Move over, skateboards. The world is finally ready for moves like Marty McFly’s. After news of quantum levitation and quantum trapping being used efficiently by The Superconductivity Group from the School of Physics and Astronomy at Tel Aviv University, superconductors became hot news. Quantum trapping locks an object above the surface of a supercooled magnet. To the human eye, it looks like floating.

The trapped object, most often a sapphire crystal that has been coated with a very thin layer of ceramic material called yttrium barium copper oxide, is cooled to below 301 degrees Fahrenheit, becoming a superconductor. When suspended above magnets, it becomes locked--floating above whatever path the magnets create. For many, the first thing that came to mind upon seeing this in action was the hoverboard.

 

 

Immediately, quantum physics students and professors at the Paris Diderot University in France began putting together a board of their own. It may not be the bright pink board from Back to the Future, but it works. The board can even support the weight of a human being, meaning it’s already possible to ride one of these on a track. However, a picture is worth a thousand words, and a video is worth even more. See quantum levitation in action below and then check out the hoverboard prototype via the DailyMotion.

 

 

magsurf - skate supraconducteur - hoverboard by mameasson