Back to the future hoverboards = now possible

[Miktar]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/08/06/nlevitate106.xml


Now, in another report that sounds like it comes out of the pages of a Harry Potter book, the University of St Andrews team has created an 'incredible levitation effects? by engineering the force of nature which normally causes objects to stick together.

Professor Ulf Leonhardt and Dr Thomas Philbin, from the University of St Andrews in Scotland, have worked out a way of reversing this pheneomenon, known as the Casimir force, so that it repels instead of attracts.

[Chevron]

That would be so cool. If you had it on cars you wouldn't have to worry about tires anymore.

[Boggle24]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/08/06/nlevitate106.xml


That.
is.
Awesome.

y/n ?
y

Seriously, hover boards, HOVER BOARDS. WEEEEEE.
/me allready has visions of himself hover-skating over a huge body of water being chased by a group of future punks.

It'll probably happen when I'm 50, but still.

[Chevron]

I wanna hang onto a car and try to steal some dudes magazine while he's driving.

[Gen0cyde]

"In theory the discovery could be used to levitate a person."

Screw the stupid board, attach something like that to your shoes and you could simply fly around.
In other words, step one of the jetsons anti gravity shoes.

[Gambit]

Have you got any idea how fat the Americans would become?

[Cyberninja]

That. Is. Really. Cool. Hoverboards: Please, let it be in this lifetime...

[Insomniac]

OMG that's so awesome! How cool would it be if we can then have hoverboard races like in Jak II :D

[Gammaray]

Global warming > Ice caps melting > Hoverboard on water :)

Hover/Surf boarding anyone, because thats about the time this would be in retail.

[Nimue]

Wohoo!!! I feel the speed of light is approaching fast!! Thats amazing stuff!!

[Gldm]

Wohoo!!! I feel the speed of light is approaching fast!! Thats amazing stuff!!

All you have to do is convince the Japanese we've discovered a new planet where all the males are giant tentacle monsters and all the females look exactly like 14yo schoolgirls in miniskirts and we'll have FTL drive by Saturday.

[Chevron]

we'll have FTL drive by Saturday.

I see you watch battle star galactica.

[Miktar]

FTL = Faster Than Light, the idea of the FTL drive and usage of it can be found in science-fiction books that pre-date your parents, Chevron. :P

[Gazza_N]

Phleh, that's nothing! I achieved cold fusion in a sports bottle! Do I win or what? ;)


The practicalities of designing the lens to do this are daunting but not impossible and levitation “could happen over quite a distance”.
I love the way physicists work something out theoretically and the media acts as if it can actually be applied practically. When they turn the numbers into an actual machine, then I'll be excited!

[Nimue]

Ever heard of "where there's a will, there's a way"?

[Gazza_N]

Within reason. If they can apply it, great, but for now it's just a mathematical proof. Ranting on about all the great things that could be done if the theory can be applied is just fishing for grant money, IMHO.

[dammit]

I have to side with Gazza here...lets wait til it's in use before getting too excited. Besides, hovercrafts dont seem to be high on their list of things to do from the sounds of the article...

[DaBaish]

All you have to do is convince the Japanese we've discovered a new planet where all the males are giant tentacle monsters and all the females look exactly like 14yo schoolgirls in miniskirts and we'll have FTL drive by Saturday.

I thought they were 16? Dammit! People at lans never tell me the truth! > <


FTL = Faster Than Light, the idea of the FTL drive and usage of it can be found in science-fiction books

I thought "FTL" meant "For The Lose" in message abbreviation dictionary, god to know these things.

Ooh...if they make hoverboards, I don't hafta worry about skating over my dad's toes anymore and do you think it'll be possible to make me look like Michael J. Fox in the future?

[Karuji]

All you have to do is convince the Japanese we've discovered a new planet where all the males are giant tentacle monsters and all the females look exactly like 14yo schoolgirls in miniskirts and we'll have FTL drive by Saturday.

ROFL sorry cant help it also you need to through in that in this world every one is a 2d person who genraly has monotone skin and in sure they will have us there by midnight

[brazed]

Uhm, hello, it allready -exists-! How the hell do you guys think they made star wars?

Pshhh!

[Karuji]

of coarse but we need it to take us to the anime planet (im sure the Japanese make it though) i wonder if they have found the anime planet

[Mic]

Have you got any idea how fat the Americans would become?

that'll be a good thing... it then means that the Americans will be too lazy to make war on the world and improve world peace...

[Miktar]

that'll be a good thing... it then means that the Americans will be too lazy to make war on the world and improve world peace...

Let's keep the race-bashing to a minimum.

[0blivios]

Oo this reminds me of a vid i saw on youtube about Aliens and stuff. gz it was long. but at the end they showed this dude that made a floaty ufo thingy, it had no fans or anything and they don't know exactly how it works. maby thats where this hover board thing comes from. but even if they do make hover boards any time soon, the American government will kill it cous it wont use oil, or it will b made underground and no 1 will know about it till it gets released and it will cost like R66666.66, just like the PS3

[someoneelse]

Sigh, jeez people. Do you actually think that one day the 'powers that be' will allow civilians to fly around in the air? Also, I dont think we took into account how difficult it actually is to maneuvre a vehicle that can move in more than just two dimensions when we dreamed of the flying cars in the year 2000... never gonna happen.

Interesting discovery though

[Mic]

I agree with someoneelse... it may happen within the next century but like in the year 2089... long after were all dead... (I still stick with my WWIII theory in 2014-2020)

[Gambit]

Let's keep the race-bashing to a minimum.

Correct me if I am wrong, would that not rather be culture bashing?

[Miktar]

Correct me if I am wrong, would that not rather be culture bashing?

Actually, I'm not sure. It's often referred to as 'The American Race', but you're right, Culture is probably more appropriate.