h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I recently read an article in popular mechanics magazine (Oct 2000, p 40) that was discussing research being done to build a device that has the power to enhance or nullify the force of gravity. This technology is possibly only five years away. The article described this device as being able to cancel out gravity inside of a 1ft dia. region, extending from the surface of earth, all the way out into outer space, using only 1kW of electricity. The heart of this tecnology is a 12in dia. superconducting disk, rotating in a magnetic field. The magnetic field causes particles inside of the disk to align and spin in the same direction at extreamly high speed. The ultra high speed rotation of these particles is what creates or cancels out the gravitational field.