![Force on an Asymmetric Capacitor
Thomas B. Bahder and Chris Fazi
Army Research Laboratory - 2800 Powder Mill Rd - Adelphi, MD 20783
bahder@arl.army.mil
When a high voltage (~30 kV) is applied to a capacitor whose electrodes
have different physical dimensions, the capacitor experiences a net force
toward the smaller electrode (Biefeld-Brown effect). We have verified this
effect by building four capacitors of different shapes. The effect may have
applications to vehicle propulsion and dielectric pumps. We review the history
of this effect briefly through the history of patents by Thomas Townsend
Brown. At present, the physical basis for the Biefeld-Brown effect is not
understood. The order of magnitude of the net force on the asymmetric
capacitor is estimated assuming two different mechanisms of charge conduction
between its electrodes: ballistic ionic wind and ionic drift. The calculations
indicate that ionic wind is at least three orders of magnitude too small to
explain the magnitude of the observed force on the capacitor. The ionic drift
transport assumption leads to the correct order of magnitude for the force,
however, it is difficult to see how ionic drift enters into the theory. Finally, we
present a detailed thermodynamic treatment of the net force on an asymmetric
capacitor. In the future, to understand this effect, a detailed theoretical model
must be constructed that takes into account plasma effects: ionization of gas (or
air) in the high electric field region, charge transport, and resulting dynamic
forces on the electrodes. The next series of experiments should determine
whether the effect occurs in vacuum, and a careful study should be carried out
to determine the dependence of the observed force on gas pressure, gas species
and applied voltage.
1. Introduction
Recently, there is a great deal of interest in the Biefeld-Brown
effect: when a high voltage (30 kV) is applied to the electrodes of an
asymmetric capacitor, a net force is observed on the capacitor. By
asymmetric, we mean that the physical dimensions of the two electrodes
are different, i.e., one electrode is large and the other small. According
to the classical Biefeld-Brown effect (see Brown's original 1960, 1962,
and 1965 patents cited in Appendix A, and a partial reproduction
below), the largest force on the capacitor is in a direction from the
negative (larger) electrode toward the positive (smaller) electrode.
Today, there are numerous demonstrations of this effect on the Internet
in devices called "lifters", which show that the force on the capacitor
exceeds its weight [1]. In fact, these experiments indicate that there is a
force on the capacitor independent of polarity of applied voltage. In the
future, the Biefeld-Brown effect may have application to aircraft or
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![vehicle propulsion, with no moving parts. At the present time, there is
no detailed theory to explain this effect, and hence the potential of this
effect for applications is unknown. In Section 2 below, we describe the
history of the Biefeld-Brown effect. The effect of a net force on an
asymmetric capacitor is so surprising, that we carried out preliminary
simple experiments at the Army Research Laboratory to verify that the
effect is real. The results of these experiments are described in Section
3. Section 4 contains estimates of the force on the capacitor for the case
of ballistic ionic wind and drift of carriers across the capacitor's gap
between electrodes. In Section 5, we present a detailed thermodynamic
treatment of the force on an asymmetric capacitor, assuming that a non-
linear dielectric fluid fills the region between capacitor electrodes.
Section 6 is a summary and recommendation for future experimental
and theoretical work.
2. Biefeld-Brown Effect
During the 1920's, Thomas Townsend Brown was experimenting
with an X-ray tube known as a "Coolidge tube", which was invented in
1913 by the American physical chemist William D. Coolidge [1].
Brown found that the Coolidge tube exhibited a net force (a thrust)
when it was turned on. He believed that he had discovered a new
principle of electromagnetism and gravity. Brown applied for a British
patent on April 15, 1927, which was issued on November 15, 1928 as
Patent No. 300,311, entitled, "Method of Producing Force or Motion."
The patent and its figures clearly describe Brown's early work on forces
on asymmetric capacitors, although the electromagnetic concepts are
mixed with gravitational concepts.37
The discovery of the Biefeld-Brown effect is generally credited to
Thomas Townsend Brown. However, it is also named in honor of
Brown's mentor, Dr. Paul Alfred Biefeld, a professor of physics and
astronomy at Denison University in Granville, Ohio, where Brown was
a lab assistant in electronics in the Department of Physics. During the
1920's, Biefeld and Brown together experimented on capacitors.
In order to find a technical description of the Biefeld-Brown effect,
we performed a search of the standard article literature, and found no
references to this effect. It is prudent to ask whether this effect is real or
rumor. On the other hand, the Internet is full of discussions and
37
It states, "This invention relates to a method of controlling gravitation and
for deriving power therefrom, and to a method for producing linear force or
motion. The method is fundamentally electrical." The complete patent is in the
first volume of this series. -Ed note
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![references to this effect, including citations of patents issued [1] (see
also Appendix A). In fact, patents seem to be the only official
publications that describe this effect.
On July 3,1957, Brown filed another patent entitled "Electrokinetic
Apparatus", and was issued a US Patent No. 2,949,550 on August 16,
1960. The effect in this patent is described more lucidly than his
previous patent No. 300,311, of November 15, 2928. In this 1960
patent, entitled "Electrokinetic Apparatus," Brown makes no reference
to gravitational effects:
Fig. 1 Excerpt from
Thomas Townsend
Brown US Patent No.
2,949,550 entitled
"Electrokinetic
Apparatus", issued on
August 16, 1960.
The claims, as well as the drawings in this patent clearly show that
Brown had conceived that the force developed on an asymmetrical
capacitor could be used for vehicle propulsion. His drawings in this
patent are strikingly similar to some of the capacitors designs on the
Internet today. In this 1960 patent, entitled "Electrokinetic Apparatus,"
Brown gives the clearest explanation of the physics of the Biefeld-
Brown effect. Brown makes several important statements, including:
• the greatest force on the capacitor is created when the small
electrode is positive
• the effect occurs in a dielectric medium (air)
• the effect can be used for vehicle propulsion, or as a pump of
dielectric fluid
• Brown's understanding of the effect, in terms of ionic motion
the detailed physics of the effect is not understood
Next, we reproduce Brown's first two figures and partial text explaining
the effect:
30](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/20905-250412192419-86b18cec/85/Electrogravitics-II-Validating-reports-on-a-new-propulsion-methodology-3rd-ed-Edition-Valone-32-320.jpg)
![In the above patent, Brown reports that the asymmetric capacitor
does show a net force, even in vacuum. However, a present, there is
little experimental evidence, except for two reports [2], which do not
explain the origin of the observed force. If the Biefeld-Brown effect is
to be understood on a firm basis, it is imperative to determine whether
the effect occurs in vacuum. Enclosed in Appendix B, is my email
correspondence with J. Naudin, where Naudin quotes from a letter by
Thomas Townsend Brown, who discusses the effect in vacuum. The
main question to be answered is: what is the physical mechanism that is
responsible for the net force on an asymmetric capacitor? The answer to
this question may depend on whether the asymmetric capacitor is in a
polarizable medium, in air, or in vacuum. However, to date the physical
mechanism is unknown, and until it is understood, it will be impossible
to determine its potential for practical applications.
3. Preliminary Experiments at Army Research Laboratory
The Biefeld-Brown effect is reported many places on the Internet,
however, it is not described in any physics journals. Therefore, we
decided to verify that the effect was real. C. Fazi (Army Research
Laboratory (ARL)) and T. Bahder (ARL) have fabricated three simple
asymmetric capacitors, using the designs reported on the Internet [1]. In
all three cases, we have verified that a net force is exerted on the
capacitors when a high DC voltage is applied to the electrodes.
The three asymmetric capacitors that we tested had different
geometries, but they all had the common feature that one electrode was
thin and the other very wide (asymmetric dimensions). Also, a
suspended wire, representing a capacitor with the second electrode at
infinity, showed lift.
Our first model was made by Tom Bahder, and was triangular shape,
which is a typical construction reported on the Internet (see Figure 6).
One electrode is made from thin 38 gauge (0.005 mil) wire, and the
other electrode is made from ordinary Aluminum foil. The capacitor is
approximately 20 cm on a side, the foil sides are 20 cm x 4 cm, and
them distance of the top of the foil to the thin wire electrode is 3 cm.
The foil and wire are supported by a Balsa wood frame, so that the
whole capacitor is very light, approximately 5 grams. Initially, we made
the Balsa wood frame too heavy (capacitor weight about 7 grams), and
later we cut away much of the frame to lighten the construction to about
5 grams. We found that in order to demonstrate the lifting effect, the
capacitor must be made of minimum weight.
(Typical weights reported on the Internet for the design in Figure 6 are
2.3 grams to 4 grams.)
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![charges from one electrode to the other. Clearly the force due to ionic
wind is at least three orders of magnitude too small to account for the
observed force on an asymmetric capacitor (in air). There is another
type of classical transport: drift of charge carriers in an electric field. In
the case of drift, the carriers do not have ballistic trajectories, instead
they experience collisions on their paths between electrodes. However,
due to the presence of an electric field, the carriers have a net motion
toward the opposite electrode. This type of transport picture is more
accurate (than ballistic ionic wind) for a capacitor whose gap contains
air. Drift transport is used by Evgenij Barsoukov to explain the net
force on an asymmetric capacitor [3]
The general picture of the physics is that the positive and negative
electrodes of the capacitor are charged and that these charges
experience different forces, because the electric field surrounding the
capacitor is non-uniform (See Figure 10).
The electric field surrounding the capacitor is created by the potential
applied to the capacitor electrodes and partial ionization of air into
positive ions and electrons. These charge carriers experience drift and
diffusion in the resulting electric field. The battery supplies the energy
that is dissipated by transport of carriers in the electric field. The
electric field is particularly complicated because it is the result of a
steady state: the interplay between the dynamics of ionization of the air
in the high-field region surrounding the electrodes, and charge transport
(drift and diffusion of positive and negative carriers) in the resulting
electric field.
If the capacitor is surrounded by vacuum (rather than a dielectric,
such as air), the net force F on the asymmetric capacitor can be
computed by the sum of two surface integrals, one over the surface of
the positive electrode and one over the surface of the negative electrode
[4]:
where E is the electric field due to charges in the ionized air between
electrodes (excluding the field due to surface charge on the capacitor
electrodes) and S+ and S- are the positive and negative electrode
surfaces of the capacitor. As stated above, the complexity of the
calculation is contained in computing the electric field E. In Section 5,
we give an expression for the net force on the capacitor assuming that it
is surrounded by a dielectric, such as air.
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![J = E = n e v where = n e2
/ m is the electrical conductivity, n is
charge density, t is the scattering time, and the mean drift velocity = m
E. So the mobility behaves as = e / m. Since electrons are three
orders of magnitude more massive than ions, it is expected that they are
correspondingly more mobile. Experimentally, it is found that the
electron mobility in air at atmospheric pressure and electric field E =
104
Volt/cm is approximately [5]
(8)
The mobility of N2 ions in air is [6]
(9)
Therefore, the physical picture is that in the high field region the
electrons, with their high mobility, are swept out by the electric field,
toward the thin wire electrode and cause dynamic screening of the
potential. (Dielectric screening due to polarized air atoms will also take
place.) However, the massive (probably positive) ions are less mobile
and are left behind in a plasma surrounding the thin wire electrode. A
scaling argument can be made as follows. The lower foil conductor
feels a force F of magnitude
(10)
where Q is the charge on the foil electrode V is the voltage between the
capacitor conductors, and l is the length of the gap between thin wire
electrode and foil. The charge Q and voltage V are quantities that are
actually present with shielding taking place. The negative charge on the
foil, -Q, can be approximated in terms of the measured current, I ~
lmA,
by saying that all the carriers are swept out in a time t
(11)
where t is the time for carriers to move across the capacitor gap l, if
they are traveling at an average drift velocity . Note that the measured
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![current is due to the electrons. Eliminating the charge Q from Eq. (10)
and (11) leads to an expression for the net force on the capacitor
(12)
In Eq. (11), the current / is a measured quantity, the voltage V is on the
order of 30 kV, and the drift velocity for electrons is [5]
(13)
Alternatively, the electron drift velocity, , can be expressed in terms
of the mobility, me given in Eq. (8), and electric field, E. The net force
on the asymmetric capacitor is then given by
(14)
where we again used E=V/l. Using the value of electron mobility in
Eq. (8), the net force becomes
(15)
The force in Eq.(14), due to the drift of electrons, could lift a mass M
(16)
The typical asymmetric capacitor has a mass that is two orders of
magnitude greater. Consequently, drift of electrons cannot explain the
observed force on the capacitor.
An alternative to using the value of electron mobility is to use the
smaller value of ionic mobility. (This will lead to a larger force because
the force in Eq. (14) is inversely proportional to the mobility.) It is not
clear how this can be justified, however, the numbers come out closer to
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![(21)
which is identical to Eq. (14).
From the scaling derivations presented above, it is clear that electron
drift current leads to a force on the capacitor that is too small. Using the
value of mobility appropriate for (nitrogen) ions leads to a force
magnitude in agreement with experiment. However, it is not clear why
the mobility of the ions should be used in the calculation.
Note that the force, given by Eq. (14), scales inversely with the
mobility m. If the ions are responsible for providing the required small
mobility, then the picture is that the ions are like a low-mobility
molasses, which provides a large space charge to attract the negatively
charged foil electrode. As soon as the foil electrode moves toward the
positive ion cloud, another positive ionic cloud is set up around the thin
electrode, using the energy from the voltage source. In this way, the
dipole (asymmetric capacitor) moves in the non-uniform electric field
that it has created. Physically, this is a compelling picture. However,
much work must be done (experimentally and theoretically) to fill in
important details to determine if this picture has any merit.
5. Thermodynamic Analysis of the Biefeld-Brown Force
In this section, we present our hypothesis that the Biefeld-Brown force,
generated on an asymmetric capacitor, can be described by the
thermodynamics of a fluid dielectric in an external electric field
produced by charged conductors. The (partially ionized) air between
capacitor electrodes is the fluid dielectric. Although the air is partially
ionized, we assume that this fluid dielectric is close to neutral on the
macroscopic scale. The charged conductors are the asymmetric
electrodes of the capacitor. The battery provides the charge on the
electrodes and the energy sustain the electric field in the air (dielectric)
surrounding the capacitor electrodes.
The total system is composed of three parts: the partially ionized air
dielectric, the metal electrodes of the capacitor and the battery (voltage
source), and the electromagnetic field. The battery is simply a large
reservoir of charge. The total momentum (including the electromagnetic
field) of this system must be constant [9]
(22)
46](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/20905-250412192419-86b18cec/85/Electrogravitics-II-Validating-reports-on-a-new-propulsion-methodology-3rd-ed-Edition-Valone-48-320.jpg)
![where Pdielectric is the momentum of the fluid dielectric (air in the
capacitor gap and surrounding region), Pelectrodes is the momentum of the
metallic electrodes and battery, and Pfield is the momentum of the
electromagnetic field. Taking the time derivative of Eq. (22), the forces
must sum to zero
(23)
As far as the electric field is concerned, its total momentum changes
little during the operation of the capacitor, because the field is in a
steady state; energy is supplied by the battery (charge reservoir). So we
set the rate of change of field momentum to zero, giving a relation
between the force on the electrodes and the dielectric:
Felectrodes = - Fdielectric (24)
A lengthy derivation based on thermodynamic arguments leads to an
expression for the stress tensor, , for a dielectric medium in an
electric field [4,7,8]
(25)
where the free energy is a function of the fluid density, r, temperature,
T, and electric field E. The differential of the free energy is given by
(26)
where S is the entropy, D is the electric induction vector, and is the
chemical potential per unit mass [4]. Equation (25) is valid for any
constitutive relation between D and E. We assume that the air in
between the capacitor plates is an isotropic, but nonlinear, polarizable
medium, due to the high electric fields between plates. Therefore, we
take the relation between D and E to be
(27)
where is a scalar dielectric function that depends on the magnitude
of the electric field, E= | E |, the temperature, T, and the density of the
47](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/20905-250412192419-86b18cec/85/Electrogravitics-II-Validating-reports-on-a-new-propulsion-methodology-3rd-ed-Edition-Valone-49-320.jpg)
![This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States
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under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this
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you are located before using this eBook.
Title: Cinderella Story
Author: Allen Kim Lang
Illustrator: Jack Gaughan
Release date: January 2, 2020 [eBook #61081]
Most recently updated: October 17, 2024
Language: English
Credits: Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CINDERELLA
STORY ***](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/20905-250412192419-86b18cec/85/Electrogravitics-II-Validating-reports-on-a-new-propulsion-methodology-3rd-ed-Edition-Valone-55-320.jpg)
![By ALLEN KIM LANG
What a bank! The First Vice-President
was a cool cat—the elevator and the
money operators all wore earmuffs—was
just as phony as a three-dollar bill!
[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
Worlds of If Science Fiction, May 1961.
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/20905-250412192419-86b18cec/85/Electrogravitics-II-Validating-reports-on-a-new-propulsion-methodology-3rd-ed-Edition-Valone-58-320.jpg)
Electrogravitics II Validating reports on a new propulsion methodology 3rd ed Edition Valone
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- 6. TABLE OF CONTENTS FOREWORD ...................................................................... 5 SCIENCE SECTION........................................................ 11 What is Electrogravitics and Has It Been Validated?....... 12 Force on an Asymmetric Capacitor................................... 28 Possibility of a Strong Coupling Between Electricity and Gravitation ........................................................................ 60 HISTORICAL SECTION................................................. 70 How I Control Gravitation................................................ 71 Towards Flight - Without Stress or Strain or Weight....... 77 Conquest of Gravity: Aim of Top Scientists in U.S.......... 85 Space-Ship Marvel Seen if Gravity Is Outwitted.............. 91 New Air Dream-Planes Flying Outside Gravity............... 97 Project Winterhaven - For Joint Services R&D Contract ........................................................................................ 102 Antigravity on the Rocks: The T.T. Brown Story........... 116 TESTIMONIAL SECTION............................................ 126 Email from Richard Boylan, Ph.D...................................127 Testimony of Dr. B., December, 2000.............................129 Testimony of Mr. Mark McCandlish, December, 2000.. 131 PATENT SECTION........................................................146 PUBLICATIONS - Information on Electrogravitics .......160 3
- 7. FOREWORD StevenGreer,M.D. New Energy Solutions and Implications For The National Security and the Environment The ultimate national security issue is intimately linked to the pressing environmental crisis facing the world today: The question of whether humanity can continue as a technologically advanced civilization. Fossil fuels and the internal combustion engine are non-sustainable both environmentally and economically - and a replacement for both already exists. The question is not whether we will transition to a new post-fossil fuel economy, but when and how. The environmental, economic, geopolitical, national security, and military issues related to this matter are profound and inextricably linked to one another. The disclosure of such new energy technologies will have far- reaching implications for every aspect of human society and the time has come to prepare for such an event. For if such technologies were announced today, it would take at least 10-20 years for their widespread application to be effected. This is approximately how much time we have before global economic chaos begins due to demand far exceeding the supply of oil and environmental decay becomes exponential and catastrophic. We have found that the technologies to replace fossil fuel usage already exist and need to be exploited and applied immediately to avert a serious global economic, geopolitical, and environmental crisis in the not-so-distant future. In summary, these technologies fall into the following broad categories: • Quantum vacuum/zero point field energy access systems and related advances in electromagnetic theory and applications • Electrogravitic and magnetogravitic energy and propulsion • Room temperature nuclear effects • Electrochemical and related advances to internal combustion systems which achieve near zero emissions and very high efficiency 5
- 8. A number of practical applications using such technologies have been developed over the past several decades but such breakthroughs have been either ignored due to their unconventional nature or have been classified and suppressed due to national security, military interests, and 'special' interests. Let us be clear: the question is not whether such systems exist and can be viable replacements for fossil fuels. The question is whether we have the courage to allow such a transformation in world society to occur. Such technologies - especially those which bypass the need to use an external fuel source such as oil or coal - would have obvious and beneficial effects for humanity. Since these technologies do not require an expensive source of fuel but instead use existing quantum space energy, a revolution in the world's economic and social order would result. Implications of Applying Such Technologies These implications include: • The removal of all sources of air pollution related to energy generation, including electric power plants, cars, trucks, aircraft and manufacturing. • The ability to 'scrub' to near zero effluent all manufacturing processes since the energy per se required for same would have no cost related to fuel consumption. This would allow the full application of technologies which remove effluent smokestacks, solid waste, and waterways since current applications are generally restricted by their energy costs and the fact that such energy consumption - being fossil fuel-based - soon reaches the point of diminishing returns environmentally. • The practical achievement of an environmentally near-zero impact yet high tech civilization on earth, thus assuring the long-term sustainability of human civilization. • Trillions of dollars now spent on electric power generation, gas, oil, coal and nuclear power would be freed to be spent on more productive and environmentally neutral endeavors by both individuals and society as a whole. • Underdeveloped regions of the earth would be lifted out of poverty and into a high technology world in about a generation but without the associated infrastructure costs and 6
- 9. environmental impact related to traditional energy generation and propulsion. Since these new systems generate energy from the ambient quantum energy state, trillion dollar infrastructure investments in centralized power generation and distribution would be eliminated. Remote villages and towns would have the ability to generate energy for manufacturing, electrification, water purification etc. without purchasing fuels or building massive transmission lines and central power grids. • Near total recycling of resources and materials would be possible since the energy costs for doing so - now the main obstacle would be brought down to a trivial level. • The vast disparity between rich and poor nations would quickly disappear and it much of the zero-sum-game mentality which is at the root of so much social, political, and international unrest. In a world of abundant and inexpensive energy, many of the pressures which have led to a cycle of poverty, exploitation, resentment, and violence would be removed from the social dynamic. While ideological, cultural and religious differences would persist, the raw economic disparity and struggle would be removed from the equation fairly quickly. • Surface roads - and therefore most road building - will be unnecessary as electrogravitic antigravity energy and propulsion systems replace current surface transportation systems. • The world economy would expand dramatically and those advanced economies such as in the US and Europe would benefit tremendously as global trade, development and high technology energy and propulsion devices are demanded around the world. Such a global energy revolution would create an expanding world economy which would make the current computer and Internet economy look like a rounding error. This really would be the tide which would lift all ships. • Long term, society would evolve to a psychology of abundance, which would redound to the benefit of humanity as a whole, a peaceful civilization and a society focused increasingly on creative pursuits rather than destructive and violent endeavors. Lest all of this sound like a pipe dream, keep in mind that such technological advances are not only possible, but they already exist. What is lacking is the collective will, creativity and courage to see that they are applied wisely. And therein lies the problem. 7
- 10. As an emergency and trauma doctor, I know that everything can be used for good or for ill. A knife can butter your bread - or cut your throat. Every technology can have beneficial as well as harmful applications. The latter partially explains the serious national security and military concerns with such technologies. For many decades, these advances in energy and propulsion technologies have been acquired, suppressed and classified by certain interests who have viewed them as a threat to our security from both an economic and military perspective. In the short term, these concerns have been well-founded: Why rock the global economic boat by allowing technologies out which would, effectively, terminate the multimillion dollar oil, gas, coal, internal combustion engine and related transportation sectors of the economy? And which could also unleash such technologies on an unstable and dangerous world where the weapons applications for such technological breakthroughs would be a certainty? In the light of this, the status quo looks good. But only for the short term. In fact, such national security and military policies - fed by huge special interests in obvious industries and nations - have exacerbated global geopolitical tensions by impoverishing much of the world, worsening the zero-sum-game mind set of the rich versus poor nations and brought us to a world energy emergency and a pending environmental crisis. And now we have very little time to fix the situation. Such thinking must be relegated to the past. For what can be a greater threat to the national security than the specter of a collapse of our entire civilization from a lack of energy and global chaos as every nation fights for its share of a limited resource? Due to the long lead-time needed to transform the current industrial infrastructure away from fossil fuels, we are facing a national security emergency which almost nobody is talking about. This is dangerous. It has also created a serious constitutional crisis in the US and other countries where non-representative entities and super-secret projects within compartmented military and corporate areas have begun to set national and international policy on this and related matters - all outside the arena of public debate, and mostly without informed consent from Congress or the President. Indeed this crisis is undermining democracy in the US and elsewhere. I have had the unenviable task of personally briefing senior political, military, and intelligence officials in the US and Europe on this and related matters. These officials have been denied access to information compartmented within certain projects which are, frankly, unacknowledged areas (so-called 'black' projects). Such officials 8
- 11. include members of the House and Senate, President Clinton's first Director of Central Intelligence, the head of the DIA, senior Joint Staff officials and others. Usually, the officials have little to no information on such projects and technologies - and are told either nothing or that they do not have a 'need to know' if they specifically inquire. This presents then another problem: these technologies will not be suppressed forever. For example, our group is planning a near term disclosure of such technologies and we will not be silenced. At the time of such a disclosure, will the US government be prepared? It would behoove the US government and others to be informed and have a plan for transitioning our society from fossil fuels to these new energy and propulsion systems. Indeed, the great danger is ignorance by our leaders of these scientific breakthroughs - and ignorance of how to manage their disclosure. The advanced countries of the world must be prepared to put systems in place to assure the exclusive peaceful use of such energy and propulsion advances. Economic and industrial interests should be prepared so that those aspects of our economy which will be adversely affected (commodities, oil, gas, coal, public utilities, engine manufacturing, etc.) can be cushioned from sudden reversals and be economically 'hedged' by investing in and supporting the new energy infrastructure. New Energy Solutions A creative view of the future - not fear and suppression of such technologies - is required. And it is needed immediately. If we wait 10- 20 more years, it will be too late to make the needed changes before world oil shortages, exorbitant costs and geopolitical competition for resources causes a melt-down in the world's economy and political structures. All systems tend towards homeostasis. The status quo is comfortable and secure. Change is frightening. But in this case, the most dangerous course for the national security is inaction. We must be prepared for the coming convulsions related to energy shortages, spiraling costs and economic disruption. The best preparation would be a replacement for oil and related fossil fuels. And we have it. But disclosing these new energy systems carries its own set of benefits, risks and challenges. The US government and the Congress must be prepared to wisely manage this great challenge. Recommendations for Congress: 9
- 12. • Thoroughly investigate these new technologies both from current civilian sources as well as compartmented projects within military, intelligence and corporate contracting areas. • Authorize the declassification and release of information held within compartmented projects related to this subject. • Specifically prohibit the seizing or suppression of such technologies. • Authorize substantial funding for basic research and development by civilian scientists and technologists into these areas. • Develop plans for dealing with disclosing such technologies and for the transition to a non-fossil fuel economy. These plans should include: military and national security planning; strategic economic planning and preparation; private sector support and cooperation; geopolitical planning, especially as it pertains to OPEC countries and regions whose economies are very dependent on oil exports and the price of oil; international cooperation and security; among others. I personally stand ready to assist the Congress in any way possible to facilitate our use of these new energy sources. Having dealt with this and related sensitive matters for over 10 years, I can recommend a number of individuals who can be subpoenaed to provide testimony on such technologies, as well as people who have information on Unacknowledged Special Access Projects (USAPs) within covert government operations which are already dealing with these issues. If we face these challenges with courage and with wisdom together, we can secure for our children a new and sustainable world, free of poverty and environmental destruction. We will be up to this challenge because we must be. Steven Greer, M.D. Crozet, Virginia 10
- 13. SCIENCE SECTION J. L. Naudin's latest electric field gradient shaping, asymmetric capacitor lifters from his website www.jlnlabs.org 11
- 14. What is Electrogravitics and Has It Been Validated? Thomas Valone, PhD, PE This book offers an updated viewpoint on the confusing and often misinterpreted concept of electrogravitics or electrogravity, compared to electrokinetics. It is now time to set the record straight for the sake of all of the researchers who have sought to learn the truth behind a propulsion mystery spanning almost a century. It is helpful if the reader has already familiar with the first volume, Electrogravitics Systems: A New Propulsion Methodology "Volume I", which has been in print for over ten years. However, Volume II both predates and postdates the first volume, thus giving a wider historical perspective. What is Electrogravitics When asked, "What is electrogravitics?" a qualified answer is "electricity used to create a force that depends upon an object's mass, even as gravity does." This is the answer that I believer should still be used to identify true electrogravitics, which also involves the object's mass in the force, often with a dielectric. This is also what the "Biefeld- Brown effect" of Brown's first patent #300,311 describes. However, we have seen T. Townsend Brown and his patents evolve over time which Tom Bahder emphasizes. Later on, Brown refers to "electrokinetics" (a subset of electrogravitics), which requires asymmetric capacitors to amplify the force. Therefore, Bahder's article discusses the lightweight effects of "lifters" and the ion mobility theory found to explain them. Note: electrogravitics includes electrokinetics. To put things in perspective, the article "How I Control Gravitation," published in 1929 by Brown,1 presents an electrogravitics-validating discovery about very heavy metal objects (44 lbs. each) separated by an insulator, charged up to high voltages. T.T. Brown also expresses an experimental formula in words which tell us what he found was directly contributing to the unidirectional force (UDF) which he discovered, moving the system of masses toward the positive charge. He seems to imply that the equation for his electrogravitic force might be F = Vm1m2/r2 . But electrokinetics and electrogravitics also seem to be governed by another equation (Eq.l). Reprinted on p. 71 of this book. 12
- 15. Zinsser Effect versus the Biefeld-Brown Effect There is another very similar invention which has comparable experiments that also involve electrogravity. It is the discovery of "gravitational anisotropy" by Rudolf G. Zinsser from Germany. I met with Zinsser twice in the early 1980's and corresponded with him subsequently regarding his invention. He presented his experimental results at the Gravity Field Conference in Hanover in 1980, and also at the First International Symposium of Non-Conventional Energy Technology in Toronto in 1981.2 For years afterwards, all of the scientists who knew of Zinsser's work regarded his invention as a unique phenomenon, not able to be classified with any other discovery. However, upon reading Brown's 1929 article on gravitation referred to above, I find striking similarities. Zinsser's discovery is detailed in The Zinsser Effect book by this author.3 To summarize his life's work, Zinsser discovered that if he connected his patented pulse generator to two conductive metal plates immersed in water, he could induce a sustained force that lasted even after the pulse generator was turned off. The pulses lasted for only a few nanoseconds each. Zinsser called this input "a kinetobaric driving impulse." Furthermore, he points out in the Specifications and Enumerations section, reprinted in my book, that the high dielectric constant of water (about 80) is desirable and that a solid dielectric is possible. Dr. Peschka calculated that Zinsser's invention produced 6 Ns/Ws or 6 N/W.5 This figure is twenty times the force per energy input of the Inertial Impulse Engine of Roy Thomson, which has been estimated to produce 0.32 N/W.6 By comparison, it is important to realize that any production of force today is extremely inefficient, as seen by the fact that a DC-9 jet engine produces only 0.016 N/W or 3 lb/hp (fossil-fuel-powered land and air vehicles are even worse.) 2 Zinsser, R.G. "Mechanical Energy from Anisotropic Gravitational Fields" First Int'l Symp. on Non-Conventional Energy Tech. (FISONCET), Toronto, 1981. Proceedings available from PACE, 100 Bronson Ave #1001, Ottawa, Ontario KIR 6G8 3 Valone, Thomas The Zinsser Effect: Cumulative Electrogravity Invention of Rudolf G. Zinsser, Integrity Research Institute, 2005, 130 pages, IRI #701 4 Cravens, D.L. "Electric Propulsion/Antigravity" Electric Spacecraft Journal, Issue 13, 1994, p. 30 5 Peschka, W., "Kinetobaric Effect as Possible Basis for a New Propulsion Principle," Raumfahrt-Forschung, Feb, 1974. Translated version appears in Infinite Energy, Issue 22, 1998, p. 52 and The Zinsser Effect. 6 Valone, Thomas, "Inertial Propulsion: Concept and Experiment, Part 1" Proc. of Inter. Energy Conver. Eng. Conf., 1993, See IRI Report #608. 13
- 16. Let's now compare the Zinsser Effect with the Biefeld-Brown Effect, looking at the details. Brown reports in his 1929 article that there are effects on plants and animals, as well as effects from the sun, moon and even slightly from some of the planetary positions. Zinsser also reports beneficial effects on plants and humans, including what he called "bacteriostasis and cytostasis."7 Brown also refers to the "endogravitic" and "exogravitic" times that were representative of the charging and discharging times. Once the gravitator was charged, depending upon "its gravitic capacity" any further electrical input had no effect. This is the same phenomenon that Zinsser witnessed and both agree that the pulsed voltage generation was the main part of the electrogravitic effect.8 Both Zinsser and Brown worked with dielectrics and capacitor plate transducers to produce the electrogravitic force. Both refer to a high dielectric constant material in between their capacitor plates as the preferred type to best insulate the charge. However, Zinsser never experimented with different dielectrics nor higher voltage to increase his force production. This was always a source of frustration for him but he wanted to keep working with water as his dielectric. Electrically Charged Torque Pendulum of Erwin Saxl Brown particularly worked with a torque (torsion) pendulum arrangement to measure the force production. He also refers the planetary effects being most pronounced when aligned with the gravitator instead of perpendicular to it. He compares these results to Saxl and Allen, who worked with an electrically charged torque pendulum.9 Dr. Erwin Saxl used high voltage in the range of +/- 5000 volts on his very massive torque pendulum.10 The changes in period of oscillation measurements with solar or lunar eclipses, showed great sensitivity to the shielding effects of gravity during an alignment of astronomical bodies, helping to corroborate Brown's observation in his 1929 article. The pendulum Saxl used was over 100 kilograms in 7 See "Pulsed Electromagnetic Field Health Effects" IRI Report #418 and Bio electromagnetic Healing book #414 by this author, which explain the beneficial therapy which PEMFs produce on biological cells. 8 Mark McCandlish's Testimony (p. 131) shows that the Air Force took note in that the electrogravitic demonstration craft shown at Norton AFB in 1988 had a rotating distributor for electrically pulsing sections of multiply-layered dielectric and metal plate pie-shaped sections with high voltage discharges. 9 See Saxl patent #3,357,253 "Device and Method for Measuring Gravitational and Other Forces" which uses +/- 5000 volts. 10 Saxl, E.J., "An Electrically Charged Torque Pendulum" Nature, July 11, 1964, p. 136 14
- 17. mass. Most interesting were the "unexpected phenomena" which Saxl reported in his 1964 Nature article (see footnote 10). The positively charge pendulum had the longest period of oscillation compared to the negatively charged or grounded pendulum. Dirunal and seasonal variations were found in the effect of voltage on the pendulum, with the most pronounced occurring during a solar or lunar eclipse. In my opinion, this demonstrates the basic principles of electrogravitics: high voltage and mass together will cause unbalanced forces to occur. In this case, the electrogravitic interaction was measurable by oscillating the mass of a charged torque pendulum (producing current) whose period is normally proportional to its mass. Electrogravitic Woodward-Nordtvedt Effect12 Fig. 1 Force (10-5 N = dynes) output vs. capacitor voltage (V) input of a Woodward force transducer "flux capacitor" Referring to mass, it is sometimes not clear whether gravitational mass 11 Saxl & Allen, "Observations with a Massive Electrified Torsion Pendulum: Gravity Measurements During Eclipse," IRI Report #702.(Note: 2.2 lb = 1 kg) 12 Graph of Fig. 1 from Woodward and Mahood, "Mach's Principle, Mass Fluctuations, and Rapid Spacetime Transport," California State University Fullerton, Fullerton CA 92634 15
- 18. or inertial mass is being affected. The possibility of altering the equivalence principle (which equates the two), has been pursued diligently by Dr. James Woodward, whose patents can be reviewed in the Patent Section of this book. His prediction, based on Sciama's formulation of Mach's Principle in the framework of general relativity, is that "in the presence of energy flow, the inertial mass of an object may undergo sizable variations, changing as the 2nd time derivative of the energy."13 Woodward, however, indicates that it is the "active gravitational mass" which is being affected but the equivalence principle causes both "passive" inertial and gravitational masses to fluctuate.14 With barium titanate dielectric between disk capacitors, a 3 kV signal was applied in the experiments of Woodward and Cramer resulting in symmetrical mass fluctuations on the order of centigrams.15 Cramer actually uses the phrase "Woodward effect" in his AIAA paper, though it is well-known that Nordtvedt was the first to predict noticeable mass shifts in accelerated objects.16 The interesting observation which can be made, in light of previous sections, is that Woodward's experimental apparatus resembles a combination of Saxl's torsion pendulum and Brown's electrogravitic dielectric capacitors. The differences arise in the precise timing of the pulsed power generation and with input voltage. Recently, 0.01 uF capacitors (Model KD 1653) are being used, in the 50 kHz range (lower than Zinsser's 100 kHz) with the voltage still below 3 kV. Significantly, the thrust or unidirectional force (UDF) is exponential, depending on the square of the applied voltage.17 However, the micronewton level of force that is produced is actually the same order of magnitude which Zinsser produced, who reported his results in dynes (1 dyne =10" Newtons).18 Zinsser had activators with masses between 200 g and 500 g and force production of "100 dynes to over one pound."19 Recently, Woodward has been referring to his transducers as "flux capacitors" (like the movie, Back to the Future). 13 Cramer et al., "Tests of Mach's Principle with a Mechanical Oscillator" AIAA-2001-3908 email: cramer@phys.washington.edu 14 Woodward, James F. "A New Experimental Approach to Mach's Principle and Relativistic Gravitation, Found. of Phys. Letters, V. 3, No. 5, 1990, p. 497 15 Compare Fig. 1 graph to Brown's ONR graph on P. 117 of Volume I 16 Nordtvedt, K. Inter. Journal of Theoretical Physics, V. 27, 1988, p. 1395 17 Mahood, Thomas "Propellantless Propulsion: Recent Experimental Results Exploiting Transient Mass Modification" Proc. of STAIF, 1999, CP458, p. 1014 (Also see Mahood Master's Thesis www.serve.com/mahood/thesis.pdf) For comparison, 1 Newton = 0.225 pounds - Ed. note 19 Zinsser, FISONCET, Toronto, 1981, p. 298 20 Woodward, James "Flux Capacitors and the Origin of Inertia" Foundations 16
- 19. Jefimenko's Electrokinetics Explains Electrogravitics Known for his extensive work with atmospheric electricity, electrostatic motors and electrets, Dr. Oleg Jefimenko deserves significant credit for presenting a valuable theory of the electrokinetic field, as he calls it.21 A W.V. University professor and physics purist at heart, he describes this field as the dragging force that electrons exert on neighboring electric charges. He identifies the electrokinetic field by the vector Ek where It is one of three terms for the electric field in terms of current and charge density. Equations like F = qE also apply for calculating force. The significance of Ek, as seen in Eq. 1, is that the electrokinetic field simply the third term of the classical equation for the electric field: This three-term equation is a "causal" equation, according to Jefimenko, because it links the electric field E back the electric charge and its motion (current) which induces it. This is the essence of electromagnetic induction, as Maxwell intended, which is measured by, not caused by, a changing magnetic field. The second electric field term, designated as the electrokinetic field, is directed along the current direction or parallel to it. It also exists only as long as the current is changing in time. Lenz' Law is also built into the minus sign. Parallel conductors will produce the strongest induced current. By examining the vector potential A equation which depends upon the current density J, he finds that Ek can be expressed as the time derivative of A, which leads to of Physics, V. 34, 2004, p. 1475. Also see "Tweaking Flux Capacitors" Proc. of STAIF, 2005 21 Jefimenko, Oleg Causality, Electromagnetic Induction and Gravitation, Electret Scientific Co., POB 4132, Star City, WV 26504, p. 29 17
- 20. The significance of Eq. 2 is that the magnetic vector potential is seen to be created by the time integral which amounts to an electrokinetic impulse "produced by this current at that point when the current is switched on" according to Jefimenko.22 Of course, a time-varying sinusoidal current will also qualify for production of an electrokinetic field and the vector potential. An important consequence of Eq. 1 is that the faster the rates of change of current, the larger will be the electrokinetic force. Therefore, high voltage pulsed inputs are favored. However, its significance is much more general. "This field can exist anywhere in space and can manifest itself as a pure force by its action on free electric charges." All that is required for a measurable force from a single conductor is that the change in current density (time derivative) happens very fast, to overcome the c2 in the denominator. The electrogravitics experiments of Brown and Zinsser involve a dielectric medium for greater efficacy and charge density. The electrokinetic force on the electric charges (electrons) of the dielectric, according to Eq. 1, is in the opposite direction of the increasing 22 Jefimenko, p. 31 18
- 21. positive current (taking into account the minus sign). For parallel plate capacitors, Jefimenko explains that the strongest induced field is produced between the plates and so another equation evolves. Electrokinetic Force Predicts Electrogravitic Direction Can Jefimenko's electrokinetic force predict the correct direction of the electrogravitic force seen in the Zinsser, Brown, Woodward as well as the yet-to-be-discussed Campbell, Serrano, and Norton AFB craft demonstrations? 1) Starting with Zinsser's probe diagram (Fig. 2) from Peschka's article, it is purposely put on its end for reasons that will become obvious. Compare it with an equivalent parallel plate capacitor (the plates are x distance apart) from Jefimenko's book:23 23 Jefimenko, p. 47 19
- 22. We note that the current is presumed to be the same in each plate but in opposite directions because it is alternating. Using Eq. 2, Jefimenko calculates the electrokinetic field, for the AC parallel plate capacitor with current going in opposite directions, as Of course, in vector calculus, i, j, and k are the unit vectors for the x, y, z axis directions seen in Fig. 3, respectively. It is clearly seen that the y- axis points upward in Fig. 3 and so with the minus sign of Eq. 3, the electrokinetic force for the AC parallel plate capacitor will point downward. Since Zinsser had his torsion balance on display in Toronto in 1981, I was privileged to verify the direction of the force that is created with his quarter-wave plates oriented as they are in Fig. 2. The torsion balance is built so that the capacitor probe can only be deflected downward from the horizontal. The electrokinetic force is in the same direction. 2) Looking at Brown's electrogravitic force direction from the Fig. 1 in his 1929 article "How I Control Gravitation," we see that the positive lead is on the right side of the picture. Also, the arrow below points to the right with the caption, "Direction of movement of entire system toward positive." Examining the electrokinetic force of Eq. 1 in this article, we note that the increasing positive current comes in by convention in the positive lead and points to the left. Therefore, considering the minus sign, the direction of the electrokinetic force will 20
- 23. be to the right. Checking with Fig. 4 of the 1929 Brown article, the same confirmation of induced electrokinetic force direction24 Thus, with Zinsser's and Brown's gravitators, the electrokinetic theory provides a useful explanation and it is accurate for prediction of the resulting force direction. It is also worthwhile noting that Brown also indicates in that article, "when the direct current with high voltage (75 - 300 kilovolts) is applied, the gravitator swings up the arc ... but it does not remain there. The pendulum then gradually returns to the vertical or starting position, even while the potential is maintained...Less than five seconds is required for the test pendulum to reach the maximum amplitude of the swing, but from thirty to eighty seconds are required for it to return to zero." This phenomena is remarkably the same type of response that Zinsser recorded with his experimental probes. Jefimenko's theory helps explain the rapid response, since the change of current happens in the beginning. However, the slow discharge in both experiments (which Zinsser called a "storage effect") needs more consideration. Considering the electrokinetic force of Eq. 3 and the +/- derivative, we know that the slow draining of a charged capacitor, most clearly seen Fig. 4 Woodward's #6,098,924 patented impulse engine, also called a flux capacitor. The PZT provides nanometer-sized movements that are timed to an AC signal input. A torsion balance has been used with a pair of force transducers in other designs. 24 Brown's second patent #2,949,550 (see Patent Section: two electrokinetic saucers on a maypole) has movement toward the positive charge, so the same electrokinetic theory explained above works for both. - Ed note 21
- 24. in Fig. 1 of Brown's 1929 article, will produce a decreasing current out of the + terminal (to the right) and in Eq. 3, this means the derivative is negative. Therefore, the slow draining of current will produce a weakening electrokinetic force but in the same direction as before! The force will thus sustain itself to the right during discharge. 3) It is very likely that the electrokinetic theory will also predict the direction of Woodward's UDF but instantaneous analysis needs to be made to compare current direction into the commercial disk capacitors and the electrokinetic force on the dielectric charges. In every electrogravitics or electrokinetics case, it can be argued, the "neighboring charges" to a capacitor plate will necessarily be those in the dielectric material, which are polarized. The bound electron-lattice interaction will drag the lattice material with them, under the influence of the electrokinetic force. If the combination of physical electron acceleration (which also can be regarded as current flow) and the AC signal current flow can be resolved, it may be concluded that an instantaneous electrokinetic force, depending on dl/dt, contributes to the Woodward-Nordtvedt effect. 4) The Campbell and Serrano capacitor modules seen in the Patent Fig. 5 Capacitor module from Campbell's NASA patent #6,317,310 which creates a thrust force. Disk 14 is copper; Struts 16 are dielectrics; Cylinder 15 is a dielectric; Cylinder 12 is an axial capacitor plate; Support post 11 is also dielectric. Section, as well as the Electrogravitic Craft Demonstration unit (Norton AFB), can also be explained with the electrokinetic force, in the same way that the Brown gravitator force was explained in paragraph (2) above. The current flows in one direction through the capacitor- dielectric and the force is produced in the opposite direction. The Norton AFB electrogravitic craft just has bigger plates with radial sections but the current flow still occurs at the center, across the plates. The Serrano patent diagram is also very similar in construction and operation. 22
- 25. Fig. 6 Capacitor propulsion device with alternating metal and dielectric layers from Serrano's PCT patent WO 00/58623 with upward thrust direction indicated and + and - polarity designated on the side. Electrokinetic Theory Observations For parallel plate capacitor impulse probes, like Zinsser, Serrano, Campbell, the Norton AFB craft and both of Brown's models, the electrokinetic field of Eq. 3 provides a working model that seems to predict the nature and direction of the force during charging and discharging phases. More detailed information is needed for each example in order to actually calculate the theoretical electrokinetic force and compare it with experiment. We note that Eq. 3 also does not suffer the handicap of Eq. 1 since no c2 term occurs in the denominator. Therefore, it can be concluded that AC fields operating on parallel plate capacitors should create significantly larger electrogravitic forces than other geometries with the same dl/dt. However, the current I is usually designated as and its derivative is a sinusoid as well. Therefore, a detailed analysis is needed for each specific circuit and signal to determine the outcome. Eq. 3 also suggests a possible enhancement of the force if a permeable dielectric (magnetizable") is used. Then, the value for of the material would normally be substituted for .25 25 Einstein and Laub, Annalen der Physik, V. 26, 1908, p.533 and p. 541 - two articles on the subject of a moving capacitor with a "dielectric body of considerable permeability." Specific equations are derived predicting the resulting EM fields. Translated articles are reprinted in The Homopolar Handbook by this author (p. 122-136). Also see Clark's dielectric homopolar generator patent #6,051,905. 23
- 26. A further observation of both Eq. 1 and Eq. 3 is that very fast changes in current, such as a current surge or spark discharge has to produce the most dynamic electrokinetic force, since dI/dt will be very large. The declining current surge, or the negatively sloped dl/dt however, should create an opposing force until the current reverses direction. Creative waveshaping seems to be the answer to this obvious dilemma. Fig. 7 The ideal electrokinetic force current waveform is found in Schlicher propulsion patent #5,142,861 Fortunately, a few similar inventions use pulse power electric current generators to create propulsion. The Taylor patent #5,197,279 "Electromagnetic Energy Propulsion Engine" uses huge currents to produce magnetic field repulsion. The Schlicher patent #5,142,861 "Nonlinear Electromagnetic Propulsion System and Method" predicts hundreds of pounds of thrust with tens of kiloamperes input. The Schlicher antenna current input is a rectified current surge produced with an SCR-triggered DC power source (see Fig. 7). The resulting waveform has a very steep leading edge but a slowly declining trailing edge, which should also be desirable for the electrokinetic force effect.27 Another observation that should be mentioned is that this electrokinetic force theory does not include the mass contribution to the electrogravitic force which Saxl, Woodward, and Brown's 1929 gravitator emphasize. A contributor to this Volume II anthology, Takaaki Musha offers a derived equation for electrogravitics that does include a mass term but not a derivative term. His model is based on 26 Commentary to Eq. 2 states an electrokinetic impulse is produced when the "current is switched on," which implies a very steep leading edge of the current slope. 27 See the Taylor and Schlicher patents in the Patent Section. - Ed note 24
- 27. the charge displacement or "deformation" of the atom under the influence of a capacitor's 18 kV high voltage field and his experimental results are encouraging. He also includes a reference to Ning Li and her gravitoelectric theory?28 A final concern, which may arise from the very nature of the electrokinetic force description, is the difficulty of conceptualizing or simply accepting the possibility of an unbalanced force creation pushing against space. This author has wrestled with this problem in other arenas for years. Three examples include (1) the homopolar generator which creates back torque that ironically, pushes against space to implement the Lorentz force to slow down the current- generating spinning disk.29 Secondly (2), there is the intriguing spatial angular momentum discovery by Graham and Lahoz.30 They have shown, reminiscent of Feynman's "disk paradox," that the vacuum is the seat of Newton's third law. A torsion balance is their chosen apparatus as well to demonstrate the pure reaction force with induction fields. Their reference to Einstein and Laub's papers cites the time derivative of the Poynting vector S = E x H integrated over all space to preserve Newton's third law. Graham and Lahoz predict that magnetic flywheels with electrets will circulate energy to push against space (see Footnote 22). Lastly, for (3), the Taylor and Schlicher inventions push against space with an unbalanced force that is electromagnetic in origin. Historical Electrogravitics In the Historical Section, gravity articles like the NY Herald-Tribune series and Interavia were some of the last few public pronouncements of the progress of this research.31 They were published in 1955 and 1956 respectively, at the same time when the British Aviation Studies reports spanning 1954 - 56 were published (see Volume I). The aviation industry interest in this science was at an all-time high, mostly spurred on by Brown's gravitator experiments. After all, aircraft are very massive and Brown's theory encourages the use of massive gravitators with high voltage, which we find in the B-2 bomber today. 28 Ning Li was the Chair of the 2003 Gravitational Wave Conference. The CD Proceedings of the papers is available from Integrity Research Institute. 29 Valone, Thomas, The Homopolar Handbook: A Definitive Guide to Faraday Disk and N-Machine Technologies, Integrity Research Institute, Third Edition, 2001 30 Graham and Lahoz, "Observation of Static Electromagnetic Angular Momentum in vacuo" Nature, V. 285, May 15, 1980, p. 129 31 See also "The Flying Saucer" by Mason Rose, PhD, Science and Invention, Aug. 1929 and Psychic Observer, Vol. XXXVII, No.l 25
- 28. A fascinating article at the end of this surge in gravity research is the report from 1961 in Missies and Rockets,32 which identifies a 389-page study released by the Office of Technical Services at the US Dept. of Commerce (may possibly be OTS #61-1187). The study however, sadly relates that disagreements among experts were becoming unyielding without more experimental proof. Today, experimental proof seems to be in abundance. However, the prevailing trend by the government still fails to acknowledge the historical pioneering work of Biefeld and Brown, as well as any small inventor who is successful in this area. Take for example, Hector Serrano, who was interviewed in 1998 by NASA scientist Jonathan Campbell on video, about his electropropulsion invention. Within two years, Campbell started filing for a series of patents "on similar technology" and not referencing T.T. Brown nor Serrano in any of his US patents #6,317,310, #6,411,493, or #6,775,123.33 This type of behavior by a government representative is unethical and fuels the wide-spread public concern about government motives. Remarkably, it is like history repeating the same treatment that T.T. Brown received from the military upon demonstrating his working model to them.34 Eye Witness Testimony of Advanced Electrogravitics Sincere gratitude is given to Mark McCandlish, who offers us the conclusive perspective of the covert, flat-bottomed saucer hovercraft seen by dozens of invited eye-witnesses at Norton Air Force Base in 1988. When I spoke to Dr. Hal Puthoff about Mark's story, shortly after the famous Disclosure Event35 at the National Press Club in 2001, he explained to me that he had already performed due diligence on it and checked on each individual to verify the details of the story. Hal told me that he believed the story was true. Since Dr. Puthoff used to work for the CIA for ten years, this was quite an endorsement. 32 Beller, William"Soviet Efforts are Closely Watched" Missiles and Rockets, Sept. 11,1961, p. 27 33 Young, Kelly "Inventor: NASA stole patent idea" Florida Today, Sept. 29, 2002 (entire article is posted on the Florida Today website - Ed. note) 34 See "The Townsend Brown Electro-Gravity Device" File 24-185, A Comprehensive Analysis by the Office of Naval Research, Sept. 15, 1952, -IRI report #612 35 See the authoritative book by Dr. Steven Greer, Disclosure: Military and Government Witnesses Reveal the Greatest Secretes in Modern History, Crossing Point, 2001. It provides the testimony of each witness who participated in the event, plus many more. 26
- 29. In analyzing the Electrogravitic Craft Demonstration unit (Norton AFB 1988) diagrammed at the end of Mark's testimony, I have compared it to Campbell's and Serrano's patented design. A lot can be learned from studying the intricacies of this advanced design, including the use of a distributor cap style of pulse discharge and multiple symmetric, radial plates with dielectrics in between. Why Americans should pay twice for the development of 21st century energy and propulsion technology is an issue that several U.S. Congressmen have publicly protested. We pay for the "black project budget" (the difference between the Pentagon's defense budget and its acknowledged expenses) in billions of tax dollars every year.36 We also are asked to pay for DOE, NASA, AF, Navy, DARPA and other agencies to reinvent the same technologies in an unclassified arena. Recently, the Deputy Director of the National Reconnaissance Office, for example, told me that it seems to be easier to direct contractors to develop technology that he knows already exists, mainly because declassification is very difficult. This is the main reason that we still use World War II technology on land and in space while the environment suffers irreparable harm. My sincere hope is that the validating science contained in Electrogravitics II will accelerate the civilian adaptation of this relatively simple propulsion technology. The scientific articles in the first section of this book show the contrasting opinion that still exists in the assessment of electrogravitics. As inertial shielding also is reinvented by civilian scientists, I predict that electrogravitics will become more and more useful. The reason behind my prediction is that any force moving a mass utilizes Newton's Second Law, F = ma, which can be very powerful when the inertial mass m is reduced by electrogravitic shielding. Once again, to confirm Dr. Greer's message, such a technological development already exists, as exhibited in the night photos of right-angle turns of covert triangular craft. 36 "The Billion Dollar Secret" narrated by defense journalist Nick Cook, aired on TLC in 2000 about the black projects and the money spent on them. He is now filming a follow-up show for 2005. 27
- 30. Force on an Asymmetric Capacitor Thomas B. Bahder and Chris Fazi Army Research Laboratory - 2800 Powder Mill Rd - Adelphi, MD 20783 bahder@arl.army.mil When a high voltage (~30 kV) is applied to a capacitor whose electrodes have different physical dimensions, the capacitor experiences a net force toward the smaller electrode (Biefeld-Brown effect). We have verified this effect by building four capacitors of different shapes. The effect may have applications to vehicle propulsion and dielectric pumps. We review the history of this effect briefly through the history of patents by Thomas Townsend Brown. At present, the physical basis for the Biefeld-Brown effect is not understood. The order of magnitude of the net force on the asymmetric capacitor is estimated assuming two different mechanisms of charge conduction between its electrodes: ballistic ionic wind and ionic drift. The calculations indicate that ionic wind is at least three orders of magnitude too small to explain the magnitude of the observed force on the capacitor. The ionic drift transport assumption leads to the correct order of magnitude for the force, however, it is difficult to see how ionic drift enters into the theory. Finally, we present a detailed thermodynamic treatment of the net force on an asymmetric capacitor. In the future, to understand this effect, a detailed theoretical model must be constructed that takes into account plasma effects: ionization of gas (or air) in the high electric field region, charge transport, and resulting dynamic forces on the electrodes. The next series of experiments should determine whether the effect occurs in vacuum, and a careful study should be carried out to determine the dependence of the observed force on gas pressure, gas species and applied voltage. 1. Introduction Recently, there is a great deal of interest in the Biefeld-Brown effect: when a high voltage (30 kV) is applied to the electrodes of an asymmetric capacitor, a net force is observed on the capacitor. By asymmetric, we mean that the physical dimensions of the two electrodes are different, i.e., one electrode is large and the other small. According to the classical Biefeld-Brown effect (see Brown's original 1960, 1962, and 1965 patents cited in Appendix A, and a partial reproduction below), the largest force on the capacitor is in a direction from the negative (larger) electrode toward the positive (smaller) electrode. Today, there are numerous demonstrations of this effect on the Internet in devices called "lifters", which show that the force on the capacitor exceeds its weight [1]. In fact, these experiments indicate that there is a force on the capacitor independent of polarity of applied voltage. In the future, the Biefeld-Brown effect may have application to aircraft or 28
- 31. vehicle propulsion, with no moving parts. At the present time, there is no detailed theory to explain this effect, and hence the potential of this effect for applications is unknown. In Section 2 below, we describe the history of the Biefeld-Brown effect. The effect of a net force on an asymmetric capacitor is so surprising, that we carried out preliminary simple experiments at the Army Research Laboratory to verify that the effect is real. The results of these experiments are described in Section 3. Section 4 contains estimates of the force on the capacitor for the case of ballistic ionic wind and drift of carriers across the capacitor's gap between electrodes. In Section 5, we present a detailed thermodynamic treatment of the force on an asymmetric capacitor, assuming that a non- linear dielectric fluid fills the region between capacitor electrodes. Section 6 is a summary and recommendation for future experimental and theoretical work. 2. Biefeld-Brown Effect During the 1920's, Thomas Townsend Brown was experimenting with an X-ray tube known as a "Coolidge tube", which was invented in 1913 by the American physical chemist William D. Coolidge [1]. Brown found that the Coolidge tube exhibited a net force (a thrust) when it was turned on. He believed that he had discovered a new principle of electromagnetism and gravity. Brown applied for a British patent on April 15, 1927, which was issued on November 15, 1928 as Patent No. 300,311, entitled, "Method of Producing Force or Motion." The patent and its figures clearly describe Brown's early work on forces on asymmetric capacitors, although the electromagnetic concepts are mixed with gravitational concepts.37 The discovery of the Biefeld-Brown effect is generally credited to Thomas Townsend Brown. However, it is also named in honor of Brown's mentor, Dr. Paul Alfred Biefeld, a professor of physics and astronomy at Denison University in Granville, Ohio, where Brown was a lab assistant in electronics in the Department of Physics. During the 1920's, Biefeld and Brown together experimented on capacitors. In order to find a technical description of the Biefeld-Brown effect, we performed a search of the standard article literature, and found no references to this effect. It is prudent to ask whether this effect is real or rumor. On the other hand, the Internet is full of discussions and 37 It states, "This invention relates to a method of controlling gravitation and for deriving power therefrom, and to a method for producing linear force or motion. The method is fundamentally electrical." The complete patent is in the first volume of this series. -Ed note 29
- 32. references to this effect, including citations of patents issued [1] (see also Appendix A). In fact, patents seem to be the only official publications that describe this effect. On July 3,1957, Brown filed another patent entitled "Electrokinetic Apparatus", and was issued a US Patent No. 2,949,550 on August 16, 1960. The effect in this patent is described more lucidly than his previous patent No. 300,311, of November 15, 2928. In this 1960 patent, entitled "Electrokinetic Apparatus," Brown makes no reference to gravitational effects: Fig. 1 Excerpt from Thomas Townsend Brown US Patent No. 2,949,550 entitled "Electrokinetic Apparatus", issued on August 16, 1960. The claims, as well as the drawings in this patent clearly show that Brown had conceived that the force developed on an asymmetrical capacitor could be used for vehicle propulsion. His drawings in this patent are strikingly similar to some of the capacitors designs on the Internet today. In this 1960 patent, entitled "Electrokinetic Apparatus," Brown gives the clearest explanation of the physics of the Biefeld- Brown effect. Brown makes several important statements, including: • the greatest force on the capacitor is created when the small electrode is positive • the effect occurs in a dielectric medium (air) • the effect can be used for vehicle propulsion, or as a pump of dielectric fluid • Brown's understanding of the effect, in terms of ionic motion the detailed physics of the effect is not understood Next, we reproduce Brown's first two figures and partial text explaining the effect: 30
- 33. Fig. 2 Excerpt from Thomas Townsend Brown US Patent No. 2949550 entitled "Electrokinetic Apparatus", issued on August 16, 1960. 31
- 34. Fig. 3 Figure excerpt from Thomas Townsend Brown US Patent No. 2949550 entitled "Electrokinetic Apparatus", issued on August 16, 1960. Soon after Brown's 1957 filing for the above patent, on May 12, 1958, A.H. Bahnson Jr. filed for an improved patent entitled "Electrical thrust producing device," which was granted a US Patent No. 2,958,790 on November 1, 1960. On July 3, 1957, Brown filed another patent (granted on Jan 23, 1962, as US patent No. 3,018,394) for an "Electrokinetic Transducer." This patent deals with the inverse effect: when a dielectric medium is made to move between high voltage electrodes, there is a change in the voltage on the electrodes. (This is reminiscent of Faraday's law of induction.) Quoting from the 1962 patent by Thomas Townsend Brown: Fig. 4 Excerpt from Thomas Townsend Brown US patent No. 3018394 entitled "Electrokinetic Transducer," issued on January 23, 1962. 32
- 35. Until this time, the net force on an asymmetric capacitor was reported as occurring when the capacitor was in a dielectric medium. On May 9, 1958, Brown filed for another patent (improving upon his previous work) entitled "Electrokinetic Apparatus." The patent was issued on June 1, 1965 as Patent No. 3,187,206. The significance of this new patent is that it describes the existence of a net force on the asymmetric capacitor as occurring even in vacuum. Brown states that, "The propelling force however is not reduced to zero when all environmental bodies are removed beyond the apparent effective range of the electric field." Here is a quote from the patent: Fig. 5 Excerpt from Thomas Townsend Brown Patent No. 3,187,206, entitled, "Electrokinetic Apparatus," issued on June 1, 1965. 33
- 36. In the above patent, Brown reports that the asymmetric capacitor does show a net force, even in vacuum. However, a present, there is little experimental evidence, except for two reports [2], which do not explain the origin of the observed force. If the Biefeld-Brown effect is to be understood on a firm basis, it is imperative to determine whether the effect occurs in vacuum. Enclosed in Appendix B, is my email correspondence with J. Naudin, where Naudin quotes from a letter by Thomas Townsend Brown, who discusses the effect in vacuum. The main question to be answered is: what is the physical mechanism that is responsible for the net force on an asymmetric capacitor? The answer to this question may depend on whether the asymmetric capacitor is in a polarizable medium, in air, or in vacuum. However, to date the physical mechanism is unknown, and until it is understood, it will be impossible to determine its potential for practical applications. 3. Preliminary Experiments at Army Research Laboratory The Biefeld-Brown effect is reported many places on the Internet, however, it is not described in any physics journals. Therefore, we decided to verify that the effect was real. C. Fazi (Army Research Laboratory (ARL)) and T. Bahder (ARL) have fabricated three simple asymmetric capacitors, using the designs reported on the Internet [1]. In all three cases, we have verified that a net force is exerted on the capacitors when a high DC voltage is applied to the electrodes. The three asymmetric capacitors that we tested had different geometries, but they all had the common feature that one electrode was thin and the other very wide (asymmetric dimensions). Also, a suspended wire, representing a capacitor with the second electrode at infinity, showed lift. Our first model was made by Tom Bahder, and was triangular shape, which is a typical construction reported on the Internet (see Figure 6). One electrode is made from thin 38 gauge (0.005 mil) wire, and the other electrode is made from ordinary Aluminum foil. The capacitor is approximately 20 cm on a side, the foil sides are 20 cm x 4 cm, and them distance of the top of the foil to the thin wire electrode is 3 cm. The foil and wire are supported by a Balsa wood frame, so that the whole capacitor is very light, approximately 5 grams. Initially, we made the Balsa wood frame too heavy (capacitor weight about 7 grams), and later we cut away much of the frame to lighten the construction to about 5 grams. We found that in order to demonstrate the lifting effect, the capacitor must be made of minimum weight. (Typical weights reported on the Internet for the design in Figure 6 are 2.3 grams to 4 grams.) 34
- 37. Fig. 6 Our first attempt at making an asymmetric capacitor (a "lifter"), according to the specifications given by J. Naudin on Internet web site http://jnaudin.free.fr/. When about 37 kV was applied to the capacitor in Figure 6, the current was about 1.5 mA. The capacitor lifted off its resting surface. However, this capacitor was not a vigorous flier, as reported by others on the Internet. One problem that occurred was arcing from the thin wire electrode to the foil. The thin wire electrode was too close to the foil. We have found that arcing reduces the force developed on the capacitor. Also, compared to other constructions, ours was too heavy, 5 grams. We found that a ground plane beneath the capacitor is not essential for the lifting force to exceed the capacitor's weight. Consequently, we decided to make a second version of an asymmetric capacitor, using a styrofoam lunch box and plastic drinking straws from the ARL cafeteria (See Figure 7). The capacitor had a square geometry 18 cm x 20 cm. The distance of the thin wire (38 gauge) to the foil was adjustable, and we found that making a 6 cm gap resulted in little arcing. When 30 kV was applied, the capacitor drew about 1.5 mA, and hovered vigorously above the floor. A question occurred: is the toroidal (closed circular) geometry of the capacitor electrodes essential to the lifting effect that we have observed. Consequently, Tom Bahder made a flat-shaped, or wing-shaped, capacitor as shown in Figure 8. This capacitor was made from two (red) plastic coffee stirrers and a (clear) plastic drinking straw to support the Aluminum foil. The significance of the clear plastic straw was that the foil could be wrapped over it, thereby avoiding sharp foil edges that would lead to corona discharge or arcing. The dimensions of the foil on this capacitor were 20 cm x 4 cm, as shown in Figure 8. The distance between the thin wire electrode (38 gauge wire) and edge of the foil was 6.3 cm. This capacitor showed a net force on it when about 30 kV was applied, drawing about 500 mA. The force on this capacitor greatly 35
- 38. exceeded its weight, so much so that it would vigorously fly into the air when the voltage was increased from zero. Therefore, we have concluded that the closed geometry of the electrodes is not a factor in the net force on an asymmetric capacitor. Furthermore, the force on the capacitor always appeared in the direction toward the small electrode - independent of the orientation of the capacitor with respect to the plane of the Earth's surface. The significance of this observation is that the force has nothing to do with the gravitational field of the Earth, and nothing to do with the electric potential of the Earth's atmosphere. There are numerous claims on the Internet that asymmetric capacitors are anti-gravity devices, or devices that demonstrate that there is an interaction of gravity with electric phenomena, called. The thin wire electrode must be at a sufficient distance away from the foil so that arcing does not occur from the thin wire electrode to the foil, at the operating voltage. In fact, in our first model, shown in Figure 6, the 3 cm gap from to of the foil to thin wire electrode was not sufficiently large, and significant arcing occurred. We have found that when arcing occurs, there is little net force on the capacitor. An essential part of the design of the capacitor is that the edges of the foil, nearest to the thin wire, must be rounded (over the supporting Balsa wood, or plastic straw, frame) to prevent arcing or corona discharge at sharp foil edges (which are closest to the thin wire). The capacitor in Figure 6 showed improved lift when rounded foil was put over the foil electrode closest to the thin wire, thereby smoothing-over the sharp foil edges. Physically, this means that the radius of curvature of the foil nearest to the small wire electrode was made larger, creating a greater asymmetry in radii of curvature of the two electrodes. When operated in air, the asymmetric capacitors exhibit a net force toward the smaller conductor, 36
- 39. and in all three capacitors, we found that this force is independent of the DC voltage polarity. The detailed shape of the capacitor seem immaterial, as long as there is a large asymmetry between the characteristic size of the two electrodes. A suspended thin wire (approximately 12 in length) also showed lift with about 37 kV and 1 mA current (see Figure 8). When the asymmetric capacitors have an applied DC voltage, and they are producing a net force in air, they all emit a peculiar hissing sound with pitch varying with the applied voltage. This sound is similar to static on a television or radio set when it is not tuned to a good channel. We believe that this sound may be a clue to the mechanism responsible for the net force. Fig. 8 Flat shaped (or wing-shaped) asymmetric capacitor used to test whether closed electrode geometry is needed. The simplest capacitor configuration consists of a suspended thin wire from the hot electrode of the high voltage power supply (see Figure 9). To observe the wire movement, a small piece of transparent tape was attached at the lower end of the thin wire. From a vertical position, the wire lifted, as shown in Figure 10 by as much as 30 degrees, once the high voltage approached 35kV. The usual air breakdown hissing sound of the other capacitors was heard when current drain reached about 1mA. Actually the wire did not remain suspended, but oscillated back and forth approximately 60 degrees from vertical, and the hissing pitch followed the oscillation period with amplitude and frequency changes. 37
- 40. Without the piece of tape at the end, the wire did not lift as much and the sound was considerably weaker. The piece of tape seems to increase the capacitance and or the air ionization. This suspended wire configuration can be viewed also as a capacitor surrounded by the ground system located several feet away (metallic benches, floor and ceiling). As in the other capacitor experiments, it also did not exhibit a polarity dependence. 4. Previously Proposed Explanations for the Biefeld-Brown Force There are two proposed explanations for the Biefeld-Brown force. Both of these have been discussed on the Internet in various places. The first proposed scheme is that there exists an ionic wind in the high field region between the capacitor electrodes, and that this ionic wind causes the electrodes to move as a result of the momentum recoil. This scheme, described in Section A below, leads to a force that is incorrect by at least three orders order of magnitude compared to what is observed. (This scheme also assumes ballistic transport of charges in the atmosphere between electrodes of the capacitor, and it is is known that instead drift current exists.) In Section B below, we present the second scheme, which assumes that a drift current exists between the capacitor plates. 38
- 41. This scheme is basically a scaling argument, and not a detailed treatment of the force. In this scheme, the order of magnitude of the force on an asymmetric capacitor is correct. However, this scheme is only a scaling theory. Finally, in Section 5 below, we present our thermodynamic treatment of the force on an asymmetric capacitor. A. Ionic Wind, Force Too Small The most common explanation for the net force on an asymmetric capacitor invokes ionic wind. Under a high voltage DC bias, ions are thought to be accelerated by the high potential difference between electrodes, and the recoil force is observed on an asymmetric capacitor. A simple upper limit on the ion wind force shows that the ion wind effect is a factor of at least three orders of magnitude too small. Consider a capacitor that operates at voltage V. Charged particles of mass m, having charge q, such as electrons or (heavy) ions, are accelerated to a velocity v, having a kinetic energy (1) The force exerted on an asymmetric capacitor is given by the rate of change of momentum (2) where l is the current flowing through the capacitor gap, and we assume that all the ionic momentum mv, is transferred to the capacitor when the charged particles leave an electrode. Also, we assume that none of this momentum is captured at the other electrode. This is a gross over- estimation of the force due to ionic effects, so Eq. (2) is an upper limit to the ionic force. Solving Eq.(l) for the velocity, and using it in Eq.(2) gives the upper limit on the force due to ionic wind (3) When the force F is equal to the weight of an object Mg, where g is the acceleration due to gravity, the force will lift a mass 39
- 42. (4) If we assume that electrons are the charged particles responsible for force of the ionic wind, then we must use mass m = 9.1 x 10"31 kg. Substituting typical experimental numbers into Eq. (4), we find that the ionic wind can lift a mass The typical weight of an asymmetric capacitor is on the order of 5 grams, so this force is too small by 5 orders of magnitude. Another possibility is that heavy ions (from the air or stripped off the wire) are responsible for the ionic wind. As the heaviest ions around, assume that Cu is being stripped from the wire. Using Cu for the ions, the mass of the ions is 63.55, which is the atomic mass of Cu, and mp is the mass of a proton. The weight that could be lifted with Cu ionic wind is then (upper limit): Again, this value is three orders of magnitude too small to account for lifting a capacitor with a mass of 3 to 5 grams. Therefore, the ionic wind contribution is too small, by at least three orders of magnitude, to account for the observed force on an asymmetric capacitor. While the force of the ionic wind computed above is too small to explain the experiments in air, it should be noted that this effect will operate in vacuum, and may contribute to the overall force on a capacitor. B. The Ion Drift Picture: Scaling Theory of Force In the previous section, we computed an upper limit to the force on a capacitor due to ionic wind effects. Ionic wind is a ballistic flow of 40
- 43. charges from one electrode to the other. Clearly the force due to ionic wind is at least three orders of magnitude too small to account for the observed force on an asymmetric capacitor (in air). There is another type of classical transport: drift of charge carriers in an electric field. In the case of drift, the carriers do not have ballistic trajectories, instead they experience collisions on their paths between electrodes. However, due to the presence of an electric field, the carriers have a net motion toward the opposite electrode. This type of transport picture is more accurate (than ballistic ionic wind) for a capacitor whose gap contains air. Drift transport is used by Evgenij Barsoukov to explain the net force on an asymmetric capacitor [3] The general picture of the physics is that the positive and negative electrodes of the capacitor are charged and that these charges experience different forces, because the electric field surrounding the capacitor is non-uniform (See Figure 10). The electric field surrounding the capacitor is created by the potential applied to the capacitor electrodes and partial ionization of air into positive ions and electrons. These charge carriers experience drift and diffusion in the resulting electric field. The battery supplies the energy that is dissipated by transport of carriers in the electric field. The electric field is particularly complicated because it is the result of a steady state: the interplay between the dynamics of ionization of the air in the high-field region surrounding the electrodes, and charge transport (drift and diffusion of positive and negative carriers) in the resulting electric field. If the capacitor is surrounded by vacuum (rather than a dielectric, such as air), the net force F on the asymmetric capacitor can be computed by the sum of two surface integrals, one over the surface of the positive electrode and one over the surface of the negative electrode [4]: where E is the electric field due to charges in the ionized air between electrodes (excluding the field due to surface charge on the capacitor electrodes) and S+ and S- are the positive and negative electrode surfaces of the capacitor. As stated above, the complexity of the calculation is contained in computing the electric field E. In Section 5, we give an expression for the net force on the capacitor assuming that it is surrounded by a dielectric, such as air. 41
- 44. An alternative but equivalent picture is that the capacitor is an electric dipole in an non-uniform electric field that it has produced, and the ions form a molasses, due to their high mass and resulting low mobility. We will develop both pictures below in scaling arguments. The electric field around the small wire electrode is much stronger than the field around the foil (see Figure 8 and 11). In our experiments, there is a big difference in the radii of curvature of the two capacitor electrodes: the thin wire electrode has a radius r1 = .0025 inch, and the edge of the foil has a radius of curvature of r2 = .125 inch. This difference in curvature leads to an electric field with a strong gradient. The ratios of electric fields at the thin wire electrode to that at the rounded edge of the foil is inversely proportional to the square of the radii of curvatures: E1/E2 = (r1/r2)2 = 2500. However, the applied voltage is on the order of 30 kV, over a gap of 6 cm, so an electric field of magnitude 2500 x 30 kV / 6 cm = 107 V/cm would not be supported in air. It is clear that screening of the electric field is occurring due to the dielectric effects of charged air ions and electrons, as well as polarized air atoms. When a positive high voltage is applied to the asymmetric capacitor, ionization of air atoms, such as Nitrogen, probably occurs first near the thin wire electrode. The ionization of Nitrogen atoms leads to free electrons and ions near the small electrode. The electron mobility is significantly larger for electrons than for Nitrogen ions. This can be expected since the current density 42
- 45. J = E = n e v where = n e2 / m is the electrical conductivity, n is charge density, t is the scattering time, and the mean drift velocity = m E. So the mobility behaves as = e / m. Since electrons are three orders of magnitude more massive than ions, it is expected that they are correspondingly more mobile. Experimentally, it is found that the electron mobility in air at atmospheric pressure and electric field E = 104 Volt/cm is approximately [5] (8) The mobility of N2 ions in air is [6] (9) Therefore, the physical picture is that in the high field region the electrons, with their high mobility, are swept out by the electric field, toward the thin wire electrode and cause dynamic screening of the potential. (Dielectric screening due to polarized air atoms will also take place.) However, the massive (probably positive) ions are less mobile and are left behind in a plasma surrounding the thin wire electrode. A scaling argument can be made as follows. The lower foil conductor feels a force F of magnitude (10) where Q is the charge on the foil electrode V is the voltage between the capacitor conductors, and l is the length of the gap between thin wire electrode and foil. The charge Q and voltage V are quantities that are actually present with shielding taking place. The negative charge on the foil, -Q, can be approximated in terms of the measured current, I ~ lmA, by saying that all the carriers are swept out in a time t (11) where t is the time for carriers to move across the capacitor gap l, if they are traveling at an average drift velocity . Note that the measured 43
- 46. current is due to the electrons. Eliminating the charge Q from Eq. (10) and (11) leads to an expression for the net force on the capacitor (12) In Eq. (11), the current / is a measured quantity, the voltage V is on the order of 30 kV, and the drift velocity for electrons is [5] (13) Alternatively, the electron drift velocity, , can be expressed in terms of the mobility, me given in Eq. (8), and electric field, E. The net force on the asymmetric capacitor is then given by (14) where we again used E=V/l. Using the value of electron mobility in Eq. (8), the net force becomes (15) The force in Eq.(14), due to the drift of electrons, could lift a mass M (16) The typical asymmetric capacitor has a mass that is two orders of magnitude greater. Consequently, drift of electrons cannot explain the observed force on the capacitor. An alternative to using the value of electron mobility is to use the smaller value of ionic mobility. (This will lead to a larger force because the force in Eq. (14) is inversely proportional to the mobility.) It is not clear how this can be justified, however, the numbers come out closer to 44
- 47. what is observed. Using the mobility of nitrogen ions in air, given in Eq.(8), the force becomes (17) The force in Eq. (16), due to the drift of Nitrogen ions, could lift a mass M (18) The force on the capacitor, given in Eq. (18), is within a factor of 3, assuming a capacitor of mass 5 grams. However, it is difficult to see why ion mobility is the appropriate quantity to use in the derivation of the force.38 As an alternative derivation of the scaling Eq. (14), consider the asymmetric capacitor as being essentially an electric dipole of magnitude, (19) where Q is the charge on one plate and l is the average effective separation between plates. When a high voltage is applied to the asymmetric capacitor (assume positive voltage on the thin wire and negative on the foil), the high electric field around the thin wire ionizes the atoms of the air. There is comparatively little ionization near the foil due to the lower magnitude electric field near the foil. The ionized atoms around the foil form a plasma, consisting of charged electrons and positively charged ions. The force on the capacitor must scale like (20) where E is the electric field. The gradient operates on the electric field, producing a magnitude dE/dx ~ E / l . Using this value in Eq.(18), together with the size of the dipole, leads to a force on the capacitor 38 This is especially true if the Biefeld-Brown effect functions in a vacuum, where the density of ions is extremely low (see Appendix B) - Ed note 45
- 48. (21) which is identical to Eq. (14). From the scaling derivations presented above, it is clear that electron drift current leads to a force on the capacitor that is too small. Using the value of mobility appropriate for (nitrogen) ions leads to a force magnitude in agreement with experiment. However, it is not clear why the mobility of the ions should be used in the calculation. Note that the force, given by Eq. (14), scales inversely with the mobility m. If the ions are responsible for providing the required small mobility, then the picture is that the ions are like a low-mobility molasses, which provides a large space charge to attract the negatively charged foil electrode. As soon as the foil electrode moves toward the positive ion cloud, another positive ionic cloud is set up around the thin electrode, using the energy from the voltage source. In this way, the dipole (asymmetric capacitor) moves in the non-uniform electric field that it has created. Physically, this is a compelling picture. However, much work must be done (experimentally and theoretically) to fill in important details to determine if this picture has any merit. 5. Thermodynamic Analysis of the Biefeld-Brown Force In this section, we present our hypothesis that the Biefeld-Brown force, generated on an asymmetric capacitor, can be described by the thermodynamics of a fluid dielectric in an external electric field produced by charged conductors. The (partially ionized) air between capacitor electrodes is the fluid dielectric. Although the air is partially ionized, we assume that this fluid dielectric is close to neutral on the macroscopic scale. The charged conductors are the asymmetric electrodes of the capacitor. The battery provides the charge on the electrodes and the energy sustain the electric field in the air (dielectric) surrounding the capacitor electrodes. The total system is composed of three parts: the partially ionized air dielectric, the metal electrodes of the capacitor and the battery (voltage source), and the electromagnetic field. The battery is simply a large reservoir of charge. The total momentum (including the electromagnetic field) of this system must be constant [9] (22) 46
- 49. where Pdielectric is the momentum of the fluid dielectric (air in the capacitor gap and surrounding region), Pelectrodes is the momentum of the metallic electrodes and battery, and Pfield is the momentum of the electromagnetic field. Taking the time derivative of Eq. (22), the forces must sum to zero (23) As far as the electric field is concerned, its total momentum changes little during the operation of the capacitor, because the field is in a steady state; energy is supplied by the battery (charge reservoir). So we set the rate of change of field momentum to zero, giving a relation between the force on the electrodes and the dielectric: Felectrodes = - Fdielectric (24) A lengthy derivation based on thermodynamic arguments leads to an expression for the stress tensor, , for a dielectric medium in an electric field [4,7,8] (25) where the free energy is a function of the fluid density, r, temperature, T, and electric field E. The differential of the free energy is given by (26) where S is the entropy, D is the electric induction vector, and is the chemical potential per unit mass [4]. Equation (25) is valid for any constitutive relation between D and E. We assume that the air in between the capacitor plates is an isotropic, but nonlinear, polarizable medium, due to the high electric fields between plates. Therefore, we take the relation between D and E to be (27) where is a scalar dielectric function that depends on the magnitude of the electric field, E= | E |, the temperature, T, and the density of the 47
- 50. Another Random Document on Scribd Without Any Related Topics
- 54. The Project Gutenberg eBook of Cinderella Story
- 55. This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook. Title: Cinderella Story Author: Allen Kim Lang Illustrator: Jack Gaughan Release date: January 2, 2020 [eBook #61081] Most recently updated: October 17, 2024 Language: English Credits: Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net *** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CINDERELLA STORY ***
- 57. CINDERELLA STORY
- 58. By ALLEN KIM LANG What a bank! The First Vice-President was a cool cat—the elevator and the money operators all wore earmuffs—was just as phony as a three-dollar bill! [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from Worlds of If Science Fiction, May 1961. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
- 59. I The First Vice-President of the William Howard Taft National Bank and Trust Company, the gentleman to whom Miss Orison McCall was applying for a job, was not at all the public picture of a banker. His suit of hound's-tooth checks, the scarlet vest peeping above the vee of his jacket, were enough to assure Orison that the Taft Bank was a curious bank indeed. "I gotta say, chick, these references of yours really swing," said the Vice-President, Mr. Wanji. "Your last boss says you come on real cool in the secretary-bit." "He was a very kind employer," Orison said. She tried to keep from staring at the most remarkable item of Mr. Wanji's costume, a pair of furry green earmuffs. It was not cold. Mr. Wanji returned to Orison her letters of reference. "What color bread you got eyes for taking down, baby?" he asked. "Beg pardon?" "What kinda salary you bucking for?" he translated, bouncing up and down on the toes of his rough-leather desert boots. "I was making one-twenty a week in my last position," Miss McCall said. "You're worth more'n that, just to jazz up the decor," Mr. Wanji said. "What you say we pass you a cee-and-a-half a week. Okay?" He caught Orison's look of bewilderment. "One each, a Franklin and a Grant," he explained further. She still looked blank. "Sister, you gonna work in a bank, you gotta know who's picture's on the paper. That's a hunnerd-fifty a week, doll." "That will be most satisfactory, Mr. Wanji," Orison said. It was indeed. "Crazy!" Mr. Wanji grabbed Orison's right hand and shook it with athletic vigor. "You just now joined up with our herd. I wanna tell you, chick, it's none too soon we got some decent scenery around
- 60. this tomb, girlwise." He took her arm and led her toward the bank of elevators. The uniformed operator nodded to Mr. Wanji, bowed slightly to Orison. He, too, she observed, wore earmuffs. His were more formal than Mr. Wanji's, being midnight blue in color. "Lift us to five, Mac," Mr. Wanji said. As the elevator door shut he explained to Orison, "You can make the Taft Bank scene anywhere between the street floor and floor five. Basement and everything higher'n fifth floor is Iron Curtain Country far's you're concerned. Dig, baby?" "Yes, sir," Orison said. She was wondering if she'd be issued earmuffs, now that she'd become an employee of this most peculiar bank. The elevator opened on five to a tiny office, just large enough to hold a single desk and two chairs. On the desk were a telephone and a microphone. Beside them was a double-decked "In" and "Out" basket. "Here's where you'll do your nine-to-five, honey," Mr. Wanji said. "What will I be doing, Mr. Wanji?" Orison asked. The Vice-President pointed to the newspaper folded in the "In" basket. "Flip on the microphone and read the paper to it," he said. "When you get done reading the paper, someone will run you up something new to read. Okay?" "It seems a rather peculiar job," Orison said. "After all, I'm a secretary. Is reading the newspaper aloud supposed to familiarize me with the Bank's operation?" "Don't bug me, kid," Mr. Wanji said. "All you gotta do is read that there paper into this here microphone. Can do?" "Yes, sir," Orison said. "While you're here, Mr. Wanji, I'd like to ask you about my withholding tax, social security, credit union, coffee- breaks, union membership, lunch hour and the like. Shall we take care of these details now? Or would you—" "You just take care of that chicken-flickin' kinda stuff any way seems best to you, kid," Mr. Wanji said.
- 61. "Yes, sir," Orison said. This laissez-faire policy of Taft Bank's might explain why she'd been selected from the Treasury Department's secretarial pool to apply for work here, she thought. Orison McCall, girl Government spy. She picked up the newspaper from the "In" basket, unfolded it to discover the day's Wall Street Journal, and began at the top of column one to read it aloud. Wanji stood before the desk, nodding his head as he listened. "You blowing real good, kid," he said. "The boss is gonna dig you the most." Orison nodded. Holding her newspaper and her microphone, she read the one into the other. Mr. Wanji flicked his fingers in a good- by, then took off upstairs in the elevator. By lunchtime Orison had finished the Wall Street Journal and had begun reading a book an earmuffed page had brought her. The book was a fantastic novel of some sort, named The Hobbit. Reading this peculiar fare into the microphone before her, Miss McCall was more certain than ever that the Taft Bank was, as her boss in Washington had told her, the front for some highly irregular goings-on. An odd business for a Federal Mata Hari, Orison thought, reading a nonsense story into a microphone for an invisible audience. Orison switched off her microphone at noon, marked her place in the book and took the elevator down to the ground floor. The operator was a new man, ears concealed behind scarlet earmuffs. In the car, coming down from the interdicted upper floors, were several gentlemen with briefcases. As though they were members of a ballet-troupe, these gentlemen whipped off their hats with a single motion as Orison stepped aboard the elevator. Each of the chivalrous men, hat pressed to his heart, wore a pair of earmuffs. Orison nodded bemused acknowledgment of their gesture, and got off in the lobby vowing never to put a penny into this curiousest of banks. Lunch at the stand-up counter down the street was a normal interlude. Girls from the ground-floor offices of Taft Bank chattered
- 62. together, eyed Orison with the coolness due so attractive a competitor, and favored her with no gambit to enter their conversations. Orison sighed, finished her tuna salad on whole- wheat, then went back upstairs to her lonely desk and her microphone. By five, Orison had finished the book, reading rapidly and becoming despite herself engrossed in the saga of Bilbo Baggins, Hobbit. She switched off the microphone, put on her light coat, and rode downstairs in an elevator filled with earmuffed, silent, hat-clasping gentlemen. What I need, Orison thought, walking rapidly to the busline, is a double Scotch, followed by a double Scotch. And what the William Howard Taft National Bank and Trust Company needs is a joint raid by forces of the U.S. Treasury Department and the American Psychiatric Association. Earmuffs, indeed. Fairy-tales read into a microphone. A Vice-President with the vocabulary of a racetrack tout. And what goes on in those upper floors? Orison stopped in at the restaurant nearest her apartment house—the Windsor Arms— and ordered a meal and a single Martini. Her boss in Washington had told her that this job of hers, spying on Taft Bank from within, might prove dangerous. Indeed it was, she thought. She was in danger of becoming a solitary drinker. Home in her apartment, Orison set the notes of her first day's observations in order. Presumably Washington would call tonight for her initial report. Item: some of the men at the Bank wore earmuffs, several didn't. Item: the Vice-President's name was Mr. Wanji: Oriental? Item: the top eight floors of the Taft Bank Building seemed to be off-limits to all personnel not wearing earmuffs. Item: she was being employed at a very respectable salary to read newsprint and nonsense into a microphone. Let Washington make sense of that, she thought.
- 63. In a gloomy mood, Orison McCall showered and dressed for bed. Eleven o'clock. Washington should be calling soon, inquiring after the results of her first day's spying. No call. Orison slipped between the sheets at eleven-thirty. The clock was set; the lights were out. Wasn't Washington going to call her? Perhaps, she thought, the Department had discovered that the Earmuffs had her phone tapped. "Testing," a baritone voice muttered. Orison sat up, clutching the sheet around her throat. "Beg pardon?" she said. "Testing," the male voice repeated. "One, two, three; three, two, one. Do you read me? Over." Orison reached under the bed for a shoe. Gripping it like a Scout-ax, she reached for the light cord with her free hand and tugged at it. The room was empty. "Testing," the voice repeated. "What you're testing," Orison said in a firm voice, "is my patience. Who are you?" "Department of Treasury Monitor J-12," the male voice said. "Do you have anything to report, Miss McCall?" "Where are you, Monitor?" she demanded. "That's classified information," the voice said. "Please speak directly to your pillow, Miss McCall." Orison lay down cautiously. "All right," she whispered to her pillow. "Over here," the voice instructed her, coming from the unruffled pillow beside her. Orison transferred her head to the pillow to her left. "A radio?" she asked.
- 64. "Of a sort," Monitor J-12 agreed. "We have to maintain communications security. Have you anything to report?" "I got the job," Orison said. "Are you ... in that pillow ... all the time?" "No, Miss McCall," the voice said. "Only at report times. Shall we establish our rendezvous here at eleven-fifteen, Central Standard Time, every day?" "You make it sound so improper," Orison said. "I'm far enough away to do you no harm, Miss McCall," the monitor said. "Now, tell me what happened at the bank today." Orison briefed her pillow on the Earmuffs, on her task of reading to a microphone, and on the generally mimsy tone of the William Howard Taft National Bank and Trust Company. "That's about it, so far," she said. "Good report," J-12 said from the pillow. "Sounds like you've dropped into a real snakepit, beautiful." "How do you know ... why do you think I'm beautiful?" Orison asked. "Native optimism," the voice said. "Good night." J-12 signed off with a peculiar electronic pop that puzzled Orison for a moment. Then she placed the sound: J-12 had kissed his microphone. Orison flung the shoe and the pillow under her bed, and resolved to write Washington for permission to make her future reports by registered mail. II At ten o'clock the next morning, reading page four of the current Wall Street Journal, Orison was interrupted by the click of a pair of leather heels. The gentleman whose heels had just slammed
- 65. together was bowing. And she saw with some gratification that he was not wearing earmuffs. "My name," the stranger said, "is Dink Gerding. I am President of this bank, and wish at this time to welcome you to our little family." "I'm Orison McCall," she said. A handsome man, she mused. Twenty- eight? So tall. Could he ever be interested in a girl just five-foot- three? Maybe higher heels? "We're pleased with your work, Miss McCall," Dink Gerding said. He took the chair to the right of her desk. "It's nothing," Orison said, switching off the microphone. "On the contrary, Miss McCall. Your duties are most important," he said. "Reading papers and fairy-tales into this microphone is nothing any reasonably astute sixth-grader couldn't do as well," Orison said. "You'll be reading silently before long," Mr. Gerding said. He smiled, as though this explained everything. "By the way, your official designation is Confidential Secretary. It's me whose confidences you're to keep secret. If I ever need a letter written, may I stop down here and dictate it?" "Please do," Orison said. This bank president, for all his grace and presence, was obviously as kookie as his bank. "Have you ever worked in a bank before, Miss McCall?" Mr. Gerding asked, as though following her train of thought. "No, sir," she said. "Though I've been associated with a rather large financial organization." "You may find some of our methods a little strange, but you'll get used to them," he said. "Meanwhile, I'd be most grateful if you'd dispense with calling me 'sir.' My name is Dink. It is ridiculous, but I'd enjoy your using it." "Dink?" she asked. "And I suppose you're to call me Orison?"
- 66. "That's the drill," he said. "One more question, Orison. Dinner this evening?" Direct, she thought. Perhaps that's why he's president of a bank, and still so young. "We've hardly met," she said. "But we're on a first-name basis already," he pointed out. "Dance?" "I'd love to," Orison said, half expecting an orchestra to march, playing, from the elevator. "Then I'll pick you up at seven. Windsor Arms, if I remember your personnel form correctly." He stood, lean, all bone and muscle, and bowed slightly. West Point? Hardly. His manners were European. Sandhurst, perhaps, or Saint Cyr. Was she supposed to reply with a curtsy? Orison wondered. "Thank you," she said. He was a soldier, or had been: the way, when he turned, his shoulders stayed square. The crisp clicking of his steps, a military metronome, to the elevator. When the door slicked open Orison, staring after Dink, saw that each of the half-dozen men aboard snapped off their hats (but not their earmuffs) and bowed, the earmuffed operator bowing with them. Small bows, true; just head- and-neck. But not to her. To Dink Gerding. Orison finished the Wall Street Journal by early afternoon. A page came up a moment later with fresh reading-matter: a copy of yesterday's Congressional Record. She launched into the Record, thinking as she read of meeting again this evening that handsome madman, that splendid lunatic, that unlikely bank-president. "You read so well, darling," someone said across the desk. Orison looked up. "Oh, hello," she said. "I didn't hear you come up." "I walk ever so lightly," the woman said, standing hip-shot in front of the desk, "and pounce ever so hard." She smiled. Opulent, Orison
- 67. thought. Built like a burlesque queen. No, she thought, I don't like her. Can't. Wouldn't if I could. Never cared for cats. "I'm Orison McCall," she said, and tried to smile back without showing teeth. "Delighted," the visitor said, handing over an undelighted palm. "I'm Auga Vingt. Auga, to my friends." "Won't you sit down, Miss Vingt?" "So kind of you, darling," Auga Vingt said, "but I shan't have time to visit. I just wanted to stop and welcome you as a Taft Bank co- worker. One for all, all for one. Yea, Team. You know." "Thanks," Orison said. "Common courtesy," Miss Vingt explained. "Also, darling, I'd like to draw your attention to one little point. Dink Gerding—you know, the shoulders and muscles and crewcut? Well, he's posted property. Should you throw your starveling charms at my Dink, you'd only get your little eyes scratched out. Word to the wise, n'est-ce pas?" "Sorry you have to leave so suddenly," Orison said, rolling her Wall Street Journal into a club and standing. "Darling." "So remember, Tiny, Dink Gerding is mine. You're all alone up here. You could get broken nails, fall down the elevator shaft, all sorts of annoyance. Understand me, darling?" "You make it very clear," Orison said. "Now you'd best hurry back to your stanchion, Bossy, before the hay's all gone." "Isn't it lovely, the way you and I reached an understanding right off?" Auga asked. "Well, ta-ta." She turned and walked to the elevator, displaying, Orison thought, a disgraceful amount of ungirdled rhumba motion. The elevator stopped to pick up the odious Auga. A passenger, male, stepped off. "Good morning, Mr. Gerding," Miss Vingt said, bowing.
- 68. "Carry on, Colonel," the stranger replied. As the elevator door closed, he stepped up to Orison's desk. "Good morning. Miss McCall," he said. "What is this?" Orison demanded. "Visiting-day at the zoo?" She paused and shook her head. "Excuse me, sir," she said. "It's just that ... Vingt thing...." "Auga is rather intense," the new Mr. Gerding said. "Yeah, intense," Orison said. "Like a kidney-stone." "I stopped by to welcome you to the William Howard Taft National Bank and Trust Company family, Miss McCall," he said. "I'm Kraft Gerding, Dink's elder brother. I understand you've met Dink already." "Yes, sir," Orison said. The hair of this new Mr. Gerding was cropped even closer than Dink's. His mustache was gray-tipped, like a patch of frosted furze; and his eyes, like Dink's, were cobalt blue. The head, Orison mused, would look quite at home in one of Kaiser Bill's spike-topped Pickelhauben; but the ears were in evidence, and seemed normal. Mr. Kraft Gerding bowed—what continental manners these bankers had!—and Orison half expected him to free her hand from the rolled-up paper she still clutched and plant a kiss on it. Instead, Kraft Gerding smiled a smile as frosty as his mustache and said, "I understand that my younger brother has been talking with you, Miss McCall. Quite proper, I know. But I must warn you against mixing business with pleasure." Orison jumped up, tossing the paper into her wastebasket. "I quit!" she shouted. "You can take this crazy bank ... into bankruptcy, for all I care. I'm not going to perch up here, target for every uncaged idiot in finance, and listen to another word." "Dearest lady, my humblest pardon," Kraft Gerding said, bowing again, a bit lower. "Your work is splendid; your presence is Taft
- 69. Bank's most charming asset; my only wish is to serve and protect you. To this end, dear lady, I feel it my duty to warn you against my brother. A word to the wise...." "N'est-ce pas?" Orison said. "Well, Buster, here's a word to the foolish. Get lost." Kraft Gerding bowed and flashed his gelid smile. "Until we meet again?" "I'll hold my breath," Orison promised. "The elevator is just behind you. Push a button, will you? And bon voyage." Kraft Gerding called the elevator, marched aboard, favored Orison with a cold, quick bow, then disappeared into the mysterious heights above fifth floor. First the unspeakable Auga Vingt, then the obnoxious Kraft Gerding. Surely, Orison thought, recovering the Wall Street Journal from her wastebasket and smoothing it, no one would convert a major Midwestern bank into a lunatic asylum. How else, though, could the behavior of the Earmuffs be explained? Could madmen run a bank? Why not, she thought. History is rich in examples of madmen running nations, banks and all. She began again to read the paper into the microphone. If she finished early enough, she might get a chance to prowl those Off-Limits upper floors. Half an hour further into the paper, Orison jumped, startled by the sudden buzz of her telephone. She picked it up. "Wanji e-Kal, Datto. Dink ger-Dink d'summa." Orison scribbled down this intelligence in bemused Gregg before replying, "I'm a local girl. Try me in English." "Oh. Hi, Miss McCall," the voice said. "Guess I goofed. I'm in kinda clutch. This is Wanji. I got a kite for Mr. Dink Gerding. If you see him, tell him the escudo green is pale. Got that, doll?" "Yes, Mr. Wanji. I'll tell Mr. Gerding." Orison clicked the phone down. What now, Mata Hari? she asked herself. What was the curious language Mr. Wanji had used? She'd have to report the message to
- 70. Washington by tonight's pillow, and let the polyglots of Treasury Intelligence puzzle it out. Meanwhile, she thought, scooting her chair back from her desk, she had a vague excuse to prowl the upper floors. The Earmuffs could only fire her. Orison folded the paper and put it in the "Out" basket. Someone would be here in a moment with something new to read. She'd best get going. The elevator? No. The operators had surely been instructed to keep her off the upstairs floors. But the building had a stairway. III The door on the sixth floor was locked. Orison went on up the stairs to seven. The glass of the door there was painted black on the inside, and the landing was cellar-dark. Orison closed her eyes for a moment. There was a curious sound. The buzzing of a million bees, barely within the fringes of her hearing. Somehow, a very pleasant sound. She opened her eyes and tried the knob. The door opened. Orison was blinded by the lights, brilliant as noonday sun. The room extended through the entire seventh floor, its windows boarded shut, its ceiling a mass of fluorescent lamps. Set about the floor were galvanized steel tanks, rectangular and a little bigger than bathtubs. Orison counted the rows of tanks. Twelve rows, nine tiers. One hundred and eight tanks. She walked closer. The tubs were laced together by strands of angel-hair, delicate white lattices scintillating with pink. She walked to the nearest of the tubs and looked in. It was half full of a greenish fluid, seething with tiny pink bubbles. For a moment Orison thought she saw Benjamin Franklin winking up at her from the liquid. Then she screamed.
- 71. The pink bubbles, the tiny flesh-colored flecks glinting light from the spun-sugar bridges between the tanks, were spiders. Millions upon millions of spiders, each the size of a mustard-seed; crawling, leaping, swinging, spinning webs, seething in the hundred tanks. Orison put her hands over her ears and screamed again, backing toward the stairway door. Into a pair of arms. "I had hoped you'd be happy here, Miss McCall," Kraft Gerding said. Orison struggled to release herself. She broke free only to have her wrists seized by two Earmuffs that had appeared with the elder
- 72. Gerding. "It seems that our Pandora doesn't care for spiders," he said. "Really, Miss McCall, our little pets are quite harmless. Were we to toss you into one of these tanks...." Orison struggled against her two sumo-sized captors, whose combined weights exceeded hers by some quarter-ton, without doing more than lifting her feet from the floor. "... your flesh would be unharmed, though they spun and darted all around you. Our Microfabridae are petrovorous, Miss McCall. Of course, once they discovered your teeth, and through them a skeleton of calcium, a delicacy they find most toothsome, you'd be filleted within minutes." "Elder Compassion wouldn't like your harming the girl, Sire," one of the earmuffed sumo-wrestlers protested. "Elder Compassion has no rank," Kraft Gerding said. "Miss McCall, you must tell me what you were doing here, or I'll toss you to the spiders." "Dink ... Dink!" Orison shouted. "My beloved younger brother is otherwise engaged than in the rescue of damsels in distress," Kraft said. "Someone, after all, has to mind the bank." "I came to bring a message to Dink," Orison said. "Let me go, you acromegalic apes!" "The message?" Kraft Gerding demanded. "Something about escudo green. Put me down!" Suddenly she was dropped. Her mountainous keepers were on the floor as though struck by lightning, their arms thrown out before them, their faces abject against the floor. Kraft Gerding was slowly lowering himself to one knee. Dink had entered the spider-room. Without questions, he strode between the shiko-ing Earmuffs and put his arms around Orison.
- 73. "They can't harm you," he said. She turned to press her face against his chest. "You're all right, child. Breathe deep, swallow, and turn your brain back on. All right, now?" "All right," she said, still trembling. "They were going to throw me to the spiders." "Kraft told you that?" Dink Gerding released her and turned to the kneeling man. "Stand up, Elder Brother." "I...." Dink brought his right fist up from hip-level, crashing it into Kraft's jaw. Kraft Gerding joined the Earmuffs on the floor. "If you'd care to stand again, Elder Brother, you may attempt to recover your dignity without regard for the difference in our rank." Kraft struggled to one knee and remained kneeling, gazing up at Dink through half-closed eyes. "No? Then get out of here, all of you. Samma!" Kraft Gerding arose, stared for a moment at Dink and Orison, then, with the merest hint of a bow, led his two giant Earmuffs to the elevator. "I wish you hadn't come up here, Orison," Dink said. "Why did you do it?" "Have you read the story of Bluebeard?" Orison asked. She stood close to Dink, keeping her eyes on the nearest spidertank. "I had to see what it was you kept up here so secretly, what it was that I was forbidden to see. My excuse was to have been that I was looking for you, to deliver a message from Mr. Wanji. He said I was to tell you that the escudo green is pale." "You're too curious, and Wanji is too careless," Dink said. "Now, what is this thing you have about spiders?" "I've always been terrified of them," Orison said. "When I was a little girl, I had to stay upstairs all day one Sunday because there was a spider hanging from his thread in the stairway. I waited until Dad
- 74. came home and took it down with a broom. Even then, I didn't have appetite for supper." "Strange," Dink said. He walked over to the nearest tank and plucked one of the tiny pink creatures from a web-bridge. "This is no spider, Orison," he said. She backed away from Dink Gerding and the minuscule creature he cupped in the palm of his hand. "These are Microfabridae, more nearly related to shellfish than to spiders," he said. "They're stone- and-metal eaters. They literally couldn't harm a fly. Look at it, Orison." He extended his palm. Orison forced herself to look. The little creature, flesh-colored against his flesh, was nearly invisible, scuttling around the bowl of his hand. "Pretty little fellow, isn't he?" Dink asked. "Here. You hold him." "I'd rather not," she protested. "I'd be happier if you did," Dink said. Orison extended her hand as into a furnace. Dink brushed the Microfabridus from his palm to hers. It felt crisp and hard, like a legged grain of sand. Dink took a magnifier from his pocket and unfolded it, to hold it over Orison's palm. "He's like a baby crawdad," Orison said. "A sort of crustacean," Dink agreed. "We use them in a commercial process we're developing. That's why we keep this floor closed off and secret. We don't have a patent on the use of Microfabridae, you see." "What do they do?" Orison asked. "That's still a secret," Dink said, smiling. "I can't tell even you that, not yet, even though you're my most confidential secretary."
- 75. "What's he doing now?" Orison asked, watching the Microfabridus, perched up on the rear four of his six microscopic legs, scratching against her high-school class-ring with his tiny chelae. "They like gold," Dink explained, peering across her shoulder, comfortably close. "They're attracted to it by a chemical tropism, as children are attracted to candy. Toss him back into his tank, Orison. We'd better get you down where you belong." Orison brushed the midget crustacean off her finger into the nearest tank, where he joined the busy boil of his fellows. She felt her ring. It was pitted where the Microfabridus had been nibbling. "Strange, using crawdads in a bank," she said. She stood silent for a moment. "I thought I heard music," she said. "I heard it when I came in. Something like the sighing of wind in winter trees." "That's the hymn of the Microfabridae," Dink said. "They all sing together while they work, a chorus of some twenty million voices." He took her arm. "If you listen very carefully, you'll find the song these little workers sing the most beautiful music in the world." Orison closed her eyes, leaning back into Dink's arms, listening to the music that seemed on the outermost edge of her hearing. Wildness, storm and danger were its theme, counterpointed by promises of peace and harbor. She heard the wash of giant waves in the song, the crash of breakers against granite, cold and insatiable. And behind this, the quiet of sheltered tide-pools, the soft lub of sea-arms landlocked. "It's an ancient song," Dink said. "The Microfabridae have been singing it for a million years." He released her, and opened a wood-covered wooden box. He scooped up a cupful of the sand inside. "Hold out your hands," he told Orison. He filled them with the sand. "Throw our singers some supper for their song," he said. Orison went with her cupped hands to the nearest tank and sprinkled the mineral fishfood around inside it. The Microfabridae leaped from the liquid like miniature porpoises, seizing the grains of sand in mid-air. "They're so very strange," Orison said. At the bottom
- 76. of the tank she thought she saw Ben Franklin again, winking at her through the bubbling life. Nonsense, she thought, brushing her hands. Dink took her to the elevator and pressed the "Down" button. "Don't come up here again unless I bring you," he said. "The Microfabridae aren't dangerous, despite what my brother told you, but some of our processes might involve some risk to bystanders. So don't take any more tours above the fifth floor without me as your guide. All right, Orison?" "Yes, Dink." The elevator stopped. "Take the lady to her office," Dink told the bowing, earmuffed operator. "And Orison," he said, just before the door closed, "I'm really not a Bluebeard. See you this evening." Dink Gerding, wearing an ordinary enough suit, well-cut, expensive, but nothing extraordinary for a banker, called for Orison at seven. He'd look well, she thought, slipping into the coat he held for her, in a white uniform brocaded with pounds of spun gold, broad epaulettes, a stiff bank of extravagantly-colored ribbons across his chest; perhaps resting his right hand on the pommel of a dress saber. "Dink," she asked him, "were you ever in the Army?" "You might say I'm still in an army," he said, turning and smiling down at her from that arrogant posture of his. "I'm a corporal in the army of the gainfully employed; an army where there's little glamor but better pay than in the parades-and-battles sort. What makes you ask, Orison?" "Because of the way you stand and walk, Dink," she said. "Like an Infantry captain from Texas." "I'm flattered," Dink Gerding said, holding open the lobby door for her. "The car's just around the corner."
- 77. "I met your brother, Kraft, earlier today, just before he and the Earmuffs caught me up on eighth floor," Orison said. "He's no Texan, that one. A Junker, maybe. I'm afraid I don't much care for your brother, Dink." "To be my elder brother is Kraft's special misfortune," Dink said. "I understand he was quite loveable as a boy. Here's our transportation." The car was a Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith, splendidly conspicuous beside the curb of the Windsor Arms, reducing that nobly-named establishment by contrast to more democratic proportions. The ubiquitous Mr. Wanji, liveried in a uniform nearly as ornate as the one Orison had visualized for Dink, only his earmuffs clashing with the magnificence of his costume, sprang from the driver's seat, raced around the limousine and stood at attention holding the door for Orison and her escort. The front door of the Rolls was marked, she observed, with a gold device of three coronets. At the center of the triangle they formed was the single letter "D." The Rolls negotiated the city streets with the dignity of the Queen Elizabeth entering a minor harbor. "I thought you bankers aspired to the common touch," Orison remarked. "I expected you to come for me in a taxi, or perhaps a year-old Ford you drove yourself." "Wanji is a better driver than I. So I have him drive me," Dink explained. "We each do the work we're trained for. I assist Wanji in balancing his checkbook, for example. As for this car, it belongs not to me, but to my family. My family owns most of the toys I play with." He paused. "I've been thinking, Orison, of acquiring a most valuable property for myself alone." "A nice little seventy-meter yacht?" Orison inquired. "Or the island of Majorca, perhaps?" "Something even grander," Dink said. "You, Miss McCall." "But, Dink!"
- 78. The Rolls glided to the curb. Wanji jumped out and snapped open the door. "Sire!" he said, and saluted as Dink disbarked. Orison took Dink's hand and stepped to the curb, acknowledging Wanji's bow to her with a princess smile. She'd come a long way from the secretarial pool. The doorman of the restaurant, instructed as to the importance of these clients by their tableau at the curb, ushered Dink Gerding and Orison McCall into the presence of the maitre d'. When the doorman had been rewarded with a crackling handshake, the headwaiter led them through the crowd of groundlings as though they were accompanied by fife and drums. The table to which he bowed them, while not the most conspicuous, was without doubt the finest the management had to offer. The Reserved sign was swept aside with a gesture that indicated that there were no reservations where Mr. Dink Gerding was concerned. Mr. Gerding justified the maitre's confidence in him with another green-palmed handshake. "Dink," Orison whispered across the table. "That was a fifty-dollar bill you gave him." "Yes, it was," Dink admitted. "I felt that fifty was enough." "Quite enough," Orison assured him. The wine-steward, wearing a chain that could have held a tub to mooring, absorbed Dink's instructions with the air of a chela attending the dying words of his guru. The two waiters poised themselves reverently at his shoulders, waiting the revelation of his order. "We'll begin ..." Dink began. "Dink, I'd like a lobster," Orison said. "I'd not advise lobster," Dink said thoughtfully. "I'm afraid that lobster won't agree with you this evening."
- 79. "Dink, lobster is what I want," Orison insisted. "Haven't you heard of the Nineteenth Amendment?" "Very well, feminist," Dink said. He turned to the waiter at his right. "The lady will have a lobster." He turned to the left. "As for me, a saddle of venison, and such accessory furniture as you may choose to accompany it." The waiters bowed and retreated. "Why do you insist on being boss, even after banking-hours?" Orison asked. "Being boss is not my nature, but is my training," Dink said. "It seems to me, Orison, that you American women resent the dignity of being served by an adoring man." "I prefer dignities to be more democratic," she said. "Why, in any case, should you be exercised by my choosing lobster for dinner? My digestion is my own affair, isn't it?" "Your question," Dink said, resting his elbows on the table, "requires a two-part answer. Imprimus: everything you do interests me, Orison, inasmuch as you are my future bride. Please make no comment at this point. Allow me to enjoy for the moment the male privilege of unimpeded speech. Secundus: I once wished to be a doctor, had not my career been chosen by my father. I still pursue the study of medicine as a hobby. I didn't wish you to order lobster because I'm certain that you'll be unable to enjoy lobster." "I've eaten it before," Orison said. "Except for the engineering difficulties in getting through the shell with all those little picks and nutcrackers and nail-clippers, I had no trouble to speak of. Dink, are you a foreigner?" "What makes you think I may be?" he asked. "The crest of your car, the earmuffs on most your staff at the Bank and the fact that you seem to think a woman's opinion nothing more
- 80. than a trifle. There's a beginning," Orison said. "What's wrong with earmuffs?" Dink demanded. "Everybody wears earmuffs." "Not everybody," Orison said. "Not in April. Not bank officials. Not indoors, in any case." "Must report this to the Board," Dink said, taking a notebook from his pocket and scribbling. "Must find alternative. No earmuffs indoors." Perfect, Orison thought, near tears. He's perfect. He'd sit astride that milk-white charger like a round-table knight, sturdy and lean and honest-eyed. Dink is perfect, she thought, except only that he's insane. Dink tucked his notebook back into his vest-pocket. "If I were a foreigner," he asked, "would it make any difference to you?" "Your nationality should concern me as little as my diet concerns you," Orison said. "You said should," Dink pointed out. "That means that you are concerned with me. Therefore, I will formally invite you to marry me." He held up his hand as Orison began to speak. "I warn you, Orison, there are only two answers possible to my proposal. Only Yes or Some day." "What if I said no?" Orison asked. "I'd interpret it as Some day," he said, and smiled. "You know nothing about me," Orison protested. "But I do," Dink said. "I know you're good. I know that you've fallen half in love with me, and I entirely in love with you, in this half-day in April that we've known each other." "No," Orison said, gripping tightly the edge of the table. "That means, Some day," he said.
- 81. The lobster arrived in post-mortem splendor, borne on a silver tray, brick-red, garnished with sprigs of parsley and geranium, served with the silver instruments designed for his dissection and the bowl of baptismal butter. "Oh ..." Orison said, turning her eyes away from the supper she'd selected. "It's horrible!" "You've no appetite for lobster?" Dink asked. "I'd as soon eat boiled baby," Orison said, pressing her napkin against her lips. "Take it away," Dink instructed the waiter. "The lady will have the same order as I." The crustacean, red but undismembered, was again borne aloft by the waiter to be returned to the scene of his martyrdom. "Try a little of the wine, Orison," Dink suggested, tipping a splash of the Riesling into her glass. "It will clear your head." She sipped. "It helps," she admitted. "What do you suppose happened to me, Dink? It's as though all of a sudden I'd become allergic to lobster." "In a sense you are, darling," Dink said. "Such a strange thing," she said. "Don't let these strange things worry you, Orison," Dink said. "Think this: for everything in the universe, there's an explanation. If you understand it or not, the explanation's still there, curled up in the middle of the mystery like Pinocchio in the belly of his whale. Just have faith in the essential honesty of the universe, Orison, and you'll be all right." "A comforting philosophy," Orison said. "I can't imagine an explanation for my sudden distaste for lobster, though." "Such things happen," Dink assured her. "I have a friend, for instance, who holds life in such reverence that he eats only vegetables. Isn't that strange? And he worries, this very good friend
- 82. of mine, that perhaps vegetables have souls, too; and that perhaps it is no more moral to destroy them for his food than it is to roast and ingest his fellow animals." "So what does this friend of yours eat?" Orison asked. "Vegetables," Dink said. "But he worries about it. He's now proposing to confine his diet to cakes made from algae. His argument is that if vegetables have souls, algae have very small souls indeed; and that they suffer less in being eaten than would, say, a cabbage or an apple. His guilt may be numerically greater, eating algae. But it will be qualitatively less." "Has this micro-vegetarian friend of yours thought of psychotherapy?" Orison asked. "Often," Dink said. "But he maintains that he's much too old to pour out his mind to a stranger; too set in his patterns to change. He fears most of all, he says, that he might be made uncomfortable in new ways." "We all do," mused Orison. "Do I make you uncomfortable in a new way?" Dink asked. "You're strange," Orison said. "Your Bank is fantastic. All in all, this is the most peculiar day I've ever lived." "I promise you, Orison, that someday you'll understand why the sight of lobster made you ill this evening, why so many of the people at the Bank wear earmuffs, why I seem foreign. You'll understand the work of the singing Microfabridae and you'll meet Elder Compassion; you'll know why Wanji was excited about the escudo green; and someday soon, this most of all I promise you, you'll love me, and be my wife. Hah! Here are the comestibles. Let's talk of topics less vital than love and earmuffs. Let's talk of the weather, and Mr. Kennedy, and the orchestra."
- 83. V Abstract of Transcript, Monitor J-12, to U.S. Treasury Department Intelligence: "Miss Orison McCall's report from Potawattomi, Indiana, was delayed by one hour. Contact was established at 00:10 hours. Details follow herewith: "J-12: CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ. "Miss McCall: If you'd been a minute later, I'd have been sound asleep, dreaming bad dreams. "J-12: Is the job wearing you down? "Miss McCall: It's exciting and mysterious. Nothing like Washington. The boss of Taft Bank appears to be a man named Dink Gerding. He's six feet tall and slim, his hair is clipped short as a dachshund's, and he walks like an Olympic skier. The other men at the bank bow when they meet him, and some of them get all the way down onto the floor when he's angry. Do you suppose this means something? "J-12: Everything means something. "Miss McCall: He said that. Dink did. For everything in the universe, he said, there's an explanation. "J-12: Not so. I mean that everything that people do in banks is explainable. Not all the universe is logical—the tax-structure, for instance, or the ways of women. "Miss McCall: I'm not required to put up with male chauvinism from a pillow, Mister, no banns having been published between us. "J-12: Sorry, beautiful. Here are instructions from the Chief. He wants to know why some members of the Taft Bank staff wear earmuffs, and he wants details of what goes on upstairs. He wants you to get to know this Dink Gerding better. Over. "Miss McCall: Roger, Wilco, and Aye-Aye. Meanwhile, get philologists working on this. The sentence, Wanji e-Kal, Datto. Dink ger-Dink
- 84. d'summa, means, more or less, 'This is Wanji. I'd like to speak to Dink Gerding.' This message was received by me at Taft Bank this morning, evidently by accident. Check also possible meaning of the phrase, 'Escudo green is pale.' "J-12: Will do. "Miss McCall: Good night, then; wherever you are. "J-12: Good night, beautiful. Out." Report of Treasury Intelligence on six words of presumed foreign- language message: "Datto may be Tagalog chief. Summa is Latin sum. Total message is nonsense in fifty languages. The clear message, Escudo green is pale probably a code. Escudo is Portuguese currency presently equal to U.S. $0.348. End of Report." Confidential report (on scratchboard) of Elder Compassion to H.R.H. Dink ger-Dink, Prince Porphyrogenite of Empire, Heir-Apparent to the Throne, Scion of the Triple Crown, Count of the Northern Marches, Admiralissimo of the Conquest Forces of Empire, Captain- Commander of the XLIIth Subversion-and-Conquest Task Force (Sol III): "She whispered to her pillow, local time 2 A.M., 'I love him.'" Orison hadn't gone to sleep easily. She'd suppressed information from J-12, saying nothing to him about the Microfabridae, surely the most striking objective discovery of her two days' spying within the Taft Bank. More central in her thoughts than her disloyalty to the Treasury Department, though, was Dink Gerding. He'd told her that she was half in love with him. He was half wrong, she thought. "I love him entirely," she whispered, not knowing that J-12—in carelessness, not subterfuge—had left the receiver-switch open to the pillow she'd made her confidante.
- 85. The Wall Street Journal greeted her the next morning, curled up in her "In" basket. She'd just switched on her microphone and said "Good morning" to her invisible listener when Mr. Wanji stepped from the elevator. His ears, she saw, were bare today. But they were pink—a shocking, porcelain, opaque, Toby-mug shade of pink. She looked away from this latest manifestation of peculiarity in banker's ears. "Good morning, Mr. Wanji," she said. "Hi, doll," Wanji said. "The brain-guy says you don't have to read out loud any more. Just read quiet-like. Dig?" "Yes, sir," she said. "Shall I take notes on anything in particular?" "Naw," Wanji said. "The brain-guy, he remembers everything." "The brain-guy?" Orison asked. "Is that Dink Gerding?" "Naw. Dink's the boss. The brain-guy is the man who makes the wheels go round," Wanji said. He pressed the "Up" button of the elevator. As Wanji embarked, Orison observed that the elevator operator had the same shocking-pink ears. Had those earmuffs been designed to hide this pinkness, the symptom of some rare and disfiguring disease? Orison returned to her newspaper, reading silently as ordered, wondering what obscure Pinocchio of sense was curled up in the belly of this whale of illogic. The elevator, she noticed with the housekeeping bit of her mind, was running much more than usual today, up and down like a spastic yo- yo. Whatever the mysterious business of the William Howard Taft National Bank and Trust Company might be, there was a lot of it being done. Her telephone buzzed. Orison switched off her microphone. "Miss McCall here," she said, feeling very efficient and British. "This is Mr. Kraft Gerding," she was told. "I need you at the National Guard Armory right away, Miss McCall. Will you come right over?" "Yes, sir," Orison said. She gathered up her purse and coat and pressed the elevator button. The operator ushered her into his car
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