New York to Los Angeles in 45 minutes?

[jimnyc]

I sure don't want to be a test dummy in anything that does 4,000mph!!

Futuristic High-Speed Tube Travel Could Take You From New York to Los Angeles in 45 MinutesTraveling across the country or the world via any modern mode of transportation is a time-consuming affair. It can also be really annoying with the long lines, crying babies, armrest hogs, cramped space, etc. Would it not be the most awesome invention ever if some new type of transportation could cut that travel time significantly?

Get ready, because it may only be a few years from becoming a reality. A company called ET3 has plans in the works for the Evacuated Tube Transport, a high-speed transportation tube that uses magnetic levitation. The ETT can travel at speeds of up to 4,000 miles per hour, and each tube seats a maximum of six people and comes with a baggage compartment. How does it go so fast? It's airless and frictionless and could have you from New York to Los Angeles in 45 minutes, as opposed to the nearly five hours a direct flight would take. It could even have you depart from New York and be in Beijing in two hours.

The tubes would be set up like freeways to prevent crowding and traffic congestion problems. Plus, ET3 claims that passengers need not worry about feeling discomfort while traveling at such high speeds. The high velocity at which the tubes move is equal to 1G of force at top speed, which is similar to the force felt by someone traveling in a car on the freeway.

Daryl Oster, the founder and CEO of ET3, says that he got the idea for the tube transport system when he visited China back in the 1980s.

When and if the tubes make their debut in the next decade, they will initially be used to transport cargo, not people.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/trending-now/futuristic-high-speed-tube-travel-could-york-los-171007828.html?vp=1

[aboutime]

I sure don't want to be a test dummy in anything that does 4,000mph!!

Futuristic High-Speed Tube Travel Could Take You From New York to Los Angeles in 45 Minutes

Traveling across the country or the world via any modern mode of transportation is a time-consuming affair. It can also be really annoying with the long lines, crying babies, armrest hogs, cramped space, etc. Would it not be the most awesome invention ever if some new type of transportation could cut that travel time significantly?

Get ready, because it may only be a few years from becoming a reality. A company called ET3 has plans in the works for the Evacuated Tube Transport, a high-speed transportation tube that uses magnetic levitation. The ETT can travel at speeds of up to 4,000 miles per hour, and each tube seats a maximum of six people and comes with a baggage compartment. How does it go so fast? It's airless and frictionless and could have you from New York to Los Angeles in 45 minutes, as opposed to the nearly five hours a direct flight would take. It could even have you depart from New York and be in Beijing in two hours.

The tubes would be set up like freeways to prevent crowding and traffic congestion problems. Plus, ET3 claims that passengers need not worry about feeling discomfort while traveling at such high speeds. The high velocity at which the tubes move is equal to 1G of force at top speed, which is similar to the force felt by someone traveling in a car on the freeway.

Daryl Oster, the founder and CEO of ET3, says that he got the idea for the tube transport system when he visited China back in the 1980s.

When and if the tubes make their debut in the next decade, they will initially be used to transport cargo, not people.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/trending-now/futuristic-high-speed-tube-travel-could-york-los-171007828.html?vp=1


Jim. If you think about it. ALL OF US can do that in less time now. Just go to GOOGLE EARTH, type the name of the location, and within less than a few seconds. YOU can be almost anywhere on Earth.

[hjmick]

New York and Los Angeles.

Great places to be from...

;)

[aboutime]

New York and Los Angeles.

Great places to be from...

;)


Agreed hjmick. Reminded me of W.C. Fields who once said "Oh yes. Spent a Month in Philadelphia...ONE NIGHT!" Same could be said for L.A. and N.Y.C. today. Both bastions of Democrat Liberalism on WELFARE.

[gabosaurus]

Agreed hjmick. Reminded me of W.C. Fields who once said "Oh yes. Spent a Month in Philadelphia...ONE NIGHT!" Same could be said for L.A. and N.Y.C. today. Both bastions of Democrat Liberalism on WELFARE.

http://constantcrosswind.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/stupid_people1.jpg

[logroller]

The prevailing issue with supersonic travel is mitigating the effects of the sonic boom--that's what did in Air France's Concorde. The so-called sonic boom causes both irritation (imagine having trains run down not just a street, but thirty city blocks at a time). And iirc, the Concorde only reached supersonic speeds hundreds of miles away from land. I know there have been many experiments/tests done on a variety of shapes to mitigate the sonic profile of compression waves from aircraft but its not solved the problem... I imagine a ground-based train would be even more pronounced a problem. There are supersonic corridors, but they're not in cities.

[Voted4Reagan]

Sonic Booms, G-Forces, How to brake at 4000mph...


seems far fetched that it will ever be practical

[fj1200]

The prevailing issue with supersonic travel is mitigating the effects of the sonic boom--

Can you have a sonic boom in a vacuum?

[Kathianne]

Can you have a sonic boom in a vacuum?

I'm soft when it comes to technologies, but somehow this reminds me of a big version of the SEND/CALL tubes at bank drive-ups. Big "whoosh" when starting up.

[taft2012]

In defense of NYC, aside from the crackpot government it's a wonderful place to live. I can get into my car, or a subway train, and within a half an hour be in just about any "country" in the world... Italy, Poland, Norway, Korea, China, Ireland, Jamaica...

There are substantial ethnic neighborhoods all around the city with corresponding restaurants and grocery stores serving authentic foods and goods from all over the world.

The historical sites in Manhattan are fascinating, if you know where to look for them. Here's a great site I love to visit

http://forgotten-ny.com/

If I head in the other direction there are kick ass beaches and great ocean fishing. Heh, I watch those land-locked large mouth bass fishermen on ESPN.... they think they're fishing. :rolleyes:

[tailfins]

What good is a 45 minute flight if it takes three hours to get through "security"? Such a scenario would be indicative of today's society. Too much of corporate America is so busy conforming that they have no time to think and actually solve problems. You can measure effort put into conformity by the number of meetings. One way to get out of meetings: Have an Aspergers diagnosis on file with HR, then be disruptive at meetings.

[taft2012]

What good is a 45 minute flight if it takes three hours to get through "security"? Such a scenario would be indicative of today's society. Too much of corporate America is so busy conforming that they have no time to think and actually solve problems. You can measure effort put into conformity by the number of meetings.

haha, good point. Which is why I take the train from London to Paris. I can just walk onto the train as opposed to arriving 3 hours early for an international flight. No bag checking, no hassle.

Although, a tube trip wouldn't exactly be a "flight", would it? And you can't really hijack a capsule out of a tube. Just hope you don't have to go to the bathroom.

[Voted4Reagan]

Traveling 4000 miles per hour is one thing in the vaccuum of outer space, it is entirely different at sea level where Gravity is present. To subject the human body to the forces of acceleration and gravity at 4000mph would crush people unless you have a form of dampening system that would limit or eliminate the G-forces.

speeds of 421mph in the SONIC WIND I test produced upwards of 35g's.

Imagine 10x that speed.... a human would be torn apart

[gabosaurus]

LA to NYC in 45 minutes in a good idea. LA to New Jersey, on the other hand... :puke:

[logroller]

Can you have a sonic boom in a vacuum?
In a vacuum, no. In an "airless" environment, yes. a sonic boom is the inability of the fluid to move out of the way fast enough. So long as there is something, it's possible. Even outerspace is a fluid, predominantly helium; and waves can and do propagate in space. Of course, we can't hear it so, like the proverbial tree in the forest, does it make a sound???

This isn't new btw, vac train concepts are a century old and in the 1970's the idea was engineered and subsequently scrapped as prohibitively costly. What vactrains are is highly efficient; no doubt about that; but reducing the air pressure to reduce friction is much more easily accomplished than creating a vacuum and the amout if energy it takes to create a pressure/density low enough that hypersonic travel can occur rapidly outpace the efficiency gains brought about by frictionless travel. More power to china if they want to invest in it; but ill bet you a dollar it ends up being subsonic. Not that 600 mph is something I scoff at. Not to mention, chinas recent train accidents don't instill much confidence either.

[fj1200]

In a vacuum, no. In an "airless" environment, yes. a sonic boom is the inability of the fluid to move out of the way fast enough. So long as there is something, it's possible. Even outerspace is a fluid,

That all depends on how much of a vacuum they can effectively create. If the tube is nary bigger than the car then the more the vacuum they need. Any pressure buildup will kill potential speed.

[logroller]

That all depends on how much of a vacuum they can effectively create. If the tube is nary bigger than the car then the more the vacuum they need. Any pressure buildup will kill potential speed.

I believe Kathianne's analogy on the bank tubes effectively demonstrates the basic functionality of vactrains. Create a vacuum on one end, insert the car, then introduce a higher pressure behind the car that induces a flow that the car travels with. Its the pressure gradient, ie relative pressure/ vacuum, that does the work. Of course there's a myriad of concerns on what to do with that displaced fluid (air)and it probably involves air-locked sections similar to how subways go dark when they transition from one power source to another. Where a general progression of speed would occur along the route, not a 0-400 mph burst, then a general reduction. The gas would cycle through some reservoir, perhaps the next/last section and this would mitigate over acceleration. It said 1G; which easily survivable but is really being pinned to the seat. I saw a video of a guy pulling .99 G on a drag strip in his cadillac and it send an alarm to onstar "vehicle event detected":laugh:

[BillyBob]

Can you have a sonic boom in a vacuum?

Can you breathe in a vacuum?

[jimnyc]

I know how we'll travel in the future, I read about it on the following site. I recommend the site in it's entirety, some AWESOME reading, but I just put the transport part here. - http://futuretimeline.net/

Evacuated tube transport

Evacuated Tube Transport (ETT) could revolutionise the way we travel in the future. Using airless and frictionless vacuum tubes, passengers would travel in enclosed pods at speeds of up to 4,000mph (6,500kph), greatly reducing journey times. It would be safer, cheaper and quieter than trains or aeroplanes.* (http://futuretimeline.net/subject/transport-infrastructure.htm#ref1b)

<iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/McpWcn-1RZU" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="560"></iframe>


Hypersonic airliners

Hypersonic airliners are already being researched and developed, and could enter commercial service within the next 25 years.* (http://futuretimeline.net/subject/transport-infrastructure.htm#ref2b)
These aircraft would have a cruising speed of Mach 5 - or 3,800 mph - allowing them to fly from Europe to Australia in less than four hours. With a range of more than 20,000 km (12,000 miles) they could perform this journey without refuelling. They would have excellent subsonic and supersonic fuel efficiency, avoiding the problems inherent in earlier supersonic aircraft. Furthermore, and perhaps more importantly, hypersonic airliners will be environmentally friendly. Powered by liquid hydrogen, their only waste products will be water vapor and small levels of nitrous oxide.
Another advantage is that, while the 150m-long designs will be larger than previous jets, they will actually be lighter than Boeing 747s and could utilise conventional airport runways. They will have moderate take-off noise, too.
In many ways, they will be the spiritual successor of Concorde.
The craft will likely be windowless, however. The heat generated by traveling so fast will make it difficult to install windows that are not too heavy. One solution to this problem might be the installation of flat screen displays projecting images of the scene outside.

<iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/yJ0ZUnJs5sg" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="420"></iframe>


Solar roadways

Solar roadways are a relatively new concept. If developed, they would allow highways, roads, parking lots, driveways and pavements to create electricity, using photovoltaics. Traditional asphalt and concrete surfaces could instead be replaced by super-strong, self-healing glass and solar panels capable of being driven and walked upon.
Besides the production of clean energy, these hi-tech surfaces would have other advantages. In northern climates, for example, they could heat themselves with embedded heating elements (similar to the rear window of a car), eliminating ice and snow buildup. Cities would no longer have the expense of snow removal and the problems caused by the chemicals (salt, magnesium chloride, etc.) used to maintain clear roads. Businesses would no longer have to worry about keeping their parking lots cleared, while homeowners would no longer have to suffer through winters of shovelling or ploughing snow off their driveways and sidewalks. A large number of deaths and injuries would be prevented just by keeping the roads safe and dry.
[FONT=Verdana][SIZE=2]LED signage could be built in, creating "smart" roads that dynamically responded to traffic, weather, emergencies and other events. For example, if an animal tried to cross, oncoming drivers would be instantly alerted and given plenty of time to slow down.

Rest here - http://futuretimeline.net/subject/transport-infrastructure.htm#evacuated-tube-transport

[fj1200]

I believe Kathianne's analogy on the bank tubes effectively demonstrates the basic functionality of vactrains. Create a vacuum on one end, insert the car, then introduce a higher pressure behind the car that induces a flow that the car travels with. Its the pressure gradient, ie relative pressure/ vacuum, that does the work.:

I would think they would need to maintain the vacuum and propel via another method ; perhaps mag-lev. Too expensive to do otherwise.


Can you breathe in a vacuum?

Details, details.