When the world gets closer.

We help you see farther.

Sign up to our expressly international daily newsletter.

Already a subscriber? Log in .

You've reached your limit of one free article.

Get unlimited access to Worldcrunch

You can cancel anytime .

SUBSCRIBERS BENEFITS

Exclusive International news coverage

Ad-free experience NEW

Weekly digital Magazine NEW

9 daily & weekly Newsletters

Access to Worldcrunch archives

Free trial

30-days free access, then $2.90
per month.

Annual Access BEST VALUE

$19.90 per year, save $14.90 compared to monthly billing.save $14.90.

Subscribe to Worldcrunch
Future

SF-To-LA In 30 Minutes? Futuristic Transport Hyperloop Plans Unveiled

LOS ANGELES TIMES, REUTERS

Worldcrunch

SAN FRANCISCO - California billionaire Elon Musk has unveiled the design of his Hyperloop, a $6 billion would-be high-speed transport system powered by solar energy. The network of crash-proof capsules could become “a fifth mode of transport after planes, trains, cars and boats,” Musk declared in a blog post.

Hyperloop would travel at a speed of up to 760 miles per hour and hold 28 people in each capsule, according to the Los Angeles Times. It would transport passengers from San Francisco to Los Angeles in a cool 30 minutes.

Musk, the head of Tesla Motors and SpaceX, had previously described Hyperloop as a cross between a Concorde, rail gun and air-hockey table. Its construction would take 7 to 10 years.

According to Reuters, Musk proposed this system as an alternative to a $68 billion high-speed rail project that is due to be built in California. Musk said in his blogpost that Hyperloop would be “safer, faster, less expensive, more convenient, immune to weather, self-powering and resistant to earthquakes.”

Musk said he hoped to build a demonstration prototype before passing on the project to someone else, stating he was too busy with his other high-tech businesses.

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

This Happened—November 30: WTO Seattle Give Birth To "No Global"

Updated Nov. 30, 2023 at 12:10 p.m.

The sometimes violent protests against the 1999 World Trade Organization summit in Seattle is considered the birth of the No Global movement, which sought to bring attention to the harmful effects of globalization, especially on the most vulnerable.

Keep reading...Show less

The latest