"Hey boss,..... I think i created a force field"

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bebop013

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#1 bebop013
Member since 2004 • 4225 Posts

this story is from years back but i didn't hear about it till last year. a force field was (supposedly) accidentally created at a 3M manufacturing plant here in South Carolina

David Swenson of 3M Corporation describes an anomaly where workers encountered a strange "invisible wall" in the area under a fast-moving sheet of electrically charged polypropelene film in a factory. This "invisible wall" was strong enough to prevent humans from passing through. A person near this "wall" was unable to turn, and so had to walk backwards to retreat from it.

This occurred in late summer in South Carolina, in extremely high humidity. Polypropelene (PP) film on 50K ft. rolls 20ft wide was being slit and transferred to multiple smaller spools. The film was taken off the main roll at high speed, flowed upwards 20ft to overhead rollers, passed horizontally 20ft and then downwards to the slitting device, where it was spooled onto shorter rolls. The whole operation formed a cubical shaped tent, with two walls and a ceiling approximately 20ft square. The spools ran at 1000ft/min, or about 10MPH. The PP film had been manufactured with dissimilar surface structure on opposing faces. Contact electrification can occur even in similar materials if the surface textures or micro-structures are significantly different. The generation of a large imbalance of electrical surface-charge during unspooling was therefor not unexpected, and is a common problem in this industry. "Static cling" in the megavolt range!

On entering the factory floor and far from the equipment, Mr. Swenson's 200KV/ft handheld electrometer was found to slam to full scale. When he attempted to walk through the corridor formed by the moving film, he was stopped about half way through by an "invisible wall." He could lean all his weight forward but was unable to pass. He observed a fly get pulled into the charged, moving plastic, and speculates that the e-fields might have been strong enough to suck in birds!

The production manager did not believe Mr. Swenson's report of the strange phenomena. When they both returned to the factory floor, they found that the "wall" was no longer there. But the production workers had noticed the effect as occurring early in the morning when humidity was lower, so they agreed to try again another day. The second attempt was successful, and early in the morning the field underneath the "tent" was strong enough to raise even the short, curly hair of the production manager. The "invisible wall" effect had returned. He commented that he "didn't know whether to fix it or sell tickets."

heres a more detailed link

im unable to find the article i originally read, which spoke of military coming to investigate it.

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ferrari2001

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#2 ferrari2001
Member since 2008 • 17772 Posts
Now all we need to do is figure out Warp Drives, and we can finally build that enterprise I've been planning.
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play_thegame

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#3 play_thegame
Member since 2008 • 3630 Posts
while I disagree when new offensive weapons are created as they are detrimental to our peaceful co existence, this is very interesting. reports have been heard of the US experimenting since the cold war, but nothing concrete has surfaced. of course the problem now is to replicate the same effect over a large enough area for them to be effective or work out a way to kit out troops (or at least tanks etc.) with it. this power source related problem has knocked down bigger ideas than force fields in the past.
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bebop013

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#4 bebop013
Member since 2004 • 4225 Posts
that and it seems this could only replicate (at least in this form) with a high humidity level
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KillerWabbit23

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#5 KillerWabbit23
Member since 2009 • 3466 Posts

The Star Wars nerd in me is sqealing with joy right now.

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deactivated-6016e81e8e30f

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#6 deactivated-6016e81e8e30f
Member since 2009 • 12955 Posts
This is exciting. I am excited. We're nearing the sci-fi world I've always dreamt of.
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TheShadowLord07

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#7 TheShadowLord07
Member since 2006 • 23083 Posts

I demand one of these then

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Jph625

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#8 Jph625
Member since 2009 • 1046 Posts

I want one.

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nocoolnamejim

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#9 nocoolnamejim
Member since 2003 • 15136 Posts

The Star Wars nerd in me is sqealing with joy right now.

KillerWabbit23
My reaction as well.
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deactivated-6016e81e8e30f

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#10 deactivated-6016e81e8e30f
Member since 2009 • 12955 Posts
[QUOTE="KillerWabbit23"]

The Star Wars nerd in me is sqealing with joy right now.

nocoolnamejim
My reaction as well.

I wonder how happy you guys will be when they invent laser guns that never seem to hit anything, then. :P
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JohnF111

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#11 JohnF111
Member since 2010 • 14190 Posts

Yeah i had one of these, I used it to produce a shield around my car when i was sleeping, better than any alarm system... My cat also had one but it usually resulted in the cat floating around so i took it off him and put it on my dog, but when he went to eat his food the bowl would wander around the floor and oddly up walls as he tried to chase it. I sold it now and bought a new TV.

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nocoolnamejim

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#12 nocoolnamejim
Member since 2003 • 15136 Posts
[QUOTE="nocoolnamejim"][QUOTE="KillerWabbit23"]

The Star Wars nerd in me is sqealing with joy right now.

SeraphimGoddess
My reaction as well.

I wonder how happy you guys will be when they invent laser guns that never seem to hit anything, then. :P

Let's just say there are times when I really wish they'd hurry up and invent FTL drives so I can get away from this planet. :P And...(game reference alert!) Bioware totally stole the Asari from the Syreen.
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Head_of_games

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#13 Head_of_games
Member since 2007 • 10859 Posts
I'm guessing they could have shot a bullet through it.
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LIONHEART-_-

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#14 LIONHEART-_-
Member since 2010 • 2520 Posts

Coulumb's Law, I guess.

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deactivated-6016e81e8e30f

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#15 deactivated-6016e81e8e30f
Member since 2009 • 12955 Posts

Let's just say there are times when I really wish they'd hurry up and invent FTL drives so I can get away from this planet. :P

And...(game reference alert!) Bioware totally stole the Asari from the Syreen.nocoolnamejim

Well on the track of sci-fi technology and tropes we're traveling, it won't be long before planet-wide apocalypse forces us to migrate into space anywho.

And Bioware didn't steal jack, it's common knowledge every sci-fi universe absolutely needs a hot female alien race. :P

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LIONHEART-_-

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#16 LIONHEART-_-
Member since 2010 • 2520 Posts

[QUOTE="nocoolnamejim"] Let's just say there are times when I really wish they'd hurry up and invent FTL drives so I can get away from this planet. :P

And...(game reference alert!) Bioware totally stole the Asari from the Syreen.SeraphimGoddess

Well on the track of sci-fi technology and tropes we're traveling, it won't be long before planet-wide apocalypse forces us to migrate into space anywho.

And Bioware didn't steal jack, it's common knowledge every sci-fi universe absolutely needs a hot female alien race. :P

Okay, so, which particular Asari do you find hawt? :P

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bebop013

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#17 bebop013
Member since 2004 • 4225 Posts

[QUOTE="SeraphimGoddess"]

[QUOTE="nocoolnamejim"] Let's just say there are times when I really wish they'd hurry up and invent FTL drives so I can get away from this planet. :P

And...(game reference alert!) Bioware totally stole the Asari from the Syreen.LIONHEART-_-

Well on the track of sci-fi technology and tropes we're traveling, it won't be long before planet-wide apocalypse forces us to migrate into space anywho.

And Bioware didn't steal jack, it's common knowledge every sci-fi universe absolutely needs a hot female alien race. :P

Okay, so, which particular Asari do you find hawt? :P

uhm, they all look nearly identical