(sniff)
According to the late Dr. Robert Forward, if one rotates a massive object (or stream of objects) around a toroidal field (as shown in the illustration at the bottom left of your post), one will produce a gravitomagnetic field (i.e., artificial gravity) about the torus (shown in blue in the illustration).. A object encountering this field will be accelerated without inertial effects along the field lines (shown in red in the illustration) with a velocity proportional to the strength of the field.
In other words, if you built such a torus out in space, you could "drop" a ship into its vicinity and the artificial gravity field around the torus would "kick" the ship out into space at an arbitrailty high speed — and without subjecting the passengers to any g-forces whatsoever.
Thanks for an interesting post.
The Sun, Cosmic Rays and Our Environment
Tech Central Station ^ | 08/16/2004 | Sallie Baliunas
Posted on 08/16/2004 6:35:06 PM PDT by farmfriend
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1192860/posts