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Hyperloop One to shut down

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Re: Hyperloop One to shut down

#481

Post by shiroiuma »

klausa wrote: post #409
shiroiuma wrote: post #346

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then stop dodging them: pedestrians like you are the worst. Just walk in a straight line where you're going and stop moving around so erratically; let the cyclists go around you. Anyway, it would be nice if they built some nice, protected bike lanes, but they'd have to remove lanes from the cars to do that.

That doesn't really work on narrower walking paths, with other pedestrians also coming from the other directions; but maybe I'm just unused to it. I'll... try to be more assertive, I guess we'll see how that works out.

It reminds me of a mouse I once hit on my bike (not in Tokyo, it was a rural place). The mouse darted into the road, so I tried to go around him. But then he changed direction to avoid me, and so I ran over him. I ended up having to crush his skull to put him out of his misery. If he had just continued in a predictable, straight line, he would have survived.

You should rent one of the Docomo red rental bikes and ride it around some, and then you can see what it's like being one of the cyclists. The last thing you want as a cyclist is pedestrians who make unpredictable movements as you're passing. Also remember, pedestrians here have the absolute right-of-way, and cyclists are pretty much always at fault if there's a collision.

Re: Hyperloop One to shut down

#482

Post by shiroiuma »

ghaff wrote: post #403
shiroiuma wrote: post #322

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As another bicyclist: yes. That's how we do it here in Tokyo. Almost no one rides on the roads, despite the painted bike lanes that are always ignored by cars and delivery trucks using them as parking spaces.

As a pedestrian in Tokyo, I'm very aware not to make any sudden direction changes in case there's a bicycle behind me. I've also seen bicyclists trying to make their way through crowds riding a bike where there is barely room for people to walk.

Yeah, it can be chaotic at times, and bicyclists shouldn't be riding in heavy crowds like that, but unfortunately there are a few jerks who do.

Re: Hyperloop One to shut down

#483

Post by creatonez »

zizee wrote: post #451
Qwertious wrote: post #423

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The moon. It's closer, it has pre-made internal cavities, it's far easier to evacuate if something goes wrong (a catapult and a few days travel vs a rocket and months of travel). Also, we can actually get there. This Mars colony is in the realm of fantasy, when we don't have a means of getting astronauts there without dying of cosmic-ray cancer on the way. In contrast we've put a man on the moon. Multiple men. We kno…

You'll be pleased to know there are plans underway to setup a permanent moon base. I agree the moon has a lot going for it, but I think you have your finger on the scales when comparing the two. > a catapult and a few days travel We don't have catapult technology that would work on the moon without solving significant technological challenges. I don't think engineering challenges should hold us back (it's half the fu…

The Mars atmosphere is not conducive to aero-braking. In fact, it is the worst of both worlds: thick enough that you cannot use thrusters without them getting destroyed by air friction, and thin enough that at the end of a parachute descent you still have to rely on either thrusters, or have your landing vehicle turn itself into a literal bouncy castle.

It's no wonder NASA came up with the absolute craziest solution -- a wicked fast heat shield burn descent, followed by a wicked fast parachute descent, followed by an absurdly complicated and risky 'sky crane' procedure to shave off the rest of the velocity using thrusters.

Re: Hyperloop One to shut down

#484

Post by beembeem »

randyrand wrote: post #478
beembeem wrote: post #441

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And when I found this out, I lost a lot of respect for him. All his talk of sustainability is junk when you see words like this.

if rider numbers are bad, the rail will have been net bad for the environment

I'll try to take this as a serious comment, but I'm unsure because it displays a lack of awareness.

The goal of the project is to go where people want to go. The CAHSR project took in a lot of feedback as well as local political involvement to get to its alignment. Because of this process, it hits many major population centers and destinations throughout the state. It eventually will connect all three major metro areas (SD, LA, SF) as well as the capital city (Sacramento). Once complete the HSR will be the fastest door-to-door mode of inter-city transit for many of these destinations.

Re: Hyperloop One to shut down

#485

Post by beembeem »

rvbissell wrote: post #456
wildrhythms wrote: post #448

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It wasn't after Musk publicly went around calling a rescue worker a pedophile for disregarding his attention-seeking 'rescue submarine' concept? https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/jul/15/elon-musk...

¿Por qué no los dos?

The two situations are different. The Thai rescue had Elon exhibiting strange personal behavior. I never agreed with it.

When he admitted he built a staged rail company to subvert public high speed rail and encourage more sales of his cars, it strikes directly at the heart of his "mission" and "values" that are so adored by the auto & tech industries.

Re: Hyperloop One to shut down

#486

Post by dragonwriter »

beembeem wrote: post #484
randyrand wrote: post #478

Earlier quoted context omitted.

if rider numbers are bad, the rail will have been net bad for the environment

I'll try to take this as a serious comment, but I'm unsure because it displays a lack of awareness. The goal of the project is to go where people want to go. The CAHSR project took in a lot of feedback as well as local political involvement to get to its alignment. Because of this process, it hits many major population centers and destinations throughout the state. It eventually will connect all three major metro are…

> It eventually will connect all three major metro areas (SD, LA, SF) as well as the capital city (Sacramento).

There are no concrete plans to do anything related to Phase 2 since the active scope was narrowed, so the SD and Sacramento connections are really wishful thinking at this point; the Authority still says that planning is happening on Phase 2, but lists no Phase 2 related progress (even planning) in their annual reports and similarly has no Phase 2 related progress goals in those reports.

Its an SF to Anaheim project.

Re: Hyperloop One to shut down

#487

Post by agumonkey »

beembeem wrote: post #441
rschiavone wrote: post #379

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That seems to be the reason. "Musk reportedly told his biographer, Ashlee Vance, that the Hyperloop proposal was motivated by “his hatred for California’s proposed high-speed rail system,” which he felt would be too slow, outdated and expensive. “With any luck, the high-speed rail would be canceled,” Vance wrote." https://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/openforum/article/elon-m... https://twitter.com/parismarx/status/149…

And when I found this out, I lost a lot of respect for him. All his talk of sustainability is junk when you see words like this.

Yeah this was also the start of lost innocence for me too. He's just a guy, one who made a few superb dents into different industries.. but still just a guy, with massive flaws. I'm actually worried that this person is connected or at the core of so many new industrial technologies.

Re: Hyperloop One to shut down

#488

Post by JohnFen »

chrisco255 wrote: post #380
bluGill wrote: post #248

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even if there was we can estimate costs and conclude cost would be too high

No, we can't. And yes there is: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCMaglev

That's just maglev, though. Nobody is asserting that maglev isn't feasible.

Re: Hyperloop One to shut down

#489

Post by JohnFen »

tnel77 wrote: post #397
JohnFen wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The tech is fine, right? No, the tech is not fine. There are really serious, showstopper issues with it. Issues that were known way back in the early 1900s and there is still no feasible way to overcome them.

Such as?

How to safely create and maintain a reasonable vacuum in very long tubes is the main unsolved problem, as far as I can tell.

Re: Hyperloop One to shut down

#490

Post by zizee »

creatonez wrote: post #483
zizee wrote: post #451

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You'll be pleased to know there are plans underway to setup a permanent moon base. I agree the moon has a lot going for it, but I think you have your finger on the scales when comparing the two. > a catapult and a few days travel We don't have catapult technology that would work on the moon without solving significant technological challenges. I don't think engineering challenges should hold us back (it's half the fu…

The Mars atmosphere is not conducive to aero-braking. In fact, it is the worst of both worlds: thick enough that you cannot use thrusters without them getting destroyed by air friction, and thin enough that at the end of a parachute descent you still have to rely on either thrusters, or have your landing vehicle turn itself into a literal bouncy castle. It's no wonder NASA came up with the absolute craziest solution…

> it is the worst of both worlds

A thin atmosphere provides an additional option over the alternative of zero atmosphere. Zero atmosphere means you rely entirely on propulsion to slow your arrival, which is inherently expensive. I can agree that a thicker atmosphere would be easier, but a thin atmosphere is better than none.

> absurdly complicated and risky 'sky crane'

The skycrane was entirely related to not wanting to stir up huge dust plumes around the lander.

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