Hyperloop

I have long been a fan of Elon Musk, the Internet entrepreneur who has made the difficult jump into hardware with his successful SpaceX company, which sends cargo (and soon passengers) to the International Space Station.

He also co-founded Tesla, the company that proved that electric cars can be sporty.

But SpaceX is just an iteration on existing technology: that is not to denigrate what they have done, but at the end of the day it is just a long tube of fuel sitting on top of rocket motors, just as all rockets have been since Sputnik 1 first orbited the earth. And Tesla also uses proven technology, albeit in a novel way.

It is therefore with interest that I note that Mr Musk and his team have come up with the Hyperloop, a solution for mass transit between Los Angeles and San Francisco.

The Hyperloop is a tube running between the two cities. A partial vacuum is maintained in the tube whilst a linear induction motor fires off a pod containing passengers (and in some designs cars) through it. The partial air pressure is sucked in at the front of the pod, compressed, and used to levitate the pod on a cushion of air (so-called 'air bearings'). Occasional linear induction motors continue to accelerate the pod to account for the small amount of friction and aerodynamic drag; for most of the time the pod coasts. One pod can be fired off every 30 seconds, and they travel at high subsonic speeds (to a maximum of 760 MPH).

The tube is supported on pylons above ground, and is covered with solar panels which will provide the power for the system. The pods contain batteries that run the compressors that provide the lift air.

The whole scheme is described in the following link:
http://www.spacex.com/sites/spacex/files/hyperloop_alpha-20130812.pdf

I have read the paper, and the following issues come to mind. None of these are necessarily game changers, but will need addressing:

• Crashworthiness: The energies involved at high-subsonic travel are immense. What happens if a component breaks off and is left in the tube to be hit by the next vehicle? Or if the vehicle makes contacts with the sides somehow, imparting great energies to the tube and pod? Even a 5 gram nut has significant energy when hit at over 700 MPH.
• Evacuation: If there is a problem and people need to evacuate, how does that happen? Remember, the tube is sealed and in a partial vacuum. And as the tube is intended to be supported on pylons above ground, how do passengers get from the tube to the ground?
• Life support: the air pressure within the tube (i.e. outside the pod) will be harmful to human life. The pods will have to maintain a pressure that we can survive in, and all hatches and seals will have to be foolproof. They have addressed this in the document, but I'm not sure they have the whole answer, especially with hatches and seals that will have to be repeatedly used over a period of days, months or years. Will the air inside the pod be at normal sea-level atmospheric pressure, or reduced as in aircraft?
• Claustrophobia: the passenger-only vehicle appears rather cramped. Claustrophobia may be a significant problem for many passengers - airplanes are bad enough for some people. This effect may be worsened by G-forces, which will be considerably more than is the case for high-speed rail.
• Breakdowns: With one pod every 30 seconds, what happens if one breaks down mid-tube and away from one of the accelerator areas? The paper says there will be deployable wheels that can be driven along using electric motors; this is not only extra complexity, but the power required may be significant if a long way away from an accelerator area. In addition, there is no mention of gradients. If the tube has a significant gradient, the amount of energy required to take a pod up slope will be large. And what happens if the emergency wheel system fails?
• Construction: in the paper, I fear the team underestimate the costs and complexities of construction. They have designed the route on Google Earth to follow existing transport corridors where possible (for example Interstates). This takes no account of ground conditions: if the line passes through an area of soft or difficult ground, the costs of constructing the pylons will grow significantly. As the route will be passing through an area that can exhibit significant seismic activity, the pylon foundations will have to be designed to cope with liquefaction and other effects.
• Braking and signalling: If a car does stop, how do the others get messages to stop? What sort of signalling system will be used, and how fail-safe will it be? The proposed system of braking is simply referred to as 'emergency mechanical braking system' What is this, and how does it work?
• Pointwork: One of the deal breakers with Maglev systems is pointwork. With one pod leaving every 30 seconds, there will be many pods at the stations unloading and loading. The paper suggest that there may be branch lines to other cities in the area. How are the pods transferred to different tubes or tracks at the stations (or indeed into depots or maintenance areas)? If this is done in tubes, you will need moving tubes and/or walls, preferably whilst keeping a low pressure vacuum. Not an easy task.
• Charging: the on-board batteries will need charging every few journeys. How is this done during intensive usage of the pods?
• Fire: all mechanical and electrical systems suffer from the risk of fire, and those risks need managing. Being in a sealed pod with a fire, and a vacuum outside, is not necessarily healthy. In addition, there are the risks of smoke for other pods further down the line. Fire and smoke management are very costly in similar tube-like systems such as the Channel Tunnel, which has a service tunnel and refuges at regular intervals.

I could be wrong about all of this, and could end up sounding like Doctor Dionysius Lardner who in the 1830s said the following:

Rail travel at high speed is not possible because passengers, unable to breathe, would die of asphyxia.

On a positive note: engineering-wise, it is perfectly feasible to construct a partially-evacuated tube that is supported by pylons. The propulsion system also appears feasible at first glance, as is the air-cushion support mechanism. Engineering difficulties will happen, but if you throw enough money at it, it should work.

However, getting such a system to work reliably and safely is a whole different matter, and I am unsure that anywhere near enough thought has been put into this.

Another view on the Hyperloop's feasibility is at the Ambivalent Engineer blog. The costings are explored at the New York Times. The New Statesman is sceptical.

And the Daily Mash has its own take on the Hyperloop....

Another coastal walker

In what has to be a bumper season for coastal walkers, there is another name to add to the roll of honour.

In 2012 Jez Nemeth started walking the entire coast of Britain, which he estimates will take five years. Unusually (and rather spectacularly) he is filming the entire coast path and recording people's connections to the coast as he goes.

His website detailing his exploits can be found at www.coast-line.co.uk, whilst an example film can be found at www.coast-line.co.uk/2012/12/04/film-41/

His site also includes a list of people walking the Welsh Coast Path, which includes many names not shown below.

Good luck to Jez, and I look forward to feelings of nostalgia as I watch his videos.

Book review: Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn

(Note: I have tried not to have too many spoilers in this review, but it is hard to discuss such an interesting book without giving away a few points. If you are afraid of spoiling your enjoyment of the book then please just take my eight word review: well written, interesting concepts poorly implemented, unsatisfying ending).

This is a crime brook with a difference: instead of the usual routine single or multiple murders, it details the disappearance of Nick Dunne's wife Amy on their fifth anniversary, and the way suspicion slowly falls on him as the investigation progresses. Indeed, the evidence against him seems almost too perfect.

The story is initially told from two perspectives: Amy's historic diary entries and narration that slowly unveils the minutiae of their relationship, and Nick's current narration as the police investigation gathers pace. Both are unreliable narrators; sadly, in Nick's case it is all too obvious to the reader that he is unreliable. Indeed, one of the many 'twists' in the plot is so well signposted that it would have been a twist if it had not occurred.

A big problem with this book are the characters' occupations. Both Nick and Amy are writers - or more accurately were, as both have lost their jobs by the start of the book. Whilst writing is a perfectly good and worthy occupation, I am bored about reading about writers. It shows a distinct lack of imagination by the author: Nick could just have easily been an engineer, a shopkeeper, anything: the fact he was a writer is absolutely incidental and not vital to the plot.

In a similar vein, although they are both poor at the beginning of the book (part of the cause of the stress on their relationship), Amy has been rich in the past via a trust fund set up by her parents. She also has a ludicrously rich associate, of the six-room remote lakeside chalet type. Frankly, it feels unrealistic.

At the heart of this book is the story of a psychopath. Sadly the psychopath is neither particularly interesting or realistic. If you read about psychopaths then they should at least be interesting; that is not the case here. That might be forgiveable aside from the fact the other main characters are also fairly uninteresting.

The exception is Nick's twin sister, Go. Indeed, Go is about the only sympathetic major character in the entire piece, and her descent from trusting her twin completely to doubting his story is well written and believable.

The book is overlong and overwritten: the detail may contain good prose, but much of it does not progress the plot. There are also repeated details; not just from the two narrators (which if showing the same event from different perspectives is fine), but multiple times from the same character. The author's hunger for us to understand these points is like being repeatedly hit over the head with a wooden Punch and Judy character.

Indeed, it is a book of two halves. The first half is far too long and needs some heavy trimming, especially of repeated information. It is rather heavy, and much of the information given superfluous. The second half is much better, with twist and turns designed to keep the reader guessing; I read two-thirds of it in an afternoon, which is unusual for me.

One entertaining part of this book is the way that subsidiary characters react to the growing evidence against Nick. At first he has sympathy and the town rallies to find Amy. But the sympathy becomes a widespread impression that he is guilty as the evidence against him is revealed. A sympathetic interview changes that and makes the locals believe he is innocent, but only until the next piece of evidence comes along. The whole trial-by-media subplot is well handled, but is really worthy of its own book.

There is also a segment about the way we play roles in society: Amy admits to playing roles that allow her to fit in amongst different strands of society (the so-called 'Cool Girl' personae), but this interesting concept is relatively underdeveloped.

Which brings me to the crunch: whilst this book is well-written and has an unusual and enticing storyline, it sucks. It sucks big time. Why? Without creating too many plot spoilers, it breaks one of the golden rules of crime thrillers. Justice is not done.

As a reader, you want the story to come to a conclusion with some form of justice done. Sherlock Holmes is an interesting example; in several of his stories he lets a criminal get away with their crime because of the circumstances. In the case of the murder of blackmailer Charles Augustus Milverton, he decides that Milverton was a far worse person than the murderer who had been a victim of his blackmail. The reader sees that, although the murderer escaped, justice has been done. Revenge can be justice.

However in this story the criminal gets everything he or she wants, and makes everyone's life a living misery. This was not the ending I wanted from the book, and it was deeply dissatisfying. Justice was not done, and it left me feeling cheated as a reader. It also makes absolutely no sense: the criminal's story is utterly unbelievable, yet is swallowed by the police, family and friends. A disappearance is investigated by a large police team, whilst a murder is ignored.

Some reviews state that the end if ambiguous: it is not. There is no ambiguity, no nuance. It is an ending, but an empty and unfulfilling one. If the author's intention is for there to be a sequel then I fear she will be out of luck: the story has progressed as far as it can and the characters are not likeable enough to carry another book. Indeed, there are two or three concepts within that could carry a book each, but they are merged and squashed into 'Gone Girl' and they remain substantially unexplored.

This book is a classic example of an excellent writer who seems to have no idea either of plotting, or of what her readers will want from the book. I give it a deeply disappointing 2 out of 5 stars

More coastal walkers

This year is proving to be a bumper year for coastal walkers, with two more all-coasters currently out and about, two partial walkers doing the coasts of England and Wales, and one historical all-coastal walker.

Sadly Tommy Brabham, the young gent behind 'Shoelace Express' has had to drop out of his walk in South Devon due to injury.

That still leaves four or five people currently doing the entire coast in more-or-less one go. Thanks to everyone who has provided me with information on them.

My list of coastal walkers has been updated.

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Chris McCullough Young

Chris McCullough Young started walking the coast on the 6th April 2011 and is walking anti-clockwise. He has reached Workington in Cumbria. He has sadly caught Lyme's Disease during his walk, but is continuing.

You can follow him at:

• blog: walkamileinmyshoesuk.wordpress.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/walkamileinmyshoes 
• He is collecting money for MIND: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/walkamileuk

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David Higgins

David Higgins set off from Withernsea on March 30th, walking anti-clockwise, and has sped up the coast as far as Montrose. He is raising money for Parkinson's UK.

You can follow him at:

• Blog: www.coastingroundbritain.co.uk 
• Just Giving site: www.justgiving.com/coastingroundbritain/

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Alan Dix

Alan Dix is currently walking the new Welsh Coastal Path, making a circuit using Offa's Dyke path.
You can follow him at:

• Blog: http://alandix.com/blog/2012/09/21/walking-wales/
• Main blog for the walk: http://alandix.com/alanwalkswales/

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Jon Coombe

Jon Coombe is walking much of the English coast in sections, and is currently in Somerset.

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Dr Geebers

And one historic walker has been unearthed: a man naming himself 'Dr Geebers' walked 6,800 miles around the entire coast between 2009 and the end of 2011, creating sculptures on the way. He started in Brighton and walked clockwise.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2314875/Leaving-stone-unturned-Homeless-mans-incredible-6-800-mile-odyssey-round-Britain-create-pebble-sculptures-using-1-000-tons-rock.html

He has a website outlining his art at http://www.dr-geebers-pebble-art.co.uk/

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Coastal access improvements

Also: thanks to Jon Coombe for letting me know that Somerset County Council have produced the route of a 'coastal' walk from the end of the South West Coast Path at Minehead and Steart Point, at the mouth of the River Parrett. Maps and details can be found on their website. It is slightly disappointing - whilst the route avoids walking along the A39 between Williton and East Quantoxhead as I did on my walk, the alternative actually goes further inland, rather than going nearer the sea.

North Korea

With the situation in Korea sadly warming up, I found this excellent graphic in NationalPost that details North Korea's military equipment.

http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/04/10/graphic-north-koreas-conventional-arms/

Whilst much of the equipment is old and out of date compared to the latest and greatest western models, the quantity will have a quality of its own.

There is also another graphic, detailing the probable capabilities of their missile systems.

http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/02/13/graphic-dprk-intentions/

Goodness knows where this is going. Hopefully North Korea are only sabre rattling. But if they are not, world geopolitics is going to become very complex, very quickly.

Google Pathview?

I just noticed this post on the Ambivalent Engineer blog. It shows a man-portable Google Streetview rig, for use on trails.

More information is available at the TechCrunch website, and there is the obligatory YouTube video.

I wonder where I apply to walk the National Trails with one? ;-)

Dumb ways to die

My childhood memories are filled with public service announcements. Whether it was Darth Vader serving penance as the Green Cross Man, or warnings not to mix cross-ply and radial tyres, each film sent a carefully-constructed message.

Looking back, many of the old PSA's were dated and laughable, especially for a modern audience. Times have changed, and so have PSA's: here in the UK we have a very effective anti-drink drive advert that has run for a few years.

It is rare for such po-faced adverts to become an Internet hit. But one has: here is the brilliant PSA  'Dumb Ways to Die'. With mind worm lyrics, a catchy tune and simple Mr Men-style graphics, it is both cute and weirdly disturbing.

I won't say what it's message is, but needless to say it is very effective.