

The World's First Hoverboard - tempestn
http://www.hendohover.com/

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Andrenid
A good breakdown of this on YouTube:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMZ2cyNxPwg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMZ2cyNxPwg)

The company behind it is pushing the limits of false advertising as far as I'm
concerned. They're preying on the not-so-technically-literate to convince them
this is basically a "proper" hoverboard, when it's just a gimmick toy that can
only be used over a conductive surface.

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tempestn
The materials I saw were pretty forthright about working only on metal
surfaces, although certainly the website itself doesn't emphasize that. What I
do find questionable is that the creator is quoted all over the place as
saying that he is committed to creating a version that _won 't_ require a
metal surface. As far as my understanding of physics goes though, that's not
possible... and presumably he realizes that. So that part certainly seems like
a ploy.

~~~
andrewflnr
It's not completely impossible:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamagnetism](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamagnetism).
Most materials, when exposed to a magnetic field, produce an opposing magnetic
field. However, this requires pretty ridiculously large magnetic fields: the
article shows a small frog being suspended in a 16 tesla field, which is just
insane. Not sure if that's what's going on here, but if it's not actually
ruled out, it makes me a bit more confident that there's a more efficient way
to do it.

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AdamGibbins
I can't find any mention on the site to the surfaces it supports - turns out
its powered by magnets, so only works on magnetic surfaces.

~~~
jessaustin
That does seem kind of limiting, but realistically what else can we expect in
the next ten years or so? At our current level of physics understanding, a
board must either interact with fields that most of the boarding environment
doesn't naturally generate, or it must move a lot of mass downward very
quickly. The former will always be lame (like TFA) while the latter must see
radical miniaturization before it will be practical.

~~~
jinushaun
Science really needs to solve that darn gravity equation.

