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Inspired by the video game WipeOut, researchers at the Japan Institute of Science and Technology incorporated quantum levitation into a miniature race track. Or it’s viral marketing for the game. -via Geeks Are Sexy
On the 100th anniversary of the discovery of superconductivity, researchers at Tel Aviv University demonstrate how a superconductor will float in a locked position above a magnetized track.
The puck of superconducting material is able to stay locked in the air above the magnets because one of the properties of superconductivity is that that it is impervious to magnetic fields. The puck repels the magnetic field with greater force than the pull of gravity so it hangs in mid air…
Via Physics Buzz.
Addendum: The technology has now been applied to a skateboard.
Yogis have claimed for hundreds years to be able to levitate though through spiritual means. See the video at the link to see the trick used to create such an illusion.
Flickr user Mr. Thinktank posted this “invention” for levitating cats.
Cats love anti gravity. I bet you didn’t know that. This device was invented by Swedish immigrant Per Karlsson in the early 50s, and a small series was produced in Wellington for a while. But people didn’t go for it as much as Karlsson had hoped; maybe because they didn’t fancy having the cat hover around too much. In case you’re wondering what the little cap with the “antlers” is the cat is wearing on its head, it’s the mind reader. The cat steers the machine with her thoughts, because, how else would she.
The picture is part of a marvelous set of photographs in his Flickr set Old Anti Gravity Cruisers of New Zealand. Link -via Everlasting Blort
(Image credit: Flickr user Mr. Thinktank)
Photographer Natsumi Hayashi takes portraits of herself levitating. Her photos are taken around Tokyo where she waits for inspiration to strike, sets her timer and jumps into place.
“We are all surrounded by social stress as we are bound by the forces of earth’s gravity,” Natsumi says when asked why she took on the series. “So, I hope that people feel something like an instant release from their stressful days by seeing my levitation photos.”
Link – Via My Modern Met
One of the more daunting challenges of sending missions to Mars is the problem of dust. Due to the atmosphere and lack of displacing elements, the dust can be a menace to all forms of human operation. With challenges come great solutions, though; scientists are zeroing in on controlling the particles with acoustic levitation, as shown here:
Blasting a high-pitched noise from a tweeter into a pipe that focuses the sound waves can create enough pressure to lift troublesome alien dust from equipment, suits or vehicles, according to a study published January in the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.
Wired has the story.
Fiat Lux is a lamp with a switch that hovers underneath -no strings attached! The ball-shaped switch is magnetic, and rests on the lamp when not in use. When you approach the lamp, it turns itself on. Then you “hang” the switch underneath, where it levitates by magnetic force. Move the switch to turn the lamp off. Designed by Constance Guisset and Grégory Cid. Link -via Metafilter
Wingardium Leviosa! The spell from Harry Potter may be fun to say while using the Fly Stick Van De Graff Levitation Wand, but it’s not exactly required. See this and nine other cool levitating objects for the home at Gajitz.
