Mokong Posted August 6, 2015 Posted August 6, 2015 It is 2015 and Future Day is fast approaching (Oct 25th 2015, the future date Marty travelled to in Back to the Future 2) While the world we live in looks nothing like the film assumed, if we can at least get hoverboards that will be one childhood dream come reality enough for me Lexus have been teasing they were making a hoverboard but many thought it a hoax. OK well it doesnt work on all surfaces and requires liquid nitrogen to work but its a first step. But this one does work on water (kinda) so already have one improvement over the one on film
MoogleViper Posted August 6, 2015 Posted August 6, 2015 Flux pinning is nothing new. Mag Surf made a hover board using this method 4 years ago.
Shorty Posted August 6, 2015 Posted August 6, 2015 Until I see something that can hover on any surface and not over a single magnetic track, I'll reserve my excitement.
MoogleViper Posted August 6, 2015 Posted August 6, 2015 Until I see something that can hover on any surface and not over a single magnetic track, I'll reserve my excitement. I think it's still pretty exciting/amazing (albeit not new). And the versatility issue is less with the use of magnetic track and more with the ease of creating a superconductor without the need for super cooling. We could easily build roads and rails from magnets (think the Japanese mag lev train) but we can't feasibly run a levitating vehicle that regularly needs to be cooled with liquid nitrogen to just a few degrees above absolute 0.
Shorty Posted August 6, 2015 Posted August 6, 2015 But do you think this is even a small step closer to making an actual hoverboard? The guts of the thing may be very impressive, but the result not so much.
bob Posted August 6, 2015 Posted August 6, 2015 I think an actual hoverboard will need to run using a completely different mechanism, so I doubt this has got us any closer. However, as a proof of concept for other purposes, it's quite impressive.
MoogleViper Posted August 6, 2015 Posted August 6, 2015 But do you think this is even a small step closer to making an actual hoverboard? The guts of the thing may be very impressive, but the result not so much. Hover board? Probably not. But other forms of travel such as improved rail or even single person travel such as the rail gun esque hyperloop that Elon Musk is developing.
Sméagol Posted August 6, 2015 Posted August 6, 2015 Yeah, the news was a bit disappointing, but I wouldn't mind if they put this tech to use in a bobsleigh track..
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