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Hyperloops Closer to Reality After Successful Test
Hyperloop One completes a first-ever full-track test of hyperloop transportation.

Elon Musk's vision of super-fast hyperloops transforming our travel is closer and closer to reality. Hyperloop One, a company unaffiliated with Musk that's set up to create hyperloops, achieved a major feat on July 29th at a Nevada test site, reaching speeds of up 192 mph (310 km/h).
The XP-1 hyperloop pod designed by the company ran nearly the full length of the 500 meter full-scale track, beating all previous Hyperloop speed records. The test included an acceleration phase, with gradual braking.
Check out the hyperloop run here:
Hyperloop One says everything went smoothly during the test. It was conducted in conditions like those in Earth's atmosphere 200,000 feet above sea level, where there's very little friction or resistance due to rarified air.
The current test shows the great advancement in hyperloop development. In May, Hyperloop One ran its first ever test of the full-scale Nevada track, going only 315 feet at 69 mph, accelerating only for 30 meters. The power of the new test is also much more significant - the pod is now driven by 3,151 horsepower versus 891 for the first run.
The goal for Hyperloop One is to achieve speeds of up to 250 mph in controlled testing in Nevada. The pod will reach higher speeds of up to 500 mph on a long-distance track, like the planned route from Abu Dhabi to Dubai - making a 100 mile trip in about 12 minutes.
Elon Musk first introduced the idea of the hyperloops in 2013. He and his SpaceX team published a paper, outlining the design and the technology involved in the concept. Musk released the proposal to the community, hoping to spark a new industry. He said that he would not build a hyperloop himself, offering it as a gift to the world. Now, he has announced plans for which he apparently received government approval, that he will, in fact, build a hyperloop from New York to Washington D.C. and not only that - it will involve his own hyperloop technology. It remains to be seen how this will affect the three other startups in the field, including Hyperloop One.
If you want to learn more about how hyperloop transportation will work, check out this video from Hyperloop One:
2 new ways to find aliens, according to a Nobel Prize winner
Physicist Frank Wilczek proposes new methods of searching for extraterrestrial life.
Alien spaceships.
- Nobel Prize-winning physicist Frank Wilczek thinks we are not searching for aliens correctly.
- Instead of sending out and listening for signals, he proposes two new methods of looking for extraterrestrials.
- Spotting anomalies in planet temperature and atmosphere could yield clues of alien life, says the physicist.
1. Atmosphere chemistry
<p>Like we found out with our own effect on the Earth's atmosphere, making a <a href="https://ozonewatch.gsfc.nasa.gov/facts/hole_SH.html" target="_blank">hole in the ozone layer</a>, the gases around a planet can be impacted by its inhabitants. "Atmospheres are especially significant in the search for alien life," <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/looking-for-signs-of-alien-technology-11581605907" target="_blank">writes Wilczek</a> "because they might be affected by biological processes, the way that photosynthesis on Earth produces nearly all of our planet's atmospheric oxygen."</p><p>But while astrobiology can provide invaluable clues, so can looking for the signs of alien technology, which can also be manifested in the atmosphere. An advanced alien civilization might be colonizing other planets, turning their atmospheres to resemble the home planets. This makes sense considering our own plans to terraform other planets like Mars to allow us to breathe there. Elon Musk even <a href="https://www.space.com/elon-musk-serious-nuke-mars-terraforming.html" target="_blank">wants to nuke the red planet.</a></p>The Most Beautiful Equation: How Wilczek Got His Nobel
<div class="rm-shortcode" data-media_id="ijBZzuI2" data-player_id="FvQKszTI" data-rm-shortcode-id="061a3de613c45f42b05432a2949e7caa"> <div id="botr_ijBZzuI2_FvQKszTI_div" class="jwplayer-media" data-jwplayer-video-src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/ijBZzuI2-FvQKszTI.js"> <img src="https://cdn.jwplayer.com/thumbs/ijBZzuI2-1920.jpg" class="jwplayer-media-preview" /> </div> <script src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/ijBZzuI2-FvQKszTI.js"></script> </div>2. Planet temperatures
<p>Wilczek also floats another idea - what if an alien civilization created a greenhouse effect to raise the temperature of a planet? For example, if extraterrestrials were currently researching Earth, they would likely notice the increased levels of carbon dioxide that are <a href="https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/overview-greenhouse-gases" target="_blank">heating up</a> our atmosphere. Similarly, we can looks for such signs around the exoplanets.</p><p>An advanced civilization might also be heating up planets to raise their temperatures to uncover resources and make them more habitable. Unfreezing water might be one great reason to turn up the thermostat. </p><p>Unusually high temperatures can also be caused by alien manufacturing and the use of artificial energy sources like nuclear fission or fusion, suggests the scientist. Structures like the hypothetical <a href="https://bigthink.com/paul-ratner/this-mind-bending-scale-predicts-the-power-of-advanced-civilizations" target="_self">Dyson spheres</a>, which could be used to harvest energy from stars, can be particularly noticeable. </p>Wilczek: Why 'Change without Change' Is One of the Fundamental Principles of the ...
<div class="rm-shortcode" data-media_id="KrUgLGWm" data-player_id="FvQKszTI" data-rm-shortcode-id="cc13c3c65924439c1992935c61ab8977"> <div id="botr_KrUgLGWm_FvQKszTI_div" class="jwplayer-media" data-jwplayer-video-src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/KrUgLGWm-FvQKszTI.js"> <img src="https://cdn.jwplayer.com/thumbs/KrUgLGWm-1920.jpg" class="jwplayer-media-preview" /> </div> <script src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/KrUgLGWm-FvQKszTI.js"></script> </div>As we approach death, our dreams offer comfort and reconciliation
As patients approached death, many had dreams and visions of deceased loved ones.
One of the most devastating elements of the coronavirus pandemic has been the inability to personally care for loved ones who have fallen ill.
Surprising new feature of human evolution discovered
Research reveals a new evolutionary feature that separates humans from other primates.
Human evolution.
- Researchers find a new feature of human evolution.
- Humans have evolved to use less water per day than other primates.
- The nose is one of the factors that allows humans to be water efficient.
A model of water turnover for humans and chimpanzees who have similar fat free mass and body water pools.
Credit: Current Biology
Skepticism: Why critical thinking makes you smarter
Being skeptical isn't just about being contrarian. It's about asking the right questions of ourselves and others to gain understanding.
