Hyperloop One Conducts First Full Systems Test But Only Traveled 70MPH (jalopnik.com)

Thelasko shares a report from Jalopnik about Hyperloop One's first full systems Hyperloop test: In the test, Hyperloop says its vehicle traveled the first portion of a track using magnetic levitation in a vacuum environment, and reached 70 mph. It's a significant leap past the company's test a year ago, which sent a sled down a track for a grand total of two seconds. And while that's not the lighting-fast speed that Hyperloop Ones says its futurist transport system could go, the company says this test -- conducted privately on May 12 -- is only Phase 1. Hyperloop One's in the process of the next phase, now aiming for 250 mph. "By achieving full vacuum, we essentially invented our own sky in a tube, as if you're flying at 200,000 feet in the air," said Shervin Pishevar, co-founder and Executive Chairman of Hyperloop One. "For the first time in over 100 years, a new mode of transportation has been introduced. Hyperloop is real, and it's here now."

Comments

Re:Serious question

[Strider-]

Actually, modern airliners are moving away from using bleed air for pressurization and the like. The problem with bleed air is that it's hot, dry, and potentially contains atomized lubricants and other things from the engine. (Also why you occasionally get a whiff of jet exhaust as the engines start up). The equipment to process the bleed air into breathable air for the cabin adds significant weight (and thus inefficiency), and the process itself costs engine performance.

On the Dreamliner, Boeing has switched to using an electrical pressurization system. It's lighter weight than the bleed air systems, easier to maintain, and more efficient. Airbus is likely doing the same thing on their new airliners.