h a l f b a k e r yLike a magnifying lens, only with rocks.
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Ice skating is fun, but a little boring. You really just skate around in a circle, and the tricks you can do are limited by the flat surface.
Using Parabolic Pool Table technology, spin water into the shape of a parabola and freeze. Stop the park from spinning, and the equivalent of a skateboard
park is ready for ice skaters.
Inspired by
http://www.halfbake...0Skateboard_20Basin
Centrifugal Skateboard Basin [Worldgineer, Oct 09 2004]
Other inspiration
http://www.halfbake...olic_20Pool_20Table
Parabolic Pool Table [Worldgineer, Oct 09 2004]
[link]
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If this keeps up, we just might have to make an entire section called sports:parabolic!I think downhill hockey is cool, though. Maybe in winter... |
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I would table a parabolic pool (swimming). Holy vertigo, Batman! The water skier in the joke would finally find a sloping lake, but still not get anywhere. |
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This would have to be a big rink. If the curve was at all measurable over the length of a skate, the skate would dig itself in at each end. You could of course cheat and curve the skate slightly, but this would only work consistently in a hemispherical rink. Of course the zamboni is another matter entirely. |
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Ah, good point. A new patented variable shape blade will need to be developed. Start with, say, 10 blade segments, and hold them in a straight line using springs. Pressure on the ends changes the shape. |
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//Stop the park from spinning// Why? |
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Maybe just different levels in a flat rink would be feasible. Skaters could jump from a low level up to a high level, make a biiiiiiiiig jump off a high level to a low level, etc. |
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After a bit of research, it appears that both ice hockey
skates and figure skates have the "flat" part of the blade
curved with a radius between 7 feet and 13 feet. This is
called the rocker. There are advantages to more or less
curve. Since the radius of curvature of the rink will
significantly larger than this, I suspect that any skate in that
range would be usable, but people who come here often
might want to select skates with a slightly smaller rocker
radius than they would normally use. |
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////Stop the park from spinning// Why? // |
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If you left it spinning at the same rate, it would behave like a
flat, stationary rink in most respects. However, skaters would
experience a Coriolis force if they travelled radially. |
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Hey, if you spun it fast enough (before and after freezing)
you'd have a rink where you could skate up a near-vertical
wall as easily as you could horizontally. |
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Yeah the same concept is being discussed on two separate ideas right now. |
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Must be a hit.
Now I'm wondering about the chassis needed to support that much spinning ice plus erratic skaters at a constant rpm all winter long. |
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If it doesn't have to be water ice - other "ices" are available, such as methane and ammonia - you could just get a small moon, gouge out a parabolic pit, then spin the thing up to a high rotational speed. |
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You'd need one with a rocky core, otherwise it might disintegrate as it got up to critical angular velocity. |
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And when it isn't being used by skaters, coat it with something shiny, place a downward pointing light source above it to fashion a death ray searchlight. |
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At least, that's what we tell the military, since it's their budget. |
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"Ah, Lord Vader. What have you to tell me ?" |
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"Good news, my master. Your new parabolic ice rink is complete and fully operational." |
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"Ex-cellent. Everything is proceeding as I have forseen. Now, help me on with these skates ..." |
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<Wonders if someone will post "Star Wars: A New Hope, On Ice"/> |
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