To: Maurice Winn who wrote (70492 ) 1/2/2016 3:49:49 AM From: Maurice Winn Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 74559 Mq, it looks as though Elon Musk is pinching your hyperloop idea. They are now getting serious about it, though obviously with plain old maglev flying units rather than superconductor levitated: For a couple of decades I have been a fan club member of such technology [from my BP Oil days when I used to ponder what would be and the effect on buying of oily products]. In 1990 I visited with our 13 year old son a science museum in Tokyo which had such a toy train, but it was just a little track with blocks of superconductor rather than made to look like a train. It had 2 carriages so it was like a modern tram rather than a steam engine version. They also suspended melons on rings of superconductor and did other things. Imagine a tube running around the northern hemisphere, with partial vacuum and photovoltaics on top. It would contain little vehicles big enough to seat a couple of people or small freight items. Vehicles would be electronically and photonically controlled and propelled. 1000 km per hour seems a reasonable speed. Air travel would be slow and expensive. Dangerous too if Islamic Jihad comes up with new tricks to crash Airbus 380s. It was good to see Shanghai get the maglev to the airport operational but that's old technology. But a good start. It's all a matter of economics and I admit I have no idea how much it would cost to cool liquid nitrogen, insulate it, provide electricity via photovoltaics and build the tubes. There is no limit to nitrogen availability. Photovoltaics are getting relatively cheaper. Tubes shouldn't be too pricey. Structurally the whole thing would be light so cheap enough. Superconductors are in the too-hard basket for now and are probably the main area to get right. Refrigeration processes and insulation are industrial revolution issues so those costs are established [near enough]. There are already extensive rail systems so pathways are reasonably established with space available beside existing tracks in most instances for small tube systems. Maybe they could be on poles so the views would be nice for travelers, though that would add to costs. Around cities, poles would probably be the way to go. As normal vehicles become electronically controlled with congestion tolls to manage demand, many roads and lanes will become redundant so putting tubes in place would be easy enough. Around cities, tubes would probably not be necessary because speeds would be slow and air resistance low. Mqurice