1081
On demand hyperloop-style water delivery
(reddthat.com)
Source is a 2015 xkcd comic:
When I was a kid, I asked my parents why our houses didn't have toothpaste pipes in addition to water ones. I'm strangely pleased to see Amazon thinking the same way.
I wonder how thick a toothpaste pipeline would have to be in order for it to meet Peak demand. Probably very thin for each household but what about othermunicipal level?
You could maybe have it be a very runny consistency but have something attached to the toothpaste faucet that mixes with it to make a paste. Runnier it it's the better probably so keep it running and not stuck?
It’s wild how ideas like Hyperloop were seen as reasonable ideas 10 years ago. The naivety.
No, it was insane back then, people were just too busy sucking elons dick like he was the second coming of Nikola Tesla instead of the hack Nazi he is.
I distinctly remember articles from the time calling out the hyper loop as a bullshit method to stop public transit. I'm entirely unsurprised California fell for the monorail salesman instead of just building the fucking rail system
Not everyone was fooled. I think not most people. There was a just a lot of hype about it, and politicians tried to grift it. Irrelevant pun duly noted.
FWIW I think there's still some merit in maglev vactrains that aren't tied to someone who was only pushing it to get public infrastructure projects cancelled with the goal of selling more cars.
At least there are seemingly serious academics and engineers still researching and developing the concept anyway.
I'm no authority on anything involved in such an idea, but I just can't imagine how the economics of a vacuum tunnel could be viable. The maintenance costs on constantly running lots of industrial scale vacuums sounds crazy expensive. I hate trying to keep good suction out my vacuum cleaner and imagine at huge scales things get harder, not easier. Maybe there are clever people who have a solution for that and it's not a big deal though. No clue.
What if instead of using a vacuum and hovering, it was just a low friction contact instead? Like say steel wheels on steel tracks. You could digitally or even physically tie the cars together so you can adjust the length of it based on demand.
Shit, derived the train again
The vacuum problems kill the Hyperloop design just like they kill any major mass launcher ideas from Earth. On the Moon both will work great.
Mass rail transit itself is something that ought to be more wide spread. Just not like that.
Not to speak of the fact that things at that scale never stay in place, and cracks and fissures will inevitably form. With the pressure of a vacuum it could be catastrophic.
Just because something is a serious research topic doesn't mean it could be something reasonable any time in the near future
I give you, the ~~Springfield~~ California ~~Monorail~~ Hyperloop!
The irony of the hyper loop actually killing a proper high speed rail system is just 👨🍳💋
I think it was the whole purpose of it
Oh, I know. I'm just amused at the irony over Cali getting hoodwinked by the Simpsons monorail salesman and that what it stopped was basically what the Simpsons guy was selling, only real.
At least what the monorail guy was selling seemed legit, hyperloop was dumb from the start (lengthy tubes under vacuum that are big enough to put a vehicle through?) and felt like people were cashing in on not having public transportation you shared with other people.
The hyper loop was stolen from a European design from the 90s. It was even featured on an episode of Modern Marvels back then.
Even universities fell for the ruse. Like so much talent was wasted by having these hyperloop university projects.
And even if it was physically possible to build one it would cost multiple times more than just building a maglev line. Not to mention the maintenance it requires.
As if universities aren't in on the capitalism grift.
A lot of people's don't understand the business of universities. It's not education.
The students are there as fundraisers. The ones who get scholarships are there to boost the reputation and desirability of the school and/or provide free labor.
Professors have the "publish or perish" rule for the same reason. They work their ass off 40 hours a week all year, but only about 10-15 are directly related to education, and that's only 30 weeks of the year (38 if they're also teaching summer courses). The rest of the time they're doing research to boost the university's prestige and get those juicy patents and grants.
And once you've gone into debt for 20 years to get the degree, they'll hound you for donations through the alumni foundation until the heat death of the universe.
It wasn’t just US universities it was also publicly funded European universities that wasted money on those hyperloop projects.
Luckily, The Simpsons monorail episode had me covered, I saw what it was from the beginning.
B-but that doesn't produce enough plastic waste!!
Romans had hyperloop water 2000 years ago.
My tap water comes from ancient underground aquifers. While I realize it's not sustainable for centuries, for now we have pretty damn good municipal water. The only thing is slightly high, naturally occurring arsenic levels, which I filter out, but it's probably not necessary.
Nonetheless, people here complain about our water like it's Flint, MI. and buy bottled water?
My water/sewer bill is $50/mo. for two people. Some of my neighbors are paying hundreds a month. I don't know what they're doing with their water, but it's a choice they're making, my bill is proof.
Funny thing is, bottled water has extremely high levels of microplastics.
it’s not sustainable for centuries
It's sustainable until the Saudis learn about your cheap water and buy the whole system for pennies on the dollar so they can grow alfalfa for their racehorses. This is what's happening to my (currently cheap) water authority.
Needs more AI or blockchain.
In capitalist America, water consumes AI!
Water? You mean like in the toilet?
Electrolytes!
First you need to stop companies from polluting the rivers.
Sell water bottles as a decentralized modular water distribution system.
Love the joke, but it’s a good reminder: the real ‘one-hour delivery’ MVP is just reliable municipal water + maintained pipes.
Source: https://xkcd.com/1599/
On a similar vein, why haven't we banned dihydrogen monoxide? It corrodes our metal pipes, it destroys land over time, and it's in all of our crops! It's even in the clouds in the sky!
/s
And there are drinking fountains everywhere around here too.
I don't think that would be possible unless you are living further in time than the Indus Valley at 3000 BC.
this post was submitted on 28 Dec 2025
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