"This is essentially the same mechanism used by sailboats tacking against the wind, and despite being counterintuitive at first is well-established."Tacking is different from this. This is using ground-speed to generate thrust, as even the shills acknowledge.
"The speed is limited only by gearing and mechanical efficiency--an idealized device could accelerate arbitrarily."
Arbitrary magic acceleration inside an atmosphere should be your first clue that something's extremely wrong here.
And yes, I looked at the various forum links that turned up, which made very clear the very typical full-court astroturf press going on (like the argument above with someone who registered only to argue with unbelievers in this thread). You might take a look.
"Sticking with a knee-jerk reaction against something while ignoring further information that supports it gives "skeptics" a bad name."
Skeptics get a bad name because they don't join in the squee.
All I ask is that you look at the further information. Check back on this story in months and years and see whether it pans out.
Tacking is different from this. This is using ground-speed to generate thrust, as even the shills acknowledge.
"The speed is limited only by gearing and mechanical efficiency--an idealized device could accelerate arbitrarily."
Arbitrary magic acceleration inside an atmosphere should be your first clue that something's extremely wrong here.
And yes, I looked at the various forum links that turned up, which made very clear the very typical full-court astroturf press going on (like the argument above with someone who registered only to argue with unbelievers in this thread). You might take a look.
"Sticking with a knee-jerk reaction against something while ignoring further information that supports it gives "skeptics" a bad name."
Skeptics get a bad name because they don't join in the squee.
All I ask is that you look at the further information. Check back on this story in months and years and see whether it pans out.