Yes. Back to the Future: Sclog reports that a Hoverboard, ridden by Canadian inventor of Romanian descent Catalin Alexandru Duru, has broken the Guinness World Records record and delivers realistic performance targets!
Seriously, it looks like this is the equivalent of the Wright Brothers flight!
From the Guinness article:
Catalin reaches a height of 5 metres on his prototype hoverboard covering a distance of over twice that of two full sized football pitches before gently landing in the exquisite waters of Lake Ouareau in Quebec, Canada. He claims that the machine, which he built and designed over the course of 12 months, can be used anywhere and can reach 'scary heights' which he would like to potentially explore in the near future.
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(Score: 2) by rts008 on Monday May 25 2015, @10:11PM
After watching the video, I want one when they can make them less noisy.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Monday May 25 2015, @10:17PM
No Mattel free-energy anti-gravity hoverboard in 2015 :(
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(Score: 3, Funny) by rts008 on Tuesday May 26 2015, @12:13AM
It's a conspiracy!
I just got the scoop from a reliable source at the local pub.
They have been secretly stashing the hoverboards alongside all of the flying cars for several years. And something about Dick Tracey's watch, but that part he never finished.
A pity he passed out before he gave us all the details, but we were all suitably impressed that one fellow could actually drink that much!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 26 2015, @12:11PM
You think he passed out just so? No, the conspiracy knocked him out. They've put some poisonous substance in his drink which caused him to pass out before he could give the details. I think they call that poisonous substance "alcohol".
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 25 2015, @10:27PM
Say, won't you be enticed by the deep rumble of an 8-cylinder supercharged engine?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by FatPhil on Tuesday May 26 2015, @08:31AM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by darkfeline on Wednesday May 27 2015, @11:48PM
>failing quite catastrophically when it runs out
Do helicopters or airplanes not also fail catastrophically when they run out of fuel?
Programming this hoverboard to detect when it's low on fuel and descend gradually and land is a one semester undergrad level assignment, a.k.a. completely trivial. The noise issue is the biggest problem I see at this point.
>using too much to be of any practical purpose
Recreation is also a practical purpose, and there are far more inefficient sports at the moment than one hypothetically using this hoverboard, such as skiing (lifts, transportation to snowy areas, and snow making, to list a few energy costs).
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(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Thursday May 28 2015, @07:29AM
This however might make it a good hobby for people who do like to show off how expensive and impractical their hobbies are, you're right there.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Mr Big in the Pants on Monday May 25 2015, @10:21PM
Is it a hover board though?
It seems more of a multiprop helo/VTOL with a passenger platform on top. Or should all helicopters now be called "hover boxes"?
Yes, its technically a man carrying board that hovers, no it is not what I think of when I think "hoverboard"....
And did anyone else think "Green Goblin" when they saw this...ok...so everyone I guess...
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Grishnakh on Monday May 25 2015, @10:41PM
It's a board that a person stands on, and it hovers, ergo it is a "hoverboard".
There is nothing in the word "hoverboard" which implies that anti-gravity generators or suspensors must be used for lift.
(Score: 1, Flamebait) by Mr Big in the Pants on Tuesday May 26 2015, @04:27AM
You have completely missed the nuance of my post and have even gone to the trouble of repeating one of its sentence to show your ignorance.
Thank you.
(Score: 2) by davester666 on Tuesday May 26 2015, @08:44AM
Welcome to the internet. You must be new here.
(Score: 1, Troll) by Mr Big in the Pants on Tuesday May 26 2015, @08:21PM
lol. Hardly.
But when people post things they think are highly intelligent rebuttals and are just hopelessly ignorant I enjoy pointing it out.
It makes me feel like Sheldon.
(Score: 2) by Mr Big in the Pants on Tuesday May 26 2015, @08:30PM
You can mark it flamebait because it burns, but it's still true.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 25 2015, @10:56PM
When he can land without splashing, and has enough confidence to fly it over rocky ground, I'll be impressed.
When the batteries can last more than 2 minutes, I'll be very impressed.
(Score: 1) by o_o on Tuesday May 26 2015, @10:22AM
Hi there, Mr Elephant-in-the-room. No, I do not think this is a hoverboard- more like a dude balancing on top of two drones. But who cares, this still rocks!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 26 2015, @12:04PM
Well, like a hovercraft, it blows air downwards. The question is whether it works by creating a higher pressure below which lifts it, like a hovercraft does. If so, I'd consider "hoverboard" an accurate description. If, however, its lift comes purely from the momentum transfer to the air like with a helicopter, the term is indeed misleading.
(Score: 2) by Mr Big in the Pants on Tuesday May 26 2015, @08:24PM
Considering the height he was relative to the size of those props I can only imagine it is the air. Hovercraft need to capture the air with skirts to exert enough force over feet.
But then I am not an engineer.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Monday May 25 2015, @10:24PM
There.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Justin Case on Monday May 25 2015, @10:42PM
Wow that is noisy! Plus it looks dangerous. Clearly we need some regulations right now! Call your legislator! Make the inventor put silencers on the fans. We need height limits, speed limits, licenses and permits!
With any luck we can set this back 30 years while the automotive industry figures out how to preserve their obsolete business model.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by takyon on Monday May 25 2015, @11:27PM
It's not just dangerous, it's a manned citizen drone! Scramble the jets!
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(Score: 2) by LoRdTAW on Tuesday May 26 2015, @01:26PM
Flying terrorists, illegals flying over the border, drug smuggling, flying DC sniper/columbine/sandyhook, oppressive flying police force, etc. Someone is going to start "predicting" all sorts of negative nonsense sooner or later.
Looks cool though.
(Score: 2) by frojack on Monday May 25 2015, @11:45PM
And notice that when the batteries fail, they do so abruptly, at which point, batteries, motors, and passenger go splash.
The ability to attain any significant height would be dangerous over anything but water.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday May 26 2015, @01:44AM
For some limited values of "significant". For all the others, you are invited to re-watch a certain episode [youtube.com] of MythBusters
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by bart9h on Tuesday May 26 2015, @02:01AM
Aren't you supposed to go near the ground while hovering?
(Score: 2) by captain normal on Tuesday May 26 2015, @02:16AM
Yeah, but I am impressed that he could get that much power out of such a small package. As for the noise, I've seen from about a 1/4 mile LCACs from the LHD USS Essex landing on the beach near Kawaihae, Hi. in a large naval exercise 3 years ago. Now that was noise.
When life isn't going right, go left.
(Score: 2) by Tork on Tuesday May 26 2015, @03:42AM
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 2) by Nuke on Tuesday May 26 2015, @08:34AM
... set this back 30 years while the automotive industry figures out how to preserve their obsolete business model.
What obsolete business model is that? I will replace my car with a hoverboard when the latter can carry rolls of galvanised steel fence mesh, bricks from the builders merchant, planks from the timber merchant, old washing machines to the scrapyard, rolls of carpet, 3-year-olds, grandmothers, anyone else in my circle incapable of learning to fly or drive - oh, and pull tree roots out of the ground. Just to mention a few things I've done recently.
The hoverboard would have evolved into a flying car by then, so that won't be long, will it?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 25 2015, @10:49PM
McFly you bojo - those boards don't work on water... unless you've got power!
(Score: 2, Interesting) by el_oscuro on Tuesday May 26 2015, @12:18AM
Last Christmas, my daughter begged me for an Penny Board, [pennyskateboards.com]. After she got it she rode it for a few months until she found my Loaded Bhangra. [loadedboards.com] I asked if she still rode her Penny board. To paraphrase the little girl in the movie, she said "Nah, I got a longboard now".
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(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 26 2015, @08:59AM
...fly over the White House?