displacements ofthe body in some direction about any position of equilibrium. You cannot get around it using anycombination of fixed magnets with fixed pendulums or whatever (Earnshaw,W., On the nature ofthe molecular forces which regulate the constitution of the luminferous ether).There are not really exceptions to any theorem but there are ways around it which violate theassumptions. If you can detect the position of an object in space and feed it into a control systemwhich can vary the strength of electromagnets which are acting on the object, it is not difficult tokeep it levitated. You just have to program the system to weaken the strength of the magnetwhenever the object approaches it and strengthen when it moves away. You could even do itwith movable permanent magnets. This method violates the assumption of Earnshaws theoremthat the magnets are fixed. This system, electromagnetic suspension is the system used in maglevtrains.The maglev system has an estimated maximum speed of 300 mph and would require only 40%as much fuel per passenger mile as an average automobile, and only 33% as much as the averageairplane. Much of its speed comes from the frictionless surface which, according to IsaacNewton, an object remains in motion unless acted upon by an outside force. Also due to themaglev train being run on a frictionless surface, a maglev train is quieter than a car, airplane, or aconventional train. Also to increase the speed of the maglev train, the US Air Force is testing amaglev that travels inside a tube filled with helium which is less dense than air. The trains can alsorun on electricity alone; saving valuable natural fuels.A great advantage to building these maglev trains is that it can be built along side or even in themedian strips of existing highways. Although maglev trains require its own road bed and cannotbe used on existing rail lines, it requires far less room than either regular train tracks or highways,an...
