Latest By
Category:
Armor
Artificial
Intelligence
Biology
Clothing
Communication
Computers
Culture
Data Storage
Displays
Engineering
Entertainment
Food
Input Devices
Lifestyle
Living Space
Manufacturing
Material
Media
Medical
Miscellaneous
Robotics
Security
Space Tech
Spacecraft
Surveillance
Transportation
Travel
Vehicle
Virtual
Person
Warfare
Weapon
Work
"…we store information differently, reading a science fiction story, to make it make sense."
- Samuel R. Delany
 |
| Vacutubes | ||
| A system of public transportation that used partially evacuated tubes and capsules big enough for passengers. |
This is a very futuristic scenario - or it was in the 1950's. Some thought has been given to underground trains that would make use of partially evacuated tunnels to reduce air resistance.
| We hit the sub-basement and went at once to the express tubes. A two passenger capsule was just emptying; Dak shoved me in so quickly that I did not see him set the door combination… The few minutes we had been crammed in the vacutube had been long enough for me to devise a plan… |
| From Double Star,
by Robert Heinlein. Published by Doubleday in 1956 Additional resources -
|
However, I once worked in the "tube room" of a large hospital that used pneumatic tubes to deliver paperwork throughout the large building. What Heinlein has created here is effectively a tube system for people.
In 1870, Alfred Ely Beach, tried to construct a prototype pneumatic train subway in New York City. The city fathers were not impressed and decided on the elevated train concept instead.
If you want to check out what a factory conveyor belt system for a country would look like, see the entry for rolling roads, from The Roads Must Roll, also by Heinlein.
Also, take a look at a "vacutube" that operates in the vertical dimension for one passenger at a time; see bounce tube, also by Robert Heinlein.
Comment/Join this discussion ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |
Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Double Star
More Ideas
and Technology by Robert Heinlein
Tech news articles related to Double Star
Tech news articles related to works by Robert Heinlein
Vacutubes-related
news articles:
- Evacuated Tube Transport Idea Is 200 Years Old This Year!
- Musk Tweets A Boring Tunnel Pic
| Skai Air Taxi Costs The Same As Uber |
| Asimov and Musk - Boring Company Tunnel vs. Street Race |
| Arizona Luddites Attack Self-Driving Vehicles |
| Volvo's Self-Driving Mining Trucks |
Want to Contribute an
Item?
It's easy:
Get the name of the item, a
quote, the book's name and the author's name, and Add
it here.
| <Previous | Next> |
|
|
|
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
|
'The planes flew continuously, twenty-four hours a day...'
'It was even conceivable that they watched everybody all the time.'
'...a single perfectly level platform, which rose so high above the water that it was not splashed by the waves.'
'Is an extra-factual memory that convincing?' Quail asked.
Megastructures have repair robots, which have repair robots, ad infinitum.
‘She wouldn't stop until Antar had told her everything he knew...’
Perfect for clot-busting in the human brain. No Raquel Welch and no lasers, though.
