The Wright brothers did not break any barriers in basic science, they solved an engineering problem. The basics of fluid dynamics and prerequisites to flight were established in the late 19th/beginning of the 20th century. There were plenty of details to sort out and experiments to do, but the scientific foundation was there. The problem of flight had been reduced to the engineering problem of improving two ratios: Thrust/Weight and Lift/Drag.
What this man in his garage is proposing he's done would be earth shattering if the demo he's impressed upon a rather impressionable reporter (and several HN commenters) were real. More impressive than anything the $10 billion LHC could hope for, but he hasn't, let's be clear.
What's actually happened is a guy tinkering in his garage with electromagnets has gotten himself and a few people surrounding him caught up with grandiose ideas. Electromagnets aren't blocked by faraday cages, which easily explains away any warping he thinks he's accomplished.
You shouldn't need technical knowledge to figure this out though, because the top half of that article isn't about what he's doing, it's about the underdog ignored maverick thinker making revolutions in his garage. It's in an online newspaper hosted at omaha.com. It's written by someone with obviously little scientific training.
Personal bollocks filters are important to develop.
The Wrights did novel and indispensable practical research on airfoils and what can actually generate lift. The "theoretical" understanding of fluid dynamics and lift before them was quite wrong... because no one had tested it. So too they solved the problems of aerodynamic stability and how to effect control through numerous experiments.
They also had plenty of engineering challenges, such as structure and power and skin and how to activate control surfaces. But to consider what they did to be a mere "engineering problem" is bollocks.
The Wright brothers did not break any barriers in basic science, they solved an engineering problem. The basics of fluid dynamics and prerequisites to flight were established in the late 19th/beginning of the 20th century. There were plenty of details to sort out and experiments to do, but the scientific foundation was there. The problem of flight had been reduced to the engineering problem of improving two ratios: Thrust/Weight and Lift/Drag.
What this man in his garage is proposing he's done would be earth shattering if the demo he's impressed upon a rather impressionable reporter (and several HN commenters) were real. More impressive than anything the $10 billion LHC could hope for, but he hasn't, let's be clear.
What's actually happened is a guy tinkering in his garage with electromagnets has gotten himself and a few people surrounding him caught up with grandiose ideas. Electromagnets aren't blocked by faraday cages, which easily explains away any warping he thinks he's accomplished.
You shouldn't need technical knowledge to figure this out though, because the top half of that article isn't about what he's doing, it's about the underdog ignored maverick thinker making revolutions in his garage. It's in an online newspaper hosted at omaha.com. It's written by someone with obviously little scientific training.
Personal bollocks filters are important to develop.