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FuddyDuddy
FuddyDuddy
Joined: 14 May 2000
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PostPosted: 12-27-2016 04:51 PM           Profile Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


Marty McFly’s wheeless ride from Back to the Future II is with us in real life. How does it work? And what does it mean for future transport?

It was the must-have gift you had no hope of finding under the tree on Christmas morning – mostly because it didn’t exist.
The hoverboard may have only been a reality in Michael J Fox’s 1989 film Back to the Future II, but that didn’t stop a generation of youngsters wanting one – whether they could skateboard or not.
It may have taken nearly 30 years, but it looks like reality might have taken the first faltering steps toward the realities the 1980s blockbusters promised us.
As the video below shows, it’s now technically possible to make a hoverboard - like the one that Marty McFly careers around the 21st Century streets with - thanks to three things: magnets, semiconductors and the freezing properties of liquid nitrogen.
In the video below, you can watch one such hoverboard in action, built by members of the BBC’s Britlab team – though it is only big enough to hold a toy soldier.
In short, the superconductor is wrapped in tinfoil, and plunged into liquid nitrogen – which has been cooled to -197C (-322F) – and then placed over a track of magnets. Cooling the superconductor down to this incredibly cold temperature reduces its electrical resistance to almost nothing, meaning it can conduct large currents that create an intense magnetic field. So when you place the superconductor over the magnetic track, it hovers an inch or so above it.
It’s not quite as dramatic as in Back to the Future II, but it is a hoverboard.
Tinfoil-coated desk experiments are one thing – but what about out on the streets? Last year, luxury carmaker Lexus (an offshoot of auto giant Toyota) unveiled their own hoverboard, which was being tested on a specially built track in Barcelona. In the short clip you can see below, a skateboarder goes seamlessly from a traditional board to the new Lexus creation. More:


http://www.bbc.com/future/story/2016122 ... on-to-fact



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Arrr?
Arrr?
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PostPosted: 12-27-2016 06:09 PM           Profile Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


Since there's no friction, how do you control it?



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Just another Earthling
Just another Earthling
Joined: 20 Jul 2001
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PostPosted: 12-27-2016 06:21 PM           Profile Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


Transient wrote:
Since there's no friction, how do you control it?


Yes, interesting point :!:

Little jet thrusters perhaps as in space walk.



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Etile
Etile
Joined: 19 Nov 2003
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PostPosted: 12-28-2016 02:11 AM           Profile Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


lars63 wrote:
How does it work?


magnets

Quote:
And what does it mean for future transport?


in of itself, nothing. this tech is already used in maglev trains. no use whatsoever for skateboards other than HAY GUISE BACK 2 TEH FUTURE IZ REAL!!!111one




Last edited by seremtan on 12-28-2016 07:10 AM, edited 1 time in total.

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The hell good boy
The hell good boy
Joined: 22 Jun 2011
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PostPosted: 12-28-2016 02:55 AM           Profile   Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


Well, try to put it on asphalt :D And we'll see if it's fact or fiction :D But this is amazing. Levitation by magnetic fields.



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Welfare Recipient
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Joined: 02 Mar 2007
Posts: 20936
PostPosted: 12-28-2016 08:08 AM           Profile Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote





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FuddyDuddy
FuddyDuddy
Joined: 14 May 2000
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PostPosted: 12-28-2016 06:01 PM           Profile Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


scared? wrote:
https://www.google.com/amp/www.theverge.com/platform/amp/2016/12/26/14084996/lgs-new-levitating-speaker-promises-10-hours-of-floating-funk?client=ms-android-att-us

That's pretty cool!



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The Afflicted
The Afflicted
Joined: 11 Mar 2015
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PostPosted: 12-29-2016 03:24 AM           Profile Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote




But i wont buy one made by tesla...
:olo: :)



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