Elon Musk’s Hyperloop Idea for Sonic Tubular Travel Gets Real
Companies and college students are testing ways to move people between cities by shooting them through giant tubes. Sound crazy?
Cambridge, MassachusettsThe future of ultrafast tubular travel may be partly shaped in this room on the third floor of MIT’s Edgerton Center, where a team of graduate students huddle in front of computers.
They’ve done calculations and simulations to design a levitating pod that could transport people at hundreds of miles an hour. Chris Merian, chief engineer, holds in his hand a model of their concept, which won first place in the initial round of a groundbreaking global contest.
Now the MIT students have to build it. They plan to start early next month. This summer, they’ll test their magnet-embedded, bobsled-like prototype at the grand finale of the Hyperloop Pod Competition, hosted by Elon Musk’s SpaceX—a rocket company that encourages teams