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Pipeline Mass Transit?

Posted by michael on from the futurama dept.

pipingguy writes "'Evacuated Tube Transport (ETT) is a new kind of transportation system that requires less than two percent of the energy of current transportation methods. It is also much safer, and can be faster. [...] Anyone can visualize 2 tubes (one for each direction) along a travel route. Air is permanently removed from the tubes; so travel takes place without friction. Pressurized passenger capsules (like a 2 - 8 person airplane cabin), travel in the tubes on thin steel wheels or on nearly frictionless Maglev. Airlocks allow access without admitting air to the tubes. Linear motors (as used on new rollercoasters) accelerate the capsules. During most of the trip the capsules coast; using no power. When the capsules slow down, linear generators recover most of the electrical energy used to accelerate the capsules.' Some CG images and drawings here, the FAQ is here." MSNBC had an article on monorails a few days ago. Don't bother making Simpsons jokes, the article has them covered already.

12 of 547 comments (clear)

  1. Pre-emptive Simpsons jokes by MalleusEBHC · · Score: 5, Funny

    Now that articles are making pre-emptive Simpsons jokes, if they would just include "OMG FP FP FP!!" and "Imagine a Beowulf cluster of...", we could eliminate half the comments on Slashdot.

  2. From now on, we will travel in tubes! by starphish · · Score: 3, Funny

    I belive that this was originally the idea of Tenacious D. You can hear Jack Black sing about it in the song "City Hall".

    --
    Yeah, yeah, yeah. The story is a dupe, the topic is boring, the facts weren't checked. WE GET IT!!
  3. But you didn't warn us off of Futurama.... by Kaz+Riprock · · Score: 5, Funny

    Fry: Whoa!! [He sees the tube transport system and gives it a try.]

    Man: Radio City Mutant Hall! [The man is sucked up into the tube]

    Fry: Um. Cross Town Express? [He is sucked up into the tube] Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! [People look up from the street and stare at him. He is taken across the city, past the Statue of Liberty, underwater and finally out the other end smack into a building.]

    Man: Pfft! Tourist!

    --
    Mordor...a magical, mythical land where women are more rare than dragons--but where every man would rather find a dragon
  4. Re:From now on, we'll all travel in TUBES! by Cruciform · · Score: 4, Funny

    If you could drive a car between SF and NY in five hours, you'd be airborne at the first pothole or dip in the road :P

    Where can I get an ejection seat for my Honda?

  5. Re:Um... by DarkSkiesAhead · · Score: 5, Funny

    The very first underground train in New York worked exactly like this, pneumatically. Everything old is new again, eh?
    Yeah, just like the old pneumatic underground made by Alfred Ely Beach, except it's not pneumatic. And it uses two single directional tubes, recycles energy, travels at 300mph, is powered by an electric motor, and runs in a vacuum. But, other than that it's exactly the same.
  6. Re:Not a new concept? by Trusty+Penfold · · Score: 3, Funny

    The idea is a lot older than that, Nostradamus wrote


    C1Q3

    When the litter is overturned by the whirlwind,
    and faces will be covered by their cloaks,
    the republic will be vexed by new people,
    then whites and reds will judge in contrary ways.

    which obviously foretells a terrorist attack by the Chinese on one of these systems.

    The litter (to contemporary term for a carriage or capsule) is destroyed when the vacuum is lost and the air rushes in. The Republican president has to deal with the 'reds' aka the Chinese.

  7. Re:From now on, we'll all travel in TUBES!-Weeeh! by Skyshadow · · Score: 3, Funny
    If you can get the police to stay out of my way. I bet I could.

    Mapquest says it's 2906 miles from SF to New York. That puts your average speed at about 530 MPH. I'm pretty sure the cops wouldn't be able to catch you at that rate, anyhow.

    If you decide to try it out, let me know and I'll race ya.

    --
    Every year during my review, I just pray the words "slashdot.org" aren't mentioned.
  8. Re:Not much different than with a plane... by Skyshadow · · Score: 5, Funny
    Same story with the jetliners we're flying in

    Except without the falling and the crashing and the screaming.

    --
    Every year during my review, I just pray the words "slashdot.org" aren't mentioned.
  9. Re:From now on, we'll all travel in TUBES! by nounderscores · · Score: 3, Funny

    ok then, how about this: you own your own tube capsule. You have a sort of offline station in your neighbourhood which you drive your capsule to in a conventionaly way. You put your capsule into the airlock and its wheels retract. The capsule asks you "where do you want to go?" You tell it. The air comes out of the tube in the offline station. You see green lights. Then you hold onto your retinas as the capsule goes to 300mph and your little fuzzy dice start pointing towards the rear windshield...

    kinda like in hover carnage except without all the death and stuff...

  10. Re:whooosh.. by Twirlip+of+the+Mists · · Score: 3, Funny

    Except--the company actually is promising this.

    Actually, from reading the FAQ, it seems like the company is merely promising franchise rights to this, not any actual end-product itself. That's worse than vaporware. That's meta-vaporware. Yuck.

    --

    I write in my journal
  11. Re:Can't say I'm sold into this... by Twirlip+of+the+Mists · · Score: 3, Funny

    For crying out loud, dude. Not every Slashdot article is an opportunity for you to bash Microsoft, okay? Cut it out.

    --

    I write in my journal
  12. My idea... by weave · · Score: 5, Funny
    OK, here's my great idea. Bore a tunnel from one side of the planet to another, right through the center of the earth. Travel vehicle is held on one end by being clamped. When vehicle is full of people, it is just let go and gravity pulls it up to full speed until it passes the center, then gravity slows it back down until it reaches other side of planet. Only a small amount of energy would be required to pull it back up to the surface for the remaining little bit of distance.

    OK, you're all skeptical. Here's the FAQ from my investment prospectus.

    • What about all that hot shit in the center of the earth? The center of the earth is hollow. The propoganda saying different is the auto and air industry backed scientists who are afraid of my invention.
    • What if there are living creatures down there? Won't some federal agency or greenies try to stop the project? We have that covered in our "don't ask, don't tell" policy. Anything in the way of the boaring machine will silently be dealt with if it's too stupid to get out of the fuckin way.
    • What if there is a failure of the system, like the docking clamps fail? The system will be the safest form of transportation and we don't anticipate any failures. However, in that unlikely event, the unit would drop and we'd need to catch it when it comes up the other end. Failing that, it'd like bounce back and forth until coming to rest at the center of the earth. If that happened, the occupants would have to evacuate the unit and walk up to the surface via an exit staircase. The unit would then be destroyed and the debris would be swept out by a service "brick" vehicle that would be dropped to clear it out. All affected passengers would be given a free ticket for a future ride if they survive the walk to the surface.