18

I've seen reports that a 19 year old Egyptian student has invented a new space propulsion system.

For example, The Daily Mail:

  • Two mirrors used to generate power using weird quantum physics
  • Leapfrogs Nasa research into same subject
  • 19-year-old Egyptian hopes to test her invention on future space missions

Now, for science, I do not consider The Daily Mail to be a reputable source. Googling Aisha Mustafa Space Drive brings up many hits, but none from reputable sources: fastcompany.com, inhabitat.com, digitaljournal.com. I For such a major invention, there's suspiciously little coverage in reputable news sources.

Therefore, I don't believe it. But, is there a core of truth? Does this person even exist? Or is it all one big hoax?

Sklivvz
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gerrit
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    "If The Daily Mail reports on science, it's probably false." I'm inclined to agree with that statement, but, so that you don't try and make additional claims people will want verified, it's probably best just to say that you don't consider it a reputable source. – Publius Aug 02 '13 at 23:29
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    Why the downvote? – gerrit Aug 02 '13 at 23:58
  • Here's [another source](http://digitaljournal.com/article/325785) that might be a bit more reputable than The Daily Mail. It looks like [this](http://www.onislam.net/english/health-and-science/science/457096-egyptian-student-invents-a-new-propulsion-method.html) is the original source which leads me to believe that there might be a language barrier involved with answering this question. – rjzii Aug 03 '13 at 00:16
  • more "brilliant muslim kids trump established unbeliever organisations with billion dollar budgets" claims? I'd call dhimmitude before calling it a reputable claim. – jwenting Aug 03 '13 at 06:17
  • Why 2 mirrors? One mirror is enough for a solar sail, which while not new, is a potentially valid space propulsion system. Perhaps we're supposed to believe two mirrors make some kind of strange perpetual motion machine? – Paul Aug 03 '13 at 08:46
  • According to the article, the force is supposed to be generated by the [Casimir-Polder effect](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casimir_effect). This is a real phenomenon, but the forces it generates are extremely small – hdhondt Aug 05 '13 at 00:42
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    Casimir effect is a static force, articles about the invention fail to explain how this force would be used as an engine. It's kind of like claiming that we have infinite source of energy on Earth, which is the force of gravity. – vartec Aug 05 '13 at 11:30
  • Fast Company is not one I'd cite for poor journalism – warren Aug 10 '13 at 02:51
  • This is a hoax. i mean the picture isnt the right one, that girl is the fashion designer with the same name. she cant even pursue that line of study in Egypt, she has NO patent (research it) and the Casimir Effect... its an already published paper from 2004.. go hear and see this pretty girl, maybe she will make you a dress using quantum mechanics.. http://www.pink255.com/it-girl-ayesha-mustafa-part-2/ –  Jan 12 '14 at 08:12
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    Correct photos of Aisha Mustafa can be seen at this article: http://www.onislam.net/english/health-and-science/science/457096-egyptian-student-invents-a-new-propulsion-method.html A careless journalist grabbing a photo of the wrong person doesn't mean the story is a hoax. I'm not saying the story is legit, mind you. But the photo mishap proves nothing. –  Jan 12 '14 at 08:29
  • Here's the thing: The Casimir effect results in a net attractive force between two metal surfaces. So what? If that would work, then you could also make a propulsion out of two magnets. But you can't. – Lagerbaer Jul 17 '14 at 00:57

1 Answers1

19

This claim appears to be false or exaggerated. I can't find any patents in the name of the alleged inventor.

The source article identified by Rob in comments above states:

Mustafa’s supervisor, Dr. Ahmed Fikry, who heads the physics department in Sohag University, has shown great interest in his student’s invention and helped her patent it in the ASRT

There is a record of "Staff Member" Ahmed Mohamed Ahmed Ali Fikry which gives his "Qualification Degree" as "BSC" - it does not explicitly state he is the head of the Physics department.

The article reports

Aisha Mustafa, who has entered the active research area of spacecraft propulsion by her newly invented device, told the governmental EGYNews agency that she patented her invention last February in the Egyptian Academy of Scientific Research and Technology (ASRT).

From the ASRT website there is a link to the Egyptian Patent Office, I couldn't find anything relevant using their search form

Searching for Patent Title: "propulsion" and dates forom 1950 to today only returned one hit from 1987. So it may be that you need to search in Arabic.

The Egypt patent office also links to WIPO and using their search page, searching there for name "aisha" or name "mustafa" I didn't find any such patent.

RedGrittyBrick
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    Maybe she only applied for the patent, but it wasn't granted yet? – Sven Aug 04 '13 at 20:23
  • @Sven, It's possible. My gut instinct says there must be at least some kernel of truth to this story but I can't (yet?) find anything. – RedGrittyBrick Aug 04 '13 at 21:53
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    I seriously doubt there's any truth to this story, sounds more like a typical Muslim superiority thing. If it were real, there'd have been scientific publications about it before a patent claim is filed, especially as it's claimed to have been devised at a university. Also, the professor's name would have been on the invention instead of or alongside with that of the supposed student. – jwenting Aug 05 '13 at 05:02
  • @jwenting That assumes quite a lot about how Egyptian universities work - there might be very large cultural differences in play. (Not that I believe the claim either, but all of the reasons you gave to disbelieve are reasons to disbelievean *american* claim) – shieldfoss Aug 05 '13 at 11:28
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    There's an 'Ahmed Fikry Abou Zeid' [here](http://www.aucegypt.edu/sse/ceng/faculty/Pages/default.aspx), together will email address, if you want to try... – Benjol Aug 07 '13 at 11:51