• TheImpressiveX@lemmy.today
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      10 hours ago

      When I was a kid, I asked my parents why our houses didn’t have toothpaste pipes in addition to water ones. I’m strangely pleased to see Amazon thinking the same way.

    • Passerby6497@lemmy.world
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      8 hours ago

      No, it was insane back then, people were just too busy sucking elons dick like he was the second coming of Nikola Tesla instead of the hack Nazi he is.

      I distinctly remember articles from the time calling out the hyper loop as a bullshit method to stop public transit. I’m entirely unsurprised California fell for the monorail salesman instead of just building the fucking rail system

    • atomicbocks@sh.itjust.works
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      5 hours ago

      The hyper loop was stolen from a European design from the 90s. It was even featured on an episode of Modern Marvels back then.

    • TrackinDaKraken@lemmy.world
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      9 hours ago

      Not everyone was fooled. I think not most people. There was a just a lot of hype about it, and politicians tried to grift it. Irrelevant pun duly noted.

    • 9point6@lemmy.world
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      9 hours ago

      FWIW I think there’s still some merit in maglev vactrains that aren’t tied to someone who was only pushing it to get public infrastructure projects cancelled with the goal of selling more cars.

      At least there are seemingly serious academics and engineers still researching and developing the concept anyway.

      • WhirlpoolBrewer@lemmy.world
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        6 hours ago

        I’m no authority on anything involved in such an idea, but I just can’t imagine how the economics of a vacuum tunnel could be viable. The maintenance costs on constantly running lots of industrial scale vacuums sounds crazy expensive. I hate trying to keep good suction out my vacuum cleaner and imagine at huge scales things get harder, not easier. Maybe there are clever people who have a solution for that and it’s not a big deal though. No clue.

        • frank@sopuli.xyz
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          2 hours ago

          What if instead of using a vacuum and hovering, it was just a low friction contact instead? Like say steel wheels on steel tracks. You could digitally or even physically tie the cars together so you can adjust the length of it based on demand.

          Shit, derived the train again

        • VieuxQueb@lemmy.ca
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          5 hours ago

          Not to speak of the fact that things at that scale never stay in place, and cracks and fissures will inevitably form. With the pressure of a vacuum it could be catastrophic.

        • Rhaedas@fedia.io
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          5 hours ago

          The vacuum problems kill the Hyperloop design just like they kill any major mass launcher ideas from Earth. On the Moon both will work great.

          Mass rail transit itself is something that ought to be more wide spread. Just not like that.

      • Passerby6497@lemmy.world
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        8 hours ago

        The irony of the hyper loop actually killing a proper high speed rail system is just 👨‍🍳💋

          • Passerby6497@lemmy.world
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            2 hours ago

            Oh, I know. I’m just amused at the irony over Cali getting hoodwinked by the Simpsons monorail salesman and that what it stopped was basically what the Simpsons guy was selling, only real.

            At least what the monorail guy was selling seemed legit, hyperloop was dumb from the start (lengthy tubes under vacuum that are big enough to put a vehicle through?) and felt like people were cashing in on not having public transportation you shared with other people.

    • SkunkWorkz@lemmy.world
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      7 hours ago

      Even universities fell for the ruse. Like so much talent was wasted by having these hyperloop university projects.

      And even if it was physically possible to build one it would cost multiple times more than just building a maglev line. Not to mention the maintenance it requires.

        • chiliedogg@lemmy.world
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          4 hours ago

          A lot of people’s don’t understand the business of universities. It’s not education.

          The students are there as fundraisers. The ones who get scholarships are there to boost the reputation and desirability of the school and/or provide free labor.

          Professors have the “publish or perish” rule for the same reason. They work their ass off 40 hours a week all year, but only about 10-15 are directly related to education, and that’s only 30 weeks of the year (38 if they’re also teaching summer courses). The rest of the time they’re doing research to boost the university’s prestige and get those juicy patents and grants.

          And once you’ve gone into debt for 20 years to get the degree, they’ll hound you for donations through the alumni foundation until the heat death of the universe.

  • TrackinDaKraken@lemmy.world
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    9 hours ago

    My tap water comes from ancient underground aquifers. While I realize it’s not sustainable for centuries, for now we have pretty damn good municipal water. The only thing is slightly high, naturally occurring arsenic levels, which I filter out, but it’s probably not necessary.

    Nonetheless, people here complain about our water like it’s Flint, MI. and buy bottled water?

    My water/sewer bill is $50/mo. for two people. Some of my neighbors are paying hundreds a month. I don’t know what they’re doing with their water, but it’s a choice they’re making, my bill is proof.

    • ChickenLadyLovesLife@lemmy.world
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      59 minutes ago

      it’s not sustainable for centuries

      It’s sustainable until the Saudis learn about your cheap water and buy the whole system for pennies on the dollar so they can grow alfalfa for their racehorses. This is what’s happening to my (currently cheap) water authority.