Elon Musk Says He'll Start Digging a Tunnel From SpaceX HQ Next Month (techcrunch.com)

It appears Elon Musk is really serious about digging a tunnel to fix the traffic jams on roads. Last month, the SpaceX CEO sent out a string of tweets complaining about traffic. He suggested that a possible solution might be to start a tunnel-digging firm called -- wait for it -- The Boring Company, following it up by saying "I am actually going to do this," and updating his bio to read: "Tesla, SpaceX, Tunnels & OpenAI." This morning, he repeated the claim, and even assured a questioner that he was, in fact, serious. From a report on TechCrunch: Musk's tunnel plans, then, seem possibly aimed at reducing his travel time between SpaceX and LAX, at least initially. LAX is an airport he likely frequents with dizzying regularity, given his commitments at SpaceX, Tesla and SolarCity. [...] It's hard to gauge Musk's seriousness on Twitter, given his ability to come with fairly dry and playful responses. But he has insisted the tunnel plans were serious previously, and so far, nothing to indicate he's just joking has emerged. Here, too, he responded to a query from a fan wondering if he was serious with a simple "Yup," and he does include "Tunnels" as a list item of his concerns in his Twitter biography.

Comments

Hyper tunnels.

[Anonymous Coward]

First we build a tunnel... then we suck all the air out... then we move people around through a series of tubes.

Re:Hyper tunnels.

[Kjella]

What could go wrong? (gasp)

First we build a thin aluminum can. Then we fly it 10000 meters up where there's no air to breathe and if you stop, you drop. It's not hard to make flying sound like a death trap.

I imagine if Musk is thinking it he's thinking underground Hyperloop, you have a tube and on the outside you have air supply. Emergency escape routes. Brakes that automatically engage when they lose power. Emergency overrun to physically bring it to a halt. Bad things could still happen of course, but -5g for 5s and you've gone from 900 km/h to zero in 640 meters. It would be like a nasty roller coaster but really the killer is impact. Hit something really hard (no, even at 900km/h air is not really hard) to stop in fractions of a seconds and you're in deep shit.

F*&k Musk

[Anonymous Coward]

Musk is yet another "do as I say not as I do" elitist. Elon Musk claims global warming is a problem, yet contributes more pollution by himself than a small city. Personal flights, multiple multi-million dollar HVAC controlled mansions, luxury Hotel stays, and now he wants his own personal travel system underground so he does not have to tolerate the peons on the Freeway. Don't think that _YOU_ will ever see the inside of any of his personal tunnel systems you piss ants!

While the rest of us are told we need to have controlled Freeways so that we can't commute without the nanny state telling us we can, Musk and his ilk (Gore, Clinton, and yes even Sanders) fly around to their various mansions instead of doing what they tell us we have to do. Teleconference and be "Green".

Yes, I'm tired of the hypocrisy from these elitist egomaniac control freaks.

Re:Probably not LAX

[tlhIngan]

"LAX is an airport he likely frequents with dizzying regularity, given his commitments at SpaceX, Tesla and SolarCity"

Since he flies his own jet, I expect he doesn't fly out of LAX.

Why not? LAX services business jets as well - they usually have a separate entrance and separate terminal building too.

He doesn't fly commercial jets like most people going to LAX, but he certainly would use the private jet terminal. And yes, they have standard security as well, but since fewer people use the terminal, there's no lineup and they usually will be able to go from the car to the jet in about 5 minutes.

please

[SlashDread]

please PLEASE run for president next time.

Re:Probably not LAX

[Zak3056]

And yes, they have standard security as well, but since fewer people use the terminal, there's no lineup and they usually will be able to go from the car to the jet in about 5 minutes.

Not familiar with the GA terminal at LAX, but I'd be stunned if they had "standard security" as most have what you would call "no security." I remember one FBO that had a keypad lock on the gate to the barbed wire topped chain link fence, and a sign above the keypad that had the code neatly engraved upon it (and yes, this is post 9/11--that's why the fence had barbed wire and a lock).

The simple truth is that the feds cannot and do not dictate what you bring on board on your own personal airplane. I once wore a glock on my belt while piloting a C172 just for the sheer novelty of doing so, and did not break any laws by so doing.

This fits the long term goal

[ElizabethGreene]

Consider this in light of Mr. Musk's long term goal: Permanent human colonization of Mars.

The high cosmic radiation on Mars means that Habitats are very likely to be underground. Today, no-one makes a tunnel boring machine that will fit on a rocket: Boring Inc.

The lack of fossil fuels means you need a big power source: SolarCity and the battery Gigafactory

Last but not least, you need a way to get there: SpaceX

He's building the infrastructure to make his goal a reality.

Re:He seems to be completely bananas...

[gweihir]

Trump is not bananas. Trump is a reasonably intelligent, uncultivated narcissist. In fact, Trump is basically a text-book example of Narcissistic personality disorder. If he hadn't inherited big, he would probably be the prototypical dishonest used-car salesman. But he is not bananas. He just says whatever he needs to tell people in order to get them to do what he wants. I very much think he does know that he is mostly lying, but because he is the great leader, that is acceptable because his vision is so superior to all others that the end justifies the means.