Did Futurama Predict the Future of Travel?
You know for sure that technology and science is getting way too far out of control, when someone tells you that the future of travel is floating around in tubes and moving at the speed of sound! It may sound like something utterly ridiculous, from a weird cartoon and you're right, it does, and that's because it is!
Hyperloop One
So there's this dude, Elon Musk, you might have heard of him, he's not a very big deal, he's only the most busiest man on the planet! He was obviously a fan of Futurama, but unlike the rest of us that were probably laughing at how ridiculous it was to see people travel in tubes, Elon Musk decided to take this ridiculous idea and inject it with a huge dose of science and came up with the Hyperloop One.
Now it may not work exactly like it does in Futurama. People would not be floating in the tubes themselves, but they would be inside pods that would float over a series of magnets. So basically, these pods will use very similar technology as maglev trains. The tecnology that separates the Hyperloop One and maglev trains, is in the tubes. The tubes are kept at a vacuum and it's kept at an atmosphere of under 100 pascal, this allows it to beat friction to an inch of its life and thus allowing the pods to travel at near subsonic speeds.
When can you expect it?
Well, Elon Musk is known for giving very bold deadlines to his projects and also known for delaying them.
Hyperloop plans to have this travel system available in 2021.
By the looks of what I've seen about it, online, at CES 2018, the technology seems to be working just fine, the one thing that they probably need more of is funding, but with the backing of Richard Branson, that might not be too far off as well.
Let me know in the comments section below what you guys think of the Hyperloop One.
References
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2017/08/02/hyperloop-pod-travels-192mph-maiden-journey/
https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/virgin-hyperloop-one-rockets-toward-reality-at-ces-2018/
https://curiosity.com/topics/we-could-soon-be-traveling-by-hyperloop-curiosity/
I think its not futurama.. The vacuum tubes exists a long time. Mostly in warehouses or big industry buildings. It is used to transport small objects in tubes very fast. Years before futurama guys :) but it is still funny.
You're right! ☺
Never thought of that. Somehow I did not realize the similarities between Hyperloop and Futuramas person transport. Maybe because I have not watched Futurame for years
I was just watching an episode recently, and that was just after I watched the CES video of Hyperloop.
These will totally change transportation as we know it but it will take sometime to gain traction especially in areas that are space constrained.
I may never, in my lifetime, get to see it in my country, South Africa, but it may one day become a means of transport all over the world.
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