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49 Comments
- rchargel, on 11/02/2009, -0/+51I too can design something that will never exist.
- ratava911, on 11/03/2009, -0/+17Pole dancers in hamster ball.. SIGN ME UP!!!
- Liam000, on 11/03/2009, -0/+15futurama did it!
http://theinfosphere.org/images/thumb/7/77/Opening ... - OverDriven, on 11/03/2009, -0/+13Maglev doesn't stand for "magnetic and gravitational force field". It means "magnetic levitation". How does this crap get to the front page? Can you say "vaporware"? Not going to happen. Ever.
- username1221, on 11/03/2009, -0/+10At first I was confused, because I thought it said the person was an industrial engineer, and I didn't understand how someone like that could possibly think this was a good idea. Then I realized it said "industrial designer". I don't know what that is, but it explains a lot.
I'm willing to be generous and chalk up a lot of errors to translation, but I'm sorry, this is just a terrible idea. people tried pneumatic transport tubes in the past, they didn't work. I don't think the designer fully understands how maglev technology works. But I can't wait to get my own gravitational force field. - homer524, on 11/03/2009, -1/+10Not as good as the transport tubes in futurama...
- Grizzleyt, on 11/03/2009, -1/+9Liam000 did it.
- mogebier, on 11/03/2009, -0/+7I don't want to ride in something designed for giant hamsters.
- Grizzleyt, on 11/03/2009, -0/+7Step 1: design something shiny in CAD
Step 2: ????
Step 3: production
This is how a lot of designers actually seem to think. Gives the rest of us a bad name. - kabukifresh, on 11/03/2009, -0/+5One more reason why engineers and industrial designers don't get along.
- killOzap, on 11/03/2009, -0/+5at first i didn't understand the concept behind this article, and then I had the feeling whoever wrote it didn't really understand it either.
- inko1nsiderate, on 11/03/2009, -0/+4"The technology used would be maglev (magnetic and gravitational force field)."
Wait, since when is maglev technology utilizing gravitational force fields?
Ugh, the lack of physics knowledge in this design just makes me facepalm. - BossKey, on 11/03/2009, -0/+3I too can design something that sucks due to its very nature.
- kabukifresh, on 11/03/2009, -0/+3This particular design is insulting only because the concept is literally a model of two concentric spheres and a tube. Throw in a decent render and *BAM* it'll get a page or two in popular mechanics.
While we're on the subject: its 2009, where's my flying car? - powermanz28, on 11/03/2009, -0/+3On my campus I.E. majors are referred to as "Imaginary Engineers"
- ViciousFishes, on 11/03/2009, -0/+3Get the scientists working on the tube technology immediately.
- zusammen, on 11/03/2009, -0/+3Reminded me of this car http://www.ridelust.com/wp-content/uploads/IT_Sout ... but probably not as functional as the south park creation
- buddypriefert, on 11/03/2009, -0/+2Doh! I was just about to make a similar post. Yeah, I was thinking the same thing (Mr. Garison's invention). LOL
- LarkStew, on 11/03/2009, -0/+2I'm waiting for the stepping disks out of Ringworld.
- transapien, on 11/03/2009, -0/+2There seems to be no specific way for it to travel at all let alone amongst other balls so it doesn't collide. You would need a way to propel it constantly and a method to stop it and/or slow it down along with some sort method to compute it's flow of traffic. If it malfunctions you almost inevitably die.
Tube maglevs have been thought of before, this design offers no new ideas except a few which increase it's risks and actually makes the whole idea less feasible. - t3hzexion, on 11/03/2009, -0/+2Umm, inertia? anyone? Hand rail is a good start, but at what speeds will this be travelling? Also, specifically what type if glass is the tube made of? What type of weather conditions will it stand up to, theoretically? Don't get me wrong, I love this idea. Just curious how well it would work in the real world.
- Grizzleyt, on 11/03/2009, -0/+2Great, another design with no thought that gives real industrial designers a bad name. I can't believe trash like this makes news. I should stop my research project and just design something shiny.
- kitsua, on 11/03/2009, -0/+1Apt username you've got there.
- quantumstatejim, on 11/03/2009, -0/+1All maglev technology uses gravitational fields to a large extent. The gravitational force typically acts against the upward force produced by the magnet.
- aaarrrggghhh, on 11/03/2009, -1/+2So to sum up its a fecking stupid design thats totally impractical, badly (if at all) thought through, impossible to construct, based on incorrect engineering concepts and yet clearly someone is paying the ***** that designed this some attention
FFS - Grizzleyt, on 11/03/2009, -0/+1One more reason why engineers and *BAD* industrial designers don't get along.
- Animan351, on 11/03/2009, -0/+1Yeah. We''ll all be using that any day now.
Even if we could make this affordable right now, it would still barely get used. - FurryToaster, on 11/03/2009, -0/+1I immediately thought of this for some reason:
http://static3.podnapisi.net/ovitki/7f7f3a18620a4a ... - inactive, on 11/03/2009, -0/+1WTF? Not cool.
- spriggig, on 11/03/2009, -0/+1I could see a casino building one during the next bubble.
- Tommydukes, on 11/03/2009, -0/+1Tenacious D already covered this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Co2Zt615P5M - anthropodeus, on 11/03/2009, -0/+1i really hope somebody was not paid to produce this concept. this is terrible in so many obvious ways that i wont even bother to enumerate them here.
this was on the front page a while ago. it's a much better idea, but still probably wont be used widely, if at all.
http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/Science-Fiction-News ... - joio, on 11/03/2009, -0/+1Dugg for nice Vacuum Pod concept. :)
- inactive, on 11/03/2009, -1/+2Great Pod car
- jdizzle88, on 11/03/2009, -0/+1In the future we will be hamsters..
- homer524, on 11/03/2009, -0/+1aww you beat me to the futurama reference =[
- OBKenobi, on 11/03/2009, -0/+1No, it works, I am sure of it!
- dVerge, on 11/03/2009, -1/+2Big balls.
- TheSnuffster, on 11/03/2009, -0/+1When I read "gravitational force field," I immediately thought of a hover car-type thing.
- tinkertoy, on 11/03/2009, -2/+2The passengers look like hampsters in a hampsterball in a habitrail.
That kinda sucks:) - Culyt, on 11/03/2009, -1/+1If it is going to be going in tubes, why bother with the outer sphere at all? Just have a levitating platform with rails.
Also what happens if you touch the sphere? It would such to get your toe stuck and the entire thing flips over.
Also I love the fact that this is listed as some kind of 'Eco' Transport, when it would use massive amounts more electricity to keep the pod hovering than a regular system.
Just have a square/circular platform which can rotate its wheels any way but keeps the platform aimed in a specific direction. Or those pod car systems. - andrewh7, on 11/03/2009, -2/+2A routine accident, two balls shatter, and everyone in both balls suffocate to death in the vacuum. GREAT IDEA!
- inko1nsiderate, on 11/03/2009, -0/+0While you are correct, the way it is described implies the force is being changed the way the magnetic and electric fields are.
And while the gravitational force balances out the magnetic levitation we don't need a field theory of gravity (ie general relativity) to model the situation whereas you do directly manipulate electric and magnetic fields in EM technology; merely using F=mg is enough for a maglev train, this formulation completely avoids needing a vector force field because the field is effectively curl less and divergence less as far as the train sees it. The point is that saying it uses a gravitational force field is misleading to an absurdly huge degree. Would you describe pulleys, dams, rivers, and satellites as using gravitational force fields? While it is technically correct it heavily implies that we are actively manipulating the strength and character of gravitational fields as opposed to merely exploiting their existence. - gerryk, on 11/03/2009, -1/+1I hate the word 'pod'.
- stbalaji2u, on 11/03/2009, -2/+2Looks very innovative. i cant wait to see in my nation soon :D
- backwardscompat, on 11/03/2009, -2/+2Wow, that sounds awesome! I'd love to see this in action
- noahgelman, on 11/03/2009, -3/+1Like this is ever gonna ***** happen, buried
- andrewh7, on 11/03/2009, -4/+1A routine accident, two balls shatter, and everyone in both balls suffocate to death in the vacuum. GREAT IDEA!
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