6 ms·

The CERN LHC tube is a 27km circle of vacuum and near-zero temperature, and they don't seem to have a problem with that (granted, they had some but it's solved

by Faaak 9y ago

The CERN LHC tube is a 27km circle of vacuum and near-zero temperature, and they don't seem to have a problem with that (granted, they had some but it's solved now). Frankly, yes, there may be issues, but I'm confident that the Human race will be able to overcome those.

ginko 9y ago
The LHC's vacuum pipes are 6.3 cm in diameter..
- iamgopal 9y ago
  What, really? What's with all those mega photos we see everywhere ?
  - Analemma_ 9y ago
    Most of that is the magnets around the beam tube, with the associated power and refrigeration equipment. The beam tube itself is quite small.
  - konschubert 9y ago
    Those are the detectors. And the magnets around the tubes.
  - delecti 9y ago
    This picture shows a cross section of part of the LHC. Those two yellow lines sticking out are the actual tubes. Everything else is equipment to manage the particles (detectors, containment, magnetic propulsion). And for a sense of scale, a human can comfortably stand in that tunnel next to it. Image: http://www.tut.fi/cs/groups/public_news/@l102/@news/@p/documents/kuva/x194225.jpg http://www.tut.fi/cs/groups/public_news/@l102/@news/@p/docum... From here: http://www.tut.fi/en/about-tut/news-and-events/tut-and-cern-collaborate-in-development-of-particle-accelerators-of-the-future-x194226c2 http://www.tut.fi/en/about-tut/news-and-events/tut-and-cern-...
- eutropia 9y ago
  Yeah, LHC's is the largest in the world at just 15,000 cubic metres -- equivalent to about 1 km of hyperloop tunnel (assuming 14ft diameter mentioned in the Boring Company's FAQ)
bmh_ca 9y ago
I love how you've capitalized "Human", as if to say there were some other race competing to complete the Hyperloop. :)
TremendousJudge 9y ago
What about building a high speed train? Proven technology, works in a lot of countries. LA to SF in 2 hours. Is it really that bad?
- drzaiusapelord 9y ago
  Someone made the argument that in the US our rails were built by men half killing themselves for low wages and with very few safety standards. That means a modern buildout is much more expensive than it was historically and the political will to build that budget is difficult or impossible. Hyperloop is a run around that problem. Largely autonomous/low staffed boring that's non-union labor, non-public sector can make a lot of progress quickly. There's no public sector union demanding x amount of jobs, x amount of pensions, and other expensive regulations or union concessions. Musk's Boring Company thinks it can build tunnels for a fraction of the cost privately without much public sector regulatory weight and they might be right. HSR is the saner idea, but without Congress funding it, its just not going to happen. Obama made a big push for it during the stimulus but more conservative states decided against accepting the money for both ideological and financial reasons. Once enough states say no, then the rail can't go very far, and the project eventually died: First, Tea Party conservatives in Florida and wealthy liberal suburbanites in the Bay Area began questioning their states’ plans. Then, just as Joe Biden was calling for $53 billion in high-speed-rail spending over the next six years, a crop of freshly elected Republican governors turned down billions in federal money for lines in Wisconsin, Ohio, and Florida. Finally, Republicans in Congress zeroed out the federal high-speed rail budget last month. http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technocracy/2011/12/high_speed_rail_is_dead_in_america_should_we_mourn_it_.html http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technocracy/2011/12...
  - dschep 9y ago
    Re: unions, there are sandhogs unions, wouldn't they be relevant? Ex: http://www.sandhogs147.org/ http://www.sandhogs147.org/
- gok 9y ago
  It'll be more like 3 hours, and it will end up costing around $100 billion. It would be dramatically cheaper and faster to subsidize free plane tickets between LA and SF for the next 50 years. HSR works well in places with high density and competent infrastructure construction strategies. California has neither.
jandrese 9y ago
Thermal expansion is at least easy to manage if your system is kept near 0K in operation. It's only an issue when the system is turned off.

by Faaak 9y ago

ginko 9y ago

The LHC's vacuum pipes are 6.3 cm in diameter..

iamgopal 9y ago
What, really? What's with all those mega photos we see everywhere ?
- Analemma_ 9y ago
  Most of that is the magnets around the beam tube, with the associated power and refrigeration equipment. The beam tube itself is quite small.
- konschubert 9y ago
  Those are the detectors. And the magnets around the tubes.
- delecti 9y ago
  This picture shows a cross section of part of the LHC. Those two yellow lines sticking out are the actual tubes. Everything else is equipment to manage the particles (detectors, containment, magnetic propulsion). And for a sense of scale, a human can comfortably stand in that tunnel next to it. Image: http://www.tut.fi/cs/groups/public_news/@l102/@news/@p/documents/kuva/x194225.jpg http://www.tut.fi/cs/groups/public_news/@l102/@news/@p/docum... From here: http://www.tut.fi/en/about-tut/news-and-events/tut-and-cern-collaborate-in-development-of-particle-accelerators-of-the-future-x194226c2 http://www.tut.fi/en/about-tut/news-and-events/tut-and-cern-...
eutropia 9y ago
Yeah, LHC's is the largest in the world at just 15,000 cubic metres -- equivalent to about 1 km of hyperloop tunnel (assuming 14ft diameter mentioned in the Boring Company's FAQ)

bmh_ca 9y ago

I love how you've capitalized "Human", as if to say there were some other race competing to complete the Hyperloop. :)

TremendousJudge 9y ago

What about building a high speed train? Proven technology, works in a lot of countries. LA to SF in 2 hours. Is it really that bad?

drzaiusapelord 9y ago
Someone made the argument that in the US our rails were built by men half killing themselves for low wages and with very few safety standards. That means a modern buildout is much more expensive than it was historically and the political will to build that budget is difficult or impossible. Hyperloop is a run around that problem. Largely autonomous/low staffed boring that's non-union labor, non-public sector can make a lot of progress quickly. There's no public sector union demanding x amount of jobs, x amount of pensions, and other expensive regulations or union concessions. Musk's Boring Company thinks it can build tunnels for a fraction of the cost privately without much public sector regulatory weight and they might be right. HSR is the saner idea, but without Congress funding it, its just not going to happen. Obama made a big push for it during the stimulus but more conservative states decided against accepting the money for both ideological and financial reasons. Once enough states say no, then the rail can't go very far, and the project eventually died: First, Tea Party conservatives in Florida and wealthy liberal suburbanites in the Bay Area began questioning their states’ plans. Then, just as Joe Biden was calling for $53 billion in high-speed-rail spending over the next six years, a crop of freshly elected Republican governors turned down billions in federal money for lines in Wisconsin, Ohio, and Florida. Finally, Republicans in Congress zeroed out the federal high-speed rail budget last month. http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technocracy/2011/12/high_speed_rail_is_dead_in_america_should_we_mourn_it_.html http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technocracy/2011/12...
- dschep 9y ago
  Re: unions, there are sandhogs unions, wouldn't they be relevant? Ex: http://www.sandhogs147.org/ http://www.sandhogs147.org/
gok 9y ago
It'll be more like 3 hours, and it will end up costing around $100 billion. It would be dramatically cheaper and faster to subsidize free plane tickets between LA and SF for the next 50 years. HSR works well in places with high density and competent infrastructure construction strategies. California has neither.

jandrese 9y ago

Thermal expansion is at least easy to manage if your system is kept near 0K in operation. It's only an issue when the system is turned off.