, adorned internally with a series of electro-active baffles (Beifeld-Brown capacitors) along the inner walls and a rotating magnetic field going "round the outside!"- sounds almost doable, even on a budget.  It's also starting to sound a bit dangery.

As for usage, while I love flying saucers, ray guns and boobs as much as the next nerd, I wouldn't want to see that much energy wasted to accomplish what could - in most cases - just as easily be done with solar powered dirigibles.  I think the most believable application might be as a sensor.  We might be able to build a small, stable transformer that would allow us to detect gravitational anomalies (as we fly over the land and sea in a solar powered dirigible). The same way we use a metal detector to find coins on the beach gravity transformers might allow us to identify various geological formations underground and greatly reduce both the economic and environmental cost of resource mining.

Ooh hey look I mentioned environmental cost reduction; I think that makes us eligible for a government grant!  Who's in?

[Geezer (OP)]

We might be able to build a small, stable transformer that would allow us to detect gravitational anomalies (as we fly over the land and sea in a solar powered dirigible).

Eweeooo! That sounds interesting. Send me the blueprints and I'll patent it. I'll patent it for you.

[CliffordK]

Don't we already have gravitational field sensors?

The simplest gravity sensor I can think of is just hanging a weight on a spring, or comparing the wight on a spring to a mass/mass balance.

The problem with loading it on blimp is that gravity and air density will affect how the blimp flies.

There are already good maps of Earth's gravitational field.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity_of_Earth



It isn't too surprising that you can pick out the Andes, the Amazon, and the Rockies.

Heck if I know how these maps are being made, but they are done with satellites.

[yor_on]

Lovely, It's me waving over there
See me?
==

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