Changes

The [[motion picture]] adaptation, ''[[Atlas Shrugged, Part 1]],'' proposed an entirely different sort of revolutionary motor. In the film, Henry Rearden and Dagny Taggart mention the Casimir Effect, which classically is an attraction between two metal conducting plates brought close together in a ''quantum vacuum.''

The [[motion picture]] adaptation, ''[[Atlas Shrugged, Part 1]],'' proposed an entirely different sort of revolutionary motor. In the film, Henry Rearden and Dagny Taggart mention the Casimir Effect, which classically is an attraction between two metal conducting plates brought close together in a ''quantum vacuum.''

In fact, Alexander Feigel, of the Soreq Nuclear Research Center, Yavne, [[Israel]], actually proposed building a "quantum propulsion engine" that employs the Casimir Effect, or something close to it.<ref name=casimir>Feigel A, "[http://arxiv.org/abs/0912.1031 A magneto-electric quantum wheel]," ''Quantum Physics'', 5 December 2009. Cited in "[http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/arxiv/24499/ A Blueprint for a Quantum Propulsion Machine]," ''Physics ArXiv Blog,'' 9 December 2009. Cited in turn in Dillow C, "[http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2009-12/quantum-propulsion-machine Practical Steps Toward a Quantum Propulsion Machine]," ''Popular Science'', 9 December 2009. Retrieved 26 November 2011.</ref> To be more specific, Feigel proposed introducing an array of nanoparticles into a quantum vacuum and rotating them at critical moments. Usually, the Casimir Effect is too small to be of practical consequences, and the related Lorentz forces cancel one another out. Feigel's proposed nanoparticle-rotation scheme would cause the Lorentz forces to add up to a resultant that would be strong enough to do useful work.

In fact, Alexander Feigel, of the Soreq Nuclear Research Center, Yavne, [[Israel]], actually proposed building a "quantum propulsion engine" that employs the Casimir Effect, or something close to it.<ref name=casimir>Feigel A, "[https://arxiv.org/abs/0912.1031 A magneto-electric quantum wheel]," ''Quantum Physics'', 5 December 2009. Cited in "[http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/arxiv/24499/ A Blueprint for a Quantum Propulsion Machine]," ''Physics ArXiv Blog,'' 9 December 2009. Cited in turn in Dillow C, "[http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2009-12/quantum-propulsion-machine Practical Steps Toward a Quantum Propulsion Machine]," ''Popular Science'', 9 December 2009. Retrieved 26 November 2011.</ref> To be more specific, Feigel proposed introducing an array of nanoparticles into a quantum vacuum and rotating them at critical moments. Usually, the Casimir Effect is too small to be of practical consequences, and the related Lorentz forces cancel one another out. Feigel's proposed nanoparticle-rotation scheme would cause the Lorentz forces to add up to a resultant that would be strong enough to do useful work.

Feigel used the phrase "quantum propulsion machine." A more compact term would be a quantum ''motor'', because it uses quantum forces to move things.

Feigel used the phrase "quantum propulsion machine." A more compact term would be a quantum ''motor'', because it uses quantum forces to move things.

=== The strike as a political movement ===

=== The strike as a political movement ===

History has seen examples of men defecting from their countries of origin in order to live in other countries that have far more lenient [[tax]]ation and other policies. The history of the United States also has examples of some States drawing population and sometimes jobs from other States on account of differential tax, regulatory, and other policy. Still, the prospect of a total defection from organized society, and a retreat to a secluded mountain valley, provoked derision from reviewer [[Whittaker Chambers]]<ref name=chambers>Chambers W, "Big Sister Is Watching You," ''National Review'', December 28, 1957. Hosted at National Review Online, published January 5, 2005. Accessed May 1, 2009.<http://www.nationalreview.com/flashback/flashback200501050715.asp></ref> and others, and few persons have proposed such a thing and actually expected people to take them seriously. But few indeed have been the instances in history in which the provocations were as great as ''Atlas Shrugged'' describes. Some suggest that the current policies of [[Barack Obama]] and the [[United States Congress]] now under the complete control of the [[Democratic Party]] might indeed provide just such provocation.

History has seen examples of men defecting from their countries of origin in order to live in other countries that have far more lenient [[tax]]ation and other policies. The history of the United States also has examples of some States drawing population and sometimes jobs from other States on account of differential tax, regulatory, and other policy. Still, the prospect of a total defection from organized society, and a retreat to a secluded mountain valley, provoked derision from reviewer [[Whittaker Chambers]]<ref name=chambers>Chambers W, "Big Sister Is Watching You," ''National Review'', December 28, 1957. Hosted at National Review Online, published January 5, 2005. Accessed May 1, 2009.<https://www.nationalreview.com/flashback/flashback200501050715.asp></ref> and others, and few persons have proposed such a thing and actually expected people to take them seriously. But few indeed have been the instances in history in which the provocations were as great as ''Atlas Shrugged'' describes. Some suggest that the current policies of [[Barack Obama]] and the [[United States Congress]] now under the complete control of the [[Democratic Party]] might indeed provide just such provocation.

Nor would "going on strike" necessarily require building anything as elaborate as [[Galt's Gulch]]. The spontaneous organization, after John Galt's speech, of the "miniature Mulligan's Valleys" in various forest and similar regions is a far more likely scenario.

Nor would "going on strike" necessarily require building anything as elaborate as [[Galt's Gulch]]. The spontaneous organization, after John Galt's speech, of the "miniature Mulligan's Valleys" in various forest and similar regions is a far more likely scenario.