Is Human Flight Possible?

[Char. Limit]

Humans can fly on their own right now... until they hit the ground.

 

[Galteeth]

Superman's powers make a lot more sense if his actual power is to change the inertial mass of matter through contact.

 

[Danger]

I don't know whether or not this was brought about as a response to all of the physics-based criticism, but a few years back the authors at DC decided that Supe's powers were all psionically based. I can't think of that as an improvement, since psionic ability doesn't exist either, but at least they're consolidating all of their **** into one pile.

 

[tmyer2107]

Human flight might one day become possible with the discovery of a room temperature superconductor. If scientists discovered a room termperature superconductor one could create extremely powerful magnetic fields rather cheaply. You could wear a belt with these magnets on it that would allow you to levitate off the ground like superman.

Also, since water is a diamagnet if you had a powerful enough superconducting magnet you could make yourself levitate in the pressence of this magnetic field. Scientists have already levitated small animals using the diamagnetic property of water.

This isn't exactly flying like superman but it is the closest we could get.

 

[Cyrus]

Human flight might one day become possible with the discovery of a room temperature superconductor. If scientists discovered a room termperature superconductor one could create extremely powerful magnetic fields rather cheaply. You could wear a belt with these magnets on it that would allow you to levitate off the ground like superman.

Also, since water is a diamagnet if you had a powerful enough superconducting magnet you could make yourself levitate in the pressence of this magnetic field. Scientists have already levitated small animals using the diamagnetic property of water.

This isn't exactly flying like superman but it is the closest we could get.

It's already been done in 1985.

http://scienceblogs.com/omnibrain/backtothefuture_hoverboard.jpg

 

[chayced]

I'll just stick to my jetpack. Now I need to go to the store and get some eggs, hope I don't hit a bird, they taste bad. And bikers think they have it rough.

 

[Richard87]

Human Flight is possible, but not on Earth (outside of aircraft). The gravity is not right on this celestrial object. It would be possible on Titan.

 

[Newai]

When I was a kid, I imagined a tiny computer device that attached to my wrist. It could hold all the VCR movies and play them, along with all my cassette tapes and even do various calculations like my Tandy calculator. It could also communicate with my friends like a cordless phone. But that was only a dream. There's no way you can squeeze hours of VCR tapes and cassette music into a tiny device, and talk to people with it, too.

Now if you really want to talk about wild, another kid had this idea of shooting a rocket to the moon with a robot that would map it and send back video or pictures.

 

[Mr. E.]

If human consciousness is held within a field, as it has been proposed, then the idea of consciously willing yourself off the ground could be conceptualized by manipulating your own field of consciousness.
I mean that's what makes sense to me.
Consider the possibility that this field could somehow slip through the air without the hindrance of friction, drag, or even gravity.
Forget aerodynamics.
Its like electricity. Only, instead of manipulating the flow of electrons through a solid medium like metal, it is the flow of consciousness through time and space.
I think human flight is possible if somehow we can concentrate brainwaves into a rhythmic pattern instead of the chaotic signals and electrical randomness of the unfocused mind. If somehow we could realize that the spaces between our destinations are simply different aspects of ourselves, we could be more convinced that we can move at all.
So really the question is, "Is it possible to convince oneself of his own imagination?"

 

[DaveC426913]

If human consciousness is held within a field, as it has been proposed, then the idea of consciously willing yourself off the ground could be conceptualized by manipulating your own field of consciousness.
I mean that's what makes sense to me.
Consider the possibility that this field could somehow slip through the air without the hindrance of friction, drag, or even gravity.
Forget aerodynamics.
Its like electricity. Only, instead of manipulating the flow of electrons through a solid medium like metal, it is the flow of consciousness through time and space.
I think human flight is possible if somehow we can concentrate brainwaves into a rhythmic pattern instead of the chaotic signals and electrical randomness of the unfocused mind. If somehow we could realize that the spaces between our destinations are simply different aspects of ourselves, we could be more convinced that we can move at all.
So really the question is, "Is it possible to convince oneself of his own imagination?"

OK, I know this thread has been drawing only half-serious responses, and it is, after all, in GD, but this seems to have crossed the line; it is both quite serious and quite woo-woo-ist at the same time.

Let's pretend you said this tongue-in-cheek, so the thread doesn;t get locked...

 

[magpies]

Well I see two methods to do this...

Study as a buddhist monk for 60 years inside an isolated cave until you master the power of "mind"

Or you could just stop eating so that you become so light weight that on a gusty windy day you just go outside and fly in the breeze.

 

[Astronuc]

It's called falling - gracefully - aka skydiving. Eventually, one employs a parachute - assuming one wishes to fall again sometime - in the future.

To 'fly' requires mechanical assistance.

 

[magpies]

Has anyone given any thought to having a condors wings graphed onto their back? I suppose they could geneticly alter them to be super strong right?

 

[DaveC426913]

It's called falling - gracefully

It's called throwing yourself at the ground - and missing.

 

[DaveC426913]

Has anyone given any thought to having a condors wings graphed onto their back? I suppose they could geneticly alter them to be super strong right?

And I guess grafting a condor's brain onto their own brain, to control the extra muscles?

And then there's the square-cube problem. A condor's big, but it's not that big...

According to Wiki, theymax out at ... 10kg. So a human, who might weigh 50kg, would need wings that are 5^2 (2.23x) larger in area or 5^3 (1.7x) times longer.

 

[Cyrus]

Has anyone given any thought to having a condors wings graphed onto their back? I suppose they could geneticly alter them to be super strong right?

Wow, just wow.

 

[Evo]

If human consciousness is held within a field, as it has been proposed, then the idea of consciously willing yourself off the ground could be conceptualized by manipulating your own field of consciousness.
I mean that's what makes sense to me.
Consider the possibility that this field could somehow slip through the air without the hindrance of friction, drag, or even gravity.
Forget aerodynamics.
Its like electricity. Only, instead of manipulating the flow of electrons through a solid medium like metal, it is the flow of consciousness through time and space.
I think human flight is possible if somehow we can concentrate brainwaves into a rhythmic pattern instead of the chaotic signals and electrical randomness of the unfocused mind. If somehow we could realize that the spaces between our destinations are simply different aspects of ourselves, we could be more convinced that we can move at all.
So really the question is, "Is it possible to convince oneself of his own imagination?"

Sure, you can convince yourself you can do anything. Reality is you'll go "splat"

Thread closed.