DISQUS

VentureBeat: The future: Hamster wheels that run on magnets?

  • Clint Tseng · 5 months ago
    Sure... but too bad the "science" behind it is based in less reality than the aforementioned Star Wars. This vehicle can't exist.
  • theBike45 · 5 months ago
    What's so damn green about it? It still uses electricty, doesn't it? Electricity, in case you have been living on Mars, is produced by fossil fuel.
  • Magnet Mogul · 5 months ago
    This is odd... Most of the mention of magnets that I've seen in the cleantech space has been by crackpots that don't understand that a magnet is very similar to a spring. It stores energy - it doesn't generate it. An electric motor - in every electric vehicle - uses a magnetic field. However, the original energy source is electricity, and 50% of the electric grid in the US is...coal.
  • Jifdc · 5 months ago
    I admit, it may not be on the green side of things. I guess the claim that it would run whisper-quiet could factor in a few points but I can't help but wonder if its efficiency would better compared to a normal 4 wheel electric car? The concept may seem far-fetched by some, but.... you have to admit... it looks pretty darn cool!
  • don11 · 5 months ago
    I like the version in the South Park episode better. Seems a lot more fun.
  • GOPer · 5 months ago
    I for one welcome our Sith overlords!
  • Miramon · 5 months ago
    Good luck shielding the magnetic fields away from electronics and humans. And that doesn't look like an example of 80s design. It looks more like 30s design to me.