'Back To The Future' Would Never Work In Real Life

If you've ever wondered how much longer it will be until self-driving flying cars and other cool futuristic novelty items '80s movies told us we'd be able to buy by now hit the market, the short answer is this: you'll probably wait forever, because it's never going to happen. In Back To The Future, Marty McFly time travels October 21, 2015, where he's able to cruise around via hoverboard, but astrophysicist, Star Talk host, and Star Trek fan Neil deGrasse Tyson says a real-life hoverboard probably won't be happening this year, or ever. He told the Huffington Post, "There are people working on it, and there are working versions of it, but hoverboards that cover everywhere? Where you would have taken a skateboard? I think that’s unrealistic, and it requires a special under surface to support it." Unless, Tyson adds, the physics are flawless and in ideal condition for a hoverboarding attempt: "I can imagine hoverboards in certain hoverboard venues where they've actually done the physics right in the hoverboard and the ground surface as well. But otherwise, no."

However, according to Tyson, all is not lost for sci-fi fans and geeks everywhere. "Maybe in the future airports would be wormhole portals. You open the door, and you’re in London. You pack your bags and still have to go through customs and everything, but the door is a wormhole to London. That’d be cool. Or Tokyo. Or Shanghai. Whatever.” And there you have it, direct from the source. BOOM.

Images: Universal Pictures (1); Giphy (1)