There is a somewhat interesting sport that people call Snowboarding. I think that the device that is used by those who like that sport to go down the mountains should be called a snowmobile. Now even owners of snowboards can share the same privilege as only snowmobile and ski users had – brakes – and that was done by Victor Petrenko, who is a professor in Show Lab of Dartmouth College, New Hampshire.

Victor Petrenko

    The brakes work like this: Two polarized wires, connected to a 3-volt battery, get mounted to the bottom surface of the snowboard or skis. When the brake gets activated, one charge gets distributed throughout the surface of the snowboard, while the other goes into the snow. KRRRSH – and the snowboard gets stuck to the surface of the snow, creating an effect - according to Petrenko – “that is just as strong as if you were riding on asphalt”. Moreover, the ice particles between the electrodes melt, only to instantly freeze again on the surface of the snowboard, creating additional stopping power.

     The whole technology is described in detail in the New Scientist magazine. Investor for developing and marketing this technology has already been found. From my point of view – as of a person who neglects sports as useless and senseless activity and engages in such only occasionally – abovementioned and alike inventions only decrease the sense in winter sports, transforming it into a winter form of an aqua park. I recall “Return From the Stars”, where the author mentions the degradation of sports over the next century – boxing will fade altogether, skis will include antigravity devices, and hockey players will be enclosed in large air bubbles – so that no one would get hurt.

    You can consider the first step to be done.