There was always a shred of truth to tube transport in Futurama and the Jetsons. While it may not work exactly like that and may require attendants to ensure sa

There was always a shred of truth to tube transport in Futurama and the Jetsons. While it may not work exactly like that and may require attendants to ensure safety similar to airplanes, it's amazing how fast you can go without air resistance in a vacuum. It doesn't have to be a large hadron collider, just good enough to get you to LA in 30 minutes. It can also be done economically; as the article points out, the high speed rail system may be obsoleted by this as well as flying. Imagine eliminating the great uncertainties of safety in flying at Concorde speeds. Perhaps those cartoons scared people away from this technology :)