hyperloop – Techdirt (original) (raw)
Stories filed under: "hyperloop"
DailyDirt: Faster Than A Locomotive…
from the urls-we-dig-up dept
The hyperloop idea that Elon Musk announced to the public is making some baby steps towards becoming a reality. Okay, so no one is talking about how any kind of new train system still needs to get land use rights and political approval, but the technology is inching its way towards becoming more than just an idea on paper.
- Hyperloop One (formerly Hyperloop Technologies) has tested an open air demo of its prototype train that could someday travel hundreds of miles per hour in an evacuated tube. It’s not a very impressive demo since high speed trains already exist, but it’s a first step towards much more advanced train systems. [url]
- The ‘hyperloop’ concept was popularized by Elon Musk, but similar transport ideas have been tried (and failed) before. The Swissmetro vactrain project fell apart in 2009, and there are no plans to restart it. [url]
- Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (not to be confused with Hyperloop One) is working with passive magnetic levitation technology to get its version of a hyperloop working. This levitation technology seems to be related to Inductrack tech that inspired the Hendo hoverboards. [url]
- The US Air Force set a maglev speed record at 633mph using superconducting magnets and liquid helium to cool it all down. Faster test sleds propelled by rockets didn’t use magnetic levitation, but this is still cool, right? [url]
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Filed Under: elon musk, high speed rail, hyperloop, inductrack, magnetic levitation, magnets, transportation, vactrain
Companies: hendo, hyperloop one, hyperloop transportation technologies
DailyDirt: Getting From Point A To B… Really Really Quickly
from the urls-we-dig-up dept
Transportation has evolved from simply walking to riding to flying to sailing and orbiting and all kinds of modes of travel. We’ve grown accustomed to speeds of 100-600 mph or so, but it’s possible to go a lot faster. A Concorde jet could go over 1,000 mph, but those planes aren’t in service anymore. Traveling to space might not appeal to that many people, but getting from NYC to LA in an hour might. Check out a few concept vehicles that could accomplish supersonic (or hypersonic) travel.
- Elon Musk’s Hyperloop project isn’t totally crazy. It’s still somewhat crazy, but there are some people building a prototype now — so a working version might exist someday. [url]
- SpaceLiner is a suborbital, hypersonic, winged passenger transport concept that could take people from Europe to the US in about an hour. Flying on what is essentially an intercontinental missile probably has some additional security issues, but there are plenty of other practical problems for this transportation idea. [url]
- Other evacuated tube transport systems (aka vactrains) could travel 5,000 mph all over the globe. That is, if anyone wants to build the tubes across oceans…. And maybe China will do it. (Or maybe not.) [url]
After you’ve finished checking out those links, take a look at our Daily Deals for cool gadgets and other awesome stuff.
Filed Under: concept vehicles, concorde, elon musk, evacuated tube transport, hyperloop, hypersonic, spaceliner, supersonic, transportation, travel, vactrain
DailyDirt: Can Public Transportation Ever Make Everyone Happy?
from the urls-we-dig-up dept
Public transportation is a tough problem — collecting taxes to build out expensive infrastructure is always going to be a touchy political battle. Inevitably, there will be some people who won’t see the benefits and others who will, disproportionately. Creating some hybrid of public and private transportation seems like the future (as well as the lesser-known past). Here are just a few links on getting around without your own personal vehicle.
- New York City has an unofficial system of private buses/vans/shuttles that fill the gaps in the Big Apple’s bus and subway system. The New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission supposedly regulates this type of commerce, but the number of illegal shuttles operating in the city far outnumbers the officially-issued licenses. [url]
- Florida East Coast Industries (FECI) is developing a private railroad for passengers. The All Aboard Florida project is starting construction now, proudly stating that it is doing so with zero dollars of taxpayer funding. [url]
- Elon Musk wasn’t a fan of the high speed rail project in California, so he proposed his own Hyperloop concept. If you haven’t heard about this whitepaper, you must have been in a coma…. [url]
If you’d like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.
Filed Under: buses, elon musk, feci, high speed rail, hyperloop, railroads, taxi, transportation
DailyDirt: A Long Time To Make Really Big Stuff…
from the urls-we-dig-up dept
In the software world, it’s widely known that throwing more people at a (delayed) project can make it take even longer to finish instead of speeding things up. (See Brooks’s Law) Maybe folks are learning how to cope with this management dilemma, but it looks like the solutions might involve throwing even more people AND more money to get projects to finish on time. The most practical answer, though, might be to come up with more realistic budgets and schedules. However, there are plenty of examples that practical proposals are not forthcoming. Here are just a few construction projects that have faced delays, and we may still have to wait a few years to see how they actually turn out.
- The new eastern span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge is finally open — after the old bridge was demonstrated to be a bit unsafe in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. The new bridge section cost about 6.4billion(welloverthe6.4 billion (well over the 6.4billion(welloverthe1.3 billion projected budget in 1996) and took a decade longer than expected. The result may not be perfect, but what is? [url]
- Bridges might take some time to build, but it’s nothing compared to tunnel construction like the New York City Water Tunnel No. 3. project NYC’s Water Tunnel No. 3 project was approved in 1954, started in 1970, and is expected to be complete in 2020 (at a cost estimated over $6 billion). [url]
- The 202-story Sky City was supposed to be the tallest skyscraper in the world — with an ambitious goal of being built in just 90 days, but it’s been delayed indefinitely. The building was designed to be constructed using pre-fabricated modules, and the tycoon behind this skyscraper, Zhang Yue, promises it will be completed in mid-2014. [url]
If you’d like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.
Filed Under: bay bridge, brooks' law, construction, hyperloop, sky city, skyscraper, tallest building, tunnel project