I'm in a similar boat. It is possible that we are missing something. Yes, it could be cold fusion all over again; but at the very least, it's on track to be tested thoroughly enough to be proved or disproved.
As long as we are talking about fundamentally updating physics, it'd be hilarious if we determine it works, but don't know how, then take it up in space, only to find that this weird effect is dependent upon the local gravitational field.
If there is a five percent chance that it's real then they need to get one of these things in the heavens to give it a whirl. Even if it's nothing, sending it up there to find out would save a lot of experimental effort to replicate the results on earth and save a bunch of hand wringing on science blogs.
"We'll all be looking back on this day as the point where it all changed."
- My 8th grade science teacher, March 23 1989
I hope they find something. But I can't quite muster up a "cautiously optimistic."
My bet is on this being a measurement error, or an extra force they didn't think about.
I e-mailed the main guy behind the paper and pointed out that they too easily disregard the possibility of this being an electrostatic effect because they say that can't be the case because the setup is "grounded". The air quotes are because I'm working on an electrostatic instrument, and our experience is that it is very hard to remove all surface charges. At the kind of forces this paper talks about it doesn't take much charge buildup for some nearby electric field to contribute force via Coulomb attraction. Any kind of grease stain or oxide patch can do this