Quantum levitation demo proves floating cars are on the way. The dream of riding in floating cars like The Jetsons is one of the oldest dreams presented in science fiction movies, but now a group of researchers have unveiled a demonstration that makes such a reality seem tantalizingly close. Researchers from Tel-Aviv University recently showed off their Quantum Levitation project at the ASTC Annual Conference, and the performance is simply stunning. The group coated a thin superconductor layer on a sapphire wafer which is then penetrated by discrete flux tubes. The superconductor strongly pins these tubes, allowing the wafer to float, or achieve "quantum levitation. " The coolest part of the demo is when the wafer is set on a track and propelled smoothly around it, floating in midair, while mist trails behind it! Via Quantum Levitation. Quantum Levitation.
Boaz Almog "levitates" a superconductor. Amazing science: Levitation becomes reality in quantum physics. Who says there's no magic in science? The latest development at the Tel Aviv University effectively erodes the boundaries between science and science fiction. Taking a crystal sapphire wafer and coating it with a superconductor material has created amazing results – it made the sapphire wafer levitate! ‘Yttrium barium copper oxide’ was the material used to coat the wafer in the experiment.
When kept at room temperature, nothing significant happened. The wafer’s own magnetic field gets trapped inside the thin layer of superconductor suspending it in mid-air. If the scientific description is not going blow a brain-fuse, here it is: “the superconductor material being thin in the above experiment, allowed some magnetic field to penetrate, but in discreet quantities. The successful experiment was conducted by a TAU team of physicists comprising Prof. Watch their videos A similar experiment was conducted in the Superconductor Laboratory in Oslo, Norway. Digg. QuantumLevitation.