Hoverboard Breakthrough

[Big Guy]

Looks like the Hoverboard of "Back to the Future" fame is a reality;

There are obvious financial and development issues but it is a reality.

No end to what man can do when focussing efforts towards a positive end.

Brave New World!

[Moonlight Graham]

Back To The Future II took place in 2015...so I guess the filmmakers were pretty close to right on the hoverboard prediction

[-1=e^ipi]

It looks cool, but it's expensive and impractical, though a good way to dupe money out of the scientifically illiterate. From what I can tell, the hoverboard is just a bunch of super conductive material cooled by liquid nitrogen. It uses superconductivity to hover over metal. Most likely there is metal right below that cement, water, etc. It makes more sense to make a hoverboard out of a quadcopter since that doesn't require everything around you to be covered in metal, is cheaper and can arguably even fly. Philip Mason did a video on another of these recent 'hoverboard' claims that are based on superconductivity.

Edited August 6, 2015 by -1=e^ipi

[-1=e^ipi]

Liquid Nitrogen has been around since 1883.

Superconductive materials that can be superconductive at the boiling point of liquid nitrogen has been around since 1987.

Congrats, this technology is 28 years old.

[Bonam]

Liquid Nitrogen has been around since 1883.

Superconductive materials that can be superconductive at the boiling point of liquid nitrogen has been around since 1987.

Congrats, this technology is 28 years old.

If someone can market a hoverboard park where you can ride around on these things on top of terrain that is riddled with magnets, more power to them. It might be fun.

[Moonlight Graham]

If someone can market a hoverboard park where you can ride around on these things on top of terrain that is riddled with magnets, more power to them. It might be fun.

You need magnets under the ground to ride this thing? I thought it worked using earth's gravity?

[Bonam]

You need magnets under the ground to ride this thing? I thought it worked using earth's gravity?

Yes, you need magnets under the ground. The hoverboard contains superconducting YBCuO or a similar material, and the ground has magnets in it. The magnetic fields from the permanent magnets generate eddy currents in the YBCuO and because it is superconducting, the magnetic field lines cannot penetrate into the material. Therefore, what holds up the board is magnetic pressure. The observed phenomenon is the counterbalance between the upward force of the magnetic field pressure and the downward force of gravity.

[AngusThermopyle]

Old news, saw this months ago. Kinda lame really. This looks like much more fun.

[Moonlight Graham]

Yes, you need magnets under the ground. The hoverboard contains superconducting YBCuO or a similar material, and the ground has magnets in it. The magnetic fields from the permanent magnets generate eddy currents in the YBCuO and because it is superconducting, the magnetic field lines cannot penetrate into the material. Therefore, what holds up the board is magnetic pressure. The observed phenomenon is the counterbalance between the upward force of the magnetic field pressure and the downward force of gravity.

Well then that's a far leap from Back To The Future I reckon.