Hyperloop: Greatest Invention of Our Time?

Elon Musk has a plan for humanity that covers clean energy, electric cars and spreading out amongst the stars. The billionaire also wants to do away with the tired and slow railways of the past in favour of pushing people around like parcels in a mail tube. That's what the Hyperloop is: a series of vacuum tubes that'll enable travellers to get from point A to B in minutes rather than hours. But Musk himself didn't have the time to develop the concept beyond his original idea, so in 2013 he had open-sourced the project for anyone to have a go. Less than three years later, his idea had started to take shape and humans move one step closer towards near supersonic travel.

Remember those vacuum tube networks that businesses used to use to send papers across large buildings? Hyperloop is basically that, but big enough to shoot people cross-country at amazing speeds. The tube in which the pods will travel is six feet wide and is maintained as a low-pressure environment, though not a true vacuum. In order to prevent the passenger pod from touching the tube, it'll float slightly above it, either on a cushion of air or using magnetic levitation. In many ways, Hyperloop is just a sort of Maglev train. But because it doesn't have to deal with as much air resistance, top speeds are much higher. Hyperloop is expected to hit 750MPH, more than twice as fast as the Central Japan Railway's record-breaking 366MPH speed run.

If a network of Hyperloop tubes were built across the United States, it would effectively eliminate the domestic short-haul airline industry. For example, if you want to get from New York to Washington, DC, it'll take you just under three hours on Amtrak's Acela Express -- which is what passes for high-speed rail in the US. You could also take a flight, which would take an hour and 15 minutes, plus the time spent at security, the gate, and baggage claim. That same journey with Hyperloop is expected to take just half an hour.

Elon Musk’s Hyperloop idea had come to him when he realized the amount of money being thrown at California's high-speed railway project, who’s ‘high speeds’ were going to be nowhere near what could be expected from the Hyperloop. He felt that the technology was outdated, the costs too high and the speed insufficient for a modern, 21st-century transport system. In his original outline, Hyperloop would be cheaper for several reasons, including the fact that governments wouldn't need to purchase land to make it happen. Instead, it would be held in the air by a series of relatively small pylons. Construction would be quick and cheap, too, since the pipes could be fabricated elsewhere and just welded into place when they were delivered.

To most including myself, the use of the Hyperloop is a no-brainer because it’s cost efficient, eco-friendly, and is capable transporting passengers and cargo at unimaginable speeds. While some people still have their doubts about it, they believe that the technology is still untested and can be a huge safety concern due to the high speeds involved. And they are not wrong, but when you think about it everything has its pros and cons, and the Hyperloops can do a lot more good than bad. One of today’s biggest global concern is Global Warming, being caused by Greenhouse gases, gasoline powered cars being a major contributor, the Hyperloop doesn’t require fossil fuels to operate. What can be eco-friendlier than that? Plus people using the Hyperloop will have nothing to lose, as it is a much faster mode of transport than cars anyway. In conclusion, the Hyperloop can potentially be one of the greatest inventions of our time, and anyone who is against it is pretty much against progress.