This week's Question: MIT recently unveiled its prototype design for SpaceX founder Elon Musk's Hyperloop, a high-speed ground transport system that could theoretically send passengers from Los Angeles to San Francisco in half an hour. The university researchers will test their small prototype pod at SpaceX’s Hyperloop Test Track this summer. SpaceX initially envisioned using a cushion of air to transport the Hyperloop pod. MIT’s team, however, employs a magnetic levitation system, which incorporates two arrays of 20 neodymium magnets to keep the pod levitating at 15 mm. While MIT’s design is not big enough to fit a human body, the team told BBC News that scaling up the size would be straightforward once testing of the prototype pod is completed. The team still needs to address the development of turning and further test the braking system. What do you think? Would you ride in a Hyperloop?

 

What do you think?


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