不用推進(jìn)劑，可加速到光速99%的概念引擎

When it comes to space, there's a problem with our human drive to go all the places and see all the things. A big problem. It's, well, space.

一提到太空，人類想去所有地方看所有事物的欲望就會(huì)遇到一個(gè)問(wèn)題，而且是個(gè)大問(wèn)題，那就是“太空”。

It's way too big. Even travelling at the maximum speed the Universe allows, it would take us years to reach our nearest neighbouring star.

太空太大了，即使以宇宙允許的最快速度行駛，我們也要花幾年時(shí)間才能到達(dá)離我們最近的恒星。

But another human drive is finding solutions to big problems. And that's what NASA engineer David Burns has been doing in his spare time.

但人類的另一個(gè)欲望是找到解決大問(wèn)題的辦法，NASA工程師David Burns就一直利用業(yè)余時(shí)間研究這個(gè)。

He's produced an engine concept that, he says, could theoretically accelerate to 99 percent of the speed of light - all without using propellant.

他提出了一個(gè)概念引擎，他說(shuō)理論上可以加速到光速的99%，而且完全不用推進(jìn)劑。

He's posted it to the NASA Technical Reports Server under the heading "Helical Engine", and, on paper, it works by exploiting the way mass can change at relativistic speeds - those close to the speed of light in a vacuum. It has not yet been reviewed by an expert.

他將其發(fā)表在NASA技術(shù)報(bào)告服務(wù)器上，標(biāo)題是“螺旋引擎”。理論上來(lái)說(shuō)它的工作原理是利用相對(duì)論性速度(即與真空中光速接近的速度)下質(zhì)量變化的方式。至今還沒(méi)有專家對(duì)此做出評(píng)論。

Understandably this paper has caused buzz approaching levels seen in the early days of the EM Drive. And yes, even some headlines claiming the engine could 'violate the laws of physics'.

可以理解的是這個(gè)論文已經(jīng)引發(fā)關(guān)注，其熱度可以媲美無(wú)燃料引擎早期的關(guān)注度。甚至有些新聞聲稱該引擎可能“違反物理定律”。

But while this concept is fascinating, it's definitely not going to break physics anytime soon.

雖然這個(gè)概念很吸引人，但短期內(nèi)絕對(duì)不會(huì)打破物理規(guī)律。

As a thought experiment to explain his concept, Burns describes a box with a weight inside, threaded on a line, with a spring at each end bouncing the weight back and forth.

Burns利用一個(gè)思維實(shí)驗(yàn)解釋他的概念，他描述說(shuō)一個(gè)盒子里面有一個(gè)重物，穿在一條線上，兩端用彈簧來(lái)回彈起重物。

In a vacuum - such as space - the effect of this would be to wiggle the entire box, with the weight seeming to stand still, like a gif stabilised around the weight.

在真空狀態(tài)，比如太空中，這樣做的結(jié)果是整個(gè)盒子都會(huì)動(dòng)，重物似乎靜止不動(dòng)，就像放置在重物周圍的動(dòng)圖。

Overall, the box would stay wiggling in the same spot - but if the mass of the weight were to increase in only one direction, it would generate a greater push in that direction, and therefore thrust.

總的來(lái)說(shuō)，這個(gè)盒子會(huì)在同一個(gè)地方擺動(dòng)，但如果重物質(zhì)量只向一個(gè)方向增加，那個(gè)方向推動(dòng)力更大，因而產(chǎn)生推力。