4 ms·

I am almost universally opposed to the position that you would do something great, but are too afraid of terrorists, so I agree with your sentiment. That said,

I am almost universally opposed to the position that you would do something great, but are too afraid of terrorists, so I agree with your sentiment. That said, the faster you are going the harder it is to stop. I would much rather be in a conventional train heading towards a break in the tracks than in a hyperloop heading towards a break.

TeMPOraL 12y ago
Isn't Hyperloop a fail-safe design? If you blow a hole in it, the whole thing will start pressurizing and the air friction would slow things down fast (AFAIR pods ain't that aerodynamic, so as long as you shut down that powered air intake in front, it they'll be as aerodynamic as bricks).
steffan 12y ago
I'm sure that emergency friction braking could be implemented along with other aerodynamic measures to brake the pods at a rate probably only limited by the human occupants. More importantly, (never say never, but...) this will not actually be a high-value target for terrorism; the individual pods don't hold enough people to make for a significant death toll, the tube itself being of a uniform construction would be relatively easy to repair, and the system itself doesn't really hold any political or cultural significance of note. Keep in mind that it would have to compete with far more valuable targets as well - the ever-popular White House, Pentagon, various national airlines as well as soft but high profile targets like shopping malls, stadiums, movie theaters. The risk of terrorism for this mode of transportation is actually less than many others.
- bostonpete 12y ago
  My understanding was that in a pressure failure, the pod could stop too fast...
deleted 12y ago
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JibberMeTimbers 12y ago
Isn't the Hyperloop built with a low-pressure vacuum? Wouldn't a break in that vacuum cause the pods to slow down/stop?
lxmorj 12y ago
The pods weigh something like 0.0X% as much as a train, so stopping them may in fact be far easier due to their tiny mass, regardless of their crazy velocity.
- stolio 12y ago
  Stopping distance scales with v^2 (unfortunately)

TeMPOraL 12y ago

Isn't Hyperloop a fail-safe design? If you blow a hole in it, the whole thing will start pressurizing and the air friction would slow things down fast (AFAIR pods ain't that aerodynamic, so as long as you shut down that powered air intake in front, it they'll be as aerodynamic as bricks).

steffan 12y ago

I'm sure that emergency friction braking could be implemented along with other aerodynamic measures to brake the pods at a rate probably only limited by the human occupants. More importantly, (never say never, but...) this will not actually be a high-value target for terrorism; the individual pods don't hold enough people to make for a significant death toll, the tube itself being of a uniform construction would be relatively easy to repair, and the system itself doesn't really hold any political or cultural significance of note. Keep in mind that it would have to compete with far more valuable targets as well - the ever-popular White House, Pentagon, various national airlines as well as soft but high profile targets like shopping malls, stadiums, movie theaters. The risk of terrorism for this mode of transportation is actually less than many others.

bostonpete 12y ago
My understanding was that in a pressure failure, the pod could stop too fast...

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

JibberMeTimbers 12y ago

Isn't the Hyperloop built with a low-pressure vacuum? Wouldn't a break in that vacuum cause the pods to slow down/stop?

lxmorj 12y ago

The pods weigh something like 0.0X% as much as a train, so stopping them may in fact be far easier due to their tiny mass, regardless of their crazy velocity.

stolio 12y ago
Stopping distance scales with v^2 (unfortunately)