Why Pneumatic TraveI Is Not a Thing Anymore

Bright Side

Ever heard of pneumatic tube transport? It's this crazy system that was like the OG version of instant messaging, but with actual physical objects. Back in the 19th and 20th centuries, people were sending all sorts of things through these tubes – from mail to cats! Yeah, you heard me right, someone actually sent a cat through the tube in 1897. Then there's the prairie dog vacuum from 1996 – talk about bizarre! And hold onto your hats for the Whooshh system, complete with a fish cannon to help salmon get over dams. I mean, who even comes up with this stuff?   Credit:  CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/:  Low Poly Stack of Money: Macky, https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/low-poly-stack-of-money-632cf7dbc59a496283d1a6092dc6f9b0  Tesla 2018 Model 3: Ameer Studio, https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/tesla-2018-model-3-5ef9b845aaf44203b6d04e2c677e444f  CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0:  Hyperloop: Camilo Sanchez, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hyperloop_all_cutaway.png  Pneumatic tube system: Hexafluoride, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pneumatic_tube_system_03.jpg  Animation is created by Bright Side.  #brightside   ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/   Listen to Bright Side on:  Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD34jRLrMrJux4VxV Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/idhttps-podcasts-apple-com-podcast-bright-side/id1554898078 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our Social Media: Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/brightside/ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/brightside.official/ Tik Tok - https://www.tiktok.com/@brightside.official?lang=en Snapchat - https://www.snapchat.com/p/c6a1e38a-bff1-4a40-9731-2c8234ccb19f/1866144599336960  Stock materials (photos, footages and other):  https://www.depositphotos.com  https://www.shutterstock.com  https://www.eastnews.ru  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me

Transcript

00:00The future holds self-driving cars and flying taxis. In the past, however,

00:04we've transported a cat through an underground suction pipe, and it survived.

00:09Here's how it's all connected, and why we humans don't travel in tubes.

00:16So this American company named Hyperloop promised for years it would transport people incredibly fast through a vacuum system.

00:24Its ambitious plans included rapid trains capable of traveling at speeds of 700 miles per hour.

00:31By comparison, the passenger trains we have available these days can travel on average just 50 to 100 miles per hour.

00:39But to everyone's surprise, the company closed down last year.

00:44Even though they made prototypes in the Nevada desert, the project had many problems.

00:48They needed to build huge tubes that would have been scattered around, even through cities.

00:53And the trains couldn't handle turns very well, so the tubes had to be straight.

00:58In 2020, the company did a test run with two people, going at 107 miles per hour.

01:04It was the first successful ride using this technology.

01:07Despite this initial success, the company soon announced they'd focus on moving objects instead of people.

01:13Does this mean we'll never be able to use this type of transportation for people?

01:18Let's look at it historically.

01:20Pneumatic tube transport relies on air pressure to push things through pipes.

01:24Back in the day, it was used for sending messages and moving small objects in big buildings.

01:29Even today, places like hospitals, banks, and stores still use it to quickly send things like medicine and money.

01:37Here's how it works.

01:38Say you run a store with cash registers.

01:41Instead of risking theft by walking cash to a safe, you can send it through tubes.

01:46Each register connects to a tube that leads to a safe or cashier's office.

01:51All objects would be transported through canisters.

01:54They'd snugly fit in the mechanism, then get sucked by a vacuum created by a compressor.

01:59Canisters are often sturdy cylindrical boxes made of tough plastic, carrying items weighing up to about 5 pounds and traveling at speeds up to 22 miles per hour.

02:10There are limitations to consider.

02:12Installing pneumatic tube systems in existing buildings can be challenging, as they require careful planning during the initial design phase.

02:20There's also the risk of valuable items becoming stuck or damaged during transport.

02:25You can't move around objects that are larger than 5 pounds or so, so it doesn't eliminate the need for manual labor.

02:32For more than half a century, until 1953, the New York City Post Office used a similar system to transport its mail.

02:40It was based on pipes that ran underground up to 6 feet below the city streets.

02:45Because it had revolutionary speeds at the time, the people who operated this system were nicknamed Rocketeers.

02:51At its busiest, this tube system handled almost 100,000 letters every day, which was a third of all the city mail.

02:59The first thing they sent through these tubes was a book wrapped in a flag, along with copies of important country documents.

03:06Other funnier objects are rumored to have been sent through this system, including a fake peach meant as a joke or a sandwich.

03:13They even sent a cat through one of the tubes once.

03:16It's hard to imagine how the cat made it through the system at such a high speed, but it did.

03:21Local authorities soon had to let go of this project, though, because of the costs.

03:26The New York population also grew larger, and the number of letters became overwhelming for these small tubes.

03:33Hyperloop's idea was to transport people using the same principles.

03:37Cool as it sounds, it's not new. Images with similar concepts date back to the 19th century.

03:43Some say the idea hasn't been properly studied in the 20th century because large companies were more interested in selling cars.

03:51But even with modern technology, a pneumatic tube train is hard to build.

03:56Mostly because it involves multiple engineering areas, and it's expensive.

04:00Getting permits would also be difficult.

04:03Another issue is that compressed air that's being pushed through a small area translates to a lot of heat.

04:09So, cooling systems need to be worked into these plants.

04:12One potential solution was to put a water tank in each train to catch the heat and turn it into steam at the next stop.

04:19Even if the science makes sense on paper, in reality, there's not a lot of space in the small train for a good heat exchange.

04:27This means more water, which means more weight, which in turn means less speed.

04:32One Asian company, however, claims to have created the fastest pneumatic train earlier this year.

04:38In theory, this device could transport someone from New York to Los Angeles in under an hour, or from London to Paris in just 15 minutes.

04:47To prove their efforts, they set up a mile-long testing track where the prototype train reached 387 miles per hour.

04:55The company considers this test a success, affirming that it proved the seamless interaction between the test tube, vehicle, and track.

05:03As they were developing the project, they uncovered troubles of their own.

05:07A power outage, leak, fire, or even a simple human error could lead to a disastrous accident.

05:13More so, the train's high speed and rapid acceleration could induce discomfort among passengers.

05:20Hyperloop trains aside, what might the future of getting around look like?

05:24Better ways of moving from one place to another could make our lives easier by reducing time, expenses, and accidents.

05:31One idea could be fast trains that float.

05:34These speedy vehicles might use strong magnets to hover above the tracks, letting them go fast while making less noise and shaking than regular trains.

05:44They're also less likely to get stuck because they don't rub against the tracks as much.

05:49These trains also don't need gas, so they're better in terms of resources as well.

05:54Instead of engines, they use magnetic fields made by special coils in the walls and tracks to push them forward.

06:01Right now, six of these lines are up and running in Asia, but soon they might appear in the U.S. too.

06:07The first one is planned to connect Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, and later, it might stretch all the way to New York.

06:15About 20 companies are also exploring the idea of flying taxis.

06:19They could transport people in cities with the help of small planes.

06:23The idea is to offer safe rides at a fair price, like a $70 trip from Manhattan to Kennedy Airport, without bothering those on the ground below.

06:32Challenges here include reducing flight expenses, increased urban noise, and drafting rules about flying over busy cities.

06:40Even though some people are still nervous about the idea, it seems that driverless cars are on the way to becoming a reality.

06:47Many automobile companies are testing out their prototypes, even though there are still questions about how safe they can be.

06:54We don't know yet if the same rules should apply to them as the ones for human drivers.

06:59Lots of accidents happen because drivers aren't paying attention, but robots don't get distracted.

07:05Driverless cars are supposed to take fewer risks and go slower to keep everyone safe.

07:10On the downside, they're expensive, with prices expected to be over $100,000 a piece.

07:16Projects including delivery drones have already been implemented too.

07:21For instance, a UPS drone brought medicine to people's homes in the U.S. after getting approval from the Federal Aviation Administration.

07:29It was a big step forward for drones, even though there are still rules to sort out before they can be used on a larger scale.

07:36Drones have to prove they're safe before they can fly freely over people's heads.

07:41So, for now, UPS is only using them in rural areas and around hospitals.

07:46To solve traffic jams, we might turn to building roads underground and driving our cars through tunnels.

07:53This could work better than flying cars, because the process is not affected by the weather.

07:58One plan is to lower cars down with a big elevator and allow them to circulate on a fast metal platform.

08:04The advantages may include faster speeds, since there are fewer risks of accidents, from things like wild animals crossing the road.

08:12It also might be less expensive, since people are less likely to be stuck in traffic.

08:17Not to mention our cities might end up looking a little prettier and less noisy.

08:22That's it for today. So, hey, if you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like and share it with your friends.

08:29Or, if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the Bright Side!

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