Is This The Best We Can Do With Floating Magnets?

Back to the Future II came out in 1989, and by 2011 I assumed that hoverboards would be cheap and plentiful. But here we are 22 years later and this tiny floating magnet sculpture is the closest thing we’ve got.

Laaaame! Now don’t get me wrong — magnets are still fascinating and science is still cool — but seeing a tiny 5mm cube floating between a couple of “specially-cast bismuth cones” doesn’t inspire the same sense of awe and wonder as a time-travelling teenager flying down the street on a floating skateboard. But maybe I’m being too demanding.

I suppose there’s some level of satisfaction to be had from assembling this $US50 kit made of laser-cut MDF pieces, but I’m afraid I can’t seem to muster much excitement over it. Because it looks like it will be yet another Christmas morn where Andrew doesn’t find a working hoverboard sticking out of his stocking. Sigh. [ThinkGeek via OhGizmo!]