For more info on a specific newsletter, click the title. Details will be displayed in a new window.
Subscribe to
Computerworld 40 years of the most authoritative source of news and information for IT leaders.
Shipping Goes Down The Tubes
or
Other Software Development Stories
|
|
|
|
March 26, 2001 (Computerworld) -- Imagine a national network of pipes, some as small as one foot in diameter and half a mile long, for transporting mail or machine parts between two buildings, and others as large as six feet in diameter and hundreds of miles long for intercity and interstate freight shipment. Sound far-fetched?
Not to Professor Henry Liu, director of the Capsule Pipeline Research Center (CPRC) at the University of Missouri in Columbia. Liu has spent more than 20 years researching pipeline technology systems in which close-fitting capsules carry freight through underground tubes between terminals.
As traffic congestion and pollution increase and fossil fuel supplies dry up, scientists are looking to innovative modes of transportation to transport freight more cost effectively and efficiently.
"This new pipeline technology can transport freight such as coal; solid waste, including hazardous waste; [and] agricultural products, as well as mail and parcels," Liu says.
Two Propulsion Systems
Liu is investigating two capsule propulsion systems to move freight: pneumatic systems propelled by air pressure, which use air from booster fans or pumps to move the wheeled capsules through underground tubes, and a slower hydraulic system.
Hydraulic systems would push freight at 6 to 10 feet per second, while pneumatic systems would run at much higher speeds - 20 to 50 feet per second, Liu says.
Freight pipelines would employ a communication system that uses microwaves, cables and satellites operated automatically by a computer at the pipeline company's headquarters, he says.
William Vandersteel, an inventor in Alpine, N.J., is working to improve the technology used in the pneumatic pipeline system. In Vandersteel's tube pipeline, called TubeExpress, goods are carried in free-wheeling vehicles (capsules) that are pumped through the pipelines by electrical power. The CPRC is studying the use of an electromagnetic propulsion system called a linear induction motor, like those used in roller coasters and high-speed trains, to move freight through the pipeline, according to Liu.
Using this system, an electromagnetic charge in induction coils set at intervals within the pipeline would propel the capsules forward. Moving the capsules directly instead of by pumping air would allow the system to operate without interruption or distance limitation.
Daryl Oster in Crystal River Fla., has invented the Evacuated Tube Transport, which he claims could move goods from Miami to New York in 25 minutes and from New York to Hong Kong in three or four hours. Oster says his patented system, which works by eliminating friction, could be built aboveground as well as underground.
And while Oster's system - with its promise of speeds that surpass 2,000 miles per hour - may strain the imagination, there are already real freight pipelines either in existence or close to development.
|
Print this Story |
|
Send Us Feedback |
|
E-mail this Story |
|
Digg this Story |
|
Slashdot this Story |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
All Zones Application Performance Zone Enterprise-Class Security Zone Enterprise Solutions Zone The File Data Management Zone Grid Computing on Windows Zone Security Management Zone ITIL Best Practices Zone The SAS Zone Storage Virtualization Zone The Data Center Management Zone |
 See your link here
|
 |
||||||||
| ||||||||
| ||||||||
| ||||||||
|
Download this Computerworld report, free for a limited time, compliments of HP.
Download this white paper, free, compliments of Citrix. 
Long Tail Supplier Collaboration - What's In It For You? 
Read up on the latest ideas and technologies from companies that sell hardware, software and services.
- FAQ: Windows XP SP3 reboot hell (and how to get out of it)
- HP-EDS deal spurs range of customer reactions
- WiMax vs. Long Term Evolution: Let the battle begin
- More top stories
| XenServer FREE trial Citrix XenServer is the simplest and most effective way to virtualize and provision servers. XenServer combines comprehensive server virtualization capabilities with unparalleled scalability, performance, economics, and ease-of-use. Based on the open source Xen hypervisor, XenServer delivers fast performance, easy management, and advanced features such as live migration. |
| Detect, identify, and locate RF interference in 802.11 WLANs. AnalyzeAir software provides IT network professionals with the vision they need into the hidden world of RF, providing them with the ability to see the spectrum in a visible and intelligible format. AnalyzeAir software lets you see, monitor, analyze, and manage all the RF sources and wireless devices that influence your Wi-Fi network's performance and security, even if those devices are unauthorized or transient. AnalyzeAir Trial Software v3.1 highlights the features found in AnalyzeAir Software using a set of saved spectrum files. Replay the data and experience the visibility that AnalyzeAir Wi-Fi Spectrum Analyzer provides. Note: The trial software is limited to a player version only. It does not communicate with an AnalyzeAir PC card so it does not collect actual spectrum data. Register for this trial now.
|
CIO
Computerworld
CSO
DEMO
GamePro
Games.net
IDG Connect
IDG World Expo
Infoworld
The Industry Standard
ITworld
JavaWorld
LinuxWorld
MacUser
Macworld
Network World
PC World
Playlist
Copyright © 2008 Computerworld Inc. All
rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium
without express written permission of Computerworld Inc. is prohibited.
Computerworld and Computerworld.com and the respective logos are
trademarks of International Data Group Inc.
|
