Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
h a l f b a k e r y
Like you could do any better.

idea: add, search, annotate, link, view, overview, recent, by name, random

meta: news, help, about, links, report a problem

account: browse anonymously, or get an account and write.

user:
pass:
register,


                   

miracle shoes

it's gotta be the shoes!
  (+3)
(+3)
  [vote for,
against]

I saw the mythbusters episode where Adam tried to walk on water with some large surface area shoes.

I was annoyed.

It was a ninja myth special. Nevermind the owner at Cafe Barsodi's blowing my mind about the capabilities of Ninjas - Uptown, New Orleans.. Hope it's still there - if so, I think his name is Ron B.

Sorry, the Mythbusters failed to consider that some of our junior sentients CAN actually accomplish the feat.

Look up the Jesus Lizard.

The footware might have worked - for all of you who saw the episode, but does the Aussie Jesus Lizard just stroll out on the water as if his/her feet were magically bouyant?

NO!

That little lizard runs like a madman across the water's surface - not stomping straight down, but pushing the water back with his/her feet digging into the water like a high speed oar.

****

Miracle shoes fit your feet a bit more snugly than diving flippers.

The center 3 inches forms a central skid like a snow ski would.

On either side of the central skid are semicicular thrust fins mounted to the central skid by hinges.

The hinges lock shut when water is being pushed upon (you leaning forward in a sprinting way).

When you pull one foot out of the water, the resistance from the water collapses the pform to let it pull out of the water at 4" or so.

When you strike that same foot back down the pform first slightly expands by air resistance - and immediately expands fully with water contact.

DON'T disrespect accounts of ninjas!

It CAN work, it's a balance of physics, phisique(sp?), and live phorensics (I know - I'm sorry!)

Zimmy, Aug 14 2010

Aqua Skipper Hydro Foil http://extremetoysf...al%20Hydrofoil.html
Compare to this hydrofoil. Make smaller versions and put one on each foot? [Bootbuckles, Aug 15 2010]

Please log in.
If you're not logged in, you can see what this page looks like, but you will not be able to add anything.
Short name, e.g., Bob's Coffee
Destination URL. E.g., https://www.coffee.com/
Description (displayed with the short name and URL.)






       I didn't know that.   

       Do you think this idea would work, though?
Zimmy, Aug 14 2010
  

       might work... with a set of scuba fins you can keep yourself almost half out of the water and they're not designed for it.   

       [+]
FlyingToaster, Aug 14 2010
  

       //my understanding of the ninja walk-on-water trick was . . . //   

       One of the things that Mythbusters does, is "First replicate the circumstances of the myth, and then try to replicate the results."   

       Obviously there are practical considerations as to how far they're willing to go to get results, and what counts as a "replication".   

       This halfbaking would probably satisfy the Mythbusters second half of the mantra, if they were able to think of it, design it, and build it. Really though, it's probably a separate "myth", and not even that, since half-bakery ideas by definition are excluded from Mythbuster myths, at least most of the time.   

       Fortunately, the half-bakery and mythbuster myths have a lot in common. They're just not identical concepts.
Bootbuckles, Aug 15 2010
  

       sounds very x-country skiing'ish.
FlyingToaster, Aug 16 2010
  

       I was about to add this as a new idea under the title "Basiliscus Boots"   

       Public service announcement:   

       Drugs are bad, M'kay?   

       Especially the legal ones.
Zimmy, Aug 27 2010
  

       The mythbusters revisited the walking on water myth and it doesn't look good for the mechanics of this idea. They did NOT use a system which allowed for low drag on the pull out of the thrust point, but the failures were so spectacular, I am forced to seriously doubt the viability of this idea.
Zimmy, Apr 28 2011
  

       A grid of small valved flaps, like those used on pulse-jets, might be better. That way, a smaller proportion of the vertical movement would occur while the flaps are operating, and a larger proportion would be high resistance pushing and low resistance pulling. (I assume that pulse-jets have that arrangement for the same reason).   

       If the grids were fairly big, I don't see why the effort should exceed that of vigorous stair climbing.
spidermother, Apr 28 2011
  

       Buggered if i can find this, there was on Blue Peter way back in 1974 or something like that this old sailing guy. He made two not that big polystyrene float shoes, with flaps to let water coming from the front in, and stop it going back out that way so he could walk forwards. For support he had two sticks each with a bucket on the end for buoyancy (he had them open end down) I'm have gone for open end up, I think that might be more stable.   

       They did work.. If I can find the footage I'll post the link.
not_morrison_rm, Apr 28 2011
  


 

back: main index

business  computer  culture  fashion  food  halfbakery  home  other  product  public  science  sport  vehicle