A very long evacuated tube hundreds or thousands of miles long - too long to ever be actively defended - is itself fundamentally untenable. There are US states where every “welcome to ___” sign is shot up with holes. You don’t think people will take potshots at this thing?
Even if you somehow made it armoured and immune to small arms (this would be the largest armoured thing ever constructed), it would never make any sense over cutting edge high speed rail that doesn’t require an evacuated tube.
This all comes straight from first principles. To change this, any number of fantastical technologies would need to be invented (maybe the tube can be made of vibranium?).
Yeah I think we’ve learned all we need to know about the mega-rich “MoVe FaSt AnD bReAk ThiNgS” types and their highly pressurized people-carrying cylinders…
So the pressure difference between the vehicle and the outside is the opposite. If the vehicle fails, rather than being crushed by the pressure, the occupants explode.
I’m just saying that some guy commenting on a blog is not a good reason not to try.
The good reason not to try is that bullet trains have proved working perfectly in other parts of the world. Sure, they would be slower than an hypothetical hyperloop but they are a working technology that would help alleviate the transportation problem.
Why invest in a project that might lead nowhere?
I’m not anti experimentation, by any means. It’s just that as the article says, the hyperloop was proposed when a bullet train was being discussed by local politicians.
A very long evacuated tube hundreds or thousands of miles long - too long to ever be actively defended - is itself fundamentally untenable. There are US states where every “welcome to ___” sign is shot up with holes. You don’t think people will take potshots at this thing?
Even if you somehow made it armoured and immune to small arms (this would be the largest armoured thing ever constructed), it would never make any sense over cutting edge high speed rail that doesn’t require an evacuated tube.
This all comes straight from first principles. To change this, any number of fantastical technologies would need to be invented (maybe the tube can be made of vibranium?).
What I always thought was the worst part about the idea is pressure equalization in the event of an eventual cabin seal failure.
Yeah I think we’ve learned all we need to know about the mega-rich “MoVe FaSt AnD bReAk ThiNgS” types and their highly pressurized people-carrying cylinders…
This is totally different, the tube is under vacuum and on land.
So the pressure difference between the vehicle and the outside is the opposite. If the vehicle fails, rather than being crushed by the pressure, the occupants explode.
It wouldn’t be that bad. Just possibly popping a lung, rupturing ear drums, and/or passing out.
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None of those are vacuum tubes. This is nonsense.
They leak. Literally all the time. They keep working. This won’t.
Okay well you got there eventually.
The good reason not to try is that bullet trains have proved working perfectly in other parts of the world. Sure, they would be slower than an hypothetical hyperloop but they are a working technology that would help alleviate the transportation problem.
Why invest in a project that might lead nowhere?
I’m not anti experimentation, by any means. It’s just that as the article says, the hyperloop was proposed when a bullet train was being discussed by local politicians.
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Given that I always heard it being envisioned that the evacuated tube would be a tunnel, no, I don’t.
Just I’m clear on this the plan is/was to dig a large diameter tunnel underground, between cities?
As far as I know, yep. That’s how “The Boring Company” fit in to the scheme.
Better built on the moon than on California, no guns or people to mess it up