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Josh Giegel: Super speed, magnetic levitation and the vision behind the hyperloop | TED

What if your hour-long commute was reduced to just minutes? That’s the promise of the hyperloop: a transit system designed around a pod that zooms through a vacuum-sealed space (roughly the size of a subway tunnel) at hyper-speed, powered by next-generation batteries and state-of-the-art magnetic levitation. In the visionary talk, Josh Giegel, the hyperloop’s very…

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What if your hour-long commute was reduced to just minutes? That’s the promise of the hyperloop: a transit system designed around a pod that zooms through a vacuum-sealed space (roughly the size of a subway tunnel) at hyper-speed, powered by next-generation batteries and state-of-the-art magnetic levitation. In the visionary talk, Josh Giegel, the hyperloop’s very first passenger, shares how this zipping innovation could launch us into a faster, cleaner future of transportation.

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68 Comments

68 Comments

  1. THEANPHROPY

    January 27, 2022 at 6:57 pm

    I have a more basic yet superior idea. DM me o discuss!

  2. BinaryReader

    January 27, 2022 at 7:00 pm

    But the hyperloop was already debunked because of the following two reasons.

    1. The cost to build and maintain a constant vaccum in a tube stretching cities would be an order of magnitude more expensive to operate than it would a high speed rail network than spanned the entire United States.
    2. Repressurization due to a single fault or general wear and tear would be enough to kill everyone currently in the tube (do people actually know how violent vacuum repressurization is?)

    I get that the US failed to build an actual decent passenger rail network, but that doesn’t mean you need to jump the shark with this hyperloop nonsense. It’s investment bait / snake oil, sorta reminds me of that Simpsons Monorail episode…but somehow more needlessly expensive and dangerous.

    • David Holmes

      January 27, 2022 at 10:04 pm

      @Vcat417 – Channel ” All is intertwined ” indeed, for all the high tech wonders we enjoy, there was a period when it was expensive, unwieldy, and unreliable all at the same time. I costs a ton to make an idea practical. But an honest and thorough analysis of the hyperloop, as per Thunderf00t, shows how little you get for moon-shot level efforts. It’s not hard to decide that $10 billion is better spent on more sensible endeavors, like regular high-speed rail. I think you’d enjoy Thunderf00t’s “high-tech debunking” videos. For real, check out his smack-down on atmospheric water machines!

    • Mike

      January 27, 2022 at 10:58 pm

      @David Holmes I’m looking forward to Thunderfoots video on this!

    • Master of one

      January 27, 2022 at 11:15 pm

      @Vcat417 – Channel ” All is intertwined ” Tesla didn’t invent the concept of self driving cars… They’ve been working on them since before Tesla existed as a company. Also, they aren’t exactly in the lead, waymo is currently the only company in the US that has vehicles on the road that are completely autonomous / don’t require any human attention. Cruise and a couple others a pretty good too. This comment is wild.

    • For An Angel

      January 28, 2022 at 12:20 am

      Technology improves. What was impossible before won’t always be.

    • BinaryReader

      January 28, 2022 at 1:11 am

      @For An Angel Technology improves, but the laws of physics don’t. It’s impossible to build, operate and maintain a hyperloop and be more cost effective (and as.practical) as a simple rail network. The hyperloop is basically the engineering equivalent of designing some elaborate rube goldberg machine to hurl people over a river, when the obvious thing to do would be to construct a bridge.

      Just because you can do something, doesn’t mean you should. Energy required to run a constant vacuum (and maintain all the machinery to keep it running) will ALWAYS be orders of magnitudes more costly than to simply lay down some rail tracks that have no moving parts.

      Think about it

  3. Mark Arandjus

    January 27, 2022 at 7:58 pm

    _”Just build a fucking train!”_

  4. citogrid

    January 27, 2022 at 8:10 pm

    I have a bridge in Brooklyn I’d like to sell you.

  5. Double#C

    January 27, 2022 at 8:31 pm

    America can’t build high speed train and they think they can build an hyperloop. This will be a disater…

  6. Philipp

    January 27, 2022 at 8:55 pm

    Your wife was right. You’re delusional 😁

  7. kevjtnbtmglr

    January 27, 2022 at 9:11 pm

    scam

  8. Matthew Maxwell

    January 27, 2022 at 9:22 pm

    Man I remember that ther was talk about this for Kansas city to St.louis some years ago and I was totally hyped. Then covid happened…

    • DannyWeinkauf

      January 27, 2022 at 10:20 pm

      A fitting punishment.

  9. Ginger Noisette

    January 27, 2022 at 9:49 pm

    I know nothing about tech, I just wondered how did they solve the very problem of a broken neck?

  10. Bazizanab

    January 27, 2022 at 10:15 pm

    I love this explanation… wait-
    “We also need to invest in infrastructure.”
    Politicians: “Aight, imma head out.”

    • Boiling Snow Water

      January 27, 2022 at 11:09 pm

      Trains intended for unbuilt Milwaukee-Madison high-speed rail lines are now going to Nigeria lol.

  11. Hans Kraut

    January 27, 2022 at 10:16 pm

    So the focus is on this and covid 24/7 instead of fixing lets say mental health. Also food and water for regimes that seem to have more structural problems with [dictatorship/violence/corruption because poverty/economics/societal education] and child cancer hospitals, because children are sweet and adults are… ugly?

    I haven’t figured out the genius quite yet but i am a patient student.

  12. CW Wong

    January 27, 2022 at 10:28 pm

    I wonder it is true it goes fast but can you survive the G power and stay still for 30min without moving due to the g power?

  13. veggie Chip

    January 27, 2022 at 10:48 pm

    thumbnail looks like a giant eggplant wtf

  14. Zenn Exile

    January 27, 2022 at 10:50 pm

    Hyperloop is a waste of resources. No one needs a personal vehicle to travel at extreme speed. Everything, including human effort, can be delivered remotely. There is literally no vision behind this commodity. It’s actually supported almost entirely by a severe lack of vision. Unnecessary technology that will very shortly serve no purpose whatsoever.

  15. Mike

    January 27, 2022 at 10:53 pm

    Thunderfoot Thunderfoot Thunderfoot Thunderfoot Thunderfoot!

  16. Boiling Snow Water

    January 27, 2022 at 11:12 pm

    Milwaukee just sold high speed rail line trains to Nigeria.

  17. Marcelo Santos

    January 27, 2022 at 11:24 pm

    As a brazilian, I already disliked him from the moment he said “Wright Brother’s historical first flight”

  18. Monteiro

    January 28, 2022 at 12:05 am

    Bullshit!

  19. Pandaboi

    January 28, 2022 at 12:36 am

    Regular rail >> High speed rail >> Maglev >> Hyperloop.
    Don’t jump to the end of the tech tree when haven’t even got enough of the first two. A Hyperloop is difficult and SUPER expensive to make, but even worse is how expensive it will be to maintain. The money spent on keeping it in working order could pay for so much regular rail. We can’t do a Hyperloop. The only way is to make people not mind a long rail journey.

  20. wrapperman

    January 28, 2022 at 12:56 am

    If we had just invested in the Shinkansen here like the Japanese did, then we’d have fast electric trains 30 years ago.
    I dunno but if this was so great other countries that already use trains much more would have one of these.
    And there’s another solution for human contact that takes zero time, is free, has no environmental impact, is boundless and available already .. video meets. hard to compete with that.

  21. Grant Crowe

    January 28, 2022 at 12:56 am

    Well I think Covid proved the Airlines are no longer viable, and this is cool AF! 😀

  22. newyoungsgi

    January 28, 2022 at 1:00 am

    It’s necessary makes the better for humankind, respecting the earth resources.

  23. David Ken

    January 28, 2022 at 1:10 am

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      January 28, 2022 at 1:25 am

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      January 28, 2022 at 3:50 am

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  24. Gerry Aab

    January 28, 2022 at 1:20 am

    very HubTropolis … Thank You³ 😊

  25. Sascha Pallenberg

    January 28, 2022 at 1:29 am

    So TED’s now a distribution channel for promoting scams?
    As Elizabeth Holmes wasn’t enough!

  26. DivXDemonRik

    January 28, 2022 at 1:31 am

    Monoraaail…….Monoraaaaaail (singing) another Grifter selling BS. This has been debunked, keep up

  27. Naruto Dubé

    January 28, 2022 at 1:36 am

    Guy never heard of train

  28. m

    January 28, 2022 at 1:56 am

    Oh TED. 🤦 Maybe go watch a thunderf00t video, then come back here and remove this video like you did with the Elizabeth Holmes TED-Med video. 🙄

  29. The Wizard Games

    January 28, 2022 at 2:06 am

    I think its proof enough that Japan with their ridiculous(in comparison to north america) public projects budget, which has had huge funding into things like shinkansen, and is going to roll out SC maglev, in the upcoming years, HAS PUT NO MONEY into this ‘idea’ which has existed for years. I mean, the cost of the vacuums alone is enough to make planes more viable… you know what planes are beat by… FUCKING TRAINS. TRAINS THAT HAVE EXISTED SINCE THE 60’s. SINCE THE FUCKING 60’s. MAGLEV HAS ALSO existed since the 80’s, and high speed maglev in shanghai rolled out, or levitated out in 2003… WHO IS BUYING THIS, WHO IS BUYING THIS? Who is the sucker that happens to attempts to pass this on. GOD DAMN IT. IM actually pissed. TED, i understand that you dont care about who speaks as long as they “bring new and insperational idea” or whatever but DO YOUR FUCKING RESEARCH. the pain of watching this guy who seems to have deepthroated the fucking koolaid and is now attempting to pass it on since he cant get back his old job, because he literally didnt take the time to do 5 minuites worth of math. If these people believe that they are able to make space grade seals on a system that will be Overloaded with vibrations is crazy. If they were at all smart they wouldnt attempt to make “hyperloop” becuase of 1. the cost of vacuums, 2. the inefficiency of 2-4 person ‘pods’ and 3. because an innovation in the vacuums, vacuum seals, or maglev alone would be more than enough to turn any of these companies into stock whales, worth their weight in blue chip stock. but no… instead of choosing one of these fields, they waste time trying to combined them. its like trying to make silverware, but you dont even know where the silver is.

  30. BigMo

    January 28, 2022 at 2:58 am

    Like the Concord…. Only the rich will be able to afford a ride…. Which is fine until tax dollars are used. Keep it privately funded.

  31. SevenPlanets

    January 28, 2022 at 3:27 am

    The Wright brothers invented powered flight like Christopher Columbus discovered America. It’s a legendary cliché.
    A closer look at the events of the time reveal that just like for the electric bulb or the telephone, many pioneers were working on the same goal.
    The Wright brother’s genius was that they thought of inviting the press while other inventors didn’t..

  32. András Balikó

    January 28, 2022 at 4:13 am

    i summon Adam Something! watch out! he is coming!

  33. John Edelmann

    January 28, 2022 at 4:25 am

    I don’t understand any of it, but it sounds cool.

  34. Anooradha Ravi

    January 28, 2022 at 7:09 am

    Superb innovation. …keep at it
    Best wishes

  35. Technodrome

    January 28, 2022 at 9:31 am

    Y’all just got Hyper-duped.

  36. Johannes Janssen

    January 28, 2022 at 10:06 am

    I just came here to look for Adam Something related comments. Wasn’t disappointed 😉 (btw. TED should have invited him on how to fix transportation… instead of this marketing guy who is trying to sell this inefficient way of transportation)

  37. DDPWE

    January 28, 2022 at 12:46 pm

    Shame on you Ted, allowing someone on that just wants to help peddle what has been debunked AND demonstrated IN REAL LIFE, that it’s waaaaaaaaay too expensive and impractical to achieve. Hyperloop needs to be buried, but just deep enough that people can still see it’s remanence and be reminded how dumb of an idea this really was.

    Thunderf00t here on YT has made quite a few videos explaining everything and why Elon Musk should not be trusted on MANY levels. It’s actually quite scary how many Musk fanbois there are and don’t care about actual science that ISN’T backing him.

  38. Ludvig Ljungdahl

    January 28, 2022 at 1:42 pm

    Should’ve listened too the wife…

  39. jkand

    January 28, 2022 at 5:11 pm

    Never going to work. Just make bullet trains or just regular.

  40. Janea Spikes

    January 28, 2022 at 5:25 pm

    Hey @TED, you all should leave this commy youtubing platform and move over to Rumble!

  41. Carey Valentine

    January 28, 2022 at 7:49 pm

    Aw man, I’m in Vegas often and would love to see this test area and prototypes. I’ve been fascinated by Tesla’s influence and evolution of ideas ever since I found out about him. I hope I live long enough to ride in one.

  42. Jurjen Bos

    January 29, 2022 at 8:22 am

    I’m not so sure about the loop, but yes it is a hype.

  43. David

    January 29, 2022 at 12:28 pm

    It’s time to give up on that hair, you won’t regret it..

  44. ruhshona latipova

    January 29, 2022 at 12:33 pm

    i gathered that hyperloop might become more efficient after decades because it might be expensive to ride it .

  45. J

    January 29, 2022 at 1:48 pm

    Great talk

  46. J

    January 29, 2022 at 2:30 pm

    Brilliantly delivered

  47. Madhu Tv

    January 29, 2022 at 4:54 pm

    Captivating than obvious

  48. Starfish

    January 30, 2022 at 3:47 am

    Without any kind of bona fide working prototype or proof of concept this guy is but a walking talking con artist. Sorry but CGI computer renderings do not count as proof. Hyperloop is the next Theranos.

  49. Gabriel Toledano

    January 30, 2022 at 6:50 am

    How to make our system future-proof?

  50. Bokya Rao

    January 30, 2022 at 9:02 am

    It’s never gonna happen. It is just not efficient, realistic, it’s hard to maintain(if somehow built), complex and above all unnecessary.

  51. Invox

    January 30, 2022 at 8:42 pm

    The problem will be getting the land, the permits, the sound proof, where the power comes from, where do we put the stations and what stations are needed (cuz if NY to LA has 27 stops it really slows down everything) and everything in between to get it done.
    We could have this already, fast electric trains already exist, it is the politics that held us back.

  52. John Morgan

    January 31, 2022 at 3:07 am

    unscientific vaporware.

  53. andre romao leao

    January 31, 2022 at 9:09 pm

    in a perfect world ok.
    but in ours there is degradation of materials, landslides, failures, terrorist attacks. no thank you

  54. horizontal120

    February 2, 2022 at 12:14 pm

    haw can you platform this bullshit !! its like having a flat earth-er on .. omfg

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