Occasionally we get something that is ground breaking, a game changer. Something bigger than just clever evolutionary adaptation. To be on the creating end of the idea makes you a rock star or even larger than life. Most innovators would kill to have one revolutionary concept see the light of day. Elon Musk has had three already and is working on what could be his most important one of all.
Here’s a quick summary on Elon:
– Founded PayPal, established it as a viable online payment source, sold it and made a fortune, allowing him to pursue his other interests. This led him to:
– Founded SpaceX, now considered a major player in the future of space exploration and creating a renewable rocket source, something NASA was never able to do. With SpaceX now up and running with working space shuttles, he turned his attention to:
– Founded Tesla Motors, producers of all-electric cars. While there are other electric cars on the market, no one is innovating like Tesla, and the masses are proving they are ready for a renewable power sourced car. Tesla is currently sold out and working on the next gen models.
How can you top revolutionizing how we will explore space and potentially shifting our dependence on fossil fuels? Easy – you change the world entirely. Elon’s next project may do just that. It’s called Hyperloop, a proposed mode of mass transportation. Imagine sitting in Los Angeles, enjoying a nice late morning cappuccino, waiting to board the train. Then imagine being in San Francisco 30 minutes later. Science fiction, right? Science theory, actually.
So what exactly is the Hyperloop? Elon has yet to announce any details other than “a cross between a Concorde, a railgun and an air hockey table” He is planning an announcement soon, but for now the actuals are still being speculated, although some look pretty convincing, such as this one by John Gardi. Johns guess was so close that it garnered a response from Elon himself.
The short read is basically this: you know the air tubes used at a bank’s drive up or in some offices? Imagine that on a larger scale. At speeds that should exceed 650mph, Hyperloop will go more than twice as fast as the bullet train in Japan. This puts perspective on LAX to SFO in 30 minutes. But it doesn’t end there. How about LAX to NYC in 45 minutes, or SFO to Hong Kong in 2 hours?
Here’s where it gets good: If we can move people that fast, we can move commodities and goods that fast. Imagine ordering freshly baked macarons from France and having them a few hours later. In Seattle. How about medical supplies or natural disaster relief aid arriving within hours, not days later? Now think even bigger – how different would our world be if we weren’t confined by the restriction of boarders?
What do you think about the idea of the Hyperloop and how do you think it may change us? Leave us a comment, tell us what you think.
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