Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 (Tek) 9/26/83; site tektronix.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!floyd!vax135!cornell!uw-beaver!tektronix!robertcr From: robertcr@tektronix.UUCP (Robert Cram ) Newsgroups: net.physics Subject: Dean Drive Possible? Message-ID: <1932@tektronix.UUCP> Date: Fri, 16-Mar-84 04:49:59 EST Article-I.D.: tektroni.1932 Posted: Fri Mar 16 04:49:59 1984 Date-Received: Sat, 17-Mar-84 03:53:24 EST Organization: Tektronix, Beaverton OR Lines: 11 I was just reading an article about the Dean Drive. The supposed space drive that defies conservation laws. The article (Analog 6/76) suggest that Newton's 2nd Law has an additional term in it for the third derivative. According to the article, there is a "critical action time" during which a system is non-Newtonian and "cannot accept energy". By playing around with this, one can supposedly levitate without using reaction mass. This seems far fetched to me, but is there sound theoretical or experimental work that flatly says that there can be no non-zero coefficent of the third derivative? Is there an upper limit on its value?