Elon Musk Boring Co. gets permission to dig a tunnel in Maryland.
The new tunnel will be a 10.3-mile route that undercuts a state-owned operation of the Baltimore-Washington Parkway in Maryland, and could eventually become the anchor point for a network that would span Washington to New York, with stops in-between at urban centers in Baltimore and Philadelphia, according to the LA Times.
They have a second boring machine ready to start.
More than two-thirds of the 35-mile Baltimore Washington Parkway is owned by the federal government, which as of Thursday had not publicly granted permission for the hyperloop system.
The Boring Co. aims to reduce traffic congestion by creating a low-cost, efficient system of tunnels. The company has developed tunneling machines it says will drill quickly through soft soils at a fraction of the cost of traditional tunneling.
The hyperloop technology uses electric motors and magnets to transport train cars through a low-pressure tube.
Rahn, the transportation secretary, said the Boring Co. will start with two 35-mile tubes between Baltimore and Washington.
Rahn said the company hopes to assemble its drilling machines at the Hanover site.
Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
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A frequent speaker at corporations, he has been a TEDx speaker, a Singularity University speaker and guest at numerous interviews for radio and podcasts. He is open to public speaking and advising engagements.
I happen to know by the fact that the only people in the media pushing the idea that Mask is a charlatan are paid Russian troll. Russian press regularly puts articles in print full of false information claiming just that and paid trolls in Russian and American press keep claining the same. Every time you claim that you are just confirming this… LOL I actually think they pay you by the number of times you use the word charlatan. None of what you say makes any sense to any regular person. The only thing I will agree is that Musk is a master of PR which is a huge plus for him and has nothing to do with lies. This whole idea that Musk is a charlatan and lies is so baseless and rediculous that the more you guys claim it the more obvious you make who you really are.
You’re absolutely right Igor. I am paid by the Russian gov to call Elon a charlatan! Everyone looking for a job, feel free to reach out. I’ll be frank with you though, the pay is miserable but at least you’ll feel better by knowing that you’re helping Mother Russia. Also, Elon lies all the time, so the job is not that difficult.
lol The cult members are really pathetic. But I guess that’s how it is with every cult. Keep religiously defending a charlatan. He loves that and will be thinking about you as he spends his “Benjamins”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHKT3yxYvDQ
As for us Russian trolls, we’ll keep spreading “fake news” (or whatever Trump / Musk cult members start calling facts they don’t like).
But… you haven’t actually given us any facts, fake or not.
You’ve made some long distance psychiatric diagnosis over the internet of sociopathy. Which given the lack of any actual psychiatric examination is clearly just name calling.
You defined changing the technical details of a project while keeping the brandname as “being a charlatan”. c.f. Toyota changing from a rear wheel drive Corolla to a front wheel drive model while keeping the same name. HOW DARE THEY!
And as for the rest, you don’t put up anything, you just tell us to look into it ourselves.
And if anyone queries it, start going on about them being a cult member.
Fair enough.
– 2011 Musk: “Well, I feel confident saying that Tesla does not need to ever raise another financing round.”
They’ve raised money 4 times after that.
– 2016 Musk: “I would say we would aim to produce 100,000 to 200,000 Model 3s in the second half of next year”
He’s referring to Model 3s for 2017, so far they’ve produced only a few hundred.
– 2016 Musk: Free long distance charging for Model 3.
Nope, they changed their mind.
– 2017 Musk: “Solar roof installations will begin in June.”
Nope.
– Gigafactory was supposed to be done by now. It’s not even halfway done.
– It was supposed to be solar powered. Nope.
– He bailed out himself by buying Solar City. How is this even legal?!
I didn’t even mention most of the product delays (which are ALWAYS late, in case of Falcon Heavy, 4 years and counting late). You might say, his lies are not intentional. In the beginning, I’m sure they weren’t. But once he realized that he could say whatever he wanted without any consequence, he kept on lying and lying. So why stop?! Only a moron would stop.
Especially since lying is very beneficial. Tesla loses money every year (they’re projected to lose over 1 billion this year) he needs the lying in order to keep the stock price high! The more he makes exaggerated claims, the higher the stock price goes. A high stock price, means easy access to financing and Tesla needs external financing every year to stay afloat! The next round of financing is probably gonna happen Q1 2018.
So were these enough DoctorPat?
Do some research and you’ll find many more (like the fact that he brags about Tesla’s gross margin every chance he gets that it’s higher than other car companies. He forgets to mention though that all other car companies include R&D in their costs before calculating gross margin. Tesla doesn’t! He’s very cunning.)
So, instead of wondering why I’m a “skeptic” start wondering whether you are being too gullible. Do some digging and a lot of Musk’s actions will start making a lot of sense. Although I worn you, you’ll lose all the respect you may have for him. So if you want to keep the current opinion you have of him, “don’t dig deeper”. If on the other hand you’re not an “ignorance is bliss” kind of person, start digging.
As for toyota making changes to their Corolla, it’s not the same thing. Maglev trains running on a vacuum tube, are a very old idea (100 years +). Musk took this idea, gave it a catchy name, and presented it as a “revolutionary” “disruptive” invention he’s made that will “save the world”.
Don’t these look like the actions of a charlatan?
Looking forward to your reply. Just hope you’re not a cult member too so please post a somewhat rational reply.
“Just hope you’re not a cult member too”
Ya know that’s fallacious, right? Might not wanna hinge your arguments on faulty logic if the intent is credibility.
Picking only a couple because arguing with strangers with an axe to grind against someone who’s making the world better, is stupid:
Assuming the rumor is true and that power is cheaper by local subsidies, then it is plain business sense to take the path of least cost. That’s what business is: you get the most bang for your buck, or you concede that much competitiveness to the competition.
Which is a stupid thing to do, if you mean to make the most of your resources.
“ But once he realized that he could say whatever he wanted without any consequence, he kept on lying and lying. So why stop?! Only a moron would stop.”
Chew on this: you don’t understand Musk and others like him.
” Where will you be in a few years when your spiteful aspersions turn out to be wrong?
Although I worn you, you’ll lose all the respect you may have for him. So if you want to keep the current opinion you have of him, “don’t dig deeper”. If on the other hand you’re not an “ignorance is bliss” kind of person, start digging. ”
So arrogant. Forget that the subject is Musk for a sec. Reread that and ask yourself how pretentious you have to be to say that about someone you don’t even know, to someone you don’t know either, about a topic you aren’t even privy to except google.
If Google was enough, industrial espionage would be history.
MTCZ, anything to say about the lies I just listed?
But I guess the cult attacks the messenger when they hear things they don’t like.
Now there! That’s actual facts rather than vague emotion. Much better.
Stuff I agree with:
1. Musk has a long history of making big promises to be delivered soon, that turn up years late.
2. The “Headline Version” of these promises usually turns out to be far grander that what turns up, even though it often technically meets what he said (though late). Eg. Gigafactory “started production” though it’s going to take years to be actually complete. Is “solar powered”… plus other sources.
3. Makes claims of solid plans that assume others (eg. the market, governments) will do what he would like them to. Which is clearly just dreaming. And provides a good excuse when the others don’t follow through on his promises.
Stuff I disagree with:
1. That this is particularly different from any other startup style company. No, they all make grandiose claims that rarely work at all, let alone on time. Musk is just the only one who gets media coverage of all this rhetoric, because his companies are much more exciting.
His press releases will all have a “forward looking statement” fine print on the bottom, which all such corporate statements do. But the press (including NBF) tend to skip over such legalese.
2. That this is evidence of evil or madness, rather than the sort of bullshot that is pretty much expected to play the startup finance game. They are all going to promise the world/moon/mars, and next year, and “the market” is wise to this stuff.
It’s like the used car salesman with “owned by a little old lady, only drove it to church on sunday, has been used by the managing director of the dealership as his personal car since it got here, they all make that sound…” If you believe all that then your friends will laugh at you, you idiot.
I guess you might not remember 1983 when Toyota announced the development of a brand new, revolutionary technology: the twin cam 16 valve 4 cylinder engine for the Corolla, skipping over the fact that Peugeot introduced one in 1912.
In conclusion: Yes Musk is highly optimistic in most of his announced plans, where they come in years late if at all.
Yes he chooses to define “success” as a very narrow interpretation that is often very scaled down compared to how the plan was described when he announced it years ago.
Yes the odds are that “People to Mars in 2023” will almost certainly turn out to be a December 2023, postponed to early 2024, first suborbital flight of the ship, unmanned, for testing.
But this is pretty much what any startup company seeking investors will say and do, and the people who invest in startup companies should be perfectly aware of all this. It’s how the game is played.
I don’t LIKE that the game is played this way. I would like facts and realism to be more in demand. But in 2017, any startup company that gives a realistic view of their short term prospects will be ignored.
DoctorPat, thanks for the answer!
“I don’t LIKE that the game is played this way. I would like facts and realism to be more in demand.”
I completely agree with you. This is the game. But no one overdoes it as much as Musk. He plays the lying game more than every one else while at the same time yelling “i’m saving the world”, “I’m saving the world” every chance he gets.
Or maybe they’re all like this. After all the Juicero ceo was apparently trying to solve obesity in America by selling a $700 juice pressing machine. lol
It’s more obvious with Musk though since he’s the most popular one and has a legion of devoted followers that consider him to be divine figure.
The main reason they (Musk and the others) behave this way is that people instead getting bothered by these actions, they glorify them as “revolutionary”.
And don’t forget one thing, Tesla is not really a “start up” anymore. They’re 14 years old!
And by the way I don’t consider Musk to be evil, he’s just a bs artist. He’s just willing to do and say whatever’s necessary to succeed. I never liked this quality in people.
Also, he craves attention more than any one else (probably same level as trump.) This may even be the root cause of his extravaganza.
Check out this interesting article from a few years ago:
http://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-threatening-emails-tesla-press-attention-2014-11
I could be biased. I’ve personal dealings with a startup founder/company that makes what we see of Musk look like a choirboy. And that startup has lasted a fair bit longer than 14 years.
(Court cases are still underway, no more details that I would be wise to publish. So it’s not really a useful example to bring up, I know.)
If neckbeards, contrarians, angsty teenage losers, all do it for free, and partisan hacks and zealots do it for their party’s profit, wouldn’t a country with as much propaganda heritage as Russia and as cornered and bankrupt as Russia do it?
It’s a rhetorical question. Intox and propaganda have been a thing since… Sun Tzu and beyond.
In fact NBF should have at least 1 article on Russian/US/etc means of disinformation warfare (e.g. those Russian troll factories and the state of things in Western media and/or China if not worldwide due to the prevalence of shills), because if it hadn’t already, it’s definitely come of age.
Future Tech/Mil/AI : It ticks 3 of the NBF checkboxes, and definitely isn’t a negligible political factor anymore.
The original article said that most of this way is under state land.
Something not often mentioned is that vehicles which travel very fast need a large turning radius, otherwise the passengers will see high g-forces. Highway rights-of ways follow curves based on automobile/truck speeds, which are ten times slower. If the curves are too tight, the hyperloop train won’t be able to travel at full speed.
Musk won’t be able to tunnel under private property without permission. It has long been settled law in the US that your property goes as far down as you can dig. That’s due to the history of oil drilling and other mining activity. Trying to get permission from all the property owners to get a straighter route will be a nightmare. The only way I can see around that is for the government (Maryland or Federal) to *take* a right of way by eminent domain, which they would have to pay for.
IIRC there’s a certain depth below which right of ways cease, and that depth is feasible for TBC’s intentions; and is negligibly noisy near surface level.
Practically every idea in the world has been mentioned or proposed before… The important thing is who can turn age old ideas into reality and Elon Musk is the person with the greatest ability to turn SIFI ideas into reality.
“Practically every idea in the world has been mentioned or proposed before… The important thing is who can turn age old ideas into reality”
I completely agree. What I don’t agree with, is presenting it as your own. Dante’s hell has a special circle for these kind of people. lol
“Elon Musk is the person with the greatest ability to turn SIFI ideas into reality.”
Here’s where we get into cult territory. He’s skilled, extremely ambitious, has easy access to money and he’s a marketing genius. He’s a sociopath too, which helps a lot. So yeah, maybe he could turn a lot of ideas into reality. So could other people though, if they had his resources. There’s an expression among engineers, “give me enough time and money, I’ll deliver anything”. Musk has both; and if he needs more, he’s always willing to lie cheat and steal to get them.
Really anyone with time and money can? Name any Russian billionaire who has done anything like Musk. Remember Prochorov who tried to start electric car company? Remember how that turned out? About hyperloop, Musk did not present someone’s other ideas as his own he presented a white paper with all the engineering and even financial calculations about hyperloop and he was the first to do it. And yes his version run on air which was an original idea. Is it his fault that others decided to use maglev? Or that media calls all these systems hyperloop?
The russian billionares have a different kind of skillset. That skill is useless outside the oil industry.
Yes, the original whitepaper he presented was unique! But he abandoned it. He no longer will use the “air cushion” method of levitating. And without this part, musk’s hyperloop is just a regular maglev vactrain. Even discovery channel for god’s sake had a documentary on this a couple of decades ago (smth like “transatlantic tunnel”).
The moment he abndoned his version of the technology and went back to the preexisting idea, he should have given credit to the existing ideas and stopped using “hyperloop” to describe it. But the charlatan inside him doesn’t allow him to be ethical.
You got any proof that he abandoned air cushion idea, cause Elon has never said he changed anything. I know your job is to push the idea that he is a charlatan but what can I say try harder next time.
Also, the fact that the idea was on Discovery Channel means nothing if it was already patented that would mean something and its not. As well as the name hyperloop he can call his system whatever the hell he wants as long as the name is not patent protected.
I told you about the documentary to show that the idea to have trains run on vacuum tubes is not new. Actually it’s much older than that (more than 100 year old!).
Sure, he can call it whatever he likes. But here’s an analogy, Mark Zuckerberg decides to build a car, and he calls it hyperwheel (not the brand of the car, just instead of the word “car”). Then he creates a competition with a prize for the company that builds the best “hyperwheel”. If he pulls it off, it would be a great marketing / PR move and make him seem like a genius innovator who “invented” a machine that moves on roads. But he wouldn’t be able to pull it off since not only he doesn’t have the “iron man” type reputation that Elon has masterfully build over the years. But also cars are extremely common, people would not get fooled easily. Most people don’t know anything about vacuum trains on the other hand that’s why Elon pulled it off.
As for Elon abandoning the “air cushion”, check the statement in the article above:
“The hyperloop technology uses electric motors and magnets to transport train cars through a low-pressure tube.”
“I know your job is to push the idea that he is a charlatan but what can I say try harder next time.”
Yep, almost the end of the month, so the check from the KGB should arrive soon. lol
This “us (the cult) against the world” mentality is a bit sad / pathetic Igor.
No one has to push the idea of Elon being a charlatan, he does that job himself. It’s very obvious if you look closer at his actions. He’s a pathological lair and modern day snake oil salesman. Sure, maybe at first him lying was an accident, but if you keep doing it over and over and over again, means it’s intentional. And just because you like the guy, doesn’t mean you should start defending charlatanry.
Anyways, this went long enough. Nothing else for me to say. If you really do not consider yourself a cult member but just don’t agree with me, I strongly suggest you do three things:
1. Learn about his finances (especially Tesla’s).
2. Try to put yourself in his shoes, you’ll realize that this narrative he has been building over the years (as the iron man working tirelessly to save the earth) is not only crucial to his financial success, but also critical in keeping his companies afloat.
3. Check his statements over the years, you’ll see that lies vastly outnumber truths.
After you’ve done that, I’m sure you’ll start agreeing with me more and start seeing Musk for what he really is, an extremely skilled charlatan. But if you keep doing the same thing, reading only his tweets and his powerpoint presentations, you’ll keep thinking he’s a modern day Da Vinci.
Sociopath?
Lie/cheat/steal?
“The hyperloop technology uses electric motors and magnets to transport train cars through a low-pressure tube.”
Wasn’t Musk’s “hyperloop” supposed to use “air cushions” similar to hockey tables? What happened to that?
Otherwise this is just a maglev train on a vacuum tube, no need to call it hyperloop because it’s a century old idea, not a Musk invention.
Is it only Musk where you have no idea what you are talking about, seemingly ever?
Hyperloop is an evacuated tunnel with a maglev in it. The new idea is how he is increasing the rate at which tunnels can be dug by optimizing the boring machines and spoils removal. The air cushion vehicle was for transport in urban areas in tunnels built to match the air cushion crafts, onto which you would drive your vehicle–the point being the air cushion rafts would operate while aware of each other to prevent collisions (the humans in the cars not driving them
The person who makes it work first invented something.
You’re misinformed on the hyperloop TD. Here’s the original pdf published by your spiritual leader:
http://www.spacex.com/sites/spacex/files/hyperloop_alpha-20130812.pdf
Read it. Hyperloop was not meant to be a maglev train. It was supposed to operate in a different way. I guess with time Musk realized that “air cushions” did not make much sense so he went back to the original maglev concept. Nothing wrong with this, but stop calling it “hyperloop” when you remove the thing that made it “hyperloop”.
“The person who makes it work first invented something.”
Maybe, but first Musk hasn’t made anything work yet. Second, magnetic trains have been around for decades, so he wouldn’t be first.
Td, I know that it comes from deep in your heart and you can’t control defending your cult leader but next time instead of jumping the gun, can you please do some research?
Hyperloop is an amazing branding trick by Elon (that’s why he is a marketing genius). Take a century old idea that most people aren’t familiar with, give it a catchy name and present is as your own and enjoy the benefits. Not a lot of people can pull this off and not get pointed at for being a charlatan. He was able to. He’s the master of PR.
As for the boring machine, you do know that’s completely unrelated, right? Hyperloop can be above ground too (and that was the initial plan).
The reason he started a digging company is because he thinks he can dig tunnels cheaper than the existing companies, and maybe he really can. Actually, he probably can. Existing digging companies, are very old companies. Not much innovation going on in old companies.
I don’t think it was Musk who changed from air skis to maglev. I think he left it open to Hyperloop contestants and they mostly or exclusively went with maglev.
Now, that could indicate that air skis won’t work. Or maybe they discarded the idea because it sounded too weird or whatever.
The concept does make some sense though, considering that you will (according to Musk) need a fan in the front of the vehicle to move the air that piles up on the nose to the rear. Then you might as well pipe some of that air to the skis and get some use out of it (as well as make the tube/track a lot less complex).
It’s true that evacuated tube transport is an old invention. Probably air skis as well. I’d say Musk still deserves some credit for combining the two in a creative way.
Pham, first thanks for the rational argumentive response, very rare to get that when commenting on Musk.
I agree with you, musk concept of using a fan in front and suspending the vehicle on air cushions is a very intresting idea and he does deserve credit for that!
Both the other hyperloop companies and Musk though, are not moving in that direction. They’re all planing to use magnets.
Don’t confuse the car raft idea with the air-cushioned hyperloop. The car raft thing is only for faster local traffic and decongestion, and has no air cushion involved. The hyperloop had the air cushion, which has somehow been dropped from the current development work.