"The researchers say a device that loosens the clutch of gravity, sometimes called a gravity shield, may be the only way to enable human spacecraft to blast off to other star systems."

This is such a dim view of the future.
IF we ever do manned mission to another star system, we won't be blasting off from Earth.

Btw, IMO my pipelauncher idea is probably the closest we will get to a some "anti-gravity" device within the foreseeable future. But if you want to look far into the future (manned interstellar travel) there are lots of ways of defeating Earth gravity at far less energy cost than our current rockets.