The Race To Create a Hyperloop Heats Up (wsj.com)

An anonymous reader writes: When Elon Musk unveiled his idea for the "Hyperloop" transportation system based on capsules zipping through depressurized tubes, much was made about the enormous technical challenges the system would face in development. However, that didn't stop a number of companies and organizations from starting to work on it. Several companies are pushing the development work hard, and it's shaping up like a race to a workable prototype. University teams are only increasing their efforts as well. "The Illinois team enters the SpaceX contest with a strong competitive edge. This is its fourth Hyperloop design project, the first dating to fall 2013, and the Hyperloop is now a part of the MechSE curriculum. The team has assembled an interdisciplinary network of faculty from aeronautical engineering, thermal dynamics, mechanical engineering, electronic engineering and software, and two of the team members have interned at SpaceX."

Comments

The pod has been pressurized to minimize the G

[trout007]

"The pod has been pressurized to minimize the G forces effects on a passenger."

Really? How is that little trick performed?

Re:An even better design?

[Scottingham]

Then you can just "fall" from Los Angeles to SF with no propulsion needed.

I've found that if you use the word 'just' when describing anything related to engineering it's WAY more complex than you think it is, and usually impossible.