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Today's episode of geek beat is brought to you by luminosity!
Do you feel the need -- the need for speed? I'm John P -Fasten your seatbelts - Geekbeat takes off: NOW!
We have Paypal Gazillionaire Elon Musk to thank for this episode: His talk about a 700
mile per hour "Hyperloop" ride from L-A to San Francisco in less than a half hour set
us off in search of the fastest futuristic forms of transportation we could find.
First, there's the "Hyperloop" itself which Musk describes as a cross between a Concorde,
a rail gun, and an air hockey table -- basically an e-ticket mag-lev ride in a tube. This idea
has been around since at least 1972 when the Rand Corporation proposed a national network
of high speed trains in a tube, but Musk and other futurists say the tech know-how is now
far enough along to make this actually happen.
Far more likely to happen: a new land speed record which could be set this summer when
the titanium-tipped 135,000 horsepower Bloodhound Supersonic car revs up and sends its carbon-fibre
body hurtling toward the 1,000 mile an hour mark. (I have got to get behind that steering
wheel)!
If the Bloodhound breaks the sound barrier the hope is that the titanium tip will absorb
the bulk of the shock wave because there's concern among its UK designers that an all
carbon fibre body might disintegrate. -Tell you what, Nigel -- you go first...
Speaking of going fast...
You're only as fast as your weakest neurons! So you might as well add some horsepower to
that medula oblongata you're carting around.
The people behind Lumosity have taken neuroscience based training and converted it into fun little
games you can play to train your brain and give you improved memory and to strengthen
your ability to focus.
It takes about 60 seconds to set up a free account and start a customized training plan
based on what you want to actually accomplish. HEAD on over to Lumosity.com/geekbeat and
give it a try. A couple sessions a week and will get your brainial gears revvin' like
the bloodhound!
Check it out! lumosity.com/geekbeat
The UK has even bigger (and faster) plans up in the air, having earmarked $90 Billion
dollars for a Supersonic plane called Skylon: A Sabre-Engine powered space plane designed
for high altitude and high speed: Two and a half times faster than the Concorde: Mach
5 to be exact. The technology behind the engine has already been proven in tests - and, while
a 300 passenger jet that flies from London to Sydney in three hours sounds like a sweet
ride, it is expected to be a VERY expensive one based on the current cost of the technology.
That means the Skylon may make more economic sense as a supersonic taxi to the international
space station or a budgetwise way to launch small satellites, assuming it ever gets off
the ground.
But enough of this Supersonic stuff -- what about going REALLY fast: -as in Star Wars
hyperspace, Star Trek Warp speed faster than the speed of light fast!? -Engage!
NASA rocket scientists and physicists at the Johnson Space Center in Houston are working
on warping the trajectory of photons in a field of very advanced research where "warp
bubbles" are an actual theory, not just a Star Trek plot line. This is the real science
behind the science fantasy of the warp drive folks! Their research is still in very early
stages, so don't look for first contact from the Vulcans any time soon.
So there you have it, Fast Times at GeekBeat High! Before I rocket outta here I want to
invite you to stay connected to the Geekbeat Community through our G+ "Geeks" Forum. I'm
John P -- until our next episode, Warpspeed!