According to Philip Gibbs , “the Casimir effect is a small attractive force which acts between two close parallel uncharged conducting plates. It is due to quantum vacuum fluctuations of the electromagnetic field.”
Dutch physicist Hendrick Casimir came up with the idea in 1948. The vacuum, according to Quantum physics, contains virtual particles in a continuous state of fluctuation. Casimir realized that between two closely spaced, conducting plates, only the virtual photons with wavelengths which fit a whole number of times into the gap (i.e. no half-quantum lengths allowed) should be part of the vacuum energy calculation. By moving the plates closer together, the energy density should decrease. This would imply that there was a small force drawing the plates toward one another.
The attractive Casimir force between two plates of area A separated by a distance r can be calculated to be,
F = (p h c A) / (480 r4)
where h is Planck's constant and c is the speed of light.
Casimir’s tiny force was measured in 1996 by Steven Lamoreaux. His results were in agreement with the theory to within an experimental uncertainty of 5%.
It is assumed that particles other than a photon may also contribute a small effect, but to date only the photon force has been measurable. Supposedly, all fundamental particles which are skin to photons (i.e. Bosons) should produce an attractive Casimir force.
On the other hand, Fermions -- a whole different breed of elementary particles, should make a repulsive contribution. And thus, if electromagnetism was supersymmetric, there would be fermionic photons whose contribution would exactly cancel that of the bosonic photons and there would be no Casimir effect. The fact the Casimir effect has been shown to exist suggests that if supersymmetry exists in nature, it must be a broken symmetry.
The Casimir force has been suggested by many researchers into New Energy as a possibly fertile area of research. But it gets better.
An alternative “Casimir Effect” is one that arises from an even more detailed investigation into the nature of the most fundamental of elementary particles, the electron.
Casimir  and others have attempted to understand the electron structure, and how the similar -- and thus opposing -- charge “fragments” of the electrons’ primary charge do not somehow expand the electron’s dimension to infinity! In other words, why doesn’t the electron explode on the basis of its own like-charge forces within itself repelling each other in the tradition of like charges repel (and unlike charges attract)? In answering this question, Casimir argued that the internal stability of the electron may be due to Zero Point Energy forces, and that one might “assume that there exists also an electromagnetic field inside the electron, but that the shell acts as an infinitely conducting separation between the internal and the external field.” [emphasis added]
According to Casimir : “For a spherical shell the electromagnetic mass at low velocities is given by 2/3 e2/Rc, where the “additional field energy” for low velocities is 1/2 me v2.” In this regard, me is the electromagnetic mass, with the experimental mass being the sum of electromagnetic and mechanical masses. It seems plausible that the electromagnetic or EM mass, i.e. the “self-energy” corresponding to the EM mass, is just the Spin Energy.
Furthermore, Rindler  has noted the implied interactions between electromagnetism and inertia. A result of this is that “a minute magnetic field should arise within any massive rotating shell with stationary charges inside it.” [emphasis added]
These statements seem particularly relevant here. Is it possible that Casimir’s electronic, “infinitely conducting” “shell” might be akin to the Meisner Field of Superconductivity? Does the idea of a massive rotating shell include an electron or proton -- their charge being a composite of more elementary charge fragments (e.g. quarks) and interacting in such a way to produce a minute magnetic field, and is this magnetic field a Meisner Field? Is, in fact, the very structure of the electron that of a minute superconducting sphere of like charges? This seems extremely likely when we add into the mix, Cooper pairs.
Superconductivity involves among other things the formation of Cooper pairs (electrons with a decided yen for each other). In the process of going superconducting, these Cooper pairs take on the characteristics of light. This lightening up process would thus eliminate the difficulty of the charge fragments of an electron repelling themselves, because the charge itself would be vanquished and replaced with light! Furthermore, the very concept of superconductivity may be nothing more than just connecting the already existing Meisner fields of each election into a larger, grander Meisner field.
The possibility of superconductivity acting as an ingredient in the structure of the electron is obviously profound. Furthermore, if the assumed nearly spherical shell of the electron may be thought of as a superconducting Meisner field, the electron may be encapsulating a magnetic charge or monopole, and may furthermore depend upon its intrinsic spin in order to maintain it’s existence. Magnetic charge and intrinsic Spin may thus be intimately linked (i.e. charge in motion creating a magnetic field), and in addition, connect the vacuum and Zero Point with Superconductivity.
Schwinger  has noted that, “The release of Casimir energy in filling a dielectric hole is identified as the source of coherent Sonoluminescence.” Basically, everything ties together, if not with Superstrings and/or Hyperdimensional Physics, then by the consistent laws of nature.
According to Casimir, Dirac has questioned the nature of the shape of the electron as it accelerates, whether or not the surface of the electron may be deformable, and that furthermore, what forces exist which might tend to keep a electron spherical?  Better yet, why would an electron ever be spherical? In the same discussion of Casimir Forces on the electron -- i.e. those forces whereby one portion of the electron with a fragment charge is not driven away from another part -- Casimir has asked if there is a shape or gradient of the charge on an elementary particle?
You can count on it. The ability of an electron to interact with other parts of the universe (including its fellow electrons and opposite number protons) will undoubtedly depend on its not being perfectly spherical. Furthermore, Hyperdimensional Physics would require a non-spherical shape, as would the superconductivity/Cooper pairing/light process. It’s the same argument as in Transcendental Numbers. The fact that a sphere is an easy mathematical tool is insufficient justification for assuming such a simplistic view.
All of this ties in with Nuclear Deformation and its contribution to Superconductivity. One may ask, in the spirit of Dirac, if the shape of an accelerated electron deforms in some way which ultimately, under the right conditions, allows for the conversion of an electron pair into a Cooper pair? Alternatively, in order to shift into Superconductivity, is it a change in acceleration, instead of merely an “accelerated electron” that is essential?
Ultimately, a fundamental question involves the possibility of:
Deformation Þ Life (or lifetime), and
(d Life/ dt) Þ Consciousness
 H.B.G. Casimir, “Introductory Remarks on Quantum Electrodynamics,” Physica Scripta, Vol. 19, 1953, pg 846.
 W. Rindler, Essential Relativity, Springler-Verlag, New York, 1977.
 J. Schwinger, “Casimir Light: The Source,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, USA, Vol. 90, March, 1993, pg 2105-2106.
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