  We report on current efforts to detect the thermal and dissipative
contributions to the Casimir force. For the thermal component, two experiments
are in progress at Dartmouth and at the Institute Laue Langevin in Grenoble.
The first experiment will seek to detect the Casimir force at the largest
explorable distance using a cylinder-plane geometry which offers various
advantages with respect to both sphere-plane and parallel-plane geometries. In
the second experiment, the Casimir force in the parallel-plane configuration is
measured with a dedicated torsional balance, up to 10 micrometers. Parallelism
of large surfaces, critical in this configuration, is maintained through the
use of inclinometer technology already implemented at Grenoble for the study of
gravitationally bound states of ultracold neutrons, For the dissipative
component of the Casimir force, we discuss detection techniques based upon the
use of hyperfine spectroscopy of ultracold atoms and Rydberg atoms. Although
quite challenging, this triad of experimental efforts, if successful, will give
us a better knowledge of the interplay between quantum and thermal fluctuations
of the electromagnetic field and of the nature of dissipation induced by the
motion of objects in a quantum vacuum.
