The article says:
"The electron eventually gets sucked into the nanotube via quantum
tunneling, causing its companion ion to shoot away -- repelled by the
strong charge of the 300-volt nanotube -- at a speed of roughly 26
kilometers per second, or 59,000 miles per hour."
I wonder if that could be used for a high ISP rocket engine, like an ion drive.
What we need for rockets is something like a miniature particle
accelerator, or an array of microscopic ones. They have to be more
efficient than a full scale one because even with cold fusion or some
other nuclear source of electricity you don't want too much weight in
the power supplies.
- Jed
