Gadgetory

the newest rollercoasters are over the top setting records for height and speed and sending riders through a dizzying series of loops and turns many of the scream inducing drops and stomach-turning twists are made possible with electromagnetic technology called linear synchronous motor or LSM instead of climbing up a steep incline and using gravity to gain speed LSM allows rollercoasters to accelerate from a standstill to high speeds within seconds we have conventional lifts we can only go so high with some of our launch coasters we're doing 450 plus feet in the air versus 300 foot on conventional lift coasters the Superman ultimate flight ride at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom uses LSM to create a non inverted loop a rare feature in park rides in your refrigerator at home you have a motor and it's a circular motor and all we've done is we've taken that and we've laid it out flat so that instead of power moving in a circular motion it moves in a linear motion the coasters are powered by supercomputers and electromagnets the easiest way to explain it is if you remember when you're a kid you took magnets and you push them together and they repelled each other it's basically the same concept LSM not only propels the Train to speeds over 60 miles per hour it's also used in the braking system to slow it down the US Navy is developing the same technology for its next generation of aircraft carriers after 50 years of using steam catapults the Navy is testing various jets with the electromagnetic aircraft Launch System and it's preparing to christen the first carrier to use the technology even tried-and-true wooden roller coasters are getting modern makeovers this year great America's gold striker was designed with computers but constricted by here's a foot drop you're gonna go 55 miles an hour you can see one of these banks here is an 85-degree Bank these are features that are not common and wooden roller coasters this ride may look old-fashioned but the roller coaster speed its safety even those screams wouldn't be possible without technology the ride control system tracks everything that happens on the ride watching all of the inputs all the sensors we're watching air pressure locations of trains sensing speeds position of brakes so everything is being monitored and controlled and redundant fashion so all writers have to worry about is having fun in Vallejo California I'm Cindy vos cnet.com for CBS News