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> It doesn't attempt to disqualify an existing model It would very much disqualify conservation of momentum, which is another way of saying that the laws of motion are the same here and one meter down the road. Conservation of momentum has been observed in countless experiments for centuries, in a broad range of conditions. It was indeed observed first; there's no catching up needed for the theory. It's always valuable, and in a sense exciting too, to test it again beyond the range where it's already been tested, even if you expect a negative result (the null hypothesis holding). But that's not what's happening: If your goal is to learn, and you see momentum not being conserved in your prototype space engine, you start dismantling it, simplifying it, until you stop seeing it. And then go back one step to see it again. Your device might not be a space engine anymore! But now it's simplified; easier to reproduce, and easier to model and analyze. The laws of nature don't care about the purpose and coolness of your device, they apply the same. You also take your measurement apparatus and calibrate it against something unrelated, in many conditions, to make sure it's not lying. You might have a different goal than learning: to achieve cheap space travel, which is a great thing. If then you build a prototype space engine with the hope that it won't conserve momentum, and you see a positive result, there's already the first red flag. If when you see that, what you do is trying to explain it with new (or with wrong) theory instead of questioning it, there's the second red flag. Healthy debates, and playing with technology in a lab, are good things. But not all good things are science. Our minds are too easy to fool, and people are doing this without condoms. |