This is some cool sh!t. Back in 2012, the Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST) shared footage of a quantum levitation project they were working on, using WipE’out” as inspiration.
What is quantum levitation?
Quantum levitation is a technique that uses allows a superconductor to hover over a magnetic source. The quantum aspect comes from properties of quantum mechanics which facilitate the levitation, notably the Meissner effect and super currents.
I love that they used WipE’out” to demonstrate the phenomenon. Alas, if this became a Thing, it’d be in the distant future as it would require very powerful magnetic fields and the superconductors to work with it. We’ll just have to settle for those Japanese bullet trains for now.