Chinese MagLev Train Opens Next Week 392
lupa1420 writes "The Guardian reports on the launch next week of the world's fastest train, 430kph, in China, which uses magnetic levitation technology. Includes instructions on how to make your own maglev demo at home."
PDA/Disks/MP3-players at risk? (Score:4, Interesting)
Or is there an obvious and easy way to shield that stuff?
Re:PDA/Disks/MP3-players at risk? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:PDA/Disks/MP3-players at risk? (Score:5, Insightful)
When are you moving to another planet then? Everybody on this one is bathed in electromagnetic fields (i.e. the one that makes compasses point North) from birth.
Re:PDA/Disks/MP3-players at risk? (Score:2)
Re:PDA/Disks/MP3-players at risk? (Score:3, Insightful)
I highly doubt these fields are strong enough on the train... but in the MRI where higher magnetic fields mean better images the only safety concerns come if you have some short of ferromagnetic material in
Re:PDA/Disks/MP3-players at risk? (Score:2)
Where? I've looked into this quite a bit and there are really very few published papers which demonstrate ANY macro effect on the human body from EM radiation exposure - including MRI.
There are plenty ads for 'magnets to improve circulation' - just as there are ads for 'herbal patches to make your dick huge'. Hocum!
Transrapid technology (Score:5, Informative)
- There are many advantages for Transrapid tracks:
- Steep slopes: Transrapid trains can easily climb 6 to 10 percent slopes (6-10ft height difference on 100ft), because the magnets are strong enough to pull the train up and there is no limit posed by the rail-wheel contact.
- Small curves: The Transrapid train can travel in curves with 2km (1,3mls) radius at 200 kph (130mph), in curves with 2,5km (1,6mls) with 250 kph (160mph), because the track can be slanted up to 12 degrees. Normal rail tracks can't use those slants, because you have always to consider the possibility, that a train may have to stop there.
- The track doesn't need much space of the landscape, because it runs mostly on pylons. You have to found those pylons every 100-200m (300-600ft), but you don't cut the landscape in half as with traditional tracks. People and animals can roam freely around the track.
- With the above cited properties you can build Transrapid tracks in densely settled environments like cities and thus build the train stations in the town centers. So you don't need to provide extra means to get to the stations, quite different than with airports, which consume much space and thus need to be built outside the towns.
With all those advantages: Why don't we have plenty of Transrapid tracks? There are two principal answers:- Maglev trains like the Transrapid are VERY expensive to build. Basicly the whole track is a continious bridge, this makes the construction not even cheap. Switches between tracks are even more complicated, Transrapid for instance uses a 250m long steel frame which can be bended over the full length to provide smooth connections from one track to the next.
- Maglev trains are yet another infrastructure completely independend from the existing infrastructures for roads, tracks, rivers, channels and airports. You can't use anything already existing, you have to start completely anew. That means even for a single relation you have to put a complete chain of constructions in place, starting from power substations and tracks to maintenance buildings and passenger access. This makes the initial investions high without guaranteering an early return on investment. It also means that in the beginning without a complete net of relations the passengers have to use at least one other transport system for their travel, thus making it necessary to connect to the existing transportation infrastructure.
Maglev trains fill a very small ecological niche fitting inbetween conventional trains and airplanes. To get a sufficient amount of revenue you have to look at potential relations that are insufficiently served by current systems, where the conventional systems can't simply be expanded. The Pudong-Shanghai relation was such an example: The busses and cabs are at their capacity limit due to traffic jams, a conventional train was not available for the whole distance, and it was not easy to connect the old train tracks to the town center.Maglev trains may be also an option for emerging economies, which don't have yet a complete traffic system in place, especially if airports and rail tracks are missing. Here you could put a system in place that serves both: commuter traffic and long distance travel. It would be more expensive than conventional trains. But it will be much cheaper than trains+airports, and sooner or later you will need both of them.
Re:Transrapid technology (Score:5, Informative)
Personally I think it was an act of brilliance not to construct a completely new transportation infrastructure in Europe, but to advance the existing train technology to run up to 300km/h (186.4 mi/h) and then some on specific tracks.
The French started somewhat over 20 years ago with the TGV (Train a Grande Vitesse, Very Fast Train) and then Germans (being the greatest engineering nation in the world, although they made a fatal engineering mistake [germnews.de] in this case) couldn't stand back and developed the ICE (Intercity Express). There where multiple generations of both trains and their major advantage is that they run just fine on the existing tracks, alas not with 200 miles.
You point out a lot of great arguments for the Maglev technology. So why am I such a luddite?
It's the practical implementation. From Paris to London: ~3hrs, Paris Bruxelles: 90 minutes, Zurich Frankfurt ~4hrs, Bruxelles London 3:30hrs.
The network is extensive and frequent and it's far more pleasurable and relaxing to board a train (even though the TGVs doesn't offer lots of space) in the center of a city and being in a different city center some two hours later instead of the horrors (not to mention delays) of flying. Such an extensive network would have never been possible with a completely new technology and infrastructure. So from the usability perspective this was a very smart decision.
That doesn't mean that I think Maglev technology doesn't has its nishes (sp?). For example this would be great to connect Tokyo to Narita (~50 miles and 200$ by taxi). But I don't see it's place in a vast, interconnected network as we are lucky enough to have in Europe.
Re:Transrapid technology (Score:3, Interesting)
I've taken the TGV as well as the Japanese Shinkansen and found both to be about the same in comfort and convenience. (In fact, I'm taking the Shinkansen Saturday morning up to Nagano for some skiing. It seemed weird to take a train to the slopes at first, but it's so convenient that now it would seem really odd to drive there.)
Switching either to maglev would seem a bit pointless. Both seem to work quite well.
As an interesting aside, the train to Narita, (which isn't a bullet train,) *
Re:Transrapid technology (Score:2)
I've always wondered why Australia doesn't implement TGV, ICE, or Maglev. With that big dessert, they'd be able to cruise across it without any problems. I think that they would be able to get a significant amount of solar power & wind power to support the system.
"Nishes" is spelt "niches".
Re:Transrapid technology (Score:2)
Maglev trains may be also an option for emerging economies, which don't have yet a complete traffic system in place...
I do believe that you are showing your rich-world blindness with the two contradictory statements above. In the USA, citizens are conditioned to believe that money is no object when developing new technology.
This is the weakest point in the entire American perspective of the world and will in the not too distant futur
Annoyance with transrapid technology (Score:3, Informative)
I've been fascinated with Maglev technology since I was a kid, though I admit I haven't followed it closely lately - I didn't know a functioning passenger transrapid had been built in China.
Anyway, I have long been extremely annoyed that Transrapid's maglev technology has been the one to catch on the fastest, because as I see it, it has some major drawbacks relative to other maglev designs.
The primary problem is that the transrapid system [transrapid.de] uses magnetic levitation in attraction mode -- meaning you're
Re:Transrapid technology (Score:2)
It wraps around the track, so it can't tip over even when stationary. Doesn't mean it would be particularly comfortable for the passengers while stationary on such a tilting track, but the train would be fine.
Re:PDA/Disks/MP3-players at risk? (Score:5, Informative)
"RF shielding is the protection of sensitive electrical equipment from external radiofrequency (RF) electromagnetic radiation by enclosing it in a conducting material. RF shielding is a refinement of the principle of the Faraday cage, which protects equipment from electric fields such as those from electrostatic discharges."
Re:PDA/Disks/MP3-players at risk? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:PDA/Disks/MP3-players at risk? (Score:2, Informative)
Re:PDA/Disks/MP3-players at risk? (Score:2)
I would worry more about them affecting Ferro-Magnetic devices like Hard Drives. But intensity of field decreases with the square of distance. So just hold your laptops up over your head.
So, I actually thing the EM radiation will be low powered because it is low frequency.
Re:PDA/Disks/MP3-players at risk? (Score:2)
It's changing, but not "rapidly" relative to most EMF fields. The rise and fall times of the magnetic fields are probably on the order of milliseconds. This would create electromagnetic waves in the kilohertz frequency range. The wavelength of these waves would be dozens of miles long, so concentrated localized effects would be unlik
Re:PDA/Disks/MP3-players at risk? (Score:2)
What I meant was that these tracks are emitting very little electromagnetic radiation power relative to the electrical power being being pumped into them. The vast majority of the power ends up being driven into the train motion or wasted as heat.
Basically, a small magnet under the train makes a poor antenna for wavelengths this long. Thinking about it more, I'd speculate that there's actually a lot more EMF power emitted from the power supply cables than from the magnets, sinc
Efficient Mass-Transit system ? Or.... (Score:2, Funny)
hmmmmm (Score:2, Funny)
Maglev has been running for a while (Score:5, Informative)
Alas, the maglev's official home page [smttc.com] (I think; at least they sell tickets) is all Chinese and out of date to boot. In the meantime, the best place to go is Wangjianshuo's blog [wangjianshuo.com], in particular the well-illustrated Maglev in depth [wangjianshuo.com] story.
Things that suck about the maglev:
- It only runs every half hour, which kind of defeats the point of having a superfast train.
- Tickets cost 75 RMB (~$9) a pop, this in a country where 800 RMB a month is considered a decent wage.
- It doesn't go into the city, you have to transfer to a subway and ride another 6 stops just to get on the Puxi side of the river.
Not that any of this will stop me from going for a ride next time I'm in Shanghai!Cheers,
-j.
Re:Maglev has been running for a while (Score:2)
Re:Maglev has been running for a while (Score:2)
Re:Maglev has been running for a while (Score:2)
Stupid maglev... (Score:5, Informative)
I had friends over for Christmas in Shanghai, and we all planed to ride the maglev when they left. Thing is, the cost is not only prohibitive for locals - it's also ridiculous to charge 75 RMB per person, when you consider a taxi ride from Puxi is approximately 180 RMB. Cram 4 people in a taxi, and you get there for half the price. (And considering how the taxis drive in SH, thrice the excitement!)
I also heard you can get 'luxury' tickets for 150 RMB/person. Why you wouldn't endure an 'economy' ticket considering the ride takes 20 minutes and is bumpless, is, well, not entirely beyond me considering how people will pay for such useless nonsense.
In the end, we took a cab to the airport, and as the driver was driving down the highway at 120 km/h, we saw the maglev zip by us as if we were immobile. It looked like something out of Star Trek... Damn impressive... from the outside.
Re:Stupid maglev... (Score:3, Interesting)
it's also ridiculous to charge 75 RMB per person, when you consider a taxi ride from Puxi is approximately 180 RMB.
You can say the same about taking a train to London. From Leicester it costs less than half the cost of a train ticket to take a taxi assuming you share with three other people. But then you are stuck in a taxi with three people for the whole journey and it takes longer. People pay ludicrous rail prices because it is quicker and normally their company is paying the expenses anyway.
It
Re:Stupid maglev... (Score:4, Informative)
Not really.
China is a very large country with a not so great infrastructure. They are now in the process of trying to decide how to do build it and how to do it best. This is a test bed for a much longer system (thousands of kilometers). Just as the USA built the highways (which help make our economy), they are thinking that for a long haul of using these, with biking in local commute.
To be honest, I think that China is doing it right. The USA is afraid of making an investment into this, yet it is killing us not to do so. We use the roads, but our traffic is at 60 Miles/hour (100 kph) which is actually damn slow today. If we built one of these, we would see the advantage of it and move rapidly to it.
If the government could get past their hog trough, they would realize that the best place to put is from New York to milwaukee via pit, detroit, and chicago. The airlines, ships, buses, rail, and trucks make more money on this route than any other going (save NY to LA). Yet it is a small route.
The only other good route would be S.D. to LA to S.F.. But not as much moves there as between the first route.
Re:Maglev has been running for a while (Score:2)
Unconfirmed news report last week suggests that the government favours the wheeled solution, mainly due to cost and connectivity with the existing network.
Re:Maglev has been running for a while (Score:2, Interesting)
This is the worlds first "Commercial" Maglev train.
The next step is the development of vacuum tunnels which can be anchored to the seabed. You'd be able to run a maglev train at hypersonic speed as there is no air friction. The only factor limiting the trains speed is how quickly you can accelerate the train without making the passengers sick.
A transatlantic crossing could be one in under an hour.
is it possible? (Score:5, Interesting)
Boston to NYC. LA to San Fran. maybe even a network of the major cities.
As it is now, it's cheaper and sometimes faster to take Greyhound than Amtrack! The US spent so much on railroad tracks and most aren't used anymore. Sure the costs would be expensive, but would it be worth it if some of those tracks were replaced to support maglevs?
Re:is it possible? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:is it possible? (Score:3, Informative)
As it is now, it is cheaper to rent a car to travel Fort Wayne to Detriot than to take a bus! (and there isn't train service)
Joe
Re:is it possible? (Score:4, Funny)
And instead of magnetic waves to levitate the trains we could use air! Imagine fast moving flying buses that could carry hundreds of passengers at a time from coast to coast in a matter of hours. A pipe dream surely, but just imagine the possibilities. A businessman in NYC could wake up in the morning, drive to some sort of aero bus depot and be transported through the air to California in 3 or 4 hours! These things and more will be possible in the fabulous future world of tomorrowland! :-)
Re:is it possible? (Score:3, Insightful)
The fact is, we have an Amtrak service that's rarely used, overpriced and slow. I believe consumer demand is low for these reasons, but I'm sure they're not the only ones. That's why I was wondering as to the economic feasibility of it.
Re:is it possible? (Score:2, Interesting)
The problem with Amtrak is not, as a lot of well-meaning but uninformed libertarians on
1 (the main one) Congresscritters use Amtrak routes as huge pork barrel projects, so that their local region gets subsidized train service and some extra jobs for running it, even though no free-market train system would go there. Route
Re:is it possible? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:is it possible? (Score:2)
While it may be more economical to pay for a one way ticket via Amtrak rather than an airline, the 22 hour trip and the possibiilty of having to take a bus is ridiculous...
I'd rather pay for a round trip and skip the second half of the trip (if I don't know a future date that I could use it) than take an Amtrak.
Re:is it possible? (Score:2)
Nothing like being stuck in the middle of some woods at midnight while your single-engine train is obligated to send its engine off somewhere to help move a disabled freight train that isn't actually in your way...
Re:is it possible? (Score:3, Informative)
Unless long stretches of the track are straight or near-straight, the trains will never be able to reach their highest speeds. Most existing tracks, originally built for diesel engines hauling freight 100 years ago, are not straight enough. Even Amtrak's Acela trains, capable of impressively high speeds, cannot travel above ~60 mph for much of their routes due to the layout of the tracks they run on
TGV (Score:5, Informative)
French TGV does 515 km/h [sterlingot.com].
Re:TGV (Score:5, Informative)
Once. On a test-track. This one goes 430 km/h in regular traffic, which is a huge difference. Max speed is >500, too.
Nothing against the TGV, though. Great trains...
Re:TGV (Score:2)
La rame 325 au passage du kilometre 166 de la branche sud-ouest de la ligne atlantique, quelques secondes avant d'atteindre 515,3 km/h.
Re:TGV (Score:2)
Re:TGV (Score:3, Informative)
It wasn't on a test track in the sense that it was only used for this speed record. But this section of the Atlantic line was specifically build for high speed test, meaning even less curve radii than on the standard 300km/h-high speed tracks. And also on this track, they had to do some alteration [unipi.it] specifically for the ultra high speed runs, namely increasing the tension of the electric wire by more than 50%.
And the TGV train was heavily modified [unipi.it], including being shortened from te
Re:TGV (Score:2)
Re:TGV (Score:2)
Re:TGV (Score:2)
Only in theory. In commercial service, both Shinkansen and TGV operate at a maximum speed of 300 km/h. The fastest scheduled service in the world [o-keating.com] is the Nozomi Shinkansen in Japan between Hiroshima and Kokura, which manages an average speed of 261.8 km/h.
Cheers,
-j.
Re:TGV (Score:2)
300 km/h is TGV 'cruise speed [tillier.net]'. It usually goes well up to 350 km/h with passengers aboard.
Also the TGV has another record since in 1990 two TGV trains crossed each others at a relative speed of 777 km/h.
Let's talk about hair dryer.
Re:TGV (Score:2)
But that was only a test run. (Score:2)
Because today's very fast trains still rely on steel rail and overhead wiring, you will soon run into issues of increased physical wear and tear on both the track and the rolling stock at speeds above 300 km/h (186 mph). I don't see steel-rail trains going much faster than 350 km/h because of this limitation.
Because maglevs don't have p
Re:TGV (Score:2)
Replacement for air travel (Score:4, Insightful)
Imaging a trans-continental one of these.
Re:Replacement for air travel (Score:4, Insightful)
Probably, but it would have to go through a lot of back yards to get from NY to LA. Air travel avoids the NIMBY factor a lot better.
Re:Replacement for air travel (Score:2)
Re:Replacement for air travel (Score:3, Funny)
True, if by "the same ballpark" you mean "half the speed".
Where it might win is on shorter trips where you avoid long checkin times and the minimum wage Nazis at the "security" checkpoints.
Re:Replacement for air travel (Score:2)
The average wasted time for an airplane trip, in my recent experience, is around four hours. This includes getting from the city to the airport, checking in, security, boarding, landing, disembarking, and getting from the airport to the city, with reasonable buffer times to avoid being late.
Trains have enormous advantages here. The train stations are usually located in convenient areas, not way out in the middle of nowhere. Checkin time is basically nil, and sin
Re:Replacement for air travel (Score:2)
Well, most train trips I take I spend at least an hour total getting to the station and from the station to where I'm going, and unless the train is non-stop it wastes plenty of time slowing down and acceleration at each stop along the way, so the distance will be rather less than 3200km. But 3200km is still "short" compared to most airline flights I've made in the past (many of which obviously couldn't have been made by train due to the large lack of land along
Re:Replacement for air travel (Score:2)
About stopping in the middle, that's why I postulated "average" speed. However, unlike an airplane, a train can stop, load and unload, and start again very quickly. Passenger trains can accelerate and break reasonably well
Re:Replacement for air travel (Score:2)
Re:Replacement for air travel (Score:4, Insightful)
Electricity doesn't magically make it "clean", it just moves the problems elsewhere.
Re:Replacement for air travel (Score:2)
now, there's another solution, corner up all those "ecologists" and force them on bikes with generators instead of wheels...
Re:Replacement for air travel (Score:2)
It moves the production, is what you mean (Score:2)
Who said it was magic?
One advantage of moving to an electric lawn mower, or car, is that it's considerably easier to improve pollution controls, and to gain efficiency, at a power plant than it is to, say, set up emissions tests and required repairs for many millions of individual cars. Think of all the grossly inefficient two-cycle lawn mowers out there -- spewing white smoke, flooded. Would you rather take on the task
Re:Replacement for air travel (Score:2)
Billions are spent each year on new aircraft designs.
The MagLev train is expensive, but I doubt it would approach anything near an aircraft. the MagLev puts virtually no wear on the tracks and has very little friction. The amount of energy required to travel across the US would be significantly lower than that of an aircraft, and it would b
Maglev cheaper, safer, or more convenient? (Score:2)
Although maglev means no power losses from the wheels, drag from sea-level air will be much worse than the drag experienced by a plane at 35,000 feet. Add the power required to create levitation and deal with eddy current dissapation and I doubt that maglev trains are all that energy efficient . Add to that the inefficiencies of getting power to the train and you have a not so efficient mode of transportation.
Construction c
Re:Maglev cheaper, safer, or more convenient? (Score:2)
Re:flying Maglev into a building (Score:2)
Maglev can't crash into anything except the train station [japantoday.com] or another train [cnn.com]. Perhaps remote control would work, assuming that terrorists could never take over or hack into the control center......
Print-friendly version before the site goes down (Score:5, Informative)
China's superfast express launches next week. Sean Dodson reports on a revolution in public transport
Sean Dodson
Thursday January 15, 2004
The Guardian
On the southern bank of the Yangtze river, about 30km north of Shanghai, lies Pudong international airport. Since it opened its first terminal in 1999 it has served China's irrepressible 21st-century megalopolis with nothing more futuristic than a fleet of taxis and a schedule of buses.
If you are lucky, and the roads are clear, you can be in the city centre in 40 minutes. But as of next week, to coincide with the Chinese New Year, passengers arriving at Pudong will be able to reach the centre of town in a fraction of the time.
The world's first commercial high-speed maglev now connects Pudong with downtown Shanghai in a very, very nimble seven minutes 20 seconds. Shanghai's new express can reach a top speed of 430kph (267mph) in just under two minutes.
Maglev - shorthand for magnetic levitation - is basically a train that floats on an electromagnetic cushion, which is propelled along a guideway at incredible speeds. Magnetic levitation has been a long-standing dream of railway engineers - the first patent was issued in 1934 - but the first new mass transit system since the advent of the aeroplane has suffered more delays than the average London commuter train.
Little wonder. At first glance, maglev technology appears extortionately expensive when compared with conventional rail: a mile of track costs at least 3.5m to build and that's not including the cost of the giant electricity substations. But, say its advocates, the long-term benefits are many. Not only can it cut journey times in half, maglev is cleaner and cheaper to run than passenger aircraft. According to Transrapid, the German manufacturer of the Shanghai maglev, the technology uses five times less energy - per passenger mile - than jet aircraft. Maglev trains cost a few million pounds per vehicle, compared with $200m for the average Boeing 747.
Moreover, maglev schedules should also be less affected by bad weather or congestion than air travel and are cheaper to maintain. As the maglev has no wheels there is far less erosion of track, radically cutting operating costs. "Maglev offers the prospect of first-class style for a lower cost than economy air travel," explains Robert Budell of Transrapid, "there will be less need to pack you in like sardines".
But for a maglev fast enough to compete seriously with passenger aircraft you must travel to Japan. In the foothills of Mount Fuji, 100km west of Tokyo, lies the tourist town of Tsuru. Why would anyone build a test track for the future of mass transit in such mountainous terrain? "Because Japan is a mountainous country," answers Tadao Okai, a senior engineer for Japan Rail. "The vast majority of 18.4km of our test track is underground because when we come to build the maglev network we must build it beneath our cities."
At Tsuru there is a small observation deck and visitor centre that overlooks the single kilometre where the maglev emerges from its tunnel. In December, the Japanese maglev reached 581kph, breaking its own Guinness World Record of 552kph (with passengers aboard) set in 1999. However, most analysts believe that Japan's proposed inter-city maglev could be decades away from being built. Even in China, maglev has suffered setbacks. Plans for a 1,290km Shanghai-to-Beijing line are officially on hold. While in Transrapid's back yard, plans for a maglev line between Hamburg and Berlin were derailed by the Green Party. As part of Gerhard Schroder's ruling coalition, it argued that the proposed line would damage wildlife with electromagnetic radiation, and that its concrete track-supports would spoil forests.
Part of the problem is that both Japan and Germany already have enviable high-speed rail networks. Japan's pioneering shinkansen - or bullet train - carries 300,000 people every day from Tokyo to Osaka in two hours 30 minutes a
posted 32 days ago.. (Score:2)
It isn't much to look at! (Score:3, Informative)
reason why Transrapid didn't sell in Germany (Score:3, Informative)
All in all it is not a solution, since it costs more to build and to operate. That is why German parliament voted against a German invention and Dutch parliament is also not to keen on it.
Cost vs. Benefit (Score:3, Interesting)
US is behind.... as usually? (Score:5, Insightful)
Smart bank cards, GSM in Europe beats US crdit/debit cards and cell phone standards. Now commercial high-speed maglev train.
Why is that? Is there anything wrong with US that it doesn't let the country to lead hi-techs anymore?
Re:US is behind.... as usually? (Score:2)
nope (Re:US is behind.... as usually?) (Score:2)
Smart bank cards, GSM in Europe beats US crdit/debit cards and cell phone standards. Now commercial high-speed maglev train.
Why is that? Is there anything wrong with US that it doesn't let the country to lead hi-techs anymore?
The psychological need that you feel to post that comment says otherwise ... nobody bothers dissing somebody who is "way behind" in any meaningful sense.
Re:US is behind.... as usually? (Score:5, Funny)
I also hear nobody else seriously contemplates voting machines, they all still use that old, primitive, slightly-more-reliable paper-ballot system.
Re:US is behind.... as usually? (Score:3, Funny)
My view would be more like:
Someone (often British) invents the technology.
The Japanese develop it and are first to market (most Japanese gadgets made for the home market are several product development cycles ahead of European/US versions). The technology thrives because the Japanese are gadget-crazy.
A year or so later, the Europeans create a standard for the technology. The technology then thrives because Europeans can be confident their purchases will work.
The US decries the European approach as gover
In USian terms ... (Score:5, Informative)
Boston to NYC: 211 miles / 50 minutes
Boston to Washington, DC: 465 miles / 1.75 hours
Boston to Orlando, FL: 1,320 miles / 5 hours
Los Angeles to San Francisco: 387 miles / 1.5 hours
NYC to Washington, DC: 258 miles / 1 hour
Inductrak? (Score:3, Insightful)
Has this guy been on a Chinese Train? (Score:2, Funny)
"Maglev offers the prospect of first-class style for a lower cost than economy air travel," explains Robert Budell of Transrapid, "there will be less need to pack you in like sardines".
Yeah, that's what's going to happen. I guess he did say *prospect*.
Personally, I'm looking forward to the government's press conference:
Hu Jintao: Now I'm here to answer any questions you may have about the maglev train.
Reporter: Can it outrun the flash?
Hu Jintao: You bet.
Reporter: Can superman outrun the flas
Chinese is like America in 1950s (Score:4, Interesting)
Americans got jaded by the liberal pablum of 'Silent Spring' and 'Limits to Growth' in the 1960s. Science became pollutors, war mongers, and could do no right. Though pockets of "true believers" remain in groups like Slashdot, it is sad to live in such an apathetic country.
Re:Chinese is like America in 1950s (Score:2)
Really?
Skylab? Space Shuttle? Voyager? Hubble? The Internet? Pathfinder?
And thats just the major stuff American has done in space exploration.
Re:Chinese is like America in 1950s (Score:2)
Maglev, not Mars! (Score:2, Interesting)
Wouldn't it be cool to take a 300MPH train from New York to LA?
The steam age would be better than what we have. (Score:4, Interesting)
Officials unveiled its name earlier today... (Score:2)
*ducks*
-fren
Careful, "electromagnetic radiation" is dangerous! (Score:2)
Oh no, the big scary magnets will hurt the poor little squirrels!
Seriously, are these people completely dumb? Those two sentences just made my stomach churn. Maybe they didn't realize that light is also 'electromagnetic radiation'... though calling it radiation au
Russians are also way ahead of us... (Score:2)
Better use (Score:2)
j/k
China's maglev is like Los Angeles' MTA... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Do we really need... (Score:2)
What exactly do you mean with [tgv.com] fast [www.bahn.de] enough [geocities.com] ?
Re:Do we really need... (Score:2)
Re:'Electromagnetic radiation' (Score:2)
Re:No! Fastest Train is the TGV! (Score:2)
Re:For the rest of us... (Score:2)
Your search - 430 kph in assyrian cubits per blink - did not match any documents.
Re:Field Strength (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Help an American out... (Score:2, Informative)
It's lovely stuff, I've made all kinds of things from it over the years, its easy to cut and drill, and a lot less likely to shatter than polycarbonates. And no, I don't work for them!
Re:Yay China! (Score:2)
Once you stop your evil, criminal, known cocaine addict President murdering people, then you might not be lumped in so closely. The sooner he's dead and buried in an unmarked grave the better.
Re:Sure it does. (Score:2)
I'm torn... Do I support freedom of speech (yes, even when private businesses are involved)? Or do I take pleasure in knowing that one of the worst websites on the planet is no more?
Sivaram Velauthapillai