Summary

This paper is a report on the reproduction of the gravity shielding experiments reported by Podkletnov in a simplified form. In the original experiment, a mass was placed over a spinning, superconducting disc. The weight of the test mass was observed to change, thus suggesting a gravity shielding effect generated by the superconducting material. In this reproduction, the author used a non-spinning superconductor to simplify the parameter space. The entire assembly of the test-mass, superconductor and liquid nitrogen coolant is weighed using an electronic scale. As the liquid nitrogen evaporates, the superconductor warms up and thus looses its superconducting properties. If a connection between the superconducting capabilities of the material and the weight of the test mass exists, the entire setup should increase in weight as the temperature increases. This is indeed observed (variations are on the order of 0.05%). The author concludes that further investigation of this effect is warranted to obtain a theory of the observed phenomenon.

Abstract

YBa2Cu3O7 high temperature super conductor samples were weighed on an electronic balance during a warming cycle beginning at 77 deg K. The experiment was configured so that the YBa2Cu3O7 material was weighed along with a magnet, a target mass, and liquid nitrogen coolant. The weights were captured during nitrogen evaporation. Results indicated unexpected variations in the system weight that appear as a function of temperature and possibly other parameters.

Paper