For those interested in learning more on the hyperloop science proposed by Tesla’s Elon Musk last week, we can read this proposal now available on the Tesla web site.
And as pointed out by one of my readers, the science behind Musk’s proposal is not new:
“About four hundred years ago– sometime in the latter half of the 17th century– Isaac Newton received a letter from the brilliant British scientist and inventor Robert Hooke. In this letter, Hooke outlined the mathematics governing how objects might fall if dropped through hypothetical tunnels drilled through the Earth at varying angles. Though it seems that Hooke was mostly interested in the physics of the thought experiment, an improbable yet intriguing idea fell out of the data: a dizzyingly fast transportation system.”
Read more on the incredible mechanics of a 42 minute drop from one side of the earth to the other via gravity tubes through the planet’s core: The gravity express Our childhood ideas of digging our way to China may not be ridiculous after all.
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