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Is it really possible to walk on water or levitate in air. If not then how do some magician,s like dynemo do it simply while walking on street? And i have asked for possibility of walking on water so please exclude the high velocity concept.

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closed as off topic by Qmechanic Feb 20 '13 at 20:09


Most magicians, if not all of them, when walking on water, do so in a swimming pool or something similar. The trick that I know of, is that in the pool they have transparent columns of some material that has the same refractive index as the water has. So this gives you the impression of jesus like abilities. However, you can find many videos on youtube or other infos regarding the technology behind magic tricks. –  nijankowski Feb 20 '13 at 17:20
Magicians are often incredibly intelligent people who are very knowledgeable about the psychological shortcomings of humans... such as how commonly and thouroughly our own brains fool us. That's the short answer. :) To @Nijankowski's point, here's a YouTube video of such a material. –  amr Feb 20 '13 at 17:25
Is skeptics.stackexchange.com possibly a better home for this question? –  Qmechanic Feb 20 '13 at 17:49
@Qmechanic I think you're right, at least that a good case can be made for it being off topic here. In its current form I'm not sure if it's up to the standards at Skeptics. They might require proof of notability. –  David Z Feb 20 '13 at 19:50

1 Answer 1

Magician tricks are often well kept in secret. There are many youtube videos that explain possible tricks to create the illusion. There are physical ways to levitate in air, but they would involve very advanced technology. For instance, walking over a superconducting floor and having magnets in you clothing, so the magnetic repulsion in the upward direction overcomes the gravitational force in the downward direction. Walking of water would be easier, but you will still need to add something because the unmodified human body cannon do it. You either get big shoes floating shoes (kind of a mini boat on each feet) and practice a lot so you don't fall down, or you can use "shoe" that takes advantage of the superficial tension of the water, like those insects that walk over water. They can because they do not "break" the water surface due to the detailed structure of their feet plus their tiny weight. I am not aware that such technology have been developed for humans, but it is certainly possible. This physical trick is fundamentally different to the one which I mentioned before that is based of floaters. Now, if the question is if an unaided human can walk on water or levitate on air. The answer is a plain NO!

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Yes you are wright and that's something i also think about it. But do you have any idea how they do it in public place simply start walking on water from ground. –  Akash Feb 20 '13 at 17:27
the most common trick is the one mentioned by Nijankowski V.in his comment, transparent invisible catwalks just under the pool's surface. But dont get tricked, they had prepared the pool in advance, even if it looks not so. They make it look that they just got there by chance and started walking, but take him to another pool of your choice and he will sink! –  user16007 Feb 20 '13 at 17:34
