The levitation

Article 1 : It seems like everyone is trying to make a "hoverboard"

By Cadie Thompson, Tech Insider

There's another "hoverboard" hitting the market.

Hoverboard Technologies launched their Kickstarter on Thursday to begin production of their single-wheeled electric skateboard dubbed “Hoverboard.”

While the device may not enable you to actually levitate above the ground, it does have a fancy design that will at least make you look like you are riding something from the future.

The gyro-stabalized board features a single wheel in the center of the board that is powered by an electric motor. It also has LED lighting around the board and built in speakers so users can listen to music while zipping around.

An app connects with the board wirelessly so riders can control the music, lighting, set speed limits, and check charge levels.

The so-called hoverboard has a range of 15 miles, and can reach speeds of up to 16 miles per hour. It can fully charge in just 16 minutes with a supercharger or about an hour with a regular charger.

The downside is the fancy features and long range mean the device weighs about 25 pounds. Another negative is at $3,775, the hoverboard is definitely not cheap.

Hoverboard Technologies is not the first company to try and create a futuristic skateboard that mimics Marty McFly’s hoverboard in “Back to the Future II.”

Earlier this year, Lexus actually unveiled a functioning levitating hoverboard. But it was designed to only work in a custom skatepark that had magnets lining the track. The company also said they don’t have any commercial plans for the device.

Hendo Hoverboard has also created a levitating hoverboard, but it too requires special tracks to function.

Levitating boards aren't the only innovations companies are trying to create on the personal transportation front, though. 

In August, the Japanese company Cocoa showed off its vision of personal transport with a skateboard-like device called the “WalkCar.”  The board received a lot of attention because of its small size. It weighs less than 10 pounds and is about the same size of laptop, which allows it to easily fit in a backpack. 

While Hoverboard Technologies' board is nowhere near as small, the board's other features may make up for its inconveniant size. 

Check out the so-called hoverboard in action below. 

Article 2: Hyperloop: How the 760mph train will levitate above a magnetic track

By Alistair Charlton

Hyperloop Transportation Technologies has revealed how its Elon Musk-inspired bullet train will levitate on a magnetic field as it blasts between stations at the speed of sound. The train will use a technology called passive magnetic levitation which its creators claim is more efficient and safer than the levitation system used by Maglev trains in Japan.

Where Maglev trains require many power stations to be installed along the side of the track, each feeding electricity to copper cables in the track, which become an electromagnet once charged, the Hyperloop system has a passive magnet on each train carriage and an aluminium track containing loops of wire. This setup is more like a pair of regular magnets, rather than an electromagnet which requires a constant supply of electricity to work.

Bibop Gresta, chief operations officer of Hyperloop Transport Technologies (HTT), explained how this system is better than Meglev. "Utilising a passive levitation system will eliminate the need for power stations along the Hyperloop track, which makes this system the most suitable for the application and will keep construction costs low."

Gresta continued: "From a safety aspect, the system has huge advantages, levitation occurs purely through movement, therefore if any type of power failure occurs, Hyperloop pods would continue to levitate and only after reaching minimal speeds touch the ground."

Where a power failure on a Maglev system would see the train fall into the rails at any speed (potentially hundreds of miles per hour), HTT's trains naturally levitate above the track at around 20mph and over; the theory is the same as that behind levitating Bluetooth speakers, which use two magnets facing each other to hold a speaker in the air above its base station.

The passive magnetic levitation system was developed by Dr Richard Post and his team at Lawrence Livermore National Labs, California, had has been exclusively licensed to HTT for use on the Hyperloop. The company says its floating trains can accelerate to 760mph between stations, faster than a commercial airliner. The trains will travel in a tube with almost all of its air removed, reducing drag and helping the carriages reach high speeds with minimal effort.

Costs are kept low by using solar power and recharging the onboard batteries through regenerative braking, a system also used by Formula One cars and electric vehicles like the Tesla Model S. HTT says construction on the Hyperloop starts later in 2016 and the first passenger service will begin in 2018.

HTT is not to be confused with Hyperloop Technologies, another company setting out to build a Hyperloop train. Both firms began work after Tesla CEO Elon Musk published a white paper in 2013 detailing how such a train might work. His plans described a train capable of taking passengers from Los Angeles to San Francisco, a journey of 350 miles, in 30 minutes. Musk says he will not be involved with building a Hyperloop, as his commitments lie with being CEO of Tesla and space transportation company SpaceX, and chairman of Solar City, a solar energy provider.

Resume: 

Levitation is probably the innovation of tomorrow's world. This technology is now constantly being improved to make it more efficient. As shown the first article, the levitation can be used in life everyday with a hoverboard or it can be used for the improvement of public goods such as train.

This technology has several advantages, in particular for trains because it reduces the risk of accidents because the train is loses contact with the ground. Moreover it allows to make transportation much faster. As stated in Article 2, this technology could allow us to travel 350 miles in thirty minutes, equivalent to the distance between Paris and west of Britain.

So we can ask ourselves if the levitation would not be as utlie for cars. Less accident by going faster it is win-win.