News & Blogs - Lexus Hoverboard | Squat the Planet

News & Blogs Lexus Hoverboard

Odin

ANTISOLIPSIST
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
2,401
Reaction score
2,931
Location
Earth
Website
www.youtube.com
The future is here.







www.wired.com/2015/08/lexus-hoverboard/
Here’s That Lexus Hoverboard Finally in Action
After a month of teasers and speculation, Lexus has finally shown off its real, live, working hoverboard. It may not be Back to the Future, but it’s still a mighty satisfying ride.

As it turns out, the future is hard; professional skateboarder Ross McGouran has plenty of spills on the way to mastering even basic moves. That’s perhaps not surprising, given that riding the Lexus hoverboard is basically like straddling a maglev train. As we explained in June, the Lexus hoverboard relies on superconductors and magnets, which work against gravity to lift board and rider above the ground. That cool-looking steam coming off of the sides isn’t decorative; it’s liquid nitrogen, cooling the superconductors to -321 degrees Fahrenheit, the temperature at which they become superconducting.

The steam’s not the only thing that may not be quite what it appears. The biggest disappointment for hoverboard enthusiasts is that course on which McGouran hover-shreds is actually has metal underneath it; on the surfaces that comprise the vast majority of our infrastructure, the hoverboard would simply be a heavy, immobile board. In fact, aside from its healthy dose of style, the Lexus hoverboard isn’t much different from a dozen lab demonstrations that have taken place over the last few decades.

A highly constrained, not quite original hoverboard is still a hoverboard, though. And this one even comes with a bonus; Lexus put together a mini-doc about the process that gives a refreshingly clear-eyed look at the physics behind the fun.

Let’s hope jetpacks are next.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Kal and Brother X

Tude

Sometimes traveler is traveling.
Joined
Jul 28, 2011
Messages
4,154
Reaction score
2,955
Location
Rochester, NY
I saw this earlier hehe - I would so try this. And I would get more boo boo's too - but it looks fun!!!!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Kal

shabti

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 21, 2014
Messages
176
Reaction score
244
Location
San Francisco, United States
rich-dousche concept toy. I'd be surprised if they can get something like it in mass production....ever. Superconductors costing what they do.

well, if our great-great-great-great grandkids aren't living in an irradiated wasteland, then I'm sure they'll have fun on these, when they aren't plugged into the VR.

cool idea though.
 

Maximus

Member
Joined
Jun 29, 2015
Messages
13
Reaction score
19
Location
Omaha, NE
I'd love to try it out, but you'd have to refill the liquid nitrogen a lot to keep the magnets cold and for them to continue acting as super conductors. It's a shame that it won't realistically be mass produced, or cheap, for quite some time.
 

Matt Derrick

Retired Wanderer
Staff member
Joined
Aug 4, 2006
Messages
10,542
Reaction score
13,815
Location
Portland, OR
Website
youtube.com
i thought this was pretty cool until i saw the behind the scenes video. the technology is real, but the application is fake. the video below is linked to the time you can see the rail best:



So if you watch through to the end, they kind of gloss over the fact that the hoverboard requires a TRACK/RAIL to ride on, which they FUCKING HID under the surface of the skate ramp. this means that the smallest deviation from that rail and boom, no more hovering.

So is it a hover board? Technically, yes. Will it ever see the light of day? No. It will never be seen in the real world as a skateboard, and was simply a publicity stunt by lexus. As far as I'm concerned, it's just kind of a major cock tease to promote their fucking cars.
 

Matt Derrick

Retired Wanderer
Staff member
Joined
Aug 4, 2006
Messages
10,542
Reaction score
13,815
Location
Portland, OR
Website
youtube.com
The steam’s not the only thing that may not be quite what it appears. The biggest disappointment for hoverboard enthusiasts is that course on which McGouran hover-shreds is actually has metal underneath it; on the surfaces that comprise the vast majority of our infrastructure, the hoverboard would simply be a heavy, immobile board. In fact, aside from its healthy dose of style, the Lexus hoverboard isn’t much different from a dozen lab demonstrations that have taken place over the last few decades.

admittedly, i did not read the text description, only watched the video, so i missed this part quoted above...
 

Odin

ANTISOLIPSIST
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
2,401
Reaction score
2,931
Location
Earth
Website
www.youtube.com
A highly constrained, not quite original hoverboard is still a hoverboard, though.


Yea that's basically what I went with. The article I found separate from the youtube vids.

And yea it's lexus... Still it's neat to find people trying to bring science fiction to life.
When they build a star ship enterprise someday, It will still be an impressive feat even if it does not match our scifi representations completely.

The way I see it... that hoverboard is an example of moving forward. Next innovation might bring it all the way. Maybe all they need is to come up with a special mix of concrete that lets the board hover everywhere. And maybe adjust the magnets so they can be actuated and they're force directed. Or come up with a different type of super magnet or set of configurations for the magnets...

All I know is once upon a time Back to the Future II had me searching the back of popular mechanics magazines for a hoverboard... now we are closer.
 

Matt Derrick

Retired Wanderer
Staff member
Joined
Aug 4, 2006
Messages
10,542
Reaction score
13,815
Location
Portland, OR
Website
youtube.com
yeah i get that, but i can't help thinking about how at some point some marketing peice of shit was like, "Okay, but it HAS to fly over a lexus at some point" instead of just doing it for the science of it.

also, the first video CLEARLY misrepresents what they have 'achieved'. it's only in the second video you find out what a bullshit lie the first video was. that's at best misleading, but more on the level of a flat out lie if you ask me.
 

Odin

ANTISOLIPSIST
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
2,401
Reaction score
2,931
Location
Earth
Website
www.youtube.com
yeah i get that, but i can't help thinking about how at some point some marketing peice of shit was like, "Okay, but it HAS to fly over a lexus at some point" instead of just doing it for the science of it.

also, the first video CLEARLY misrepresents what they have 'achieved'. it's only in the second video you find out what a bullshit lie the first video was. that's at best misleading, but more on the level of a flat out lie if you ask me.

No disagreement here man.

As a matter of fact it's like you say... they did it for lexus instead of for the science of it. Thats part of the reason it's not a "real" go anywhere hoverboard. The motivation was to find the simplest fastest most impressive way to show case "Lexus Innovation" or whatever.

But we don't have a world where science is done just for science always. Damn profits drive everything even scientific discoveries and how those discoveries are applied to society. (often just another tool for the rich to get richer... ).

Damn... okay but I'm not gonna let it get me down. :(
I could still hope to be cool like Marty McFly someday. :D
 
  • Like
Reactions: Matt Derrick
K

Kim Chee

Guest
I'm a baller and have just pre-ordered the 2017 hovering Lexus.

Jk...

I don't have that much money;)

Science fiction sometimes becomes science fact:

13 Everyday Technologies That Were First Imagined In Science Fiction
Invisibilty cloaks


Laser guns
laser-guns.jpg

Rheinmetall
Weaponized laser turret

The United States Army has a weaponized laser called the Avenger. It's 20 times hotter than a stove top and can even cut through artillery shells.

It's currently in use to dismantle IEDs, which do more damage to US forces than any other weapon.


Robots that learn
robots-that-learn.jpg

Wikimedia
Professor Henry Markram is a computer scientist and medical doctor and he might be a modern day Dr. Frankenstein. He's at work with a team of scientists to build a robot that can learn, reports the Daily Mail.

He says he's on target to have his "creature" completed in 2018.


Automatic doors
automatic-doors.jpg

substack
Automatic doors are mentioned in HG Wells' When the Sleeper Wakes, a novel about a man desperate for the future to arrive.

Turns out that the future actually does have automatic doors.


Space travel
space-travel.jpg

Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images
Jules Verne called it in 1865 with his novel "From The Earth To The Moon" -- mankind would eventually travel to space.

This became reality on April 12, 1961 when Yuri Gagarin became the first human in outer space, successfully completing an orbit of the earth in a spacecraft.


Submarines
submarines.jpg

wikipedia commons
Jules Verne's classic 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea was published in 1870, and it takes place almost entirely on an underwater ship that can easily be called a precursor to the modern submarine.


Voice control
voice-control.jpg

Flickr | Krista76
One of the most forboding movie villains of modern cinema was HAL, the voice-controlled computer in 2001: A Space Odyssey.

With the introduction of software like Siri on the iPhone 4S, voice control has gone mainstream.


The Internet
the-internet.jpg

hazimmermann via Flickr
The lurking giant called "the Internet" can actually be attributed to multiple science fiction writers, but we're going to focus on John Brunner.

In 1975, Brunner's novel The Shockwave Rider told a story of a huge computer network, introducing the ideas of stealing identities, hacking, and computer viruses. He even suggests that these would play an important part in modern warfare, which they certainly do today.


Flying car
flying-car.jpg

Flickr
It's real and it's street-legal.

The Terrafugia flying car gets 35 miles to the gallon as a car and consumes 5 gallons per hour as a plane. It flies at 115 miles per hour and can cover 490 miles per flight. You can buy one today, starting with only a $10,000 deposit.


Airplane television
airplane-television.jpg

Anthony Quintano
We first saw it i
 

Odin

ANTISOLIPSIST
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
2,401
Reaction score
2,931
Location
Earth
Website
www.youtube.com
Last edited:

About us

  • Squat the Planet is the world's largest social network for misfit travelers. Join our community of do-it-yourself nomads and learn how to explore the world by any means necessary.

    More Info

Help us pay the bills!

Total amount
$10.00
Goal
$100.00

Latest Library Uploads