For the first time, scientists have observed a collection of particles, also known as a quasiparticle, that's massless when moving one direction but has mass in the other direction. The quasiparticle, called a semi-Dirac fermion, was first theorized 16 years ago, but was only recently spotted inside a crystal of semi-metal material called ZrSiS. The observation of the quasiparticle opens the door to future advances in a range of emerging technologies from batteries to sensors, according to researchers at Penn State.
Hmm… is this what could change space-flight? Imagine having a material that is nigh weighless when moving away from gravity but gains mass again when moving towards it. It would make it much more feasible to transport heavier stuff into space.
They quote in the article that when moving in certain directions, the fermion’s energy is completely derived from motion. So it’s essentially taking the m out of E = mc², which is still neat, but not really something you can scale up
Unfortunately we can’t just build something out of particles like this. Consider electrons or neutrinos, something similar is what we’re dealing with here.
Hmm… is this what could change space-flight? Imagine having a material that is nigh weighless when moving away from gravity but gains mass again when moving towards it. It would make it much more feasible to transport heavier stuff into space.
They quote in the article that when moving in certain directions, the fermion’s energy is completely derived from motion. So it’s essentially taking the m out of E = mc², which is still neat, but not really something you can scale up
Unfortunately we can’t just build something out of particles like this. Consider electrons or neutrinos, something similar is what we’re dealing with here.
Yet. We can’t do it yet. Now that we know it’s possible under the right conditions maybe we can figure it out with a century of effort.