WEBVTT - SYSK Selects: How Maglev Trains Work 0:00:00.920 --> 0:00:03.880 Hello friends, It's me Josh and for this week's s 0:00:04.000 --> 0:00:07.560 Y s K Selects, I've chosen a super cool episode 0:00:07.760 --> 0:00:12.600 that has it all engineering, strange, physics, elon musk. What 0:00:12.640 --> 0:00:16.040 else do you want? What more could you ask for? Also, 0:00:16.200 --> 0:00:19.360 by the way, I'm pretty sure that the contest we 0:00:19.480 --> 0:00:23.560 talk about in the listener mail is no longer around, 0:00:23.600 --> 0:00:26.800 since it's many, many years old. At any rate, enjoy 0:00:26.880 --> 0:00:34.080 this episode about the future of transportation. Welcome to Stuff 0:00:34.120 --> 0:00:36.680 You Should Know, a production of I Heart Radios How 0:00:36.680 --> 0:00:45.520 Stuff Works. Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh Clark, 0:00:45.560 --> 0:00:51.599 and there's Charles W Chuck Chuckers, Brian Yeah, and this 0:00:51.680 --> 0:00:57.120 is Oh is that where you're going with? Sure? Yeah, 0:00:57.400 --> 0:00:59.720 my bus right into CC writer all the style. How 0:00:59.760 --> 0:01:03.840 would going with the Muppet Show? Oh? Yeah, it was 0:01:03.880 --> 0:01:07.560 time we put on makeup? Yeah, what was that somebody's 0:01:07.600 --> 0:01:14.280 giant stomach? Something like? What was that? It's weird? That 0:01:14.440 --> 0:01:17.880 was crazy. That couldn't have been Jerry's stomach. There's no way, 0:01:18.400 --> 0:01:28.120 all right, what's chuck? Yes? Uh, you remember our Magnet podcast. Yeah, 0:01:28.520 --> 0:01:32.240 I've personally thought it was a great episode because we 0:01:32.280 --> 0:01:35.400 explained how magnets work. Yeah, it was just good, tough 0:01:35.560 --> 0:01:38.960 but good. Yeah, it was tough, but it was also 0:01:39.040 --> 0:01:42.360 kind of um. It was one of those ones where 0:01:42.440 --> 0:01:45.959 you're like, oh, okay, that explains pretty much everything about magnets, 0:01:46.040 --> 0:01:48.640 the thing that I've used before in my life, and 0:01:48.680 --> 0:01:50.960 I just kind of took for granted some people think 0:01:50.960 --> 0:01:54.080 that they're magic, but we kind of said, this is 0:01:54.120 --> 0:01:57.200 how they work. I liked it. So, um, I liked 0:01:57.800 --> 0:02:02.920 this EPI, this um article in theory, the one we're 0:02:02.960 --> 0:02:06.400 about to do a show on. Yeah, yeah, about Maglev trains. Yeah, 0:02:06.440 --> 0:02:10.359 we did a video on Maglev trains. Remember that one 0:02:10.360 --> 0:02:13.440 of our one of our interstitial shorts was on mag 0:02:13.560 --> 0:02:20.799 left trains, do we Yeah, I remember doing the quantum 0:02:20.919 --> 0:02:25.119 levitation was that it? Are you sure? Yeah? Because that's 0:02:25.120 --> 0:02:27.240 the only way I knew about any of this was 0:02:27.240 --> 0:02:28.640 the fact that we had talked about it before. Well 0:02:28.639 --> 0:02:32.600 what did we talk about, uh, maglob you know the 0:02:32.600 --> 0:02:36.000 basic principle in one minute behind magnetic levitation. Well, that's 0:02:36.000 --> 0:02:39.480 pretty much what we're gonna do here, Yeah, except slightly longer. Yeah. 0:02:39.560 --> 0:02:43.639 So um that was my intro but intro and we 0:02:43.680 --> 0:02:48.799 should say also, um, everyone, it is next to impossible 0:02:49.080 --> 0:02:52.240 to get up to the minute up to the year 0:02:52.520 --> 0:02:58.480 information about what maglev trains are in operation, what are 0:02:58.520 --> 0:03:01.840 still planned, what's still going on. So it is possible 0:03:02.160 --> 0:03:06.119 we may get that part a little incorrect, but we're 0:03:06.240 --> 0:03:09.399 going to try our best to be as accurate as possible. Yeah, 0:03:09.639 --> 0:03:13.120 and the reason why is because magnetic levitation to power 0:03:13.160 --> 0:03:16.760 a train so new. Well, it's actually not that new, 0:03:16.760 --> 0:03:18.320 because they've been doing it for a while and well 0:03:18.919 --> 0:03:21.840 start it was proposed ever since Tesla started noticing what 0:03:21.919 --> 0:03:24.560 was going on in the late nineteenth century. But it's 0:03:24.600 --> 0:03:28.880 so new in this regard as far as super fast 0:03:29.240 --> 0:03:35.800 speed trains powered by magnets transporting lots of people over distances, 0:03:35.800 --> 0:03:38.920 maybe great distances. That is so new, and there's so 0:03:39.160 --> 0:03:41.720 a few different technologies that it is kind of hard 0:03:41.720 --> 0:03:43.600 to keep track on which one is in the forefront, 0:03:44.160 --> 0:03:48.080 which ones are being funded because the stuff is expensive, 0:03:48.600 --> 0:03:50.840 it is it's hard to get funding, especially here in 0:03:50.840 --> 0:03:52.840 the States. Yeah, and if you go on, if you 0:03:52.920 --> 0:03:55.720 just type mag LEVI into Google or your favorite search 0:03:55.720 --> 0:03:59.080 engine UM or Duck duck go, if you're you know, 0:04:00.080 --> 0:04:02.560 kind of watching who's watching you? Oh, is that a 0:04:02.720 --> 0:04:07.160 like a secret? It's like an anonymous search engine okay. Um, 0:04:07.400 --> 0:04:11.120 you will find there's projects all over the United States 0:04:11.280 --> 0:04:13.040 and all of them are like, we're shove already, We're 0:04:13.040 --> 0:04:15.480 ready to go. Just give us some money. And they're 0:04:15.520 --> 0:04:18.320 not getting any money because the construction costs are so 0:04:18.560 --> 0:04:23.000 enormous because with maglev trains you can't use existing railways. 0:04:23.560 --> 0:04:26.479 It's all new. And uh, I saw one quote and 0:04:26.800 --> 0:04:30.080 again who knows how recent this is, but fifty million 0:04:30.120 --> 0:04:32.880 euros per mile. I can believe this is what the 0:04:32.920 --> 0:04:37.479 German Consortium is quoting. The thing is is, once you 0:04:37.520 --> 0:04:41.520 get it built, maintenance is not bad. Yeah, not bad 0:04:41.520 --> 0:04:43.039 at all, because there's not a lot of wear and 0:04:43.080 --> 0:04:45.800 tear on it. As you'll see no friction baby. Um. 0:04:45.839 --> 0:04:48.400 And if you do look into maglev, you will see 0:04:48.400 --> 0:04:52.440 that it is very much like the the transportation technology 0:04:52.480 --> 0:04:56.440 of the future that's going on today. Um, especially after 0:04:56.600 --> 0:05:02.080 looking into Elon Musk's um T hyper loop thing. I 0:05:02.320 --> 0:05:05.640 heard of that. So basically Elon Musk, who is like 0:05:05.680 --> 0:05:09.679 our good friend, uh, super rich guy, right, he basically 0:05:09.720 --> 0:05:12.040 just jotted down this idea on a cocktail napkin and 0:05:12.080 --> 0:05:14.799 all of a sudden it's like the new thing. But um, 0:05:14.839 --> 0:05:19.680 it's a an enclosed tube system that just you put 0:05:19.720 --> 0:05:23.240 in a little car or whatever that seats twelve people 0:05:23.360 --> 0:05:26.599 or something comfortably and you suck all the air out 0:05:26.600 --> 0:05:31.719 of it no resistance, so you can go really fast. Basically, 0:05:31.760 --> 0:05:34.400 I think it goes about seven a little under the 0:05:34.440 --> 0:05:37.440 speed of sound, so you can get from the west 0:05:37.480 --> 0:05:40.720 coast to the east coast or vice versa very very fast. 0:05:41.200 --> 0:05:46.760 The thing is, the construction costs for this or just preposterous. 0:05:46.800 --> 0:05:50.840 But if it can come along or come down a 0:05:50.880 --> 0:05:53.919 little more, then it will give Maglev a run for 0:05:53.960 --> 0:05:57.760 its money. But if it, if Maglev can start to 0:05:57.880 --> 0:06:00.719 really kind of get some traction and get some line going, 0:06:01.520 --> 0:06:04.200 it will be the the movement of the future for 0:06:04.200 --> 0:06:07.320 at least a decade or two. Yeah, I saw where 0:06:08.360 --> 0:06:12.200 they're proposing both in the future Maglev trains that operate 0:06:12.240 --> 0:06:16.640 inside vacuum tubes as fast as two thousand miles an 0:06:16.640 --> 0:06:20.040 hour as crazy. Right now they're breaking records like three 0:06:20.440 --> 0:06:23.359 miles an hour plus what's the fastest right now? The 0:06:24.640 --> 0:06:27.839 So apparently this is kind of mind boggling because Maglev 0:06:28.279 --> 0:06:31.440 as again we realize everybody, we haven't explained what Maglev 0:06:31.520 --> 0:06:37.680 is talking here, but um, Maglev, the the great advantage 0:06:37.680 --> 0:06:41.000 it has is that it's supposedly goes faster than the 0:06:41.080 --> 0:06:45.520 normal steel wheel train. Apparently a TGV train, which is 0:06:45.520 --> 0:06:50.560 a steel wheel train. UM in Europe, they they beat 0:06:50.760 --> 0:06:53.280 a maglev land speed really that was held by the 0:06:53.400 --> 0:06:57.360 Japanese Maglev of about three hundred and fifty one miles 0:06:57.400 --> 0:06:59.600 an hour. I think it went like three sixty. Man. 0:06:59.640 --> 0:07:02.880 I don't if i'd feel safe. Yeah, I can imagine. 0:07:03.040 --> 0:07:05.000 I was. I was reading a quote from a Maglev 0:07:05.160 --> 0:07:08.520 rider and they were saying, like, you can tell you're 0:07:08.520 --> 0:07:12.720 going really fast, like on the bullet train. He was 0:07:12.760 --> 0:07:14.800 gonna be so disappointed because she's taught me how to 0:07:14.840 --> 0:07:17.120 say it in Japanese so many times a night. I 0:07:17.160 --> 0:07:20.320 don't want to BUTCHERP. But the bullet train it goes 0:07:20.360 --> 0:07:23.400 pretty fast, like hundred fifty miles an hour or something, 0:07:23.880 --> 0:07:27.120 but it just looks like everything's a blur. You don't 0:07:27.160 --> 0:07:29.920 feel like you're going fast. Apparently in a maglev it 0:07:29.960 --> 0:07:32.600 goes fast enough to wear like you feel like, holy cow, 0:07:32.840 --> 0:07:35.280 we're going three d and fifty miles an hour. Well, 0:07:35.280 --> 0:07:38.960 our very unparent company did a show World's Fastest Trains, 0:07:39.600 --> 0:07:42.920 and I watched the maglev segment in the dude. You know. 0:07:42.920 --> 0:07:44.560 I was in the front room with the driver and 0:07:44.600 --> 0:07:46.240 they were like, all right, we're going three hundred miles 0:07:46.240 --> 0:07:49.200 an hour now, and it's hard to tell on the TV. 0:07:49.400 --> 0:07:52.360 You know exactly how fast you're going, because I looked 0:07:52.360 --> 0:07:54.000 and I was like, well, then you know, it looks 0:07:54.000 --> 0:07:56.680 like about a hundred to me. But um, yeah, I 0:07:56.720 --> 0:07:58.640 think being on the train and I think the key 0:07:58.680 --> 0:08:01.360 to not feeling two or it is obviously you're not 0:08:01.440 --> 0:08:03.560 being shot out like a bullet. You're you're ramping up 0:08:03.560 --> 0:08:06.000 to that speed, so that helps. Plus if you dressed 0:08:06.000 --> 0:08:08.400 normally for your train ride, you'll feel less weird too, 0:08:08.880 --> 0:08:12.440 that's right. Um. Also, hold on one more thing, um 0:08:12.520 --> 0:08:19.840 that we're talking very high speeds. That's the that's the 0:08:19.880 --> 0:08:23.440 speed record of a maglev. But they're averaging like to 0:08:23.680 --> 0:08:27.440 fifty or more, which means if you, if you get 0:08:27.440 --> 0:08:30.080 these things built, you're going to expand the range of 0:08:30.120 --> 0:08:32.440 where people can live and commute and go to work 0:08:32.440 --> 0:08:36.960 every day tremendously. Um. So there's a lot of value 0:08:36.960 --> 0:08:41.520 in creating these mag levs. Right are we there yet? Well, 0:08:41.559 --> 0:08:44.040 before we do that, let's just might as well do 0:08:44.080 --> 0:08:46.000 a message break now, huh. I think it's a good time, 0:09:01.400 --> 0:09:04.560 all right, So now can we get down to brass tacks. Yes, 0:09:05.440 --> 0:09:09.840 let's okay. Um, this is kind of confusing because I 0:09:09.880 --> 0:09:14.000 read a paper in night, I think, where this guy 0:09:14.120 --> 0:09:15.960 was saying, like, there's a lot of people calling all 0:09:15.960 --> 0:09:21.000 these different technologies maglev. This is all very early stage 0:09:21.080 --> 0:09:24.480 proposal hadn't been proven yet, but he was saying, there's 0:09:24.520 --> 0:09:27.320 at least seven different kinds of technology here that everyone's 0:09:27.360 --> 0:09:29.960 calling maglev that are different enough that it doesn't They're 0:09:30.000 --> 0:09:33.839 just different. But for the purposes of this podcast, we 0:09:33.880 --> 0:09:36.520 can get it with maglev, but we have to point 0:09:36.520 --> 0:09:39.880 out that there are some really different systems that are 0:09:39.960 --> 0:09:43.240 in use in being proposed right now, and a lot 0:09:43.280 --> 0:09:47.040 of them have to do with the suspension systems. Yeah, 0:09:47.120 --> 0:09:51.680 I think what's going on now? There are three pretty 0:09:51.760 --> 0:09:56.079 much leading competing systems, right. Yeah, because we should say, chuck. 0:09:56.280 --> 0:09:59.400 A maglev train is a train that uses magnets to 0:09:59.440 --> 0:10:05.000 float above a track by either a half a centimeter too. 0:10:05.040 --> 0:10:07.200 I saw one that floats up to a foot off 0:10:07.200 --> 0:10:09.199 the track, and that's a little scary. It seems a 0:10:09.240 --> 0:10:12.160 little scary, but apparently the higher you go, and that 0:10:12.400 --> 0:10:16.560 that high end of the range, the more stable it is. Alright, yeah, 0:10:16.600 --> 0:10:19.679 but so the the train is literally not touching the 0:10:19.679 --> 0:10:23.080 tracks and it floats along. And the reason that's why 0:10:23.120 --> 0:10:25.559 it can go so fast is because there's no friction, 0:10:26.120 --> 0:10:29.160 no friction, The only resistance is air. And they're super 0:10:29.160 --> 0:10:32.600 sleek of course, so even the error is cut down. Uh. 0:10:32.640 --> 0:10:35.719 So let's go. Let's go to Germany first, because they 0:10:35.760 --> 0:10:40.319 have a system, uh, trans Rapid. It's called the actually 0:10:40.360 --> 0:10:43.360 company is called trans Rapid International. There's also a trans 0:10:43.440 --> 0:10:47.920 Rapid USA. Now I think USA, that's right. Uh. And 0:10:48.000 --> 0:10:53.160 the German version is electro magnetic suspension. And the way 0:10:53.200 --> 0:10:56.520 that the guy on the Discovery Channel show described it 0:10:56.640 --> 0:11:00.800 was that electro magnets, Well, when you use electro magnets, 0:11:00.920 --> 0:11:05.360 they're only um magnetize when there's a power source, when 0:11:05.360 --> 0:11:09.160 there's electricity running through exactly. So that's important to remember 0:11:09.360 --> 0:11:11.880 it is and we'll point out why later because in 0:11:11.920 --> 0:11:15.439 the German system, uh, the e m S system, it's 0:11:15.520 --> 0:11:19.720 all about attraction. It's not repelled magnets repelling each other. 0:11:20.280 --> 0:11:23.000 It's magnets that are attracted to each other. And the 0:11:23.040 --> 0:11:27.360 reason that they float is they're basically switching it on 0:11:27.440 --> 0:11:31.840 and off, pulsing the electromatic magnets so fast that it 0:11:31.880 --> 0:11:37.600 creates that hovering attraction. Okay, so that's the German version, 0:11:38.080 --> 0:11:42.760 so um okay. And apparently this German version, I think 0:11:42.760 --> 0:11:45.200 they do use repulsive magnets, but on the sides for 0:11:45.240 --> 0:11:50.440 the guidance magnets. So to make it hover, they're turning 0:11:50.440 --> 0:11:52.439 it on an awful lot. So it wants to stick 0:11:52.480 --> 0:11:54.679 but no, but stick but no. And there's not a 0:11:54.760 --> 0:11:56.880 dude on a switch doing it really fast. It's all 0:11:56.920 --> 0:12:00.760 programmed to pull. Right. They have computers handling um. And 0:12:00.760 --> 0:12:04.160 then so this is the the suspension system you're talking about, right, 0:12:04.160 --> 0:12:08.920 the electro magnetic suspension. And the word suspension is kind 0:12:08.920 --> 0:12:11.440 of easily overlooked, but in this case we're literally talking 0:12:11.480 --> 0:12:15.800 about how the train is suspended in mid air above 0:12:15.960 --> 0:12:19.520 the track in this case, and with the e M 0:12:19.600 --> 0:12:23.120 S it's about I think, uh, half a centimeter to 0:12:23.200 --> 0:12:26.160 a centimeter. It's it's very close to the to the track, 0:12:26.840 --> 0:12:30.600 and they use the electro magnets to attract and they 0:12:30.720 --> 0:12:33.400 use the guidance magnets, which are magnets installed on the 0:12:33.480 --> 0:12:37.920 side of the train, uh that are along the side 0:12:37.920 --> 0:12:41.120 of the track to repel magnets along the side of 0:12:41.120 --> 0:12:44.960 the track to keep the train from bumping into the 0:12:45.000 --> 0:12:50.040 guide rails. But the it requires a um UH computer 0:12:50.120 --> 0:12:54.160 system that constantly make adjustments to the current that's going 0:12:54.200 --> 0:12:59.120 through these electro magnets to either um to either attract 0:12:59.160 --> 0:13:01.760 the train to make it float or to repel it 0:13:01.840 --> 0:13:03.920 from the sides to adjust it to make sure it 0:13:03.960 --> 0:13:06.560 never bumps into the rails or the track, because if 0:13:06.559 --> 0:13:11.520 you're going fifty miles an hour and your train scuffs 0:13:11.600 --> 0:13:14.480 the track, you're in big trouble or big trouble. One 0:13:14.480 --> 0:13:18.240 advantage of this UH the German system is that you 0:13:18.320 --> 0:13:20.480 only need the power on for the section of track 0:13:20.559 --> 0:13:25.200 that you're using at the time, So they literally will 0:13:25.240 --> 0:13:28.599 turn on a section of track, the train goes over it, 0:13:28.640 --> 0:13:30.559 and then they'll turn it back off. Right, So it's 0:13:30.640 --> 0:13:34.440 very like economically fuel will not fuel efficient because it's 0:13:34.480 --> 0:13:37.360 not fuel right, and that's the power efficient right. And 0:13:37.400 --> 0:13:40.360 it doesn't use fossil fuels in the sense that a 0:13:40.360 --> 0:13:42.960 normal train does, although if you go far enough down 0:13:42.960 --> 0:13:45.599 the line, that electricity has to come from somewhere, so 0:13:45.679 --> 0:13:49.440 ultimately it is coming from fossil fuels. But the efficiency. 0:13:49.720 --> 0:13:54.040 Fuel efficiency is incredible compared to you know, a normal 0:13:54.640 --> 0:13:58.240 train that burns cossal fuels just to move right, the 0:13:58.320 --> 0:14:02.000 guy's shoveling coal into a fire. Yeah, I should say so. 0:14:02.400 --> 0:14:08.120 My understanding of the delivery of electricity to the track 0:14:08.240 --> 0:14:11.600 is the same for both suspension systems that you propel 0:14:11.760 --> 0:14:16.160 like that. So the whole track is made of electro magnets, right, 0:14:17.840 --> 0:14:21.880 come on both systems, and you're just sending electricity to 0:14:21.960 --> 0:14:25.400 the electromagnets that are immediately in front of and immediately 0:14:25.480 --> 0:14:30.280 behind the train immediately under. Yeah, because you need it. 0:14:30.280 --> 0:14:31.680 You need to float the train, then you need to 0:14:31.680 --> 0:14:33.840 propel it, right, And the way you're propelling it is 0:14:33.880 --> 0:14:36.720 the magnets that are just ahead of the train are 0:14:36.880 --> 0:14:40.400 going to be positive, and so that's going to attract 0:14:40.440 --> 0:14:43.280 the train, meaning it's gonna pull it forward. And then 0:14:43.320 --> 0:14:46.000 the the magnets behind it are going to be charged 0:14:46.040 --> 0:14:49.560 so that they're negative and they're going to repel the 0:14:49.600 --> 0:14:52.760 train push it. So in the front, the magnets are 0:14:52.760 --> 0:14:55.240 pulling it in the in the back, the magnets are 0:14:55.240 --> 0:14:58.880 pushing it. And again remember there's no friction here, it's 0:14:58.960 --> 0:15:01.840 just air, so it doesn't take a whole lot to 0:15:02.160 --> 0:15:05.920 make this train go really really fast, just using magnets. Yeah, 0:15:05.960 --> 0:15:10.600 and they in two thousand two debuted commercially in Shanghai, China, 0:15:11.280 --> 0:15:16.240 a pretty short run transporting people um from airport to airport, 0:15:16.320 --> 0:15:20.240 basically um at a speed it speeds over two fifty 0:15:20.240 --> 0:15:22.920 miles an hour. So I read that the journey the 0:15:23.000 --> 0:15:24.720 nineteen mile journey. Now it takes about seven and a 0:15:24.800 --> 0:15:27.440 half minutes as opposed to about an hour in a cab, 0:15:28.360 --> 0:15:32.160 and they were going to expand it, but that was 0:15:32.240 --> 0:15:37.000 halted in two thousand eight over radiation fears by people. 0:15:37.760 --> 0:15:42.280 And now it's being proposed as an underground system, like 0:15:42.360 --> 0:15:45.240 to go underground to halt those fears. But in two 0:15:45.240 --> 0:15:48.600 thousand ten, another high speed train in the area was 0:15:49.280 --> 0:15:52.440 a non maglev system opened, so they basically said, well, 0:15:52.480 --> 0:15:55.000 we probably won't do this. Uh, we probably won't extend 0:15:55.000 --> 0:15:57.440 the Shanghai line now, So yeah, I heard it's definitely 0:15:57.440 --> 0:16:00.080 on hold, but I didn't hear that they decide that 0:16:00.160 --> 0:16:04.320 they weren't going to do it. Well, the regular bullet 0:16:04.360 --> 0:16:07.280 train popped up and they're like, well, now that we 0:16:07.320 --> 0:16:10.480 have that, I guess we don't need the mag left. Well, oh, well, 0:16:10.840 --> 0:16:16.160 so Japan's got the other, um big rival system. Uh 0:16:16.360 --> 0:16:18.920 so the propulsion systems are the same. You use magnets 0:16:18.960 --> 0:16:21.080 ahead of the train and behind the train to attract 0:16:21.120 --> 0:16:23.520 or repell it right to push it forward, I believe 0:16:23.560 --> 0:16:27.280 so so um, the suspension systems are what differ. In 0:16:27.320 --> 0:16:31.720 Germany you're using magnets to um repel it, right, to 0:16:31.760 --> 0:16:35.080 attract it, to attract it. In Japan you're using something 0:16:35.120 --> 0:16:38.400 called the Meisner effect. So basically, chuck. The Meisner effect 0:16:38.520 --> 0:16:43.880 is where you take a super cooled superconductor, right, yes, 0:16:44.160 --> 0:16:47.920 I think like liquid helium temperature, which is very very cold, 0:16:48.800 --> 0:16:51.720 and you put it in a magnetic field. The magnetic 0:16:51.800 --> 0:16:55.800 field basically hugs it. It goes around it rather than 0:16:55.840 --> 0:17:00.240 through it. Okay, yes, um, so when you do at 0:17:01.280 --> 0:17:05.920 the field actually levitates the thing. So if you take 0:17:06.080 --> 0:17:09.960 enough superconductors that are at the right temperature and you 0:17:10.040 --> 0:17:13.920 put them in the presence of a magnetic field, a 0:17:13.960 --> 0:17:18.639 whole bunch of magnets, say on a train, the the 0:17:18.720 --> 0:17:24.679 magnet will float, it will levitate, and that's the electrodynamic 0:17:24.760 --> 0:17:28.399 suspension that the Japanese are using. So basically you have 0:17:28.560 --> 0:17:32.160 a tunnel, a magnetic field tunnel that these things are 0:17:32.200 --> 0:17:35.840 traveling through, which means that there they don't they don't 0:17:35.840 --> 0:17:38.360 need any extra magnets on the sides, or they don't 0:17:38.359 --> 0:17:40.959 need any on the bottom or extra magnets on the bottom. 0:17:41.119 --> 0:17:45.400 It's just going to stay put within this bent magnetic 0:17:45.440 --> 0:17:48.959 field that's warped to wrap around it. It's never going 0:17:49.000 --> 0:17:52.600 to drop, and it's totally stable, which is the big 0:17:52.680 --> 0:17:55.240 that's a big advantage from what I understand of the 0:17:55.320 --> 0:17:59.400 Japanese system over the German system. The stability doesn't require 0:17:59.440 --> 0:18:02.760 a bunch of pewters to constantly adjust it, and it 0:18:02.920 --> 0:18:06.480 is just inherently more stable because it's not just being 0:18:06.520 --> 0:18:08.480 held up from the bottom and then a little on 0:18:08.520 --> 0:18:12.560 the sides. It is wrapped in this basically blanket of 0:18:12.600 --> 0:18:19.400 an electromagnetic field. Uh. It can conduct power electricity even 0:18:19.440 --> 0:18:21.720 when the power is cut off, so that's a definite advantage. 0:18:22.240 --> 0:18:24.720 Um Although the German system does have like battery backups, 0:18:24.720 --> 0:18:26.680 it's not like if the power went off, the train 0:18:26.720 --> 0:18:31.160 would just go and stop. But the German one doesn't 0:18:31.160 --> 0:18:34.359 never doesn't need tires, and the Japanese one does, yeah, 0:18:34.400 --> 0:18:36.520 because it needs to ramp up to a certain speed 0:18:36.600 --> 0:18:39.879 in order to begin the float. It doesn't just start immediately. 0:18:40.040 --> 0:18:42.560 What is it like eighty eight miles that's back to 0:18:42.600 --> 0:18:47.119 the future sixty two. And I think they use liquid 0:18:47.200 --> 0:18:52.320 nitrogen and it's just expensive to super cool these UH coils, 0:18:52.680 --> 0:18:55.120 and I think that's one of the drawbicks. But they're 0:18:55.160 --> 0:18:59.000 all expensive. They're none of this is they haven't figured 0:18:59.040 --> 0:19:01.639 out a cheap way to do any of this. Now, 0:19:01.720 --> 0:19:05.960 there's a proposed line um in Japan. It's already it's 0:19:06.000 --> 0:19:09.520 the one that set the UH that land speed record 0:19:09.600 --> 0:19:15.120 for maglev trains. It's the j R tok Um that's 0:19:15.160 --> 0:19:19.320 the railway company to kind of close, but it's their 0:19:19.400 --> 0:19:23.400 line um supposedly, supposedly is already in operation. I read 0:19:23.400 --> 0:19:26.359 somewhere that it's moved like a million people already. But 0:19:26.440 --> 0:19:28.720 they have a proposed line that they want to open 0:19:28.720 --> 0:19:33.360 by seven and it's from Tokyo to Nagoya, and then 0:19:33.359 --> 0:19:36.760 they want to extend that from Tokyo to Osaka by 0:19:38.600 --> 0:19:42.400 and they're talking like it's like a fifty billion dollar project, 0:19:42.440 --> 0:19:45.840 and I think that's just the first line that's Yeah, 0:19:45.880 --> 0:19:48.080 it sounds about right. But the reason that it probably 0:19:48.119 --> 0:19:51.600 will happen is they're they're um basing all of this 0:19:51.720 --> 0:19:55.560 on data showing that people are going to keep moving 0:19:55.560 --> 0:19:58.080 to Japan and Osaka, so they're going to have customers 0:19:58.440 --> 0:20:01.000 and they're not relying on any money. They have so 0:20:01.080 --> 0:20:03.320 much money they're just going to fund it themselves. Is 0:20:03.560 --> 0:20:06.920 privately funded. Yeah. Yeah. Another con though of the Japanese 0:20:07.000 --> 0:20:09.200 version is that if you have a pacemaker, you don't 0:20:09.200 --> 0:20:12.800 want to get on that train because, um, that magnetic 0:20:12.840 --> 0:20:17.480 field will reek havoc and you probably won't live. It 0:20:17.520 --> 0:20:19.960 will shut you down. It will shut you down. And 0:20:20.000 --> 0:20:23.879 then there's the in duct track and that is another 0:20:23.960 --> 0:20:27.080 type of E d S system, which is the Japanese system, 0:20:27.400 --> 0:20:31.159 except that they use room temperature magnets. And from what 0:20:31.240 --> 0:20:36.040 I could tell, this is as close to just the 0:20:36.440 --> 0:20:41.400 whole thing of two magnets, regular magnets opposing each other 0:20:41.920 --> 0:20:44.800 and they're just gonna use that, right, Yeah, Like it's 0:20:44.840 --> 0:20:46.560 as close to we get as you going out to 0:20:46.560 --> 0:20:49.560 the store and getting two magnets and putting their like 0:20:49.720 --> 0:20:53.280 poles against each other so that they repel. Yeah. There's 0:20:53.280 --> 0:20:55.960 actually something called the hull Bock array, which is a 0:20:56.000 --> 0:20:58.800 way to just line up the magnets um in certain 0:20:58.840 --> 0:21:03.119 directions so that they're holes are facing north, southeast or west. UM. 0:21:03.200 --> 0:21:06.560 And when you put them together in a clump, basically, 0:21:06.640 --> 0:21:13.520 the the magnetic field below the magnets doubles, the magnetic 0:21:13.520 --> 0:21:16.200 field on the top of the magnet cancels one another 0:21:16.280 --> 0:21:19.960 out right, So you have your extra strong magnetic magnetic 0:21:20.000 --> 0:21:24.359 field that can produce this Meisner effect basically UM without 0:21:24.400 --> 0:21:28.600 this super cooled superconductor. Yeah. And these aren't even electro magnets. 0:21:28.600 --> 0:21:30.400 I don't think. Aren't they just magnets. I think they're 0:21:30.440 --> 0:21:34.120 permanent room temperature magnets. It's crazy. Yeah, there are three 0:21:34.400 --> 0:21:37.960 UM designs right now the in duct track one, two, 0:21:37.960 --> 0:21:42.639 and three. UM One is high speed, two is slow speed, 0:21:43.040 --> 0:21:46.760 and three is heavy load slow speed. Yeah, so I 0:21:46.800 --> 0:21:49.840 guess just freighting stuff back and forth. You know they 0:21:49.840 --> 0:21:51.720 did this in London at one point, but then shut 0:21:51.760 --> 0:21:55.040 it down. Like in the eighties they had a maglife train. Yeah, 0:21:55.119 --> 0:21:57.639 just a very slow moving like it might have been 0:21:57.680 --> 0:22:00.640 an airport type situation. And I looked up the one 0:22:00.640 --> 0:22:04.040 here in Atlanta, the new airport trainer. I thought it 0:22:04.119 --> 0:22:05.960 might have been maglev, but of course it's not. It's 0:22:05.960 --> 0:22:10.920 just wheels, just stupid wheels. UM although they held Atlanta 0:22:10.960 --> 0:22:13.600 have its day. Well, they have proposed one Atlanta is 0:22:13.600 --> 0:22:16.440 one of the city's um that's trying to get maglev 0:22:16.520 --> 0:22:20.640 going between Atlanta and Chattanooga. And there's one proposed between 0:22:20.800 --> 0:22:23.960 d C and Baltimore. One in Las Vegas, Yeah, La 0:22:24.000 --> 0:22:28.960 in Vegas. Um. And I think one from Pittsburgh to someplace, 0:22:30.119 --> 0:22:33.080 but I'm not sure exactly where I saw that one too. 0:22:33.119 --> 0:22:37.119 I don't remember where it might have been, d C, Dtsburg, Philly. Yeah. Well, 0:22:37.160 --> 0:22:39.520 hold on, we're getting ahead of ourselves. Man. Well, no, 0:22:39.640 --> 0:22:41.800 these are just proposals, and and they're having a hard 0:22:41.800 --> 0:22:44.280 time getting the funding they need for any of these 0:22:44.359 --> 0:22:49.400 to really take off, right, because it's expensive, it is, chuck, 0:22:49.440 --> 0:22:52.240 how about a how about a message break? Huh hey, 0:22:52.400 --> 0:23:11.399 let's do it alright. So, um, this whole idea of 0:23:11.440 --> 0:23:15.119 going three fifty miles an hour through space even without 0:23:15.240 --> 0:23:19.480 friction is um awesome. It is awesome. It can also 0:23:19.520 --> 0:23:23.000 be deadly. They've they've already been maglev accidents. Yeah. The 0:23:23.040 --> 0:23:26.360 one in Germany was a little distressing because in two 0:23:26.359 --> 0:23:29.040 thousand and six it crashed into a repair car that 0:23:29.200 --> 0:23:33.000 was accidentally left on the track, And this was a 0:23:33.000 --> 0:23:38.119 test too, so it's like everything should have been Yeah, 0:23:38.480 --> 0:23:40.159 like why do you leave a car on the track? Period? 0:23:40.480 --> 0:23:43.120 I don't know, I don't know. Uh. So they actually 0:23:43.280 --> 0:23:45.520 people died in that one. The train was going at 0:23:45.560 --> 0:23:47.280 least a hundred and twenty miles an hour when it 0:23:47.359 --> 0:23:49.240 struck the car, so it must have just been getting 0:23:49.320 --> 0:23:52.360 up to speed, I guess. Yeah. But yeah, twenty nine 0:23:52.400 --> 0:23:55.119 people died on that one. There was another one in 0:23:55.200 --> 0:23:58.760 Shanghai on that line that is an operation. Yeah. That 0:23:58.840 --> 0:24:01.199 was just a fire though, and I don't want to 0:24:01.240 --> 0:24:03.480 make light of that, but it wasn't like a crash 0:24:03.720 --> 0:24:07.399 or an incident like that. Yeah. I'm just glad no 0:24:07.440 --> 0:24:10.520 one got hurt exactly. Uh. And this is breaking news, dude. 0:24:10.520 --> 0:24:13.720 This was in the paper today as we record it 0:24:13.840 --> 0:24:18.720 in real time. Okay, the Washington Post said that Northeast Maglev. 0:24:18.920 --> 0:24:22.720 Everyone's getting in on the maglev game. Uh, because I mean, 0:24:22.760 --> 0:24:25.399 like it really is a great idea. Yeah, it's just 0:24:25.600 --> 0:24:28.679 really really expensive, but if you can get it up 0:24:28.720 --> 0:24:33.040 and running, it's awesome. I Mean I imagine in literally 0:24:33.080 --> 0:24:35.320