Underground Freight Networks

morphovar writes "The German Ruhr University of Bochum is conducting experiments with a large-scale model for an automated subterranean transport system. It would use unmanned electric vehicles on rails that travel in a network through pipelines with a diameter of 1.6 meters, up to distances of 150 kilometers. Sending cargo goods through underground pipelines is anything but new — see this scan of a 1929 magazine article about Chicago's underground freight tunnel network (more details). Translating this concept to the 21st century would be something like introducing email for things: you could order something on the Internet and pick it up through a trapdoor in your cellar the next morning."

I don't have a cellar

[stoolpigeon]

you insensitive clod!

Whaaaaaa?

[Frosty Piss]

Did someone get ahold of an old Popular Mechanics or something?

If they need a consultant,

[JesseL]

I hear that Harriet Tubman has experience with this sort of thing.

O rly?

[psychodelicacy]

From the article: "Note that pneumatic systems could deliver physical objects, which is hard to do with email..."

Amazing!

[ObjetDart]

...you could order something on the Internet and pick it up through a trapdoor in your cellar the next morning

This would be such an amazing improvement over the current state of affairs, where I can order something on the Internet and pick it up through a front door in my living room the next morning.

Minor error

[inio]

... pick it up through a trapdoor in your cellar the next morning

I believe you mean Aperture Science Vital Apparatus Vent.

Re:Security concerns?

[explosivejared]

Not to mention that it's underground, and therefore it is subject to raiding by the devil, cave trolls, gremlins, etc.

Re:I don't have a cellar

[Anonymous Coward]

But I bet you have a trapdoor for your Frosty Poophole! Oh yeah, the Frosty Poophole... extruding cylinders of juicy goodness for billions of years!
 

Re:I don't have a cellar

[calebt3]

Don't worry. A basement will substitute perfectly.

Re:Email for things?

[theMerovingian]

email for things

I already get about 40 emails a day pertaining to my thing. How is this new?

Series of tubes?

[Anonymous Coward]

This proposed network of tubes is tentatively being called the "Internet". Senator Ted Stevens argued against the proposal, claiming that the current system of trucks is ideal.

"They want to deliver vast amounts of cargo over the Internet. And again, the Internet is not something that you just dump something on. It's not a big truck. It's a series of tubes. And if you don't understand, those tubes can be filled and if they are filled, when you put your cargo in, it gets in line and it's going to be delayed by anyone that puts into that tube enormous amounts of material, enormous amounts of material."

Re:Minor error

[Chris Mattern]

But first you have to assume the approved package-delivery submission position!

Re:Security concerns?

[moderatorrater]

Troglodyte infestations will probably be their biggest problem. Luckily, this is Germany we're talking; they're the birthplace of the plucky hero.

Re:good luck w/ bombs

[Anonymous Coward]

Never mind the tubes. In some cities they are providing strips of firm smooth surfaces that could be used to quickly deliver bombs using wheeled transportation systems. And these strips go EVERYWHERE!!!

My god. Think of the terrorists! Think of the CHILDREN!

Re:Pneumatic Telegraph

[csnydermvpsoft]

From the Damn Interesting article: ...and some of these lines remained in operation until 1953. Ultimately, however, trucks proved more efficient at information-moving than the series of tubes.

Ha! How wrong they were! Everyone knows that series of tubes are much more efficient than big trucks.

Re:Wouldn't work in Florida

[Turing Machine]

Yep, it would cost a fortune to develop the new technology to make waterproof pipes. :-)

Someone's gonna be in trouble

[Hanners1979]

I thought the first rule of Freight Club is that you aren't supposed to talk about it?

Re:Amazing!

[Unique2]

Yes, but with the new system you don't even need to leave your parents basement!

One less awkward social interaction to deal with!

Re:Security concerns?

[LanMan04]

Not to mention that it's underground, and therefore it is subject to raiding by the devil, cave trolls, gremlins, etc.

Don't forget about CRAB people, CRAB people!

Way ahead of you

[SuperKendall]

I have already formed HamsterGram LLC, a company that sends messages by tying them to the back of hamsters and then letting them loose in the giant network of empty fiber-optic conduits that cross the United States.

Routing is easy, as different hamsters have been trained to prefer different types of food - Chicago hamsters prefer pizza, New York hamsters prefer vended hotdogs, Wisconsin hamsters prefer sharp cheddar, etc.

To solve the last mile problem I have issued them all armored hamster balls, so if you see one rolling down the street for the sake of your car I'd recommend avoidance.

Re:Pneumatic Telegraph

[binaryspiral]

Three major hospitals around my city use pnuematic tubes to transport drugs, lab samples, and paperwork from labs, clinics, and other offices.

It's real fun when the tube's routing switches go wacky and start directing stool samples to the billing department.

Re:I don't have a cellar

[kegger64]

This raises the question whether you're able to support you claim in any way, shape and form. Evidence?

You show me yours, and I'll show you mine.

Re:Fabbing and Patents

[bendodge]

No no no. We'll just have to make designs open-source!

Re:Pneumatic Telegraph

[jdavidb]

I am in awe. Your Google link already lists this slashdot article as the third result, noting that it was posted "three hours ago."

I'm not sure if I'm in awe of your Google-bombing skills, or of Google's spidering skills. Either way, I'm in awe.