Gasoline powered boots let you run 22 mph, get 70 mpg

[soothsayer]

Strange Russian invention that never really made it to the marketplace. Naturally the first thought was for military use.

snip
The dream Mr. Gordeyev conceived in 1974 to run faster and jump higher without getting tired might never have become a popular option for commuters or even caught on as a sport. But unlike the Segway, the American-invented self-balancing scooter, it never had a chance.

Instead, the boots became a military secret, as generals envisioned soldiers running swiftly and effortlessly alongside armored vehicles.

The boots were declassified in 1994, and Mr. Gordeyev and his partners imagined growing rich by selling their invention to a lazy public. Instead, the company went out of business in 2006.

Like the boots, Russian scientists are still trying to gain traction in the capitalist world. A company in Saratov making a novel transport airplane with no tail, called the “flying saucer,” never got off the ground.
snip

much more here
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/17/business/worldbusiness/17gazshoes.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

[htuttle]

1. They should make that 'Nee nee nee nee nee nee..." sound when you run

[bananas]

2. Reminds me of the gasoline-powered pogo stick. nt

[Gold Metal Flake]

3. Don't trip...

A boon to America's Funniest Videos.

[soothsayer]

6. oh, sometimes the piston fires at the wrong time and OW your

body absorbs the explosion, they say! and you fall down.

[Beetwasher]

4. Meh. I Like My Gasoline Powered Underwear Better

More bang for the buck.

[leveymg]

5. No running inside, children.

If these things can propel you forward at 22 mph, they can also crack your head against the ceiling. Okay, but, if you combine this invention with a gyroscopic stabilizer, and maybe a joy stick, then you may have something.

I'm sure with some tweaking, that speed could be doubled, and the force of direction controlled.

SuperMario Bros for real.

[dysfunctional press]

7. he should talk to the guys who make drywaller stilts...

maybe they can up with a way to get those immigrants to work even faster.

[Forrest Greene]

8. Powdered Water

Just add water.

(Steven Wright){/i}

[EstimatedProphet]

9. Not to nitpick, but I'd rather they were solar.

[MilesColtrane]

10. Professor Frink is alive and well and living in Russia.

Err....one little drawback...

"One result of the Russian space agency testing was a calculation that the energy in calories used to move the two-pound boot at a run would exceed the energy input from the gasoline engine. That meant, it was more tiring to run with the motorized footwear than without it, undermining the original rationale."

...well, besides potential injury and the whole look-at-that-dickhead-with-motorized-boots-on thing.

[soothsayer]

11. yeah, but 22 mph! like the 6 million dollar man (but he could go

faster---like 60, right?)

[ComerPerro]

12. I imagine such a pair of boots would rip your legs off