#hyperlooping

[probablyasocialecologist]

Musk never had any intention of building the Hyperloop. He only needed it to help kill or substantially delay the high-speed rail project and the alternate vision of sustainable collective transportation it offered. It threatened his interests as an automaker and his elite vision of “individualized” mobility that simply worked better for him.

[...]

In the time since California started talking about high-speed rail and Elon Musk interjected with his fantasy to help sidetrack it, China moved ahead and built a network consisting of 42,000 kilometres (26,000 miles) of track. Europe is continuing to expand its own network, and Japan is building a maglev line that will run at speeds of over 500 km/h (310 mph). The first segment from Tokyo to Nagoya could open by 2027. Not to be outdone, China is working on a maglev of its own to beat its Japanese rivals. While the Hyperloop deception spread far and wide, nowhere was it stronger than in the United States. As countries around the world moved forward with real transport improvements, North Americans were distracted by the fantasies of clueless, but self-confident tech moguls. They left people trapped in their cars and denied better options to get around that people in many other parts of the world — even those that are quite a bit poorer — take for granted. Now all they can do is shovel money at automakers to try to power cars with batteries instead of internal combustion engines. They have no vision for a better, less car dependent alternative.

[blorbocedes]

emotional support nico posting. it's really not his fault he looks a little evil and men can't help staring with heart eyes

[transit-fag]

Opinions on Musk's stupid ass hyperloop project from a few years back? Did it have literally any potential?

He literally admitted he made up the whole concept to stop California High-speed Rail so that he could sell more cars. It was a grift and a scam and far far far too many people fell for it

[ralfmaximus]

Hyperloop One, the futuristic transportation company building tube-encased lines to zip passengers and freight from city to city at airplane-like speeds, is shutting down, according to people familiar with the situation.

Once a high-profile startup, Hyperloop One raised more than $450 million since its founding in 2014, according to PitchBook. It built a small test track near Las Vegas to develop its transportation technology, and for a time took the name Virgin Hyperloop One after Richard Branson’s Virgin invested. Virgin removed its branding after the startup decided last year to focus on cargo rather than people.

Buried halfway through: it's another failed Elon Musk venture.

Not mentioned at all: the only reason Musk proposed Hyperloop was to thwart California's high-speed rail initiative and sell more cars. You see, his alternative technology of shooting supersonic capsules through evacuated vacuum tubes would be so much better than stinky old trains.

The only problem?

None of the technology exists. All the prototypes sucked. Even after ten years and a half billion dollars.

One "prototype" is literally a one-lane concrete tunnel allowing a single Tesla automobile to travel at astonishing speeds up to 107 MPH. Technically you can drive faster than that on most american highways.

Also that's 50-100 MPH slower than the high speed rail California wanted to implement a decade ago.

And now the whole venture is quietly going away.

Unpaywalled version here.

[listen-to-the-inner-walrus]

If I could be arsed to learn how to edit videos and had some kind of mic, I would 110% make a two part video essay series on the politics of Jurassic World because MY GOD, there's so much to dissect.

The first part would be about how the park is the epitome of neoliberal futurism for techbros, including the way the park so easily falls apart though I doubt that aspect is purposeful. Everything is aesthetic first and function second, and we can't possibly use any of the reliable infrastructure we've already come up with because a train is not gonna get us to Mars, but a monorail might.

And the second would be about the buckwild terrible gender politics going on. The movie is deeply unsympathetic to Claire seemingly because she's a woman who prioritised her career as it's both centre to her character arc and also an inciting event of one of the plots. Not to mention the whole Zara thing or the Owen and Claire thing or the stupid "him, I meant him, line. The movie is rife with misogyny, but it feels like that specific misogyny was isekaied over from backlash to second wave feminism.

I could talk about it all for so long because in a way, it feels like a perfect time capsule for 2015. Back when people took Claire running in heels to be this feminist statement to be made fun of and not just a deeply misogynistic movie trying to sell you feminism. And back when Elon Musk managed to get away with his "I'm the real life Iron Man" shit, and people believed he was smart and all his plans would come to fruition. 2015 was a great time to be a tech bro in Silicon Valley with people just throwing money at all your fake promises.

Yeah. See. This is what I mean when I say I could talk about it forever.

[whydidisavethistomyphone]

[airyairyaucontraire]

Colossal waste of time and money, produced and accomplished nothing, other than diverting interest and investment from other forms of mass transit so the creep could sell more expensive electric cars (probably his real angle all along).

The hyperloop idea is likely the reason why Musk’s name was mentioned in an early episode of Star Trek Discovery as an example of a historical pioneer of technology. That aged like milk.

[transfaguette]

all of my morals and ideologies aside i just think on a personal level my day would be a little better if elon musk like fell on an electrified rail or something

[pradaldi]

Look who's there, my new sticker design ! Obviously a good pair with my "Train Good" sticker.

For sale on my shop !

[boschintegral-photo]

Hyperloop (Prototype Vacuum Train) Spoorwegmuseum (Railway Museum) Utrecht, Netherlands

[justnoodlefishthings]

it's only a matter of time before one of the cars in the tesla loop spontaneously combusts and every single person in the loop at the time dies a horrifying death

[petikgeorgiev]

Diminishing returns.

[boyslit]

playing satisfactory with my partner got me shouting stuff like "I DUN WANNA GO IN THE PIDER HOLE!!!" into the discord mic

[transit-fag]

Good. Die faster before I finish the job by slitting the throat of elon musk and shreding his skin before throwing his miserable Corpse in a vat of acid which I will then be poured down Hollywood boulevard.

[del3141]

hey so how's the future of transportation going

[taiwantalk]

I think Taiwan should build underground tsmc chip factories in western ukraine. and just also build hyperloop or regular giant tunnels between ukraine and Poland.

ukraine is technologically savvy and could produce quality chips for Europe

And then tsmc can set up corporate offices in Poland.