High jump

Marine engineers have developed a boat that “flies.”

Swedish company Candela’s hydrofoil passenger ferry, powered by electricity, sails faster at lower energy consumption than traditional ferries by “flying above the waves,” The Washington Post reports.

“The P-12 is held in the air by five narrow struts that attach to hydrofoils and propellers below the surface of the water,” according to the Post, adding that by soaring it encounters very little drag.

The prototype named NOVA sails between Sweden’s Tappström and Stockholm City Hall in just 30 minutes, compared to 45 to 55 minutes for other conventional boats plying the same route, Shippax reports. NOVA also uses 84 percent less energy per passenger-kilometer than Candela’s two other diesel-powered ferries.

Meanwhile, humans are not to be outdone by flying cars and boats.

South Korean Kwon Young-jun, who is married to a Thai social media influencer, performed a gravity-defying feat in Bangkok, Thailand, during the 28 March earthquake that also shook neighboring Myanmar.

Kwon was in a gym on the 52nd floor of one of the three towers of the Park Origin condominium in the Thai capital’s Thonglor neighborhood when the magnitude 7.7 temblor struck, swaying the buildings. He immediately ran towards the other building to be with his wife and 1-year-old daughter.

However, the sky bridge connecting the two buildings started crumbling moments after the shaking, creating a widening gap. Kwon ran and jumped across the gap, landing on the other side of the falling bridge and rushing to the 30th-floor room where his wife, Ms. Bowyuri, and their baby were staying.

People in the building had already evacuated, and Kwon went downstairs and reunited with his unscathed family outside the structure.

The death-defying leap was caught on video by a bystander and went viral after being posted on social media and news outlets.

“It’s very dangerous. When I saw the clip, I was shocked like everyone else,” Kwon’s wife, who has more than 1.3 million Facebook followers, told the Straits Times.