Ask a physicist: Michio Kaku grades Elon Musk's · PDF fileAsk a physicist: Michio Kaku grades...
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8/14/13 Ask a physicist: Michio Kaku grades Elon Musk's Hyperloop - latimes.com www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-hyperloop-physicist-musk-20130812,0,624397.story 1/4 Comments 7 Email Share Tweet Tweet 9 7 By Catherine Green August 13, 2013 , 10:58 a.m. Member Center Alerts & Newsletters Jobs Cars Real Estate Rentals Weekly Circulars Local Directory Place Ad BUSINESS LOCAL U.S. WORLD BUSINESS SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT HEALTH LIVING TRAVEL OPINION SHOP TRENDING NOW EGYPT IN TURMOIL HANNAH ANDERSON UPS PLANE CRASH ISRAEL CORY BOOKER Search Ask a physicist: Michio Kaku grades Elon Musk's Hyperloop 48 Elon Musk, the billionaire innovator behind Tesla Motors, SpaceX and PayPal, revealed his alpha design for the buzzworthy Hyperloop on Monday, a proposed high-speed alternative that would carry passenger pods on airflow from Los Angeles to San Francisco in just over 30 minutes. It seemed like a blue-sky proposal: great in theory – especially with California’s high-speed rail project hitting roadblock after roadblock before even breaking ground – but perhaps impossible in practice. Still, Musk had plenty of believers rooting for the lauded “fifth mode” of transportation. PHOTOS: Elon Musk's high-tech empire Dr. Michio Kaku, a futurist and physics professor at City College of New York, counted himself among them. “Normally I would think this idea is borderline crackpot, but this guy has a track record,” Kaku said. “You have to take him seriously. The guy is a doer.” In Musk’s design, capsules carrying 28 passengers each would create air cushions to hover within a central tube along the I-5 and I-508 freeways. An electric fan on the front end of the capsule would transfer air to the back of the vessel, moving it swiftly forward at speeds anywhere between 300 and 760 mph. “It uses a series of novel tricks to reduce friction, increase speed and control costs,” Kaku summarized. In the 57-page explanation of the Hyperloop design, Musk compared the underlying concepts to those involved in an air hockey table, except in this case, “it is the pod that is producing the air cushion, rather than the tube, as it is important to make the tube as low-cost and simple as possible.” Kaku said the Hyperloop looked good on paper. “The overall design does not obviously violate any basic principles (of Recommended on Facebook 'Mandatory minimum' sentences to end for many drug offenders 9,143 people recommend this. Council seeks to suspend rules against sidewalk vegetable gardens 892 people recommend this. Connect Like 543k advertisement advertisement THIS WEEK'S CIRCULARS Big Lots VALID UNTIL AUG 18 Menards CURRENT FLYER MORE CIRCULARS » Millennial survey: Is 27 the new 18? MONEY & CO. TECHNOLOGY HIGHWAY 1 COMPANY TOWN PERSONAL FINANCE JOBS REAL ESTATE CARS BUSINESS PLUS Ads by Google What is Quantum Jumping? Discover Why Thousands of People are "Jumping" to Change Their Life www.QuantumJumping.com Are You Writing a Book? Get a free guide to professional editing & publishing options. www.iUniverse.com CCNY professor Michio Kaku said Elon Musk's design doesn't appear to v iolate any of the laws of physics, but he had some reservations nonetheless. (Andrea Brizzi / Doubleday ) Like 39 Hi, Bart_Reed Like 543k
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Transcript of Ask a physicist: Michio Kaku grades Elon Musk's · PDF fileAsk a physicist: Michio Kaku grades...
8/14/13 Ask a physicist: Michio Kaku grades Elon Musk's Hyperloop - latimes.com
www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-hyperloop-physicist-musk-20130812,0,624397.story 1/4
Comments 7 Email Share TweetTweet 9 7
By Catherine Green
August 13, 2013 , 10:58 a.m.
Member Center Alerts & Newsletters Jobs Cars Real Estate Rentals Weekly Circulars Local Directory Place Ad
BUSINESS
LOCAL U.S. WORLD BUSINESS SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT HEALTH LIVING TRAVEL OPINION SHOP
TRENDING NOW EGYPT IN TURMOIL HANNAH ANDERSON UPS PLANE CRASH ISRAEL CORY BOOKERSearch
Ask a physicist: Michio Kaku grades Elon Musk'sHyperloop
48
Elon Musk, the billionaire innovator behind Tesla
Motors, SpaceX and PayPal, revealed his alpha
design for the buzzworthy Hyperloop on
Monday, a proposed high-speed alternative that
would carry passenger pods on airflow from Los
Angeles to San Francisco in just over 30 minutes.
It seemed like a blue-sky proposal: great in
theory – especially with California’s high-speed
rail project hitting roadblock after roadblock
before even breaking ground – but perhaps
impossible in practice.
Still, Musk had plenty of believers rooting for the
lauded “fifth mode” of transportation.
PHOTOS: Elon Musk's high-tech empire
Dr. Michio Kaku, a futurist and physics professor
at City College of New York, counted himself
among them. “Normally I would think this idea is
borderline crackpot, but this guy has a track
record,” Kaku said. “You have to take him
seriously. The guy is a doer.”
In Musk’s design, capsules carrying 28
passengers each would create air cushions to hover within a
central tube along the I-5 and I-508 freeways. An electric fan
on the front end of the capsule would transfer air to the back
of the vessel, moving it swiftly forward at speeds anywhere
between 300 and 760 mph. “It uses a series of novel tricks to
reduce friction, increase speed and control costs,” Kaku
summarized.
In the 57-page explanation of the Hyperloop design, Musk
compared the underlying concepts to those involved in an air
hockey table, except in this case, “it is the pod that is
producing the air cushion, rather than the tube, as it is
important to make the tube as low-cost and simple as
possible.”
Kaku said the Hyperloop looked good on paper. “The overall
design does not obviously violate any basic principles (of
Recommended on Facebook
'Mandatory minimum' sentences to
end for many drug offenders
9,143 people recommend this.
Council seeks to suspend rules
against sidewalk vegetable
gardens
892 people recommend this.
Connect
Like 543k
a d ve rt i se m e n t
a d ve rt i se m e n t
THIS WEEK'S CIRCULARS
Big LotsVALID UNTIL AUG 18
MenardsCURRENT FLYER
MORE CIRCULARS »
Millennial survey : Is 27the new 18?
MONEY & CO. TECHNOLOGY HIGHWAY 1 COMPANY TOWN PERSONAL FINANCE JOBS REAL ESTATE CARS BUSINESS PLUS
Ads by Google
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www.QuantumJumping.com
Are You Writing a Book?
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www.iUniverse.com
CCNY pr ofessor Mich io Ka ku sa id Elon Mu sk's
desig n doesn 't a ppea r to v iola te a n y of th e la w s of
ph y sics, bu t h e h a d som e r eser v a t ion s
n on eth eless. (A n dr ea Br izzi / Dou bleda y )
Like 39
Hi, Bart_Reed Like 543k
8/14/13 Ask a physicist: Michio Kaku grades Elon Musk's Hyperloop - latimes.com
www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-hyperloop-physicist-musk-20130812,0,624397.story 2/4
Comments 7 Email Share TweetTweet 9 7
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physics). It might work,” he said. “However, the key is to
create small-scale models, place them in vacuum chambers, and see if the idea works and is
economical… Things which work well on the drawing board at low velocities are notorious for failing
at extremely high velocities.”
That kind of testing might be a ways off. Though he's said he might consider building a prototype,
Musk considers the Hyperloop design “open-source,” welcoming feedback from other engineers or
transit experts. He doesn’t have plans to tuck into large-scale construction anytime soon. For now,
his latest idea will likely stay a theoretical pipe dream.
“Hyperloop is like a cross between Flash Gordon and Henry Ford,” Kaku said. “But Henry Ford was
able to take an idea – the Model T – and bring it successfully into the marketplace. It remains to be
seen if the Hyperloop will follow.”
ALSO:
Elon Musk unveils Hyperloop design
The Hyperloop: L.A. to S.F. in 30 minutes?
Wishing for Hyperloop, betting on high-speed rail
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8/14/13 Ask a physicist: Michio Kaku grades Elon Musk's Hyperloop - latimes.com
www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-hyperloop-physicist-musk-20130812,0,624397.story 3/4
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SgtWD1 at 3:29 AM August 14, 2013
Whether it's the hyperloop or a similar concept by ET3 this idea is far superior to thecurrent HSR mess AKA Train Wreck we currently have. Musk has proven himself quitecapable and has made millions proving his ideas are sound. Contrast this with your Statelegislature wherein we find way more failures, cost overruns, and flat out going broke, thanwe we find successes.So if you are going to build something, do you want someone successful building it or somepolitician building it. Think about that seriously. Our current politicians have managed to get HSR into debt.before the first dollar was spent. Cost overruns and kickbacks are the norm forSacramento. Are politicians really the people you want building your transportationsystems? I don't think so.If your politicians are doing so well. How come they can't even keep common criminalslocked up? Answer. Because they feel there is no need.Question: If it's not OK for a person to break into your house, why is it OK for 12 million tobreak into your Country?I like the idea of HSR, just not as it's currently designed and configured for California. TheHyperrloop or the ET3 concept are both superior to our politicians fiasco.
Andrew Palfreyman at 9:54 PM August 13, 2013
I read the report and think that it has a good chance of success. It certainly puts the state-approved scheme to absolute shame, being faster, cheaper, safer, more efficient, lessenvironmentally demanding, and quicker to board. And for most of these factors, it isn't justa factor of 2 better - it's a FAR larger multiplier. I hope there are sufficient red faces inSacramento tonight to kick them into action on subsidies, and to scrap that boondoggle theyrecently approved. I think that many pretty much assume that costs would anyway overrunand the state scheme would end up costing over $100 B - because it's a government project.
The aerodynamic control and the thermal issues may be problematic, but I see no technicalshowstoppers here. So let's get this show on the road!
Voices-of-women at 5:47 PM August 13, 2013
As in Startrek, people of the future will be saying, "beam me up and to , . . Los Angeles . . .etc." This is important: @rickhasen
explains why NC legislature's motivation matters in post-Voting RIghts Act world.bit.ly/16kvoOW #vra
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