Cars of the Future

Some people are asking when all the complicated, advanced, confusing science that experts are working on will benefit us.  Well, by the year 2100, some scientists say that some high level science will solve a very common problem.

Traffic Jams.  We’ve all experienced them, and all hate them. Cars are getting better, and more advanced, but nothing big is happening in the automobile industry.  This new science will create amazingly fast cars, but at a great cost.

Eighth grade students may remember superconductors from science class (when cold, their electrical resistance drops to 0). What we didn’t learn about them is that a magnetic field cannot enter them. So if a magnet is placed above a superconductor, it will just hover right above it.  If we could put powerful magnets on the bottoms of cars, they could hover above superconductors, and if the federal government is willing to pave the roads with superconductors, than cars could drive above the road!

This eliminates a great source of friction, contact with the ground. Without this friction, cars could travel at up to 200 miles per hour, at a lower fuel costs! And rain, snow and ice wont impede the progress of cars, or make accidents an increased risk.

It will also reduce damage to the road, and reduce the need for plowing, saving the government money.  If no cars are on the road, then the road will not get damaged by wheels, and there wont be any need to plow the roads unless the snow is more than three feet high.

Some people argue that cars traveling at 3 times the speed of normal cars, cars crashes would become much more common.  But consider this.  If you travel at 3 times the normal speed, you will get to your destination 3 times faster, so you will only be on the road for one-third of the time you are on the road now.  So there will be only one-third of the amount of cars on the road to crash into, and drivers will have 3 times the space on a highway than they do now.  So car crashes could even become less of a risk

So while these cars can provide extensive benefits,  they come at a great cost.  They will improve the safety and speed of cars.  As car accidents are one of the biggest killers of teens, it will improve generations to come. But while all these things are great, so is the sum required to make them happen.  And with the way the government is handling other scientific issues and innovations, I’m not sure it will happen any time near when it becomes possible.

~image from