Hoverboards Do Exist, But Not In The Way You Imagine

The dream of flight has plagued humankind since we can remember. Leonardo Da Vinci, famous inventor, says:

For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards, for there you have been and there you will long to return.

Now a real hoverboard has arrived: the Lexus Hoverboard. Yes, hoverboards really do exist! The Lexus Hoverboard has limitations, as it cannot fly anywhere other than places with special metal plating, and the Hoverboard has other issues, but hey, at least it hovers! Sadly, the board was never meant to be for consumers. The hoverboard is part of a campaign by Lexus, the car manufacturer. Yes, a car company is making hoverboards.

Superconductors. That’s the version you are going to hear, unless you are ready for some physics.

The Lexus board uses magnets to hover, but unlike maglev trains and the Hendo Hover, these are a different type of magnet. A superconductor is basically a very cold version of a magnet. Since the metal in question is so cold, the electrons in the material almost don’t move at all. That makes the flow of electricity much, much faster, and that enables the Lexus to fly, while weighing much less than the Hendo hover.

With a superconductor you don’t need to have an oscillating magnetic field to float. Instead, something happens called the Meissner Effect, which essentially means that when you create current, it doesn’t die away, like a normal magnetic field. (Like Hendo’s.)

Hoverboards Do Exist, But Not In The Way You Imagine

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