CMU advances in high-speed ground transit competition

Carnegie Mellon University has made the cut and will compete in June against 22 other teams in the SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competition, which is an early step to create a high-speed ground-transportation system. The idea is to approach the speed of sound (767 mph) through a low-pressure tube, or Hyperloop, with help from levitation and solar-powered electromagnetic acceleration. Famed SpaceX founder Elon Musk outlined the Hyperloop concept in his 2013 white paper. About 120 teams, from 1,000 initial entries, met last weekend at Texas A&M University to present their plans for scale-size transit vehicles, or pods, before a panel of SpaceX, Tesla and academic engineers.