[News] Why yes, I would like to travel from Omaha to Europe in 4 hours.
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Blow up one section of the tube and not only is it no longer evacuated, but all that air rushing in is going to slam all the cars that are in the tubes together at high speed.
There was a demonstration of this at a local tech meeting. Put foil on both ends of a tube, with a ping pong ball on one end. Remove most of the air. Poke a pin hole in the tin foil on the end of the tube with the ping pong ball. The ping pong ball accelerates to the other end of the tube, out of it, and continues _through_ the 3/16 inch thick particle board the demonstrator put at the opposite end.
Oh, the ping pong ball also explodes as a result.
I'm also seriously doubting their cost estimate. They say it's cheaper than train track, but as a maglev device, it can't possibly be cheaper.
Not only that, but there's a reason there are windows on airplanes, despite it being much cheaper to have a windowless airplane. Humans don't like to be cooped up in windowless boxes, especially while traveling. Even subways, where's there's literally nothing to look at, have huge picture windows to decrease anxiety and increase comfort. Airtight evacuated tubes with glass, and airtight cylinders with glass are going to be very expensive.
Guess what happens to the passengers inside when a window breaks?
It's an interesting thought experiment, but there are a few breakthroughs they need to have before it becomes viable.
There was a demonstration of this at a local tech meeting. Put foil on both ends of a tube, with a ping pong ball on one end. Remove most of the air. Poke a pin hole in the tin foil on the end of the tube with the ping pong ball. The ping pong ball accelerates to the other end of the tube, out of it, and continues _through_ the 3/16 inch thick particle board the demonstrator put at the opposite end.
Oh, the ping pong ball also explodes as a result.
I'm also seriously doubting their cost estimate. They say it's cheaper than train track, but as a maglev device, it can't possibly be cheaper.
Not only that, but there's a reason there are windows on airplanes, despite it being much cheaper to have a windowless airplane. Humans don't like to be cooped up in windowless boxes, especially while traveling. Even subways, where's there's literally nothing to look at, have huge picture windows to decrease anxiety and increase comfort. Airtight evacuated tubes with glass, and airtight cylinders with glass are going to be very expensive.
Guess what happens to the passengers inside when a window breaks?
It's an interesting thought experiment, but there are a few breakthroughs they need to have before it becomes viable.
S
Soliloquy
It is worth noting that in a vacuum, it's a lot easier to maintain cold temperatures, and a superconductor + magnet means electricity-free levitation.
It shows how they start, which is quite astonishing, but how do you stop something like that?
Yeah, I'm fine in planes as long as the window next to me is open and I can look out. I start to freak the hell out when I'm in the middle seat and the person at the window closes it. It's even worse when the people in front do it too. No way in hell I'd sit in a giant metal bullet for 4 hours.
I wonder if the tube will overlook Bachelor Chow Ads.
S
Soliloquy
I think they should start by just using this for the quick shipping of goods. That way the infrastructure would be in place to expanding to passenger travel later.
I don't know, that hasn't worked out terribly well for Amtrak, who has to lease rail time and space from the cargo lines. In fact, that's one of the many reasons that Amtrak is such a complete and utter failure.
I wouldn't mind that so much, since I honestly can't expect to get someplace as quickly by train as I would by plane, except for extremely local destinations, if I could count on only having to pay as much as a plane ticket and not (for some of the trips I've attempted to price check) two or three times more than I'd pay to go by plane. Not to mention the fact that, at least around here, the service is so unreliable I'd more than likely wind up traveling at least a portion of the distance by bus due to mudslide or scheduling conflict with BNSF's freight lines. If I'm going to be stuck taking a bus, I'll just drive myself, tyvm.
If you're lucky. A train ride from northern Mn to San Antonio would have taken me a day and a half. A plane ride is only a couple hours.
If the journey is under 300 miles or so, the travel time should come out to be a toss-up. Since you have to spend so much more time in the terminals for airplanes.
I think it may have been a plastic, rather than a metal foil. I've got a video of it, so perhaps I'll chuck it up online at some point.
Woah woah woah woah woah...
woah...
hold on...
You have KFC in China? MY WORLD IS SHATTERED
I'd totally go there, that's a great name.
Must be a chain or something, because I see Translation Error restaurants everywhere.
There's a KFC at the friggin Great Wall for heaven's sake.
Because it's hard to deliver people safely in an ICBM.
I was always partial to the "Kentucky fried critters" moniker myself.
I still don't get how the damn thing is supposed to stop. Neither video explains that, aside from running out of nitrogen. But for specific stops, would that not need to be measured?
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