871–880 of 983 posts
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Same thing that happens if you develop unexpected gastric issues during a 30 minute plane flight, I'd imagine, since you'd spend the whole time strapped in for take-off and then landing.
I'm pretty sure in this case they would let you go to the bathroom.
and if you go to the bathroom right before takeoff, you'll delay the flight.
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I take it you've never travelled between Shanghai and its airport?
No, indeed I haven't. I take it you will consider a 30 km line built 40 years after the idea was first conceptualized to be a success for Musk's technology as well? Should do a lot to relieve the I-5, certainly!
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Vibration from trains is proportional to the unsprung weight of the vehicle (basically the axle, wheels and traction motors) rather than the vibration of the whole vehicle (which is isolated by the primary and secondary train suspensions). For a heavy rail transit vehicle (NYC transit, MBTA Red Line, CTA vehicle, etc), you're talking about 2,700 kg. I don't have numbers handy for HSR trainsets.
The air cushion isolates the entire vehicle... perhaps making the "unsprung" weight 0?
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> Can you name any new major civil engineering project in the US in the last fifty years? Most of the interstate highway system, any number of lakes, many major bridges, the completed portion of the superconducting supercollider underground chambers, the brilliant Alaska pipeline pylon system, Florida's long elevated marine highways, the Norfolk (?) tunnel, the NYC aqueduct, most major airport runways. What man has d…
> [Elon Musk] already killed the Space Shuttle program and its standing army of $1B/yr payroll patronage jobs. What did Musk have to do with Space Shuttle program cancellation? I thought it collapsed under its own weight - disasters, costs, slowness etc. Please provide links if any.
Feedback is welcomed on these or any useful aspects of the Hyperloop design. E-mail feedback to hyperloop@spacex.com or hyperloop@teslamotors.com Better: https://github.com/hyperloop/hyperloop
"Open source" plans in PDF format. "But we published it on github, that makes it open source, right?" RMS is rolling over in his -- oh wait, he's still alive. How about a ReST or LaTeX document that generates this PDF?
"In the case of the Hyperloop, Musk started focusing on public transportation after he grew disenchanted with the plans for California’s high-speed rail system." And who says that big government stifles entrepreneurial innovation? If ALL Musk does with the Hyperloop announcement is shed more light on the potential debacle that is to be our $70b+ high-speed rail in California, we owe him a debt of gratitude. PS - Dire…
Interesting point that big government provoked the advancement of the hyperloop idea - counterintuitive idea, and clearly yes. but any idea like this will need government cooperation. The real test of big government will be how they respond to the hyperloop. magic response: "of course we may be wrong, we'll look into this immediately." and then they decide to build it. likely answer: praise, perhaps even an evaluatio…
Politicians aren't all afraid to take risks, especially when they believe a particular policy they like will live on and be remembered.
Our former governor Jesse Ventura overcame incredible resistance and media scorn to get our first light rail line built. Almost all casual observers thought major health care reform was impossible in Washington. These things actually happened.
The key to passing a good policy is to reduce the risk. Politicians love projects where someone else was the guinea pig for them and/or someone else pays for studies and prototypes. Usually, they look for other units of government that have done something very similar with great success.
If I wanted to get Hyperloop to pass, I would first aim to table discussions on high speed rail for the proposed route. You would find allies among politicians who don't want to spend any money on transit, usually to appease highway contractors.
Secondly, I would immediately aim to seek R&D money for a high-profile demonstration project with plenty of funding for a study to project potential costs and impacts. This effort should even begin before the high speed rail bidding is tabled. I would leverage the demonstration results in the media and build a grassroots and lobbying organization around support for a Hyperloop.
Finally, I would seek advice from experts to craft a model bill with appropriate requirements for the bidding process.
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Wow. I'm an Elon Musk fan too but this is a bit much. He didn't give anything to the world. He is a businessman-he gets paid very handsomely to do the things he does.
That is an absolutely disgusting attitude. True innovators carry all of humanity on their backs, and give massively to all of humanity, present and future. The fact that they get some monetary compensation doesn't entitle you to not be grateful and to not recognize their heroism. It does not entitle you to imply, as you have, that they deserve the same level of praise as any person who is paid for any work whatsoever…
Musk would have a hard time innovating if he had to build his own house, grow his own food, knit his own clothes, etc. etc...
We all rely on each other to provide our basic standards of living.
Without our basic needs being satisfied, we don't have a platform from which to focus on innovation.
Yes, innovation is great, but don't act like they are the entire backbone of humanity.