Scientist Creates A Miniature Flying Carpet | TechTree.com

Scientist Creates A Miniature Flying Carpet

But Aladdin wannabes will have to wait.

 

A researcher has made a real flying carpet; and he is not from Arabia. The device is made from a sheet of conductive plastic and measures just 4". It is driven by the "ripple power" waves created from electrical current, which pushes little pockets of air underneath.

The creator of this wonder, Noah Jafferis, said that he was inspired by The Arabian Nights physics study papers (co-authored by Lakshminarayanan Mahadevan) he read shortly after starting his PhD studies at Princeton. Although the prototype moves at a pace of a centimetre per second, the researcher is confident of increasing the speeds up to a metre per second in the future. He also points out that the tiny conducting threads that attach the device to the batteries are limiting its movement. Hence, his team has already started work on a solar-powered upgrade.

 



As you can see from the video, the sheet behaves like a hovercraft. Researchers are well aware of its limitations, and sportingly admit that it's a long way to go for this invention. According to them, a flying carpet powerful enough to carry a person will need to have a wingspan of 50 metres. In my humble opinion, a better alternative would be to find a way to trap a genie in a lamp.
 


TAGS: Science, Weird, ck

 
News Corner
IMP IMP IMP
##