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Comment by fybren | Hacker News Reader

This is very cool. Another video with a bit of an explanation as to why - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyOtIsnG71U.

Thanks. I'm not sure I understand the part about "quantum flux tubes". I take it that they're leaks through flaws in the superconductor (which should exclude the field entirely). Is the superconductor is being gripped or pinned by these lines of force running through it, like a piece of cheese on a toothpick? But that doesn't quite explain how it can move along a field.

I think the magnets on the track piece may be arranged NSN like this:

  NNNNNNNNNN
  SSSSSSSSSS  ==>
  NNNNNNNNNN

Which allows movement as indicated. In the part of the video where it's just locked stationary above a square magnet, it appears maybe the magnet as this arrangment:

  NNN      NS
  NSN  or  SN
  NNN

Which locks it entirely in-place, not allowing movement. And then in the part where it's spinning, I think maybe the magnet is S on the inside and N on the outside or something:

      NN
     NSSN
    NS  SN
     NSSN
      NN

Allowing it to spin. But this is speculation based on my limited understanding (but I noticed no one else was answering, so I thought I'd give a shot).

Very good video. The 'locking' effect is simply blowing my mind. I had no idea that was possible.

I'm trying to figure out some practical applications for frictionless movement and positioning of small, light and cold objects without changing the scale of the system, but each of my ideas implies some heating that would probably negate the phenomenon a bit too fast (ballistics for instance).

I can't resist posting one of youtube's comments on this last video: "so... you have created the worst paperweight ever"

I couldn't help but picture beers quantum-levitating toward me from the refrigerator when you said "small, light and cold objects."

It could replace pneumatic tube systems for mail. Not that these are still in much use today, except hospitals.

> (ballistics for instance)

so people already wanna make a gun out of it, that's just sad

mankind will always pervert science for power?

Military research is where a whole lot of the cool science comes from. There's nothing like knowing the guy who gets there first is going to blow your head off to spur the competition.

In fact, maybe governmental science grants should have some sort of gladiatorial combat requirements for disputed priority...

The word "ballistics" is not a synonym for "weapons".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_driver

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