5 ms·

Okay, so is this a hoax or not?

by cousin_it 17y ago

yourmomhatesyou 17y ago
What makes you think it is a hoax? It looks reasonable.
- _mattb 17y ago
  The bit about their water-repelling shoes and the philosophizing about the nature of the sport, those things have me on the fence.
  - thaumaturgy 17y ago
    Climbers, boulderers, mountain bikers, etc. all talk like this.
    - blackguardx 17y ago
      But no one gets an alpine start to run across water.
      - thaumaturgy 17y ago
        Of course not. And no one gets an alpine start to climb on 15-foot rocks in the high Sierra. Oh wait ... except, they do!
        blackguardx 17y ago
        People get up early to boulder because they like to climb while the weather is nice. Humidity and temperature affect friction on the rock. I can't imagine weather has that great of an effect in this situation. I think they included the alpine start as a further joke at the ridiculousness of it all.
mtw 17y ago
with enough speed and also proper tires, topgear demonstrated you can drive on water http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oeJjzdlTuI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oeJjzdlTuI
- jacquesm 17y ago
  snowmobiles do this all the time in the North, simply because it's quicker to skim than to go around: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYaF7wJ3dgM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYaF7wJ3dgM If you run out of fuel it's a bit of a problem though, Lake Michigan & lake Huron have quite a few snowmobiles at the bottom...
  - wjy 17y ago
    The town I grew up in has annual snowmobile races on the lake in July.
- blhack 17y ago
  Uhh...you're talking about 500+ horsepower motors pegged against their rev limiter...this is a human being running.
ck2 17y ago
If you have to ask, yes it is a hoax. Why do you think they could go 20 feet with no problems and in a heartbeat sink up to their neck? There's something 3-4 inches below the water they are walking on for the first 20 feet, then it's like a dock you step off.
- yourmomhatesyou 17y ago
  They sink after running for 20 feet because with each step they are getting less return force from the surface of the water. At some point the next step will plunge through the surface and they will sink just as quickly as if their first step was not at a run and not with high and quick knee lifting.
  - ck2 17y ago
    Plain water is not a dilatant. Skipping a stone or snowmobile is not the same forces in effect as stepping on water at less than 12mph with the tiny surface area of a human foot. There is something very suspect with this whole video.
    - Nwallins 17y ago
      I don't know what a dilantant is, but in order for a human to maintain a high speed, he is pushing -- nay, driving -- his feet into the running surface. Water does not provide this level of resistance for something with a high psi such as a human foot.
    - krschultz 17y ago
      It's a questions of surface tension of the water. I'd have to think about the physics a bit, but if you fall wakeboarding, you can skip across the surface of the water for a good ways (done it). Considering your max speed is about 20 mph, and when you fall you immediately let go of the rope and decelerate rapidly, I would say a human body can skip across the water at roughly 15 mph. It is entirely dependent on you though, if you let anything pierce the surface it's over. If you make sure your limbs stay up then you can skip a few times. I'm still pretty sure this is a hoax but I bet you could do what they are doing if you could move feet fast enough (which may be impossible for a human, but a machine with feet that moved faster might be able to). Water has surface tension no matter what the speed, you just need to get out of the hole created faster than you fall through it.
samueladam 17y ago
Looks like there is something underwater in this video. Also note that the wave of his path is straight. http://liquidmountaineering.blogspot.com/2010/04/running-on-creek.html http://liquidmountaineering.blogspot.com/2010/04/running-on-...
KingOfB 17y ago
Still trying to figure out why this is on Hacker News. It's slightly funny, and a decently executed hoax, but come on, it's obviously just a walkway under the water.
adbachman 17y ago
I vote yes. Everyone in the video is wearing Hi-Tec branded gear, all the time. Hats, t-shirts, shoes, sweatshirts, jackets. Everything except the wet suits and the vehicles, it looks like.
- fnid2 17y ago
  It's basically a commercial for the water repellent shoes. Of course it is, those shoes are SOOO water repellent, you can actually walk on water with them!
pohl 17y ago
The figurine of Jesus hanging from the rear view mirror is a dead giveaway. It's a brilliant parody of extreme sports videos. "When we discovered, oh my god...jesus...we're going one step, we're going two steps..." "I think if you don't actually believe you're going to walk on that water, it's not going to happen for you"
blhack 17y ago
Less of a hoax and more of a tongue in cheek joke...have you watched the other videos? They're kite surfers that "run" on water by taking their board off and splashing their feet against the water. The video is them joking about being able to "walk on water" (they call it the "jesus style" in the other videos)
ck2 17y ago
I now believe this video is likely a viral marketing attempt by Hi-Tec which has their logo appear a few subtle times in the video, on their caps and then when they stop to show the sneakers (trainers).

Okay, so is this a hoax or not?

yourmomhatesyou 17y ago

What makes you think it is a hoax? It looks reasonable.

_mattb 17y ago
The bit about their water-repelling shoes and the philosophizing about the nature of the sport, those things have me on the fence.
- thaumaturgy 17y ago
  Climbers, boulderers, mountain bikers, etc. all talk like this.
  - blackguardx 17y ago
    But no one gets an alpine start to run across water.
    - thaumaturgy 17y ago
      Of course not. And no one gets an alpine start to climb on 15-foot rocks in the high Sierra. Oh wait ... except, they do!
      - blackguardx 17y ago
        People get up early to boulder because they like to climb while the weather is nice. Humidity and temperature affect friction on the rock. I can't imagine weather has that great of an effect in this situation. I think they included the alpine start as a further joke at the ridiculousness of it all.

mtw 17y ago

with enough speed and also proper tires, topgear demonstrated you can drive on water http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oeJjzdlTuI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oeJjzdlTuI

jacquesm 17y ago
snowmobiles do this all the time in the North, simply because it's quicker to skim than to go around: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYaF7wJ3dgM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYaF7wJ3dgM If you run out of fuel it's a bit of a problem though, Lake Michigan & lake Huron have quite a few snowmobiles at the bottom...
- wjy 17y ago
  The town I grew up in has annual snowmobile races on the lake in July.
blhack 17y ago
Uhh...you're talking about 500+ horsepower motors pegged against their rev limiter...this is a human being running.

ck2 17y ago

If you have to ask, yes it is a hoax. Why do you think they could go 20 feet with no problems and in a heartbeat sink up to their neck? There's something 3-4 inches below the water they are walking on for the first 20 feet, then it's like a dock you step off.

yourmomhatesyou 17y ago
They sink after running for 20 feet because with each step they are getting less return force from the surface of the water. At some point the next step will plunge through the surface and they will sink just as quickly as if their first step was not at a run and not with high and quick knee lifting.
- ck2 17y ago
  Plain water is not a dilatant. Skipping a stone or snowmobile is not the same forces in effect as stepping on water at less than 12mph with the tiny surface area of a human foot. There is something very suspect with this whole video.
  - Nwallins 17y ago
    I don't know what a dilantant is, but in order for a human to maintain a high speed, he is pushing -- nay, driving -- his feet into the running surface. Water does not provide this level of resistance for something with a high psi such as a human foot.
  - krschultz 17y ago
    It's a questions of surface tension of the water. I'd have to think about the physics a bit, but if you fall wakeboarding, you can skip across the surface of the water for a good ways (done it). Considering your max speed is about 20 mph, and when you fall you immediately let go of the rope and decelerate rapidly, I would say a human body can skip across the water at roughly 15 mph. It is entirely dependent on you though, if you let anything pierce the surface it's over. If you make sure your limbs stay up then you can skip a few times. I'm still pretty sure this is a hoax but I bet you could do what they are doing if you could move feet fast enough (which may be impossible for a human, but a machine with feet that moved faster might be able to). Water has surface tension no matter what the speed, you just need to get out of the hole created faster than you fall through it.

samueladam 17y ago

Looks like there is something underwater in this video. Also note that the wave of his path is straight. http://liquidmountaineering.blogspot.com/2010/04/running-on-creek.html http://liquidmountaineering.blogspot.com/2010/04/running-on-...

KingOfB 17y ago

Still trying to figure out why this is on Hacker News. It's slightly funny, and a decently executed hoax, but come on, it's obviously just a walkway under the water.

adbachman 17y ago

I vote yes. Everyone in the video is wearing Hi-Tec branded gear, all the time. Hats, t-shirts, shoes, sweatshirts, jackets. Everything except the wet suits and the vehicles, it looks like.

fnid2 17y ago
It's basically a commercial for the water repellent shoes. Of course it is, those shoes are SOOO water repellent, you can actually walk on water with them!

pohl 17y ago

The figurine of Jesus hanging from the rear view mirror is a dead giveaway. It's a brilliant parody of extreme sports videos. "When we discovered, oh my god...jesus...we're going one step, we're going two steps..." "I think if you don't actually believe you're going to walk on that water, it's not going to happen for you"

blhack 17y ago

Less of a hoax and more of a tongue in cheek joke...have you watched the other videos? They're kite surfers that "run" on water by taking their board off and splashing their feet against the water. The video is them joking about being able to "walk on water" (they call it the "jesus style" in the other videos)

ck2 17y ago

I now believe this video is likely a viral marketing attempt by Hi-Tec which has their logo appear a few subtle times in the video, on their caps and then when they stop to show the sneakers (trainers).