Secrets of levitation cracked by Scottish researchers?

Try not to get too frenetic here, but a couple of gurus at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland have reportedly created an "incredible levitation effect by engineering the force of nature which normally causes objects to stick together." In layman's terms, the scientists have devised a way to reverse the phenomenon known as the Casimir force so that it "repels instead of attracts." Ultimately, the discovery could lead to "frictionless micro-machines with moving parts that levitate," and in theory, devices could be created to transport humans. Do realize, however, that individuals in this team have also "showed that invisibility cloaks are feasible," so we're not counting ourselves amongst the faithful just yet.

[Thanks, James]

[Our readers have let us know that this article's headline bore some similarities to other articles on the same topic -- though purely coincidental, in the interest of further differentiating the post we've edited it to a small degree. -Ed.]

[Dustin Frazier @ Aug 7th 2007 2:14AM]

David Blaine is soooo pissed off right now.

[Nick @ Aug 7th 2007 11:45AM]

Blane is a hack! working out and then trapping yourself in a bubble for a certain amount of time isnt an illusion.. its being stupid.

[Crazylink @ Aug 7th 2007 2:17AM]

Maybe they could lend a hand to Steorn.

[karts41 @ Aug 7th 2007 2:17AM]

I for one welcome our new invisable levitating St. Andrews University student overloards

[Andrew Cummings @ Aug 7th 2007 4:52PM]

What's the point of ranking if lowest ranked don't get automaticly deleted?

[AndrewNeo @ Aug 7th 2007 2:20AM]

"incredible levitation effect by engineering the force of nature which normally causes objects to stick together."
Magnets?

[Ryan @ Aug 7th 2007 2:22AM]

BTTF FTW

I want a pink board

[Karan @ Aug 7th 2007 6:21AM]

ductape?

(It has a light side, it has a dark side, and it holds the universe together!)

[Chuckles McGee @ Aug 7th 2007 8:52AM]

No no, ooey goey cinnamon bun paste!

[Solomon @ Aug 7th 2007 1:14PM]

antiferrimagnets?

[Steve @ Aug 7th 2007 2:22AM]

Can this be done with those new Macs coming out today? Is this through USB? Thanks

[DJ @ Aug 7th 2007 2:30AM]

If this tech can be applied to any device, then this could change life as we know it. BTW I want a bulldog, not a pink board.

[Chuckles McGee @ Aug 7th 2007 8:48AM]

Coming to store shelves 2015.

(Back to the future 2, peoples!)

[John Laur @ Aug 7th 2007 2:18PM]

Dear Sir:

I am interested exclusively in Hoverboards with, "Power."

[karts41 @ Aug 7th 2007 2:37AM]

"using a special lens of a kind that has already been built"

From the aricle site. Who wrote that?

[J @ Aug 7th 2007 2:42AM]

An engineer?

[Chris @ Aug 7th 2007 5:00PM]

"From the aricle site." Who wrote that?

[Stephen @ Aug 7th 2007 2:41AM]

Hello Star Wars Repulsorlifts! Now all we need is mile + high skyscrapers, and were that much closer to being in the future many of you were promised when you were young! lol

[booger62 @ Aug 7th 2007 3:24AM]

So if you do it in a mile high skyscraper, does that make you a mile high member? Just curious, I've always wanted to apply.

[melloncollie @ Aug 7th 2007 10:30AM]

We're almost there.
Ever heard of the Burj Dubai?

[Jesse Eastman @ Aug 7th 2007 2:06PM]

booger62 -- yes it applies, but it's cheating.

[Neil Sammut @ Aug 7th 2007 2:42AM]

In an interview, one of the scientists working there admitted that human levitation is a LONG way off, because Casimir forces are only powerful enough on small bodies, such as nanocomponents.

So while this does lay the groundwork for better nanotechnology, I don't think any of us will be surfing down streets anytime soon.

[Brad @ Aug 7th 2007 2:59AM]

What's with all the....questionable science coming out of Scotland these days?

[Andir3.0 @ Aug 7th 2007 7:10AM]

Oh, give em a break. They are tired of being known for Sean Connery and are looking to be known as Q.

[Shocker38 @ Aug 7th 2007 1:08PM]

Im sorry but there have been sevral good inventions that have come out of scotland; and example of this would be the TV as well as the Telephone. So unless America can live without both (in which I credibly doubt) shut up.

[Harlo @ Aug 7th 2007 9:44AM]

If it's not Scottish.. IT'S CRAP!! (or maybe in the case of science it can be both)
or
The hoverboards will come in three sizes.. wee, not so wee and frickin HUGE!

[Brad @ Aug 8th 2007 4:59AM]

@shocker38: There are plenty of things that Americans can't live without, which has very little to do with . And just because a Scotsman invented something doesn't mean Scotland did. IIRC, both the inventions you list were made by ex-pats, the Television being invented by Farnsworth in London, and the Telephone was invented by Bell, who though born in Scotland, was raised in Ontario, Canada and did his inventing primarily in Boston...as a US citizen.

So as much as your may have been told that these things "came out of Scotland" neither the inventors, nor their schooling, nor their labs, resources, or productization came from Scotland.

Lastly: My comment primarily was directed at the Sternon guys and this, hence "...coming out of Scotland /these days/?" Both the inventions you listed are more than a half-century back. Hardly qualifies under "these days" does it?

Oh well, go back to being pissed about nothing. Or take your own advice and "shut up"

[nih @ Aug 7th 2007 3:04AM]

So you're saying only one news site can have the most obvious title?

How do you plan to enforce this? Wait, I see your strategy of crying in the comments section is already in motion.

[Mike D @ Aug 7th 2007 3:08AM]

They stole it from ireland years ago and have just now begun to understand it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1Tb3d06Hq8

[L.Rawlins @ Aug 7th 2007 3:12AM]

Mattel will buy this up. It is their density... I mean, it is their destiny.

;o)

[Klaas @ Aug 7th 2007 3:46AM]

Coooooool, Now we can make those skateboards from Back to the Future!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[asturiasd @ Aug 7th 2007 5:26AM]

Thanks for catching up to the rest of us

[yoshi @ Aug 7th 2007 4:06AM]

"imput"?????

Quit reading tech sites on the net and go back to school.

[The_Dude @ Aug 7th 2007 4:56PM]

@Yoshi: Aren't you forgetting about "plagerism" too? Last I checked it's Plagiarism...

[kyle allen @ Aug 7th 2007 4:17AM]

this is the same technology used in the orbo

[strider_mt2k @ Aug 7th 2007 8:59AM]

Orbo cares NOT for your puny Earth levitation!

[Rynth @ Aug 7th 2007 4:31AM]

Man, I've wanted a HoverBoard (TM?) since forever! Maybe they could implant these nano-particles in your shoes, and bingo - HoverShoes!

Meh, this did come out of Scotland, and being Scottish myself, I quite understand that this probably just another crazy scottish thing, for the lack of better words.

[strider_mt2k @ Aug 7th 2007 8:14AM]

They're both tech blogs, why wouldn't they be covering the same stories? Duh.

What, did you JUST show up?

Read one, read the other, read both, read neither, but do shut up.

[J. Neutron @ Aug 7th 2007 10:09AM]

and hoverboards

[SpecialKDawgg @ Aug 7th 2007 11:48AM]

Go Go Gadget Floating Newbalances!!!!

[Mike @ Aug 7th 2007 1:50PM]

I can see nothing about this that defies the laws of physics. This is a science team working with metamaterials, and their invisiblity research has been well known for a while now - the device only worked in 2 dimensions and only in the microwave waveband, but the principle is sound, the limiting factor is the size and spacing of the nanoparticles in the material. So stop comparing this to Steorn, this is sound science.

[Mike @ Aug 7th 2007 1:50PM]

I can see nothing about this that defies the laws of physics. This is a science team working with metamaterials, and their invisiblity research has been well known for a while now - the device only worked in 2 dimensions and only in the microwave waveband, but the principle is sound, the limiting factor is the size and spacing of the nanoparticles in the material. So stop comparing this to Steorn, this is sound science.

[Mike @ Aug 7th 2007 1:51PM]

sorry for the double post, my browser crashed.

[Mike @ Aug 7th 2007 1:58PM]

found it:
http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/24975

[Landlocked @ Aug 7th 2007 3:55PM]

Who needs orbo? We can all have mini perpetual self-contained hydro-electric dams now with this idea. Use gravity to push water from a reservoir down through turbines, then use levitation to move it back up to the reservoir.

[steve @ Aug 7th 2007 7:42PM]

All I know is I feel something levitating from looking at that out of focus girl in the background.

[NewJohnny @ Aug 7th 2007 9:05PM]

Keep in mind, this only applies to the nano-scale particles for now.

[Derrick @ Aug 7th 2007 2:40AM]

Great, now all we need to do is stick a bunch of levitating nano-scale particles together and BINGO - hoverboard city.

[Steve B @ Aug 7th 2007 9:23PM]

Hoverboard enthusiasms notwithstanding, I don't think that picture goes with the discovery. The Casimir force is an extremely short-range force. You wouldn't be able to see "daylight" between the two surfaces being levitated, except through a microscope. Which is why they intimated it might be good for nanomachines.

Likely what the picture shows is mere superconducting magnetic levitation, which is nothing new; the Japanese have had trains based on it for years.

[andyo @ Aug 11th 2007 12:35PM]

It's not technically the Casimir "force", though some choose to say that. There are only 4 known forces of nature, and this is a product of electromagnetic field jitters in "empty" space. And the Casimir effect only pulls parallel plates together, not any "objects". And these plates need to be very, very close, in the nm scales, for this "force" to have any effect, and this effect even then will be very tiny. That's why you won't have anything based on the Casimir effect that works on human scales.