Superfast Bullet Trains Are Finally Coming to the U.S.
Illustration: Paul Rogers
Superfast Bullet Trains Are Finally Coming to the U.S.
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Showing posts with label Bullet Train. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bullet Train. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
China launches world's fastest train
China has launched what it claims to be the world's fastest train that can travel more than 390 kilometres per hour.
It embarked on its maiden 621 mile journey from the central city of Wuhan to the southern city of Guangzhou.
Traveling at an average speed of 218 miles-an-hour, it can travel up to 245 miles-an-hour, cutting the journey time from the original 9 hours to about 3 hours, the state media said.
The Wuhan-Guangzhou railway is the fastest and longest high-speed railway in China, costing 100 billion yuan ($14.6 billion USA). It has taken four years of construction to complete it, China's official news agency Xinhua has said.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Pamplona runner is gored in the chest by a 1,268lb bull - and survives
This is the terrifying moment a Pamplona reveller is tossed into the air and then gored by a rampaging bull. 
The man was caught in the chest and legs when the large bull became separated from the pack on the slippery cobblestone streets of Spain's Pamplona.
The bull - a 1,268lb Miura - jerked the runner upward and then rolled him along the ground like a rag doll. Miuras are the largest and most famous of Spain's fighting bulls.
Terrifying: A Miura fighting bull that became separated from the pack gores a runner during the sixth bull run of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona
The reveller was covered in blood and had his trousers torn off during the bull's wild attack.
Screaming out in agony, the man was dragged away by two fellow runners before being rushed to hospital.
The bull initially got a horn caught on a wooden barrier at a bend in the route, slipped and became embroiled in a three-animal pile-up before resuming its gallop.
Bulls are at their most dangerous when the pack splits up, leaving individual animals disoriented and irritated by the large crowds traditionally clad in white, with red bandanna neckerchiefs and cummerbunds.
Mayhem: The reveler is tossed to the ground as the bull's horns rips apart his trousers
Horror: The man's face says it all as the bull rams its horns into him
In other graphic images, one man was gored in the neck during the five-minute run on the sixth day of the running of the bulls at the San Fermin festival.
Three other runners were also gored, while six received medical treatment for bruising.
One man was hit hard on the chin and knocked unconscious by a calf inside the bullring after the running of the bulls had finished.
It comes after a 27-year-old man was gored to death on Friday - the first fatality since 1995.
Lucky escape: The man is dragged away by a fellow runner as soon as the bull appears to back off
Spaniard Daniel Jimeno Romero was gored in the upper chest and neck and was declared dead shortly after reaching the hospital.
Hundreds of revelers paid homage to Mr Romero by leaving traditional red neckerchiefs tied to wooden barriers at the spot where a bull gored him fatally in the upper chest and neck.
For more than 100 years thrill-seekers have accompanied the bulls from a pen outside the city walls on a dangerous, daredevil run to the bullring. In the afternoon, the bulls face matadors and almost certain death.
The pack races along the often damp cobblestone course accompanied by six steers, each with a large clanking bell around its neck, whose function is to try to keep the group trotting together.
Dangerous: A runner (right) is gored in the neck by a Miura bull
Treatment: He requires urgent medical attention as blood pours from his nose and neck
The bulls running yesterday belonged to breeder Dolores Aguirre, famed for producing hefty, strong animals. The largest of the six animals weighed in at 1,378 pounds.
Despite the large number of runners and the separation of one bull from the pack, all of Aguirre's animals entered the ring in 2 minutes, 52 seconds, a reasonably fast time.
'I noticed the streets were swollen by a lot of runners,' said Jaime de Vargas, who had dedicated his run to fellow bull aficionado and friend Mr Romero.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
World's Fastest Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (and Other Stuff)
It may surprise you that beneath our gentle, gadget-loving exterior, there lies a closeted obsession with speed. Sure, we tend to talk about Twitter and have been known to spend hours debating the best instant-messaging client -- or the best sci-fi villain (it's so obviously IG-88) -- but we turn our heads just like the next person when a Ferrari F430 rolls by.
In honor of our innate love of all things fast, we've gathered up a list of the fastest things on (or nearly on) Earth. You'll find no cheetahs or peregrine falcons here, just the most crazy-quick contraptions humans have ever strapped themselves into. With that, let's punch it....
Fastest Plane: X-15
The title of fastest piloted plane belongs to the incredible X-15. This rocket-powered test plane was designed and built in the early 1960s to see how human pilots could handle flying themselves into space. Carried by a modified B-52, the X-15 would detach at 45,000 feet and immediately ignite its Reaction Motors XLR-99 rocket engine, blasting up to the edge of the stratosphere thanks to 57,000 pounds of thrust. Incidentally, several test pilots received astronaut wings from NASA for their X-15 flights into what's technically outer space.. On October 3, 1967, test pilot Pete Knight took the craft to a mind-bending 4,519 mph, which still stands as the absolute speed record for an airplane. At that speed, you could fly from New York to Los Angeles in approximately 25 minutes.
Fastest Car: SSC Ultimate Aero
Unlike most of the things on this list, the fastest car in the world can not only be driven, it can also be owned (provided, of course, that you have $600,000). Although the Bugatti Veyron is often cited as the fastest thing on four wheels, only the SSC Ultimate Aero actually holds the official title of world's fastest production car. Built by Shelby SuperCars (which is not affiliated with famed car designer Carroll Shelby), this 1,183-horsepower, American-made monster is capable of 256 mph. But, this thing doesn't just rule on straightaways -- the Ultimate Aero also holds the world slalom record (averaging 73.1 mph), which it snatched away from the Italy's greatest supercar, the Ferrari Enzo.
Fastest Boat: "Spirit of Australia"
Proving, like the X-15, that old-fashioned knowhow is often better than new technology, the fastest boat in history was built in the 1970s by a man named Ken Warby in his shed. "The Spirit of Australia" set the world water speed record of 317.6 mph all the way back in 1978, and the record still stands today. Apparently, chasing this record is one of the most dangerous endeavors in the world, since around 85-percent of those who give it a go die in their attempts. For the complete, grisly record, check out this great article from Wired.
Fastest Bicycle: Fred Rompelberg Custom Bike
On October 3rd, 1995, Fred Rompelberg rode his double-geared, custom-designed bike behind a motor dragster and used its slipstream to draft his way to 167 mph, the fastest speed ever on a bicycle. At that speed, he could easily outrun most police helicopters. Not that he'd be able to lose them -- the Bonneville Salt Flats, where Rompelberg set his record, stretch for over 150 square miles.
Fastest Elevator: Taipei 101 Tower
Pack your bags and hit Asia if you want fast elevators -- six of the ten fastest in the world are located there. To ride the fastest of them all, get yourself to Taiwan and the Taipei 101 Tower. Two of the tower's elevators, built by Toshiba and GFC Elevator, will rocket you to the 89th floor observation deck at a gut-wrenching 37 mph. For comparison, the Empire State Building's elevator (the 9th fastest in the world) clocks in at a plodding 16 mph.
Fastest Sailboat: l'Hydroptère
Sure, sailing seems placid, but if you've ever ripped it downwind amidst six-foot ocean swells, you know that 15 mph under sail can feel like 50. That's why the l'Hydroptère's speed of 69 mph is so completely insane. This hydrofoil-equipped trimaran holds the unofficial world record for a sailboat, and apparently is capable of going even faster -- in December of 2008, it topped 70 mph before capsizing in an epic crash that sent its cheering crew sprawling into the Mediterranean. Who ever said sailing wasn't exciting?
Fastest Train: JR Maglev
The distinction of being the fastest train in the world belongs to Japan's JR-Maglev. It set a world speed record for a manned, railed vehicle when it hit 361 mph on December 2nd, 2003. The train uses magnetic levitation to float above its track, which eliminates rail friction and allows it to achieve such swift speeds. Altogether more amazing is the French TGV -- this conventional train rode its metal wheels and track to a baguette-crisping 357 mph. That's only four miles per hour slower (357 mph) than the fancy-pants Maglev train.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
220MPH Solar-Powered Bullet Train on Arizona Horizon
by Jorge Chapa
Travelers going from Tucson to Phoenix may soon be blazing across the desert in speeding solar bullet trains propelled by the sun’s rays. Hot on the heels of President Obama’s plan for High Speed Rail in the US comes the news that Arizona-based Solar Bullet LLC is proposing a new 220mph bullet train that will be entirely powered by the sun and will make the trip in 30 minutes flat.
The adoption of high speed rail in the states stands to greatly curb greenhouse emissions while cutting down on our reliance on carbon-spewing cars and airplanes. Needless to say it’s one of our favorite transportation topics here at Inhabitat, so to say that this one caught our eye would be an understatement.
The system is being proposed by Solar Bullet LLC, founded by Bill Gaither and Raymond Wright. Their plan is to create a series of tracks that would serve stations including Chandler, Maricopa, Casa Grande, Eloy, Red Rock and Marana, and may one day stretch as far as Mexico City. The train would require 110 megawatts of electricity, which would be generated by solar panels mounted above the tracks.
Although the project is still in its early stages of development and the estimated cost is a whopping 28 billion dollars, the idea that someday in the future we could all be riding on solar powered bullet trains is simply too cool to resist.
Via Azstarnet
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