You wrote;
> Anyone can paddle a canoe in a pool. It doesn't equate to what
> I would call unidirectional thrust.
You really need to see the video, he shows one version on the floor,
jerky yes, but moving in one direction (uni = one)....but to see the
canoe moving across the water and gaining speed is really quite amazing.
Perhaps we can get a copy of it and make an mpeg or avi file.
Another test that would be hard to deny is to hang it from a rope with
nothing but air around it, then if it pushes to one side, that would be a
more conclusive test. From my recollection of the canoe moving across
the water, I don't recall any appreciable wake or ripples behind it....
So, we have a box with a machine inside of it. The box sits in the canoe
and the canoe moves across the water with no paddles or anything touching
the water beyond the canoe.
To my view, if it was not truly unidirectional, the canoe would sit there
jerking back and forth. If it WAS unidirectional, it would move in one
preferred direction, yes jerky, but moving nonetheless. I can see your
point where the machine would transfer the motion to the canoe and thus
to the water as the reaction plate...i.e. pushing against the water.....
I don't recall if he did the rope suspension test, that would pretty much
be conclusive.
-- Jerry W. Decker / jdecker@keelynet.com http://keelynet.com / "From an Art to a Science" Voice : (214) 324-8741 / FAX : (214) 324-3501 KeelyNet - PO BOX 870716 - Mesquite - Republic of Texas - 75187