Elon Musk’s radical plan to let people travel in 760 mph tubes

Daily Mail ^ | Feb 2015 | Ellie Zolfagharifard and Mark Prigg For Dailymail.com

[Baynative]

Elon Musk's 'Hyperloop' was dismissed as a pipe dream that would never get off the ground.

But now the billionaire's plans to shoot capsules of passengers along a tube at around the speed of sound may launch as soon as next year.

Hyperloop Transportation Technologies has secured land for the first full-scale Hyperloop with a 2016 launch in the California town of Quay Valley.

[2ndDivisionVet]

Don’t even go there.

[GeronL]

he isn’t building anything, he wants the taxpayers to pay for it all

[moovova]

"I’m trying to envision what would happen inside that tube at 760 mph when a sizable earthquake hits."

[unlearner]

“His brilliance lies in making something better for less money.”

I agree. Just because he is left in much of his politics does not mean all of his ideas or business accomplishments are bad.

Personally, I think solar and Tesla cars are the future. I do not buy into the climate scaremongering, but for other reasons I think solar power and electric cars make a lot of sense.

[jjotto]

Given the size of corporations today, there is almost no project so big that it requires being ‘socialized’. Even roads are only socialized because of their heritage from common-law ‘right of way’. And socialized projects should belong to states.

[Organic Panic]

Your tax dollars at work.

[Bryanw92]

I wish Elon the Great Visionary would come up with an idea that doesn’t require billions in tax dollars to start-up. He is the ultimate crony capitalist and the Progs think that he’s their messiah.

[Talisker]

Don’t even go there.

:snort:

No sh*t!

[Pontiac]

Regardless of who pays for it he still is going to build it: he wants it built and in California the road to building anything is full of California regulations traps and landmines.

The frustrations he faces are going to be monumental. Build it in Texas for less money, less time and fewer headaches.

[Balding_Eagle]

Then where did you’re 300 mph limit come from?

Or did I miss the humor?

[2ndDivisionVet]

Did he ever acquire US citizenship or is he here on a visa?

[VideoDoctor]

Like his Tesla deal it will be SUBSIDIZED by taxpayer funds.

Another.. "Hey, I got an idea.. and YOU can pay for it."

[DiogenesLamp]

Michael Savage, just a few weeks ago, discussed ‘socialized projects’, and why, despite the ‘free market’ talk of conservatives, fulfill a need where the project is just too damned big for private interests. He cited all the vast works from the 1930’s initiated by FDR. Everyday people drive through tunnels, across bridges, and use electricity generated from those projects. The thing that is different today is the extreme graft and corruption of government. Oh corruption has always existed, but today it’s so brazen that you could never build a new Golden Gate Bridge, under-budget, and ahead of schedule. No way, jose.

I wonder how anything ever got built before FDR? Last I heard, economists have demonstrated that his policies are what kept the great depression going for so long.

Maybe all those big projects were "paid for" by loss of economic activity elsewhere.

I note the Soviets built a lot of big projects too.

[Talisker]

Personally, I think solar and Tesla cars are the future. I do not buy into the climate scaremongering, but for other reasons I think solar power and electric cars make a lot of sense.

Me too, combined with millions of small, personal fourth-generation nuclear reactors to provide the juice.

Maybe fifth or sixth generation reactors would be small enough to power the vehicles directly.

[Moonman62]

I wonder how far left he really is. We’re now in an environment where the government picks winners and losers and he’s in an area controlled by Big Government liberals and their Republican enablers. A person who doesn’t act like a big government loving “liberal” in his area of doing business may face serious repercussions. One thing I did like is he sued the government over military launch contracts and essentially won the case.

[Yaelle]

So would it also remove wrinkles?

[Fungi]

Beat me to it. Where is the money coming from?

[unlearner]

“I wonder how far left he really is. “

Many business people, including the very wealthy, are fiscally conservative. It would not surprise me if he is among them even if his companies do take advantage of tax breaks and incentives.

[knarf]

The article stated 760 MPH ... I only chose 1/2 the rate to make a point

OK ...

I don't care how slowly you start off ... getting beyond 700 MPH would put stresses on an average body it could not process .... and then y'gutt'a slow down and come to a stop
Does anyone REALLY think you're gonn'a step out in front of the Eiffel Tower in 1/2 hour and get to that sales meeting bright and chipper with your presentation ?

Jet lag does not begin to desribe it.

[SpaceBar]

And yet chances are, you recently drove over or through something built by the big government projects of the 1930’s, and gave it nary a thought.