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  • Evacuated Tube Transport



    Thoughts?
    Captain of Team Apolyton - ISDG 2012

    When I was younger I thought curfews were silly, but now as the daughter of a young woman, I appreciate them. - Rah

  • #2
    It reminds me of SPACE:1999
    No, I did not steal that from somebody on Something Awful.

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    • #3
      I think they vastly understate the cost of building such a thing.
      If there is no sound in space, how come you can hear the lasers?
      ){ :|:& };:

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      • #4
        And you've never flown to China, 2 hours versus 14 hours, sweet. (LA to Shanghai)
        We're sorry, the voices in my head are not available at this time. Please try back again soon.

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        • #5
          Yeah, have fun building a bridge across the Pacific Ocean. The water's a little deep.

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          • #6
            Originally posted by regexcellent View Post
            Yeah, have fun building a bridge across the Pacific Ocean. The water's a little deep.
            Bridging the Bering is certainly possible (if not politically) and would serve most all routes better anyways.

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            • #7
              The Bering Strait is probably bridgeable with current technology but there are two major obstacles: the remoteness of the coast on the Russian side (there are no highways for over a thousand miles) and the potential for ice and cold weather damage to the bridge.

              EDIT: replaced "there are highways" with "there are no highways"
              Last edited by regexcellent; April 19, 2012, 12:39.

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              • #8
                Oh, one more thing: Air travel requires fairly little infrastructure because all you need is a strip of land 8,000-10,000 feet long in every major city and 6,000 feet long in minor ones, plus a bunch of airplanes. Once those are built the planes can go between any two strips of land. Not so for rail travel. Hence rail is actually really expensive except in densely populated areas where there are guaranteed to be lots of passengers.

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                • #9
                  Evacuating the tube is bloody expensive. Drilling through the mantle to build a straight tube is currently impossible.
                  Graffiti in a public toilet
                  Do not require skill or wit
                  Among the **** we all are poets
                  Among the poets we are ****.

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by regexcellent View Post
                    The Bering Strait is probably bridgeable with current technology but there are two major obstacles: the remoteness of the coast on the Russian side (there are highways for over a thousand miles) and the potential for ice and cold weather damage to the bridge.
                    ...and then there's the whole "ring of fire" thing.
                    No, I did not steal that from somebody on Something Awful.

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                    • #11
                      Floating railways
                      With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion.

                      Steven Weinberg

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                      • #12
                        We'll get on that as soon as we complete the space elevator.
                        Jon Miller: MikeH speaks the truth
                        Jon Miller: MikeH is a shockingly revolting dolt and a masturbatory urine-reeking sideshow freak whose word is as valuable as an aging cow paddy.
                        We've got both kinds

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                        • #13
                          And then as a third getting Britsih Railways to run cheaply, smoothly and effective
                          With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion.

                          Steven Weinberg

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                          • #14
                            Now you're just fantisizing.
                            No, I did not steal that from somebody on Something Awful.

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                            • #15
                              Originally posted by MikeH View Post
                              We'll get on that as soon as we complete the space elevator.
                              I can solve your scheduling dilemma... evacuated tube space elevator. Not only do you kill two birds with one stone, but you don't even have to seal one end of the tube to keep it evacuated!

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