Sci-Fi In Real Life: Hoverboards On The Way With Advancements In Quantum Locking. If you were asked what piece of awesome fictional tech you’d love to see find its way into the realm of the real, 99% of respondents would, without even thinking about it, say the Hoverboard from Back to the Future Part 2. The idea of floating around smoothly on a board that hovers six inches above the ground is awesome. Maybe even more awesome and affordable than flying cars. Well, the gap between fiction and reality may have just closed significantly. Geniuses from the Tel-Aviv University demonstrated “quantum locking”, which allows superconductive metals to be suspended above a magnetic field.
The process involves freezing the metal down to where the electrical resistivity is zero, allowing it to be locked in space above a proper magnet. It’s hard to watch this and accept that you’re not looking at some sort of simple special effect, or maybe even two opposing magnets simply repelling each other.
Hoverboards Could Be Real Thanks To Quantum Levitation. It has suddenly become not so difficult to imagine a future where we're all riding around on our very own Marty McFly hoverboards, or where we might actually be able to turn Quidditch into a real sport. That's because researchers have revealed that such technology is no longer in the realm of science fiction and wizardry. At a recent conference for the Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC), physicists from Tel Aviv University demonstrated a process called quantum levitation, whereby they were able to take a wafer of sapphire coated in a very thin, super conductive layer of yttrium barium copper oxide (frozen to negative 185 Celsius) and cause it to float in such a way that it seems as if it's being held by a very rigid invisbile net. Or the hand of Einstein's ghost. But don't take my word for it. Check out the video: By the way, if you want to have your mind further blown by all things science and science fiction, head on over to Giant Freakin Robot.
Quantum Levitation. Nike's Plans For "Back To The Future" Self-Lacing Sneakers.
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