Not exacctly transporters....

[Saniflush]

but still pretty cool.



Since the commercialization of airplane travel, the world has become a lot smaller. In the U.S. in particular, this has allowed people to actually commute to work from different parts of the country. But after decades of technological advances, the time and increasingly complicated process of air travel now seems somehow behind the times. Elon Musk, the man behind the Tesla and SpaceX has come forward to announce that the plans for his next generation high-speed transportation system, supposedly mixing magnetic levitation with vacuum tube propulsion, are finally ready to be unveiled.

Last year, Musk promised to reveal his idea for the high speed network sometime in August, saying the system would allow a passenger to, "go from downtown LA to downtown San Francisco in under 30 minutes. It would cost you much less than an air ticket than any other mode of transport." But after all the excitement generated around the idea, Musk failed to produce the plans as promised, and the public's focus on Musk returned to his work on electric cars and space travel.

Musk announced today on Twitter that detailed plans for his Hyperloop system will be revealed on August 12, the first time he's actually committed to a date regarding the project.








But something interesting happened in the last couple of weeks. New talk of a similar kind of system gained traction, and a good deal of excitement from the tech community, after an article on a company called ET3 (Evacuated Tube Transport Technologies) was widely circulated. ET3 claims to be working to introduce a system that would transport people in car-sized capsules traveling 4,000 miles per hour internationally, and 350 miles per hour domestically, making it possible to get from New York to L.A. in 45 minutes, and Washington, D.C. to Beijing, China in just two hours.

To consider how revolutionary this could be, just think about all the workers who currently live in places like Philadelphia and Connecticut who currently make the 1.5-2 hour commute to New York City on a daily basis. Using this as a barometer of acceptable commute times, that means that the idea of working in Silicon Valley and living in Miami could become a realistic possibility.

[wesfau2]

Elon Musk sounds like Brut By Faberge's exotic cousin.

[AU_Tiger_2000]

4000mph?  That's mach 5.25, on the ground.  If you think having a freight train go by at night is annoying just wait until your windows get blown out and your drywall cracks from a sonic boom at ground level. 

At Mach 3 the SR71windshield was heated to around 500F at 80000ft, wonder what that will be at mach 5 at ground level.

[Hogwally]

4000mph?  That's mach 5.25, on the ground.  If you think having a freight train go by at night is annoying just wait until your windows get blown out and your drywall cracks from a sonic boom at ground level. 

At Mach 3 the SR71windshield was heated to around 500F at 80000ft, wonder what that will be at mach 5 at ground level.

     No sound waves or air friction in a vacuum tube.

[Saniflush]

     No sound waves or air friction in a vacuum tube.

BOOM.  That's puttin' that engineerin to work!

[dallaswareagle]

4000mph?  That's mach 5.25, on the ground.  If you think having a freight train go by at night is annoying just wait until your windows get blown out and your drywall cracks from a sonic boom at ground level. 

At Mach 3 the SR71windshield was heated to around 500F at 80000ft, wonder what that will be at mach 5 at ground level.

Go speed racer, go.

[Saniflush]

Go speed racer, go.

That shit will be keen.

[AU_Tiger_2000]

     No sound waves or air friction in a vacuum tube.

Aaaahhhh, gotcha.  I wasn't real sure what they were referring to with the vacuum tube things.  I just thought it was going to have to warm up for a while and make a humming noise.

[Godfather]

So wait...you are telling me that George Lucas is wrong? That you can't hear explosions in space. Pffft..

Erroneous!

[Vandy Vol]

I'll pass on the first few years of this method of transportation.  Traveling at 4,000mph probably doesn't leave much room for error, and when something goes slightly wrong, you'll never know it.

[Tiger Wench]

I don't want a five minute commute.  When would I be able to put on make up, drink my coffee and post on Facebook if my drive is only five minutes?

Signed,

Every bitch in Houston that drives on I-45 other than me

[dallaswareagle]

I don't want a five minute commute.  When would I be able to put on make up, drink my coffee and post on Facebook, text my friends, call my BFFFF if my drive is only five minutes?

Signed,

Every fuckwad in Texas that drives on any road other than us.

adjusted it.

[WiregrassTiger]

What if I need to take a big country boy shit? I wonder if they'll stop for me.

[WiregrassTiger]

     No sound waves or air friction in a vacuum tube.

Makes one hell of a sucking sound on the ball sack though. And hurts.

[Saniflush]

Elon Musk is into transportation, whether it's an electric car or a spaceship. Today, he detailed a plan to revolutionize a portion of public transit. It's called the Hyperloop, and it's meant to get folks from SF to LA (or any two cities less than 900 miles apart) in 30 minutes seated in aluminum pods that are hurtled to and fro at 800 miles an hour in a pair of steel tubes. To keep things safe, pods will be spaced five miles apart so that they can stop without running into each other, which means a total of 70 pods could operate simultaneously.

Of course, the real question is how to get the pods moving at those speeds? One main issue with such transport is wind resistance (and associated friction) that increases as the speed of the pods inside the tube escalate. Naturally, one could operate the tubes in a complete vacuum to eliminate the problem, but keeping such a system free of air would be difficult over such long distances. Instead, the proposed Hyperloop system works as a low air pressure environment that is easily maintained with standard commercial compressors. Additionally, "an electric compressor fan on the nose of the pod that actively transfers high pressure air from the front to the rear of the vessel" is there to relieve what air does build up at the front. This compressor fan would also generate an air bearing around the pod to keep it suspended in the middle of the tube, much as an air hockey table suspends a plastic puck. As for power? Well, that comes from external linear electric motors positioned every 70 miles to keep the pods humming along at subsonic speeds.

Musk's Hyperloop plans don't stop there, either. His proposal accounts for potential pitfalls with building the necessary tubes and powering the system. As for the first issue, the California Hyperloop could be built on top of pylons and run parallel to an existing interstate linking LA and SF to minimize environmental impact and the need to acquire land for the project. Pylon construction also provides the added benefit of being better able to withstand the forces of an earthquake than a terrestrial train can. As for concerns about power, Musk proposes covering the tubes in solar cells so that the system actually generates more electricity than it consumes.

All told, Elon estimates the cost of constructing Hyperloop to be around $6 billion, but the plan is far from set in stone. He's already said that an updated version of the project is in the works and he's offered up his plans as an open design, so he's open to suggestions and improvements from others. And, to prove that his plan can actually work, Musk may build a functional demonstration prototype. Should be easy, Elon. It's not like you have anything else to do, right?

[WiregrassTiger]

Elon Musk is into transportation, whether it's an electric car or a spaceship. Today, he detailed a plan to revolutionize a portion of public transit. It's called the Hyperloop, and it's meant to get folks from SF to LA (or any two cities less than 900 miles apart) in 30 minutes seated in aluminum pods that are hurtled to and fro at 800 miles an hour in a pair of steel tubes. To keep things safe, pods will be spaced five miles apart so that they can stop without running into each other, which means a total of 70 pods could operate simultaneously.

Of course, the real question is how to get the pods moving at those speeds? One main issue with such transport is wind resistance (and associated friction) that increases as the speed of the pods inside the tube escalate. Naturally, one could operate the tubes in a complete vacuum to eliminate the problem, but keeping such a system free of air would be difficult over such long distances. Instead, the proposed Hyperloop system works as a low air pressure environment that is easily maintained with standard commercial compressors. Additionally, "an electric compressor fan on the nose of the pod that actively transfers high pressure air from the front to the rear of the vessel" is there to relieve what air does build up at the front. This compressor fan would also generate an air bearing around the pod to keep it suspended in the middle of the tube, much as an air hockey table suspends a plastic puck. As for power? Well, that comes from external linear electric motors positioned every 70 miles to keep the pods humming along at subsonic speeds.

Musk's Hyperloop plans don't stop there, either. His proposal accounts for potential pitfalls with building the necessary tubes and powering the system. As for the first issue, the California Hyperloop could be built on top of pylons and run parallel to an existing interstate linking LA and SF to minimize environmental impact and the need to acquire land for the project. Pylon construction also provides the added benefit of being better able to withstand the forces of an earthquake than a terrestrial train can. As for concerns about power, Musk proposes covering the tubes in solar cells so that the system actually generates more electricity than it consumes.

All told, Elon estimates the cost of constructing Hyperloop to be around $6 billion, but the plan is far from set in stone. He's already said that an updated version of the project is in the works and he's offered up his plans as an open design, so he's open to suggestions and improvements from others. And, to prove that his plan can actually work, Musk may build a functional demonstration prototype. Should be easy, Elon. It's not like you have anything else to do, right?

Pretty sure I will be contacted to help work on this project since I've had extensive experience with public transportation, working for both Greyhound and later Delta.

[GH2001]

Saw this last night on the news. I really want to get excited about the idea of it but am cautious.

[WiregrassTiger]

Saw this last night on the news. I really want to get excited about the idea of it but am cautious.

Hey, it's the greatest thing since the IT, Melissa or whatever they call that 2 wheel invention that folks bust they ass on. It was billed as the greatest invention since the auto.

All modes of transport since the horse get us there faster and kill us faster. I don't need to see anybody bad enough to go 700 mph in a tube. Of course, I'm the guy on the roller coaster yelling for them to "slow this summbitch down!".

[GH2001]

Hey, it's the greatest thing since the IT, Melissa or whatever they call that 2 wheel invention that folks bust they ass on. It was billed as the greatest invention since the auto.

All modes of transport since the horse get us there faster and kill us faster. I don't need to see anybody bad enough to go 700 mph in a tube. Of course, I'm the guy on the roller coaster yelling for them to "slow this summbitch down!".

I like having the option. Don't like it? Don't ride it.

[CCTAU]

Aaaahhhh, gotcha.  I wasn't real sure what they were referring to with the vacuum tube things.  I just thought it was going to have to warm up for a while and make a humming noise.

You just spoke right over the heads of the youngsters.

I chortled. Nice job!