Explained: How to get humans to travel through near-vacuum tubes

Vacuums are expensive to create and maintain, especially over large distances. The hyperloop path is ideally not loopy. It should be a straight line, with few inclines

The first successful tests of hyperloop technology with human guinea pigs have just taken place, so it may seem premature to make hyperbolic predictions. But hyperloop networks could potentially change a lot of things.

Hyperloops demonstrate Newton’s Law: “A body in motion (or at rest) remains in motion (or at rest) unless acted upon by an external force.” They work through reducing friction (the “external force”). The vehicle (or “pod”) is levitated, within a vacuum, or partial-vacuum, tube. Pods can, in theory, hit 1000 kmph-plus, while using very little energy.

After Elon Musk (that man again!) mused about them in 2012, many