Creation of hoverboards that are functional and rideable have been a bumpy journey, one that any fan of Back To The Future knows painfully well.

With achievements such as Hendo’s $10,000 hoverboard, the record was set set for longest ride over water (just over 900 feet traveled!) and successful experiments with short distances as seen in this video.

However, up until now, there has not been too many hints into the feasibility of hoverboards as both a commercial item as well as its ability to travel large distances. Thanks to Lexus and their absurdly short teaser video, there may just be hope!

While Lexus does not actually go into detail of how this will work but they did mention magnetic levitation using liquid nitrogen and permanent magnets which only leaves two possibilities into what the company could be putting together.

One way would be through how Hendo’s use of Lenz’s law in their awesome creation whose Kickstarter you may have donated to, which utilizes induction to create repelling magnetic forces using conductive materials (such as copper) and magnets.

The “flux” induces an electrical current from within the material was causing the metal to respond with their own magnetic field, which according to Lenz’s law, will always oppose the change that had produced it. The repulsive forces are able to levitate as long as the object’s mass does not try to fight against it.  Hendo did an awesome job with the design but it does have its limitations including how loud it is when running and a VERY short battery time of seven minutes.

The second, and probably the route Lexus will take, comes superconductors, specifically type-II materials due to their imperfections. Superconductors are materials that have zero resistance to electricity and produces magnetic fields from within. When super chilled, specific oxides and alloys (such as yttrium barium copper oxide) can conduct electricity with losing any energy. While superconductors normally repel magnetic fields to levitate it in a wobbly fashion, the tiny imperfections from using metals that are not pure allows for the creation of “flux tubes” or tiny channels that allow for a small amount of the magnetic field to penetrate the material and therefore “locking” or stabilizing the object.

The trick, I’m assuming, will be in creating a method of continuously cooling the board while also compensating for different masses. As you may have figured out, the heavier the object, the colder the object will have to be cooled! It should also be noted that Lexus has admitted that the concrete seen in the video is not just concrete and the board only works on special metal surfaces!

While scientists have long been experimenting with quantum locking, it will be interesting to see where Lexus will take this with their bamboo and liquid nitrogen mystery board. Although it could very well be a publicity stunt, Lexus says that they have been working on their product for over a year and have been testing it with pro skateboarders in Barcelona so hopefully they will be releasing more news on their development process soon!

ABOUT >> Mac Lemons
  • ACCOUNT NAME >> paranoidlemons
  • BIO >> Mac is a history lover, avid harry potter fan, and occasionally pretends to join the circus. While flying on fabrics and searching for magic are her true passions, her civilian life forces her to walk around a lot.
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