1 00:00:04,240 --> 00:00:07,520 Speaker 1: Get in touch with technology with text Stuff from stuff 2 00:00:07,800 --> 00:00:15,400 Speaker 1: dot com. Welcome to text Stuff. I'm Jonathan Strickland. Man, 3 00:00:15,520 --> 00:00:18,840 Speaker 1: I'm Laurence. Lauren has come back to talk with us 4 00:00:18,960 --> 00:00:22,119 Speaker 1: about a subject you You wrote a script for a 5 00:00:22,560 --> 00:00:26,400 Speaker 1: video series week Yeah, over on brain Stuff. I'm one 6 00:00:26,440 --> 00:00:32,000 Speaker 1: of the writers, our illustrious writing the team's team of writers. 7 00:00:32,040 --> 00:00:34,440 Speaker 1: They're they're amazing. They're the ones who make me sound 8 00:00:34,440 --> 00:00:39,280 Speaker 1: good as otherwise I sound like this. No, you make 9 00:00:39,360 --> 00:00:44,400 Speaker 1: you sound good, thank you. But yeah, we decided to 10 00:00:44,440 --> 00:00:48,600 Speaker 1: do an episode on pneumatics too. Yeah, and I was 11 00:00:48,640 --> 00:00:50,720 Speaker 1: the one who wrote that thing, and I said, hey, 12 00:00:50,960 --> 00:00:54,040 Speaker 1: this is a two minute video. Uh, this isn't really 13 00:00:54,080 --> 00:00:57,440 Speaker 1: covering everything I think there is to say about pneumatic tubes. 14 00:00:57,880 --> 00:00:59,800 Speaker 1: So Jonathan, why don't we do a tech stuff episode 15 00:00:59,800 --> 00:01:02,160 Speaker 1: about right instead of a two minute video, We're going 16 00:01:02,200 --> 00:01:05,480 Speaker 1: to make a two part episode because we have ten 17 00:01:05,560 --> 00:01:08,440 Speaker 1: pages of notes. I think I think that that is 18 00:01:08,480 --> 00:01:12,000 Speaker 1: officially the most notes we have ever compiled on anything, 19 00:01:12,040 --> 00:01:14,800 Speaker 1: except for maybe D M C A or A T 20 00:01:14,959 --> 00:01:18,120 Speaker 1: and T or one of those big like three parts. Yeah. Yeah, 21 00:01:18,160 --> 00:01:21,759 Speaker 1: those those definitely get pretty intense. But it was interesting 22 00:01:21,800 --> 00:01:25,200 Speaker 1: that we can actually because you think pneumatic tubes, especially 23 00:01:25,200 --> 00:01:29,399 Speaker 1: people who have have had any kind of uh interaction 24 00:01:29,440 --> 00:01:32,280 Speaker 1: with these, like a drive through bank teller type thing, 25 00:01:33,280 --> 00:01:38,000 Speaker 1: You wouldn't think that would necessarily end up being Yeah, 26 00:01:38,040 --> 00:01:42,080 Speaker 1: but as it turns out, one, it's super cool. I'm fascinating, Yes, 27 00:01:42,319 --> 00:01:47,120 Speaker 1: and to it there's a rich history, oh yeah, of 28 00:01:47,319 --> 00:01:50,120 Speaker 1: being used in lots of different ways. So one of 29 00:01:50,120 --> 00:01:54,000 Speaker 1: the cool things that you brought to light is that, uh, 30 00:01:54,040 --> 00:01:57,040 Speaker 1: you know that these are not just little systems that 31 00:01:57,080 --> 00:02:00,680 Speaker 1: are used within like that bank that drive a single 32 00:02:00,800 --> 00:02:03,880 Speaker 1: building to take your bank receipt to the teller when 33 00:02:03,880 --> 00:02:05,760 Speaker 1: you don't feel like getting out of your car, right, 34 00:02:05,880 --> 00:02:08,880 Speaker 1: That these actually used to be and in some cases 35 00:02:08,919 --> 00:02:13,160 Speaker 1: maybe still are much more extensive. Yeah. See, there used 36 00:02:13,200 --> 00:02:16,560 Speaker 1: to be these huge networks of tubes buried beneath the 37 00:02:16,639 --> 00:02:19,440 Speaker 1: cities that let people send messages to each other faster 38 00:02:19,560 --> 00:02:25,640 Speaker 1: than ever before. Yeah, I've heard of this the Internet. 39 00:02:25,720 --> 00:02:28,880 Speaker 1: It's a it's a series of tubes. Uh no, No, 40 00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:32,360 Speaker 1: before before the Internet are pannet but that was only 41 00:02:32,400 --> 00:02:37,040 Speaker 1: like three computers and it was it was wow. Yeah, 42 00:02:37,240 --> 00:02:40,639 Speaker 1: pneumatic tubes date back quite a ways. And so yeah, 43 00:02:40,639 --> 00:02:42,800 Speaker 1: when when Lauren said, we're going to talk about a 44 00:02:42,840 --> 00:02:44,480 Speaker 1: series of tubes. I thought we were going to talk 45 00:02:44,520 --> 00:02:47,560 Speaker 1: about the whole you know, good old Senator Ted from 46 00:02:47,560 --> 00:02:50,359 Speaker 1: Alaska talking about how the Internet is a series of tubes, which, 47 00:02:50,400 --> 00:02:52,959 Speaker 1: by the way, just for the record, I think is 48 00:02:53,000 --> 00:02:56,600 Speaker 1: a decent analogy. Yeah, yeah, I mean it was. I mean, 49 00:02:56,639 --> 00:02:58,760 Speaker 1: it is funny, but it was. And also, as it 50 00:02:58,760 --> 00:03:01,560 Speaker 1: turns out, some telecom cables are currently being housed in 51 00:03:01,639 --> 00:03:07,480 Speaker 1: old neumatic tubes, so it is yeah, awesome. So what 52 00:03:07,639 --> 00:03:11,360 Speaker 1: exactly is a pneumatic tube. Well, it is a pipeline 53 00:03:11,360 --> 00:03:13,679 Speaker 1: that uses air pressure to move a canister from one 54 00:03:13,680 --> 00:03:18,280 Speaker 1: point to another. Okay, that seems pretty simple. So like 55 00:03:18,440 --> 00:03:22,720 Speaker 1: it seems pretty simple, but wait, there's more, uh there? Yeah, 56 00:03:23,280 --> 00:03:25,560 Speaker 1: I mean, these things have come a very long way 57 00:03:25,880 --> 00:03:31,000 Speaker 1: as technology has advanced up. Motors have advanced. Motors started existing, 58 00:03:31,040 --> 00:03:33,799 Speaker 1: Like like electricity wasn't really a thing when nematic tubes 59 00:03:34,200 --> 00:03:38,839 Speaker 1: started up. Computers happened, right, And actually you might think, well, 60 00:03:38,840 --> 00:03:43,080 Speaker 1: computers would end up, you know, making the whole purpose 61 00:03:43,200 --> 00:03:46,240 Speaker 1: of these things obsolete, but that's not the case. In fact, 62 00:03:46,320 --> 00:03:51,080 Speaker 1: there's still very high tech pneumatic tube systems that are 63 00:03:51,120 --> 00:03:54,880 Speaker 1: at play in various locations for good reasons, And it 64 00:03:54,920 --> 00:03:57,600 Speaker 1: turns out that the computers aren't necessary elements in that 65 00:03:57,640 --> 00:04:00,560 Speaker 1: in order to be kind of like traffic control. So 66 00:04:00,920 --> 00:04:04,320 Speaker 1: it's kind of cool that this thing that we would 67 00:04:04,520 --> 00:04:09,040 Speaker 1: normally think was replaced by computers is actually complementing them 68 00:04:09,040 --> 00:04:12,040 Speaker 1: in specific use cases. Obviously, if you want to send 69 00:04:12,040 --> 00:04:16,000 Speaker 1: a message to your friend across town, you're more likely 70 00:04:16,080 --> 00:04:18,680 Speaker 1: to either drop a letter in the mail or much 71 00:04:18,720 --> 00:04:25,400 Speaker 1: more likely to send the message. But there are many 72 00:04:25,440 --> 00:04:29,480 Speaker 1: important uses for pneumatic tubes. Um. We only get into 73 00:04:29,560 --> 00:04:33,520 Speaker 1: many of those later. First, let us talk specifically about 74 00:04:33,560 --> 00:04:36,719 Speaker 1: how pneumatic tubes work. Yeah, let's talk about the physics 75 00:04:36,800 --> 00:04:40,200 Speaker 1: what is going on with a pneumatic tube? And so 76 00:04:40,600 --> 00:04:44,680 Speaker 1: walk me through the you wrote. You've you've described an 77 00:04:44,760 --> 00:04:47,800 Speaker 1: excellent way of thinking through this so that we have 78 00:04:47,839 --> 00:04:50,680 Speaker 1: a logical progression to get to the actual mechanics of 79 00:04:50,720 --> 00:04:54,880 Speaker 1: pneumatic tubes. Okay, So, pneumatic, in case you don't know, 80 00:04:55,160 --> 00:05:00,800 Speaker 1: means works via pressurized gas. Basically, Um, So the air 81 00:05:00,839 --> 00:05:04,359 Speaker 1: around us seems pretty thin, right, but it's actually a soup. 82 00:05:04,560 --> 00:05:07,440 Speaker 1: It's actually a liquid made up of lightweight atoms and 83 00:05:07,560 --> 00:05:11,640 Speaker 1: particles like nitrogen and oxygen and argon and carbon dioxide 84 00:05:11,640 --> 00:05:15,200 Speaker 1: and ozone and dust bunnies and et cetera. Yeah, yeah, uh, 85 00:05:15,240 --> 00:05:18,520 Speaker 1: And that soup is at pretty much constant density and 86 00:05:18,560 --> 00:05:21,800 Speaker 1: pressure around us while we're walking around on Earth's surface, 87 00:05:22,080 --> 00:05:24,640 Speaker 1: though it's a little bit thinner. The further away from 88 00:05:24,680 --> 00:05:27,240 Speaker 1: sea level you get, right, Right, the higher you climb 89 00:05:27,240 --> 00:05:30,560 Speaker 1: on a mountain, for example, the less dense the air. 90 00:05:30,760 --> 00:05:35,240 Speaker 1: Thus you have let lower air pressure at those altitudes. Right. 91 00:05:35,279 --> 00:05:38,400 Speaker 1: And it's useful to think about that because one great 92 00:05:38,440 --> 00:05:43,120 Speaker 1: way of thinking about air pressure and how it helps 93 00:05:43,160 --> 00:05:45,640 Speaker 1: stuff work is by thinking of how your ears pop 94 00:05:45,680 --> 00:05:48,200 Speaker 1: when you go up in a really tall elevator or 95 00:05:48,560 --> 00:05:51,279 Speaker 1: or up a mountain or up in an airplane. Um. 96 00:05:51,320 --> 00:05:54,360 Speaker 1: And that's because your your ears pop because of the 97 00:05:54,640 --> 00:05:57,920 Speaker 1: density of the air outside of your body being lower 98 00:05:57,960 --> 00:06:00,960 Speaker 1: than the density of the air in your ears. Okay, 99 00:06:01,080 --> 00:06:04,279 Speaker 1: You've got this little tube of air in your in 100 00:06:04,320 --> 00:06:08,080 Speaker 1: your head called the station tube, and it lets your 101 00:06:08,160 --> 00:06:10,359 Speaker 1: it lets your ear drum vibrate, which is important for 102 00:06:10,400 --> 00:06:13,080 Speaker 1: your ear drum to function. Right. That's what allows you 103 00:06:13,120 --> 00:06:17,880 Speaker 1: to interpret sound, right, because sound is a physical uh phenomenon. 104 00:06:18,000 --> 00:06:23,560 Speaker 1: It vibrates the ear drum, which makes some celia go, well, yeah, 105 00:06:24,240 --> 00:06:28,440 Speaker 1: that signals the brain that exactly. Yeah, we're just gonna 106 00:06:28,520 --> 00:06:31,760 Speaker 1: re enact once more with feeling line by line, But no, 107 00:06:31,880 --> 00:06:34,599 Speaker 1: it does. You know. The ear drum is what ends 108 00:06:34,680 --> 00:06:37,440 Speaker 1: up causing these other bones in your in your ear 109 00:06:37,520 --> 00:06:40,440 Speaker 1: to move in such a way that celia inside of 110 00:06:40,520 --> 00:06:44,880 Speaker 1: this one container, uh, start to vibrate fluctuate, and that 111 00:06:44,920 --> 00:06:47,400 Speaker 1: sends electrical signals to your brain, which then is interpreted 112 00:06:47,440 --> 00:06:51,600 Speaker 1: as sound. So without that vibration, you don't hear, uh, 113 00:06:51,640 --> 00:06:54,400 Speaker 1: And without this tube you wouldn't get that vibration. That 114 00:06:54,440 --> 00:06:56,479 Speaker 1: would have nothing to vibrate against. It would just be 115 00:06:56,560 --> 00:07:00,640 Speaker 1: all solid meat and that doesn't vibrate as well. Yeah, yeah, 116 00:07:00,680 --> 00:07:02,839 Speaker 1: I mean sound can travel through solids, but it's not 117 00:07:02,880 --> 00:07:06,000 Speaker 1: as effective going from air to solid then from solid 118 00:07:06,040 --> 00:07:08,880 Speaker 1: to solid, so right, you know it's important. So the 119 00:07:08,960 --> 00:07:11,840 Speaker 1: C station tube is shut off with muscles that are 120 00:07:11,880 --> 00:07:15,720 Speaker 1: tied into your mouth, throat swallowing muscles. This is one 121 00:07:15,720 --> 00:07:17,480 Speaker 1: of those things I always thought was weird that that 122 00:07:17,520 --> 00:07:20,640 Speaker 1: our ears are connected to I mean, the human bodies 123 00:07:20,680 --> 00:07:25,280 Speaker 1: gross y'all, especially the sinus type system. Yeah, and that's 124 00:07:25,320 --> 00:07:28,440 Speaker 1: that's why if you swallow, you hear like a tiny 125 00:07:28,520 --> 00:07:31,840 Speaker 1: little pop, and that is the muscles of that tube 126 00:07:31,880 --> 00:07:34,840 Speaker 1: opening up and and letting a fresh supply of air in, 127 00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:37,280 Speaker 1: which is important because the air that gets into the 128 00:07:37,320 --> 00:07:39,800 Speaker 1: tube gets absorbed by the walls of the tube, and 129 00:07:39,840 --> 00:07:42,840 Speaker 1: so it needs to be replenished periodically. That's also why 130 00:07:42,880 --> 00:07:45,480 Speaker 1: your head hurts so much when when you have a cold, 131 00:07:45,600 --> 00:07:49,600 Speaker 1: because those muscles get stuffed up by gunk and you 132 00:07:49,640 --> 00:07:52,400 Speaker 1: can't replenish that air supply and everything hurt. When you're 133 00:07:52,480 --> 00:07:54,480 Speaker 1: like I can't hear because I have a cold, it 134 00:07:54,520 --> 00:07:58,400 Speaker 1: seems weird because yeah, yeah, that's because the because your 135 00:07:58,560 --> 00:08:01,040 Speaker 1: ear drum literally cannot vibe rate because there's not a 136 00:08:01,080 --> 00:08:03,720 Speaker 1: replenishment of air in the tube. That's kind of cool. 137 00:08:03,840 --> 00:08:05,840 Speaker 1: I mean, I had never thought of it that way. 138 00:08:05,920 --> 00:08:09,040 Speaker 1: So interesting. Okay, so all of this is a sidebar promise. 139 00:08:09,080 --> 00:08:12,600 Speaker 1: We're getting back to neumatics. Um. So, so as you 140 00:08:12,640 --> 00:08:17,880 Speaker 1: gain altitude, the air inside of your ears starts exerting 141 00:08:17,920 --> 00:08:22,720 Speaker 1: pressure on those membranes. Um, it starts pushing because it's 142 00:08:22,760 --> 00:08:27,760 Speaker 1: at that higher density than the air outside. Um. You know, 143 00:08:27,920 --> 00:08:31,240 Speaker 1: it wants to be chill like that lower pressure air. 144 00:08:31,560 --> 00:08:35,080 Speaker 1: You never let it hang loose. Yeah, when you create 145 00:08:35,120 --> 00:08:38,280 Speaker 1: this pressure differential than there. That's where you're starting to 146 00:08:38,360 --> 00:08:41,400 Speaker 1: get that feeling of something's just kind of like you 147 00:08:41,440 --> 00:08:44,840 Speaker 1: get that ache. You can get pretty painful too, if 148 00:08:44,880 --> 00:08:47,880 Speaker 1: you especially like you know, you hear about babies and 149 00:08:47,960 --> 00:08:51,120 Speaker 1: kids having real problems because they haven't figured out how 150 00:08:51,160 --> 00:08:56,080 Speaker 1: to voluntarily open up their irustration tube. Yeah. And so 151 00:08:56,480 --> 00:08:58,960 Speaker 1: when the difference in pressure is great enough that you 152 00:08:59,040 --> 00:09:03,040 Speaker 1: either volunteerly or involuntarily open up that illustration tube, that 153 00:09:03,120 --> 00:09:06,520 Speaker 1: the sudden release of that pressurized air is pretty forceful 154 00:09:06,600 --> 00:09:11,000 Speaker 1: and creates that pop. That's when your um But that 155 00:09:11,120 --> 00:09:14,880 Speaker 1: is just one example of pressure at work around us. Uh. 156 00:09:14,920 --> 00:09:16,400 Speaker 1: This next one that I've got for you is a 157 00:09:16,400 --> 00:09:19,480 Speaker 1: little bit more technical. Are you ready? Yeah? Okay, straws 158 00:09:20,360 --> 00:09:24,040 Speaker 1: like what the pig built his house out of drinking 159 00:09:24,080 --> 00:09:27,760 Speaker 1: straw Okay, so crazy straws in my case, but yeah, 160 00:09:27,800 --> 00:09:31,720 Speaker 1: sure sure, crazy straws totally. So you're not technically pulling 161 00:09:31,800 --> 00:09:35,559 Speaker 1: liquid up through a straw. You're you're creating an opportunity 162 00:09:35,640 --> 00:09:39,400 Speaker 1: for the liquid to push itself up. So I'm motivating 163 00:09:39,440 --> 00:09:42,199 Speaker 1: the liquid that you're motivating the liquid. Yeah, exactly. The 164 00:09:42,800 --> 00:09:46,000 Speaker 1: section that you apply with your mouth creates an area 165 00:09:46,080 --> 00:09:48,920 Speaker 1: of low pressure at the top of the straw, which 166 00:09:49,000 --> 00:09:52,000 Speaker 1: means that the relatively high pressure liquid at the bottom 167 00:09:52,040 --> 00:09:55,120 Speaker 1: of the straw pushes a sip of your drink up 168 00:09:55,120 --> 00:09:58,040 Speaker 1: into your mouth. Well, this is really interesting to me 169 00:09:58,200 --> 00:10:01,320 Speaker 1: because I talked about a similar thing with Josh Clark 170 00:10:02,280 --> 00:10:05,120 Speaker 1: when we covered how toilets work, because we had to 171 00:10:05,160 --> 00:10:09,720 Speaker 1: talk about siphoning and the siphoning and uses a similar 172 00:10:09,760 --> 00:10:13,319 Speaker 1: principle and it does require this difference in pressure as well. 173 00:10:13,679 --> 00:10:18,520 Speaker 1: So very interesting. So how does this compared to say, 174 00:10:18,520 --> 00:10:22,360 Speaker 1: pneumatic tubes. Well, it's it's basically the same thing. Um. 175 00:10:23,080 --> 00:10:25,679 Speaker 1: The the tube part is air tight like a straw, 176 00:10:26,480 --> 00:10:29,400 Speaker 1: except it has sealable hatches at either end instead of 177 00:10:29,440 --> 00:10:33,200 Speaker 1: you know straw. Bit's yeah. Um, so so you you 178 00:10:33,240 --> 00:10:35,520 Speaker 1: put a canister in one hatch. Yeah, it helps a 179 00:10:35,520 --> 00:10:37,160 Speaker 1: whole lot off. The canister has some kind of like 180 00:10:37,200 --> 00:10:40,240 Speaker 1: flexible skirts on either end, the concealed to the interior 181 00:10:40,320 --> 00:10:43,040 Speaker 1: edges of the tube. That air is not passing around 182 00:10:43,200 --> 00:10:46,400 Speaker 1: around the canister right to make it the most effective. 183 00:10:46,840 --> 00:10:48,680 Speaker 1: So you so you put your canister in there, you 184 00:10:48,720 --> 00:10:51,920 Speaker 1: close the hatch, and you press your go button. Um. Now, 185 00:10:51,960 --> 00:10:54,120 Speaker 1: on the other end of the tube, pressing that button 186 00:10:54,160 --> 00:10:57,440 Speaker 1: will open up a vent and start a motor. Now 187 00:10:58,080 --> 00:10:59,920 Speaker 1: one of two things will happen at this point, right, 188 00:11:00,200 --> 00:11:03,120 Speaker 1: So this all depends upon where the canister is in 189 00:11:03,200 --> 00:11:06,400 Speaker 1: relation to where the blower is. So here's the boring one, 190 00:11:06,720 --> 00:11:08,720 Speaker 1: because because you get to take the really cool one. 191 00:11:08,760 --> 00:11:11,040 Speaker 1: Here's the boring one if the canister is on the 192 00:11:11,040 --> 00:11:13,760 Speaker 1: blower side. So in other words, this is like the 193 00:11:14,559 --> 00:11:17,920 Speaker 1: blower being a fan essentially that can either blow air 194 00:11:18,000 --> 00:11:20,600 Speaker 1: into the tube or pull air out of the tube 195 00:11:20,840 --> 00:11:22,760 Speaker 1: if it's on the blower side, and the only way 196 00:11:22,760 --> 00:11:24,160 Speaker 1: to move the canister to the other end of the 197 00:11:24,200 --> 00:11:27,560 Speaker 1: tube is to blow air against the canister pushing it, 198 00:11:27,600 --> 00:11:30,640 Speaker 1: so you're increasing the air pressure on the side of 199 00:11:30,679 --> 00:11:34,360 Speaker 1: the blower and it just blows the canister across. So 200 00:11:34,400 --> 00:11:36,560 Speaker 1: this is essentially the same as when you shoot blow 201 00:11:36,640 --> 00:11:40,160 Speaker 1: darts at your coworkers, or when I say you when 202 00:11:40,200 --> 00:11:43,719 Speaker 1: I shoot blow darts at Ben bowling, Um, he has 203 00:11:43,760 --> 00:11:46,679 Speaker 1: wondered what that tingling sensation has been and no one 204 00:11:46,760 --> 00:11:50,719 Speaker 1: tell him. But that's essentially it. So yeah, but if 205 00:11:50,720 --> 00:11:53,120 Speaker 1: the canisters on the opposite side, see, the blower on 206 00:11:53,160 --> 00:11:56,520 Speaker 1: a pneumatic tube system typically is at just one end. 207 00:11:56,600 --> 00:11:59,440 Speaker 1: You don't have two blowers right right, And it's not um. 208 00:12:00,640 --> 00:12:04,479 Speaker 1: Especially classically, these things weren't always powerful enough to necessarily 209 00:12:04,600 --> 00:12:08,360 Speaker 1: push at right. So if the canisters on the opposite end, 210 00:12:08,840 --> 00:12:11,640 Speaker 1: like I, I've sent something out now, I'm expecting it 211 00:12:11,720 --> 00:12:14,839 Speaker 1: to come back, but my blower is at the the 212 00:12:14,960 --> 00:12:17,200 Speaker 1: end where I am at, I have to I have 213 00:12:17,280 --> 00:12:19,200 Speaker 1: to find a different way to move the canster. I 214 00:12:19,240 --> 00:12:21,840 Speaker 1: can't push it by by turning the fan to blow 215 00:12:21,880 --> 00:12:24,839 Speaker 1: air into the tube. So what do I do then? Well, 216 00:12:25,080 --> 00:12:28,480 Speaker 1: the motor will still drive a fan down at the 217 00:12:28,480 --> 00:12:31,480 Speaker 1: other end of the tube, but but this time it 218 00:12:31,520 --> 00:12:35,400 Speaker 1: will start to pull air out of the tube, venting 219 00:12:35,440 --> 00:12:38,760 Speaker 1: it out of the tube entirely. Got okay, This section, 220 00:12:39,320 --> 00:12:42,520 Speaker 1: just like a straw, creates a partial vacuum at that 221 00:12:42,640 --> 00:12:44,760 Speaker 1: end of the tube with the fan an area of 222 00:12:44,880 --> 00:12:48,960 Speaker 1: low pressure. So uh, you know, down down at the 223 00:12:49,040 --> 00:12:52,600 Speaker 1: canister end of the tube, the higher pressure air behind 224 00:12:52,760 --> 00:12:57,000 Speaker 1: the canister wants to expand to settle the difference, right, um, 225 00:12:57,280 --> 00:13:00,240 Speaker 1: So it will push the canister through the two So 226 00:13:00,280 --> 00:13:02,839 Speaker 1: the cancer is still being pushed. It's just that it's 227 00:13:02,840 --> 00:13:05,480 Speaker 1: being pushed because the air behind it is at a 228 00:13:05,559 --> 00:13:08,000 Speaker 1: higher pressure. Than the air in front of it, exactly. 229 00:13:08,280 --> 00:13:11,080 Speaker 1: It's so cool. So in most of these systems, when 230 00:13:11,120 --> 00:13:14,520 Speaker 1: the canister reaches its destination um like the end of 231 00:13:14,559 --> 00:13:17,480 Speaker 1: the tube, it will trigger a trapdoor to close behind it, 232 00:13:17,559 --> 00:13:19,880 Speaker 1: which will also que the motor to turn off end 233 00:13:19,960 --> 00:13:23,280 Speaker 1: the vnced close, meaning that the partial vacuum that's been 234 00:13:23,280 --> 00:13:26,199 Speaker 1: created in the tube will be broken and your buddy 235 00:13:26,240 --> 00:13:28,120 Speaker 1: at the other end can open up the hatch and 236 00:13:28,280 --> 00:13:30,640 Speaker 1: take out the canister. And that makes perfect sense because 237 00:13:30,640 --> 00:13:33,800 Speaker 1: obviously if you had continue to have that vacuum they're 238 00:13:33,920 --> 00:13:36,760 Speaker 1: opening up the hatch would have been difficult, it real hard, yeah, 239 00:13:37,080 --> 00:13:39,440 Speaker 1: because that that air pressure on the outside of the 240 00:13:39,480 --> 00:13:42,040 Speaker 1: tube is pushing against it. You know. It's this same 241 00:13:42,080 --> 00:13:43,920 Speaker 1: sort of deal. That's just one of those things that 242 00:13:44,160 --> 00:13:46,720 Speaker 1: you have to have all the lower parts in place 243 00:13:46,760 --> 00:13:49,400 Speaker 1: for the system to work properly. And the big advantage 244 00:13:49,400 --> 00:13:51,560 Speaker 1: of this sort of system is that you don't have 245 00:13:51,600 --> 00:13:54,480 Speaker 1: to connect little motors to all those canisters, right. The 246 00:13:54,520 --> 00:13:58,120 Speaker 1: individual units don't need anything, they don't need any moving parts. Yeah, 247 00:13:58,200 --> 00:14:00,680 Speaker 1: the whole the system is a whole can have a 248 00:14:00,760 --> 00:14:03,199 Speaker 1: single well, it can have a single motor. A lot 249 00:14:03,200 --> 00:14:05,960 Speaker 1: of the time these days they've got really complex multiple 250 00:14:06,040 --> 00:14:09,760 Speaker 1: motor things going on, especially if you have like lots 251 00:14:09,800 --> 00:14:13,559 Speaker 1: of potential destinations. But but if you had a very 252 00:14:13,559 --> 00:14:15,440 Speaker 1: simple system where it was just an out and back, 253 00:14:15,800 --> 00:14:19,200 Speaker 1: you would just need one one motor turning one fan 254 00:14:19,600 --> 00:14:21,800 Speaker 1: or or you know, some people just refer to him 255 00:14:21,840 --> 00:14:26,960 Speaker 1: as air compressors, but technically you're using a fan anything fan. Yeah. So, yeah, 256 00:14:27,000 --> 00:14:32,280 Speaker 1: that's really interesting. And there are also some interesting advantages 257 00:14:32,360 --> 00:14:36,560 Speaker 1: or rather design elements that have been made to make 258 00:14:36,600 --> 00:14:40,480 Speaker 1: sure that the canisters arrived safely, right, because in the 259 00:14:40,520 --> 00:14:45,040 Speaker 1: original systems, canisters would arrive by basically just crashing into 260 00:14:45,040 --> 00:14:47,280 Speaker 1: the opposite end of the two Yeah, they and they 261 00:14:47,280 --> 00:14:50,360 Speaker 1: could be going pretty darn fast, depending on how powerful 262 00:14:50,440 --> 00:14:53,280 Speaker 1: that fan was. Yeah, tens of miles an hour, which 263 00:14:53,440 --> 00:14:55,640 Speaker 1: which I mean usually I say is kind of a joke, 264 00:14:55,720 --> 00:14:58,400 Speaker 1: but actually that's pretty quick, Yeah, especially for something like 265 00:14:58,440 --> 00:15:00,680 Speaker 1: if you haven't designed it just right, it's gonna you know, 266 00:15:00,760 --> 00:15:03,240 Speaker 1: just just smash it up, yeah, or it's gonna end 267 00:15:03,280 --> 00:15:06,000 Speaker 1: up causing damage to the tubes. And obviously that's a problem. 268 00:15:06,040 --> 00:15:09,040 Speaker 1: So there are a couple of different ways of slowing 269 00:15:09,040 --> 00:15:12,400 Speaker 1: them down properly. One of those uses air brakes, which 270 00:15:12,400 --> 00:15:15,440 Speaker 1: is essentially just again pressurized air, but now on the 271 00:15:15,520 --> 00:15:18,440 Speaker 1: low pressure side, so that can slow down the canister 272 00:15:18,560 --> 00:15:22,720 Speaker 1: from you know, it's it's inevitable crash towards oblivion, or 273 00:15:23,200 --> 00:15:26,560 Speaker 1: bumpers like little rubber bumpers that can come out from 274 00:15:26,600 --> 00:15:29,080 Speaker 1: the sides to slow like the way a lot of 275 00:15:29,920 --> 00:15:34,080 Speaker 1: roller coaster brakes work. Huh. And also they often have 276 00:15:34,240 --> 00:15:37,400 Speaker 1: some form of switch that once a castor passes that switch, 277 00:15:37,720 --> 00:15:41,280 Speaker 1: it activates it, which then turns off power to the blower. Uh. Now, 278 00:15:41,320 --> 00:15:44,520 Speaker 1: momentum still a thing, so you have to plan for 279 00:15:44,600 --> 00:15:47,680 Speaker 1: that as well. But yeah, yeah, it's sort of like 280 00:15:47,720 --> 00:15:50,240 Speaker 1: the trapdoor idea, but with a little bit of a 281 00:15:50,320 --> 00:15:54,640 Speaker 1: longer glide after the trapdoor. Right, So now I'm going 282 00:15:54,680 --> 00:15:59,320 Speaker 1: to try and explain without the use of visual aids, 283 00:16:00,040 --> 00:16:03,840 Speaker 1: how how a simple pneumatic tube system using a couple 284 00:16:03,880 --> 00:16:07,920 Speaker 1: of valves and a switch would help a canister come 285 00:16:07,960 --> 00:16:12,080 Speaker 1: to a stop. All right, So, uh, you've got with 286 00:16:12,120 --> 00:16:14,680 Speaker 1: the two valves. These create a pathway for air in 287 00:16:14,720 --> 00:16:17,600 Speaker 1: front of the canister to vent out for most of 288 00:16:17,600 --> 00:16:19,640 Speaker 1: the trip, while leaving enough for the very end to 289 00:16:19,640 --> 00:16:21,960 Speaker 1: act as a cushion. So in other words, you need 290 00:16:22,000 --> 00:16:24,760 Speaker 1: a way for air to vent outward or else you'll 291 00:16:24,800 --> 00:16:27,240 Speaker 1: never create that area of low pressure. But you need 292 00:16:27,280 --> 00:16:28,920 Speaker 1: a way to keep a little bit of air in 293 00:16:28,960 --> 00:16:31,240 Speaker 1: there so that it can act as a breaking system. 294 00:16:31,880 --> 00:16:33,600 Speaker 1: So you've got to figure out how to do that. 295 00:16:33,680 --> 00:16:37,520 Speaker 1: And when I saw there was a a series of 296 00:16:37,600 --> 00:16:41,600 Speaker 1: illustrations I saw online that explained this really well. And 297 00:16:41,840 --> 00:16:44,440 Speaker 1: uh so I'm going to try and walk you through 298 00:16:44,480 --> 00:16:47,280 Speaker 1: it the best way I know how. So we're playing 299 00:16:47,320 --> 00:16:50,720 Speaker 1: Dungeons and Dragons, y'all, and here's here's what's happening. So 300 00:16:50,760 --> 00:16:55,640 Speaker 1: your adventurer is in a tunnel and behind you as 301 00:16:55,680 --> 00:16:59,000 Speaker 1: a giant spinning fan of death. Oh yeah, I think 302 00:16:59,000 --> 00:17:02,120 Speaker 1: I've been on this module before. Okay, So in this case, 303 00:17:02,200 --> 00:17:05,200 Speaker 1: the giant spinning fan of death is currently slow. It's 304 00:17:05,240 --> 00:17:07,560 Speaker 1: it's actually not even moving at all. It's it's no 305 00:17:07,600 --> 00:17:11,720 Speaker 1: one's tripped that trap yet. You start walking down the tunnel. 306 00:17:11,720 --> 00:17:13,720 Speaker 1: So the fan is behind you and you just have 307 00:17:13,760 --> 00:17:17,200 Speaker 1: a big, expansive tunnel in front of you. Now, as 308 00:17:17,200 --> 00:17:19,199 Speaker 1: you walk down the tunnel, you see that there is 309 00:17:19,200 --> 00:17:22,440 Speaker 1: a split from the tunnel off let's say to your left, 310 00:17:23,119 --> 00:17:26,160 Speaker 1: and it's just a second, smaller tunnel that you seek 311 00:17:26,400 --> 00:17:28,080 Speaker 1: kick down the door. No, no, no, there's no door. 312 00:17:28,160 --> 00:17:30,680 Speaker 1: It's just just an open it's just an opening. But 313 00:17:30,680 --> 00:17:33,000 Speaker 1: but I like your initiative. You didn't even have to 314 00:17:33,080 --> 00:17:35,800 Speaker 1: roll for it, all right. But you continue on down 315 00:17:35,840 --> 00:17:38,840 Speaker 1: and you come to your first actual door in that 316 00:17:38,920 --> 00:17:42,600 Speaker 1: main tunnel. Now you can do your kicking, and it 317 00:17:42,640 --> 00:17:46,119 Speaker 1: works because that door will only open outward into the 318 00:17:46,160 --> 00:17:48,120 Speaker 1: main hall. This is a valve, and it's a one 319 00:17:48,119 --> 00:17:51,960 Speaker 1: way valve, right, so air can go from the fan 320 00:17:52,560 --> 00:17:55,600 Speaker 1: through the main pipe, but it can't be sucked back 321 00:17:55,680 --> 00:18:00,160 Speaker 1: this way, got it. So if airs, if airs being pulled, 322 00:18:00,240 --> 00:18:03,399 Speaker 1: that door slam shut and nothing, not even your mighty 323 00:18:03,520 --> 00:18:07,240 Speaker 1: kick will open it. So since there are no differentials 324 00:18:07,240 --> 00:18:09,600 Speaker 1: in air pressure, your kick opens the door. You continue 325 00:18:09,640 --> 00:18:13,760 Speaker 1: down the hall. I'm gonna skip the cobalt encounter. As 326 00:18:13,800 --> 00:18:17,040 Speaker 1: you continue down the tunnel, you see a door on 327 00:18:17,119 --> 00:18:21,280 Speaker 1: your left. Now, this door is the other valve. This 328 00:18:21,359 --> 00:18:24,760 Speaker 1: is the valve, that is the bypass valve. And in fact, 329 00:18:24,800 --> 00:18:26,679 Speaker 1: if you were to kick down that door, but you 330 00:18:26,720 --> 00:18:29,520 Speaker 1: can do oh ah, yeah, I kicked down the door. Excellent. 331 00:18:29,760 --> 00:18:34,280 Speaker 1: So the door opens inward into that secondary tunnel. There's 332 00:18:34,320 --> 00:18:37,480 Speaker 1: no bugbears there is an al bear, but he's currently 333 00:18:37,480 --> 00:18:40,480 Speaker 1: on break. So you kick down the door. UH. That 334 00:18:40,600 --> 00:18:44,359 Speaker 1: opens the pathway to the bypass UH top tube or 335 00:18:44,400 --> 00:18:48,440 Speaker 1: bypass pipe. So the first tunnel that you passed way 336 00:18:48,480 --> 00:18:50,960 Speaker 1: back when on the left, it's the same it's that 337 00:18:51,040 --> 00:18:55,640 Speaker 1: same pathway. So this door will only open when air 338 00:18:55,760 --> 00:18:59,920 Speaker 1: is being pulled through back towards the fans speak suck 339 00:19:00,160 --> 00:19:02,600 Speaker 1: back toward the fan. So that way you always have 340 00:19:02,640 --> 00:19:05,359 Speaker 1: one valve that's open and one valve that's closed, and 341 00:19:05,440 --> 00:19:08,040 Speaker 1: it all depends upon air flow. So there's no mechanical 342 00:19:08,160 --> 00:19:11,879 Speaker 1: or electrical need to to change these valves. It's just 343 00:19:11,960 --> 00:19:14,720 Speaker 1: the airflow that does it automatically. So if the air 344 00:19:14,720 --> 00:19:17,359 Speaker 1: flow is being pulled back, the bypass valve is open, 345 00:19:17,800 --> 00:19:20,959 Speaker 1: the main valve is shut, and because the bypass pipe 346 00:19:21,400 --> 00:19:25,120 Speaker 1: completely bypasses that main valve, air can still flow through. 347 00:19:25,920 --> 00:19:29,040 Speaker 1: So now we're going to have to use a an 348 00:19:29,040 --> 00:19:33,160 Speaker 1: example to talk about what happens when the canister comes by. 349 00:19:33,240 --> 00:19:37,360 Speaker 1: So the canister starts rocketing down the path toward the 350 00:19:37,359 --> 00:19:41,280 Speaker 1: fan side, so air is being pulled through. It ends 351 00:19:41,359 --> 00:19:44,040 Speaker 1: up passing a switch. That switch tells the fan to 352 00:19:44,119 --> 00:19:46,280 Speaker 1: stop blowing by. Of course, that's going to take a 353 00:19:46,320 --> 00:19:50,199 Speaker 1: little time. So the cancer continues down towards the pathway. 354 00:19:50,359 --> 00:19:55,040 Speaker 1: The canister ends up passing that bypass valve which is open. 355 00:19:55,640 --> 00:19:59,040 Speaker 1: So once the canistor is cleared the bypass valve, because 356 00:19:59,080 --> 00:20:01,600 Speaker 1: you have an air tight seal between the main valve 357 00:20:01,640 --> 00:20:05,320 Speaker 1: and the canister, that air between the two starts to 358 00:20:05,359 --> 00:20:08,960 Speaker 1: get compressed, and that compressed air begins to push back 359 00:20:09,000 --> 00:20:11,760 Speaker 1: against the canister, slowing it down, and thus you have 360 00:20:11,840 --> 00:20:14,760 Speaker 1: air brakes. That was a long way to go for 361 00:20:14,840 --> 00:20:18,160 Speaker 1: that explanation, but honestly, without the use of visual aids, 362 00:20:18,200 --> 00:20:21,360 Speaker 1: I wasn't sure how it is going to explain how 363 00:20:21,400 --> 00:20:24,000 Speaker 1: this actually works in a way that would remotely make sense. 364 00:20:24,240 --> 00:20:27,680 Speaker 1: Uh you now get two d and thirty gold pieces 365 00:20:27,680 --> 00:20:32,960 Speaker 1: a piece and the princesses in another castle. Okay, okay, well, 366 00:20:32,960 --> 00:20:38,800 Speaker 1: good adventure. You're welcome. I'm on a level three gamester um. Yeah. 367 00:20:38,840 --> 00:20:41,600 Speaker 1: So obviously, if the if the fan were switched the 368 00:20:41,640 --> 00:20:44,840 Speaker 1: other way where the canstor is blowing down the the pipe, 369 00:20:45,080 --> 00:20:47,520 Speaker 1: the main valve would be opened, the bypass valve would 370 00:20:47,520 --> 00:20:49,960 Speaker 1: be shut, and that would be it. There would it 371 00:20:49,960 --> 00:20:53,280 Speaker 1: would be no different otherwise? Uh So, yeah, that's that's 372 00:20:53,320 --> 00:20:55,800 Speaker 1: the basic way that this works. And that's you know, 373 00:20:56,200 --> 00:21:01,320 Speaker 1: that's a very very very simple version. And yeah, as 374 00:21:01,359 --> 00:21:04,919 Speaker 1: as complicated as that just sounded out loud, that that 375 00:21:05,040 --> 00:21:15,520 Speaker 1: is as basic as it gets. Really. Yeah, you know, 376 00:21:15,640 --> 00:21:17,560 Speaker 1: I I said a while ago that these things have 377 00:21:17,600 --> 00:21:20,600 Speaker 1: been around since the eighteen fifties at least. So let 378 00:21:20,680 --> 00:21:24,399 Speaker 1: us go to the way back machine and it's been 379 00:21:24,440 --> 00:21:34,480 Speaker 1: out of use for so long. Kind of dusty in 380 00:21:34,560 --> 00:21:38,000 Speaker 1: here this little yeah you know what, as as as 381 00:21:38,040 --> 00:21:41,200 Speaker 1: cramped as this thing is, it's still cooler than Josh 382 00:21:41,200 --> 00:21:44,679 Speaker 1: and Chuck Studio. I mean not not like in a 383 00:21:44,720 --> 00:21:49,880 Speaker 1: style sense, I mean physically the temperature is lower. Physically, yeah, cooler, Yeah, 384 00:21:49,960 --> 00:21:53,040 Speaker 1: yeah that No, they they're they're pretty hot, yeah they are. 385 00:21:53,160 --> 00:21:55,480 Speaker 1: There are a couple of hot guys. All right, Well, anyway, 386 00:21:55,760 --> 00:21:58,760 Speaker 1: let's just where are we setting this to? Uh too? 387 00:21:59,760 --> 00:22:05,800 Speaker 1: To Greece? Sure, well, okay, like ancient Greece, modern Grease. Okay, 388 00:22:05,800 --> 00:22:07,600 Speaker 1: I was really hoping you were going to say Greece too, 389 00:22:07,680 --> 00:22:12,639 Speaker 1: but okay, to Grease it is. Here we go. Well, 390 00:22:12,800 --> 00:22:15,960 Speaker 1: we do have chills and they are multiplying, but that 391 00:22:16,040 --> 00:22:18,040 Speaker 1: was Greece. One. I'm sorry, I don't remember any lyrics 392 00:22:19,520 --> 00:22:23,080 Speaker 1: don't want to. It's it says a lot for you 393 00:22:23,119 --> 00:22:26,400 Speaker 1: and little for me. So there was a mathematician who 394 00:22:26,720 --> 00:22:29,439 Speaker 1: started writing about the concept of using pressurized guess to 395 00:22:29,440 --> 00:22:33,960 Speaker 1: produce mechanical motion. I know this guy, Yeah, Hero of Alexandria, 396 00:22:34,040 --> 00:22:38,480 Speaker 1: also known as Heron. He's a pretty smart dude, was 397 00:22:38,560 --> 00:22:41,080 Speaker 1: he did you? You know, we talked about it. He is. 398 00:22:41,119 --> 00:22:43,119 Speaker 1: Since we are here in the way back missions and 399 00:22:43,119 --> 00:22:46,080 Speaker 1: he's across the street over there, he's kind of working 400 00:22:46,080 --> 00:22:48,280 Speaker 1: on something else right now, Yeah, I think we're weirding 401 00:22:48,280 --> 00:22:50,080 Speaker 1: about by looking at him and maybe okay, well, let's 402 00:22:50,160 --> 00:22:53,920 Speaker 1: just act casual, all right, So something else that he 403 00:22:54,040 --> 00:22:56,359 Speaker 1: was really known for, by the way, he was known 404 00:22:56,400 --> 00:22:59,199 Speaker 1: for working with steam engines, in fact, pressurized gas. It 405 00:22:59,240 --> 00:23:03,639 Speaker 1: makes sense right related He noticed that air had the 406 00:23:03,680 --> 00:23:07,919 Speaker 1: ability to physically push against things, and that if you 407 00:23:08,000 --> 00:23:11,800 Speaker 1: had a way of generating air movement, you know, he 408 00:23:11,880 --> 00:23:14,879 Speaker 1: even thought, oh, air must be made of something because 409 00:23:14,880 --> 00:23:18,520 Speaker 1: it can have a force, so very forward thinking. He 410 00:23:18,560 --> 00:23:20,879 Speaker 1: didn't have the words to describe this in the way 411 00:23:20,920 --> 00:23:23,760 Speaker 1: that we do today, but he understood that this had 412 00:23:23,800 --> 00:23:25,360 Speaker 1: a way of doing work, and that if you could 413 00:23:25,400 --> 00:23:27,760 Speaker 1: find a way to channel that, you can make air 414 00:23:27,800 --> 00:23:29,600 Speaker 1: do work for you, and that gave him a lot 415 00:23:29,640 --> 00:23:34,159 Speaker 1: of thought about steam, including one of my favorite proposed inventions. 416 00:23:34,160 --> 00:23:37,840 Speaker 1: There's no record of it actually existing, and I think 417 00:23:37,880 --> 00:23:40,080 Speaker 1: we I think we talked about this one in our 418 00:23:40,119 --> 00:23:42,680 Speaker 1: episode about steam engines. Yeah, I'm pretty sure we did. 419 00:23:42,840 --> 00:23:46,680 Speaker 1: This is the magical way to open temple doors. And 420 00:23:46,760 --> 00:23:49,600 Speaker 1: so you start with a flaming brazure, which is a 421 00:23:50,960 --> 00:23:55,720 Speaker 1: container that contains hot coals essentially, and you have that 422 00:23:55,800 --> 00:24:00,200 Speaker 1: connected to a boiler. The boiler boils water, water is 423 00:24:00,280 --> 00:24:02,879 Speaker 1: converted into steam. That steam goes through a long tube 424 00:24:02,920 --> 00:24:06,480 Speaker 1: that's essentially a condenser tube. It condenses back into water 425 00:24:06,560 --> 00:24:09,480 Speaker 1: and starts dripping into a bucket. When enough of water 426 00:24:09,560 --> 00:24:12,399 Speaker 1: has dripped into that bucket, that bucket, which is suspended 427 00:24:12,440 --> 00:24:15,919 Speaker 1: by a rope from a pulley, starts to get heavier 428 00:24:15,920 --> 00:24:19,719 Speaker 1: and heavier pulling downward, and that pulley system ends up 429 00:24:19,760 --> 00:24:22,760 Speaker 1: turning a couple of columns that open up the temple doors. 430 00:24:22,800 --> 00:24:27,399 Speaker 1: So by lighting a fire and and sacrificing something to 431 00:24:27,480 --> 00:24:33,280 Speaker 1: the gods, eventually the doors open and it's magic. Uh, 432 00:24:33,320 --> 00:24:35,760 Speaker 1: it was pretty brilliant. He's he actually came up with 433 00:24:35,800 --> 00:24:39,600 Speaker 1: a lot of different really cool ideas, um, and so 434 00:24:40,080 --> 00:24:42,119 Speaker 1: you know, we definitely wanted to call him out, but 435 00:24:42,240 --> 00:24:45,000 Speaker 1: then we have to skip ahead a couple of you know, 436 00:24:45,080 --> 00:24:47,760 Speaker 1: like a millennia or two. You know, oh yeah, you know, 437 00:24:47,880 --> 00:24:49,679 Speaker 1: you know how it goes with science during some of 438 00:24:49,720 --> 00:24:56,240 Speaker 1: those intervening years between telem increase and say that the Renaissance, 439 00:24:56,320 --> 00:24:58,760 Speaker 1: you know, back when everyone suddenly said, hey, remember when 440 00:24:58,760 --> 00:25:02,399 Speaker 1: we used to be smart. We liked that. It was great. 441 00:25:02,440 --> 00:25:04,399 Speaker 1: You know, we were a lot a lot fewer of 442 00:25:04,480 --> 00:25:06,720 Speaker 1: us were dying of the plague back then. We liked 443 00:25:06,760 --> 00:25:09,639 Speaker 1: that time. That was good. Yeah. So a fellow by 444 00:25:09,680 --> 00:25:12,080 Speaker 1: the name of Dennis Poppine, I think that's how you 445 00:25:12,119 --> 00:25:16,160 Speaker 1: said that, would present a paper on an invention that 446 00:25:16,240 --> 00:25:18,560 Speaker 1: he or an idea that he was calling the double 447 00:25:18,600 --> 00:25:22,600 Speaker 1: pneumatic pump to the Royal Society of London. That's pretty 448 00:25:22,640 --> 00:25:26,840 Speaker 1: that's pretty. That's a pretty impressive name, the double double pneumatic. 449 00:25:27,280 --> 00:25:30,480 Speaker 1: It's twice as good as it isn't clearly obviously, um. 450 00:25:30,520 --> 00:25:33,639 Speaker 1: But nothing more would come of this until the early 451 00:25:33,760 --> 00:25:37,280 Speaker 1: nineteenth century. Yeah, that's when there was a Scottish engineer 452 00:25:37,320 --> 00:25:40,640 Speaker 1: by the name of William Murdoch. I have to mention 453 00:25:40,720 --> 00:25:43,879 Speaker 1: William Murdock, because while while he had essentially invented the 454 00:25:43,920 --> 00:25:47,120 Speaker 1: pneumatic tube, he didn't do a whole lot with it. 455 00:25:47,119 --> 00:25:50,359 Speaker 1: It was some of his I hesitated to use the 456 00:25:50,359 --> 00:25:52,639 Speaker 1: word like students because they weren't even apprentice to him. 457 00:25:52,640 --> 00:25:54,880 Speaker 1: But people who worked within the same field, who were 458 00:25:54,920 --> 00:25:58,840 Speaker 1: exposed to his ideas were able to actually implement them. 459 00:25:59,119 --> 00:26:00,920 Speaker 1: But he was the one who came up with the 460 00:26:00,960 --> 00:26:04,000 Speaker 1: concept of using a pneumatic tube in the early nineteenth century, 461 00:26:04,000 --> 00:26:08,000 Speaker 1: and others would take that idea and run with it. Yeah, 462 00:26:08,359 --> 00:26:11,960 Speaker 1: namely one British engineered by the name of George Medhurst. 463 00:26:12,160 --> 00:26:15,280 Speaker 1: He would publish a plan in eighteen ten for a 464 00:26:15,320 --> 00:26:19,600 Speaker 1: pneumatic transport system. Now let me ask you, is this 465 00:26:19,640 --> 00:26:21,399 Speaker 1: the one where you like, you get in the tube 466 00:26:21,440 --> 00:26:23,480 Speaker 1: and you press a button and then you just fly across. 467 00:26:23,560 --> 00:26:27,080 Speaker 1: So it's not like in futurama. I know now that 468 00:26:27,080 --> 00:26:31,000 Speaker 1: would hurt a lot. I don't recommend it. Yeah, well, okay, 469 00:26:31,040 --> 00:26:33,520 Speaker 1: so they're downside. I mean, clearly you really need that 470 00:26:33,560 --> 00:26:36,160 Speaker 1: air brake system to work really well, and your ears 471 00:26:36,200 --> 00:26:41,000 Speaker 1: would pop like a mother true. Yeah, being being being 472 00:26:41,200 --> 00:26:43,840 Speaker 1: subjected to extremely low pressure on one half of your 473 00:26:43,840 --> 00:26:47,119 Speaker 1: body might not have the best effect overall. All right, 474 00:26:47,200 --> 00:26:51,439 Speaker 1: fair enough, Okay, So so he was so he was 475 00:26:51,480 --> 00:26:55,159 Speaker 1: working with a compressed air. Yeah, he actually created as 476 00:26:55,160 --> 00:26:58,879 Speaker 1: something called the Alien engine in eight hundred, which was 477 00:26:58,960 --> 00:27:02,560 Speaker 1: a kind of like a car running on a compressed 478 00:27:02,560 --> 00:27:04,040 Speaker 1: air in a way, it was a vehicle that used 479 00:27:04,040 --> 00:27:07,439 Speaker 1: compressed air on the vehicle itself to create a system 480 00:27:07,480 --> 00:27:11,600 Speaker 1: of propulsion to make the vehicle move. So in this case, 481 00:27:11,680 --> 00:27:14,360 Speaker 1: the the you know, like we said, with the pneumatic 482 00:27:14,400 --> 00:27:16,480 Speaker 1: tube is one of the big advantages is that you 483 00:27:16,560 --> 00:27:19,880 Speaker 1: have the centralized source of power. This was the other 484 00:27:19,880 --> 00:27:22,679 Speaker 1: way around. This is more like more akin to a 485 00:27:22,720 --> 00:27:26,120 Speaker 1: motor vehicle. So but he that was an early experiment 486 00:27:26,119 --> 00:27:30,000 Speaker 1: of his that didn't necessarily work out, you know, as 487 00:27:30,040 --> 00:27:32,160 Speaker 1: like this is going to be the new means of transportation. 488 00:27:32,320 --> 00:27:36,600 Speaker 1: But he was recognizing the power of compressed air. So 489 00:27:36,640 --> 00:27:39,439 Speaker 1: then he moved on to create a design for this 490 00:27:39,520 --> 00:27:43,280 Speaker 1: pneumatic transport system. And it consisted of an iron tube 491 00:27:43,280 --> 00:27:45,560 Speaker 1: that was six ft high by six ft wide, which 492 00:27:45,560 --> 00:27:48,560 Speaker 1: is about one point eight meters each and I had 493 00:27:48,640 --> 00:27:51,640 Speaker 1: rails along the bottom of this tube, so cars would 494 00:27:51,640 --> 00:27:54,159 Speaker 1: be set on the rails and then blown through the 495 00:27:54,200 --> 00:27:57,719 Speaker 1: tubes using compressed air. So essentially the style that we 496 00:27:57,720 --> 00:28:00,800 Speaker 1: were talking about, the the the easy, more boring method 497 00:28:00,880 --> 00:28:04,159 Speaker 1: of getting canisters from point A to point B. But 498 00:28:04,440 --> 00:28:08,200 Speaker 1: he did he did note that he did the math 499 00:28:08,240 --> 00:28:10,360 Speaker 1: and sussed it out and and thought that if air 500 00:28:10,400 --> 00:28:13,680 Speaker 1: could be subjected to just forty pounds per square inch 501 00:28:13,720 --> 00:28:16,960 Speaker 1: of pressure, just um, it's it's about two and a 502 00:28:16,960 --> 00:28:20,360 Speaker 1: half times the amount that the atmosphere exerts upon us 503 00:28:20,680 --> 00:28:24,399 Speaker 1: right now hanging out at sea level. Um, if we 504 00:28:24,400 --> 00:28:26,240 Speaker 1: could increase that two and a half times, the air 505 00:28:26,280 --> 00:28:31,400 Speaker 1: molecules could be propelled at like a thousand miles an 506 00:28:31,400 --> 00:28:37,520 Speaker 1: hour or a thousand, six hundred and nine kilometers. You're welcome, 507 00:28:37,640 --> 00:28:43,080 Speaker 1: Canada and else. Uh, when actually pushing stuff that is 508 00:28:43,120 --> 00:28:45,840 Speaker 1: an air, that speed would only be about a hundred 509 00:28:45,840 --> 00:28:48,760 Speaker 1: miles or a hundred and sixty kilometers per hour, which 510 00:28:49,240 --> 00:28:52,360 Speaker 1: it's still pretty fast. Certainly in like eighteen ten was 511 00:28:52,400 --> 00:28:58,520 Speaker 1: not too shabby, it's now No. Unfortunately, he would pass 512 00:28:58,560 --> 00:29:01,720 Speaker 1: away before he really had a chance to implement any 513 00:29:01,760 --> 00:29:05,040 Speaker 1: of these ideas, but his ideas would become instrumental for 514 00:29:05,120 --> 00:29:12,080 Speaker 1: people who were working on actual implementations. Right. Yeah, So uh, 515 00:29:12,400 --> 00:29:15,080 Speaker 1: one of the one of the interesting stories I came across, 516 00:29:15,160 --> 00:29:17,400 Speaker 1: and I was telling Lauren before we went into the 517 00:29:17,440 --> 00:29:21,800 Speaker 1: podcast studio that this, the stories of these people probably 518 00:29:21,840 --> 00:29:25,120 Speaker 1: could merit a couple of episodes. Maybe I'll mention it 519 00:29:25,160 --> 00:29:28,800 Speaker 1: to Stuffy miss in History because it really fits more 520 00:29:28,800 --> 00:29:31,720 Speaker 1: in their line than ours. But I want to talk 521 00:29:31,720 --> 00:29:35,080 Speaker 1: about Simuda and Clegg. So you had the Simuda Brothers. 522 00:29:35,080 --> 00:29:37,400 Speaker 1: That was a company that was run by Jacob and 523 00:29:37,520 --> 00:29:42,200 Speaker 1: Joseph Simuda who were primarily shipbuilders, so they were engineers, 524 00:29:42,200 --> 00:29:46,320 Speaker 1: but they built ships. Then they partnered with another inventor 525 00:29:46,400 --> 00:29:48,720 Speaker 1: and engineer named Samuel Clegg, who at one time and 526 00:29:48,840 --> 00:29:51,120 Speaker 1: worked in a company that used a lot of William 527 00:29:51,200 --> 00:29:55,800 Speaker 1: Murdock's inventions. So Clegg had been exposed to Murdock's ideas. 528 00:29:55,840 --> 00:29:58,560 Speaker 1: Some people refer to him as as as Murdoch's student, 529 00:29:58,720 --> 00:30:00,760 Speaker 1: although from all the research which I did, it didn't 530 00:30:00,800 --> 00:30:03,480 Speaker 1: seem like they had a very like each other. Yeah, 531 00:30:03,520 --> 00:30:05,880 Speaker 1: it's kind of like saying Tesla worked for Edison in 532 00:30:05,920 --> 00:30:09,200 Speaker 1: the sense that yes, Tesla worked for one of Edison's companies, 533 00:30:09,200 --> 00:30:12,400 Speaker 1: but was not like directly associated with most of his 534 00:30:12,440 --> 00:30:14,920 Speaker 1: life for Coffee with the Dude, No, especially by the 535 00:30:14,920 --> 00:30:17,480 Speaker 1: time they ended up being kind of rivals. But but 536 00:30:17,560 --> 00:30:19,200 Speaker 1: even in the early days they didn't. It's not like 537 00:30:19,360 --> 00:30:23,880 Speaker 1: Edison knew everybody to work for him anyway. So their 538 00:30:23,920 --> 00:30:28,480 Speaker 1: their idea was to lease some already constructed but unopened 539 00:30:28,560 --> 00:30:31,360 Speaker 1: rail lines. So the idea was they took some rail 540 00:30:31,360 --> 00:30:33,240 Speaker 1: lines that had not yet been open to the public. 541 00:30:33,280 --> 00:30:36,400 Speaker 1: They had been built but not used, and they were 542 00:30:36,440 --> 00:30:39,360 Speaker 1: at a place called Wormholt Scrubs, at least that's what 543 00:30:39,480 --> 00:30:42,000 Speaker 1: was known by at the time. It is now known 544 00:30:42,120 --> 00:30:47,840 Speaker 1: as Wormwood Scrubs two instead of one. Yeah, And they 545 00:30:47,960 --> 00:30:52,120 Speaker 1: used a pipe set between the two rails as their 546 00:30:52,160 --> 00:30:56,760 Speaker 1: pneumatic system. So instead of an entire huge pneumatic tube 547 00:30:57,160 --> 00:31:01,400 Speaker 1: encompassing the rails, there was a smaller pneumatic tube set 548 00:31:01,480 --> 00:31:04,760 Speaker 1: right in the middle of the rails, and the tube 549 00:31:04,880 --> 00:31:08,000 Speaker 1: had a slot running all the way the length of 550 00:31:08,000 --> 00:31:10,960 Speaker 1: the tube at the top of it. All right, So 551 00:31:11,400 --> 00:31:14,480 Speaker 1: you're they had a train car that had a pole 552 00:31:14,720 --> 00:31:19,280 Speaker 1: that essentially extended down into that slot and was attached 553 00:31:19,320 --> 00:31:22,920 Speaker 1: at the other end inside the tube to a piston. Okay, 554 00:31:22,960 --> 00:31:26,080 Speaker 1: so this is like a pneumatic monorail, Yeah, exactly. The 555 00:31:26,120 --> 00:31:29,800 Speaker 1: piston acted like a canister would in a normal pneumatic 556 00:31:29,880 --> 00:31:32,680 Speaker 1: tube and then you sit there and think like, well, 557 00:31:32,680 --> 00:31:34,720 Speaker 1: how do you create the difference in pressure if you've 558 00:31:34,720 --> 00:31:36,360 Speaker 1: got to if you've got a slot all the way 559 00:31:36,360 --> 00:31:40,880 Speaker 1: across the open top of this two, Yeah, there's no 560 00:31:40,920 --> 00:31:42,440 Speaker 1: there's no way to seal it. So what they did 561 00:31:42,560 --> 00:31:46,560 Speaker 1: was they created a leather flap that would essentially be 562 00:31:46,680 --> 00:31:50,920 Speaker 1: opened immediately before and close immediately after the the rod 563 00:31:50,960 --> 00:31:55,640 Speaker 1: would pass through. And uh, the the track they were 564 00:31:55,680 --> 00:31:58,959 Speaker 1: using was on a very gentle slope, and so what 565 00:31:59,000 --> 00:32:02,480 Speaker 1: they did was they used to push the train car 566 00:32:02,640 --> 00:32:05,800 Speaker 1: up the slope to its destination and then on the 567 00:32:05,840 --> 00:32:09,160 Speaker 1: return trip, they just allowed gravity to bring the car back, 568 00:32:10,120 --> 00:32:12,320 Speaker 1: so you didn't have to have any sort of power 569 00:32:12,400 --> 00:32:16,640 Speaker 1: to bring back the car um and it was used 570 00:32:17,720 --> 00:32:22,560 Speaker 1: pretty extensively as kind of a demonstration. Uh, this sort 571 00:32:22,600 --> 00:32:26,040 Speaker 1: of this kind of track was starting to get a name. 572 00:32:26,160 --> 00:32:31,080 Speaker 1: Is called atmospheric railways. That's beautiful. Yeah. The reason they 573 00:32:31,120 --> 00:32:33,840 Speaker 1: wanted to call it atmospheric was that, yes, they're using 574 00:32:34,120 --> 00:32:37,760 Speaker 1: they're using pressurized air, but the cars themselves can be 575 00:32:37,840 --> 00:32:41,520 Speaker 1: open to the air, so you're not forced inside a tunnel. 576 00:32:42,000 --> 00:32:46,960 Speaker 1: Because a lot of people were worried about getting you know, claustrophobic. Yeah, 577 00:32:47,160 --> 00:32:50,280 Speaker 1: you know, not all of us do well in tunnels. Um, 578 00:32:51,040 --> 00:32:55,560 Speaker 1: they can be certainly. So other atmospheric railways would follow, 579 00:32:56,240 --> 00:33:01,120 Speaker 1: including some built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, who we talked 580 00:33:01,160 --> 00:33:03,640 Speaker 1: about on tech stuff in How Subways Work. That was 581 00:33:03,680 --> 00:33:06,760 Speaker 1: the seven episode. So he was famous for a lot 582 00:33:06,800 --> 00:33:09,080 Speaker 1: of reasons, one of them being that he dug the 583 00:33:09,320 --> 00:33:14,760 Speaker 1: Thames Tunnel, so he really um kind of pioneered the 584 00:33:14,920 --> 00:33:20,080 Speaker 1: methodology for digging tunnels safely, especially under you know, ground 585 00:33:20,120 --> 00:33:23,000 Speaker 1: that you would technically think would be really unstable like 586 00:33:23,080 --> 00:33:27,400 Speaker 1: the bottom of a river. Um. And one of his trains, 587 00:33:28,040 --> 00:33:31,080 Speaker 1: at least from a report I read during a demonstration, 588 00:33:31,160 --> 00:33:33,800 Speaker 1: hit a top speed of seventy miles per hour, which 589 00:33:33,800 --> 00:33:38,240 Speaker 1: is about a hundred thirteen kilometers per hour. But keeping 590 00:33:38,280 --> 00:33:42,520 Speaker 1: that seal effective even with those leather flaps was problematic, 591 00:33:42,800 --> 00:33:46,200 Speaker 1: and so eventually because of these issues, the fact that 592 00:33:46,240 --> 00:33:50,239 Speaker 1: you had to replace that seal often uh ended up 593 00:33:50,280 --> 00:33:53,200 Speaker 1: meaning that when steam engines really started to become popular, 594 00:33:53,760 --> 00:33:57,320 Speaker 1: the pneumatic train systems like these couldn't compete, and so 595 00:33:57,680 --> 00:33:59,560 Speaker 1: people just started to go with steam engines that were 596 00:33:59,560 --> 00:34:02,440 Speaker 1: seen as a reliable than something that you had to 597 00:34:02,680 --> 00:34:09,440 Speaker 1: constantly maintain. So ultimately, um, they I was gonna say 598 00:34:09,440 --> 00:34:12,920 Speaker 1: these didn't go anywhere, but that's not true. They go 599 00:34:12,960 --> 00:34:15,560 Speaker 1: from one place to another place. Sure they went places, 600 00:34:15,840 --> 00:34:19,440 Speaker 1: but they just didn't take off. No, No, they literally 601 00:34:19,480 --> 00:34:24,200 Speaker 1: did not take literally and figuratively. Yes. Okay. Meanwhile, in 602 00:34:24,239 --> 00:34:28,600 Speaker 1: the eighteen fifties, telegraph systems began to really boom, um, 603 00:34:28,640 --> 00:34:32,359 Speaker 1: which I mentioned a for reference and be because it's 604 00:34:32,360 --> 00:34:35,279 Speaker 1: important to note that in these early days of telegraphs, 605 00:34:35,360 --> 00:34:38,400 Speaker 1: you know, they it was really cool technology, um, but 606 00:34:38,480 --> 00:34:44,400 Speaker 1: they were really understaffed, uh, telegraph telegraph offices, you know, 607 00:34:44,480 --> 00:34:48,080 Speaker 1: because there was so much demand and most people in 608 00:34:48,120 --> 00:34:51,520 Speaker 1: businesses couldn't afford to have their own telegraph machine. So 609 00:34:51,880 --> 00:34:54,799 Speaker 1: central offices would send these message boys on foot through 610 00:34:54,840 --> 00:34:58,000 Speaker 1: busy city blocks carrying all of these telegrams, which would 611 00:34:58,480 --> 00:35:01,239 Speaker 1: kind of negate to depending on you know, like like 612 00:35:01,400 --> 00:35:05,360 Speaker 1: peak capacity, the speed of of a telegraph versus a 613 00:35:05,400 --> 00:35:07,319 Speaker 1: mail system. The idea of being that hey, I can 614 00:35:07,360 --> 00:35:10,319 Speaker 1: send this message instantly, except I'm sending it instantly to 615 00:35:10,640 --> 00:35:13,839 Speaker 1: a centralized point and then from there where someone else 616 00:35:14,640 --> 00:35:17,040 Speaker 1: has to run it out to you. Anyway, So in 617 00:35:17,200 --> 00:35:21,960 Speaker 1: eighteen fifty three, Latimer Clark would build a non electric 618 00:35:22,040 --> 00:35:25,799 Speaker 1: pneumatic tube that would carry messages between the electric and 619 00:35:25,840 --> 00:35:30,480 Speaker 1: international telegraph companies headquarters and their offices at the British 620 00:35:30,480 --> 00:35:35,800 Speaker 1: Stock Exchange. And yes, a lot of telegraphs were stock related. 621 00:35:36,120 --> 00:35:40,080 Speaker 1: As we have talked about on the show before, stock 622 00:35:40,280 --> 00:35:44,600 Speaker 1: exchanges kind of drive message technology. It's crazy the idea 623 00:35:44,640 --> 00:35:47,560 Speaker 1: that you want to pounce on something as soon as possible, 624 00:35:47,560 --> 00:35:50,719 Speaker 1: whether that's buying or selling. So it makes sense that 625 00:35:51,080 --> 00:35:54,280 Speaker 1: they were really working to try and decrease the amount 626 00:35:54,280 --> 00:35:56,319 Speaker 1: of time between a decision and when it can be 627 00:35:56,360 --> 00:36:02,480 Speaker 1: acted upon. Um so as tubes Lattimer Lattimer Clark's tubes 628 00:36:02,840 --> 00:36:06,640 Speaker 1: were only one way most most tubes up to this 629 00:36:06,760 --> 00:36:09,960 Speaker 1: point were so in other words, once it got to 630 00:36:10,000 --> 00:36:13,080 Speaker 1: its destination, it had to be carried back physically to 631 00:36:13,480 --> 00:36:17,640 Speaker 1: wherever the first office. And around the same time, the 632 00:36:17,920 --> 00:36:21,520 Speaker 1: Great Britain General Post Office would commission a study of 633 00:36:21,640 --> 00:36:25,520 Speaker 1: Medhurst's ideas to try to to get some kind of 634 00:36:25,960 --> 00:36:30,759 Speaker 1: larger postal tube system, right, something that could make the 635 00:36:30,840 --> 00:36:34,480 Speaker 1: delivery of letters more efficient. Yeah, because I mean this 636 00:36:34,560 --> 00:36:38,120 Speaker 1: is again we've talked about this, uh in the Subways 637 00:36:38,160 --> 00:36:40,440 Speaker 1: episode in particular. We talked about it, how this is 638 00:36:40,560 --> 00:36:45,640 Speaker 1: the same period where London was experiencing explosive population growth. Yeah, 639 00:36:45,640 --> 00:36:49,479 Speaker 1: it's the Industrial Revolution when suddenly there are fewer there's 640 00:36:49,520 --> 00:36:53,799 Speaker 1: fewer need of farmers and there's a greater need of 641 00:36:54,360 --> 00:36:57,400 Speaker 1: labor in various ways in the cities and the urban areas. 642 00:36:57,800 --> 00:37:01,400 Speaker 1: So you had this migration of people into cities, plus 643 00:37:01,600 --> 00:37:04,360 Speaker 1: the you know, the fact that people still make people. 644 00:37:04,760 --> 00:37:07,880 Speaker 1: So there was that too going on and uh and 645 00:37:07,960 --> 00:37:11,799 Speaker 1: so we have this this world where everything's getting more 646 00:37:11,840 --> 00:37:15,000 Speaker 1: complicated because suddenly there's just so many more people living 647 00:37:15,000 --> 00:37:18,680 Speaker 1: in the same physical space as before. Yeah. So so 648 00:37:18,760 --> 00:37:21,480 Speaker 1: in the eighteen sixties, the GPO would award a contract 649 00:37:21,560 --> 00:37:24,960 Speaker 1: to one tw Rammell to construct anumatic two system that 650 00:37:25,000 --> 00:37:28,719 Speaker 1: could carry mail throughout London. And Ramball's done some really 651 00:37:28,760 --> 00:37:32,000 Speaker 1: interesting stuff. In eighteen sixty three, RAMA would build a 652 00:37:32,040 --> 00:37:36,080 Speaker 1: two foot gage pneumatic dispatch railway in central London. More 653 00:37:36,080 --> 00:37:37,440 Speaker 1: and then a bit because it takes a couple of 654 00:37:37,520 --> 00:37:41,200 Speaker 1: years before it opens. But in eighteen sixty four Rambles 655 00:37:41,280 --> 00:37:46,279 Speaker 1: Crystal Palace pneumatic railway opened. What so, Crystal Palace is 656 00:37:46,640 --> 00:37:50,480 Speaker 1: sect area in London. It's a location in London. Um, 657 00:37:50,640 --> 00:37:53,239 Speaker 1: so it wasn't The pneumatic railway itself was not a 658 00:37:53,239 --> 00:37:57,560 Speaker 1: crystal palace. It would have been phenomenal, right. So it 659 00:37:57,640 --> 00:37:59,839 Speaker 1: ran on a track that was about six hundred yards 660 00:37:59,880 --> 00:38:03,600 Speaker 1: in length, that's around five and the train cars had 661 00:38:03,719 --> 00:38:06,399 Speaker 1: colored bristles to help create a seal in a ten 662 00:38:06,440 --> 00:38:10,480 Speaker 1: ft diameter or a three meter diameter tunnel. So kind 663 00:38:10,480 --> 00:38:13,240 Speaker 1: of similar to those flexible skirts we were talking about earlier, 664 00:38:13,239 --> 00:38:17,640 Speaker 1: except in this case was bristly. Yeah. Uh So this 665 00:38:17,880 --> 00:38:22,120 Speaker 1: massive fan would blow the carriage down onto one end 666 00:38:22,200 --> 00:38:24,759 Speaker 1: of the track. Then the fan would reverse to create 667 00:38:24,800 --> 00:38:27,360 Speaker 1: a partial vacuum to bring the carriage back. So it 668 00:38:27,480 --> 00:38:31,920 Speaker 1: used both principles of pneumatic tubes, and a trip cost 669 00:38:32,040 --> 00:38:36,920 Speaker 1: sixpence in a song or or just a sixpence. Yeah. 670 00:38:37,440 --> 00:38:40,399 Speaker 1: I always think of like Oliver, you know, I think 671 00:38:40,400 --> 00:38:42,959 Speaker 1: of like a dickensie and musical when I think about 672 00:38:42,960 --> 00:38:45,040 Speaker 1: the stuff. In fact, I want to write one now 673 00:38:45,160 --> 00:38:49,120 Speaker 1: at any rate. That's that's a good hobby next time 674 00:38:49,160 --> 00:38:52,279 Speaker 1: on a very musical. Oh man, now you guys are 675 00:38:52,280 --> 00:38:54,759 Speaker 1: gonna request me to never saying I know that. So 676 00:38:54,800 --> 00:38:58,480 Speaker 1: it operated for just two years and depending upon whom 677 00:38:58,480 --> 00:39:00,600 Speaker 1: you ask. It might or might not have intended to 678 00:39:00,640 --> 00:39:03,080 Speaker 1: serve as a model for an atmospheric railway, but in 679 00:39:03,120 --> 00:39:06,680 Speaker 1: a different sense, because obviously this one was completely encapsulated 680 00:39:06,680 --> 00:39:09,000 Speaker 1: in the tunnel, as opposed to the ones that had 681 00:39:09,040 --> 00:39:13,120 Speaker 1: the tube that ran parallel well in between the rails. 682 00:39:13,480 --> 00:39:16,520 Speaker 1: So this is one the rails are completely encapsulated in 683 00:39:16,600 --> 00:39:19,600 Speaker 1: the two. There are a couple of cool urban legends 684 00:39:19,640 --> 00:39:23,200 Speaker 1: about what happened to this particular railway. So one says 685 00:39:23,239 --> 00:39:26,600 Speaker 1: it was just sealed off, that that once it stopped 686 00:39:26,600 --> 00:39:30,360 Speaker 1: being used, they sealed off the tunnel, and that in fact, 687 00:39:30,880 --> 00:39:35,239 Speaker 1: there is this lone tunnel underneath London where if you 688 00:39:35,320 --> 00:39:37,320 Speaker 1: were able to get access to it, you would see 689 00:39:37,360 --> 00:39:41,279 Speaker 1: the tracks and even the carriage itself. There was a 690 00:39:41,360 --> 00:39:44,239 Speaker 1: lady who even reported that she had found it and 691 00:39:44,280 --> 00:39:50,480 Speaker 1: there were skeletons sitting in the carriage dressed in Victorian outfits. Yeah, 692 00:39:50,520 --> 00:39:52,920 Speaker 1: I don't know, Like we're shutting her down. Don't let 693 00:39:52,960 --> 00:39:57,959 Speaker 1: anybody out. We're shutting off the lights and leaving. Yeah, 694 00:39:58,040 --> 00:40:00,719 Speaker 1: you got your sixpence is long? You are on the 695 00:40:00,800 --> 00:40:04,800 Speaker 1: wrong train. That sounds like a Stephen King story. Um. 696 00:40:05,000 --> 00:40:07,960 Speaker 1: There's another urban legend that said the tunnel collapsed from 697 00:40:07,960 --> 00:40:11,480 Speaker 1: a bomb, which trapped the carriage and some passengers in 698 00:40:11,560 --> 00:40:14,920 Speaker 1: it forever like there was essentially a cave in and 699 00:40:14,960 --> 00:40:18,320 Speaker 1: they were stuck and died and are entombed in the carriage. 700 00:40:18,880 --> 00:40:21,760 Speaker 1: But those kind of bombs weren't really falling on London 701 00:40:21,920 --> 00:40:24,759 Speaker 1: for another few decades. Yeah, that's the thing. And this 702 00:40:24,880 --> 00:40:28,120 Speaker 1: this legend was circulating as early as nineteen thirty, but 703 00:40:28,160 --> 00:40:30,760 Speaker 1: there was there were no bombs that were going off 704 00:40:31,480 --> 00:40:34,919 Speaker 1: in the eighteen sixties at in London like like that 705 00:40:35,200 --> 00:40:38,840 Speaker 1: at that time. No, And and in fact, the Blitz 706 00:40:38,840 --> 00:40:41,399 Speaker 1: didn't even happen by the time this urban legend first 707 00:40:41,400 --> 00:40:45,040 Speaker 1: started circulating. And so it got stronger after World War Two, 708 00:40:45,120 --> 00:40:48,239 Speaker 1: I mean more because partly because people were using underground 709 00:40:48,280 --> 00:40:52,920 Speaker 1: stations and and two tunnel lines as as a place 710 00:40:52,960 --> 00:40:57,080 Speaker 1: to seek refuge during the Blitz. But that was just 711 00:40:57,120 --> 00:41:01,680 Speaker 1: an urban legend in anyway. In eighteen sixty five, the 712 00:41:01,760 --> 00:41:06,000 Speaker 1: London Pneumatic Dispatch Railway opened And this one is not 713 00:41:06,080 --> 00:41:09,160 Speaker 1: meant to carry passengers, although I think someone wrote it 714 00:41:09,200 --> 00:41:13,520 Speaker 1: the first time it opened. But the yeah, again, like 715 00:41:13,560 --> 00:41:17,839 Speaker 1: that would hurt Yeah, I think so too. The cars themselves, Uh, 716 00:41:18,200 --> 00:41:20,759 Speaker 1: I was reading one description, it was said they were 717 00:41:21,200 --> 00:41:26,800 Speaker 1: coffin sized. Yeah, so you they're not meant to carry people. 718 00:41:26,840 --> 00:41:29,640 Speaker 1: But but freight and mail right that this is part 719 00:41:29,640 --> 00:41:33,080 Speaker 1: of the mail system. Uh. And this comes directly from 720 00:41:33,120 --> 00:41:37,120 Speaker 1: the pall Mall Gazette on October twelfth, eighteen sixty five. 721 00:41:38,000 --> 00:41:41,719 Speaker 1: And you know it's in England. Okay, do it? Do it? Yeah? 722 00:41:42,600 --> 00:41:45,399 Speaker 1: The driving power is at hlban and consists of two 723 00:41:45,440 --> 00:41:49,239 Speaker 1: twenty four horsepower steam engines. They set in motion a disc, 724 00:41:49,360 --> 00:41:52,080 Speaker 1: the diameter of which is about twenty two ft. The 725 00:41:52,120 --> 00:41:56,200 Speaker 1: immense circular fan revolves with great rapidity in an air chamber, 726 00:41:56,320 --> 00:42:00,560 Speaker 1: creating an almost irresistible atmosphere power which but the use 727 00:42:00,600 --> 00:42:03,480 Speaker 1: of valves, can be used either for blowing the trains 728 00:42:03,520 --> 00:42:08,279 Speaker 1: through the tubes or literally sucking them back again. So 729 00:42:08,320 --> 00:42:11,200 Speaker 1: there you go, good show, Thank you, thank you. Yeah 730 00:42:11,280 --> 00:42:13,960 Speaker 1: that was when I read that description. I was just 731 00:42:14,000 --> 00:42:18,560 Speaker 1: so enchanted by the I was like, and atible atmosphere 732 00:42:18,560 --> 00:42:23,040 Speaker 1: of power with such great rapidity, So I was, oh, 733 00:42:23,080 --> 00:42:29,080 Speaker 1: how British this this newspaper is. But yeah, very interesting. Yeah. Yeah. Meanwhile, 734 00:42:29,200 --> 00:42:32,719 Speaker 1: back on the telegraph, and in eighteen sixty eight, the 735 00:42:33,440 --> 00:42:37,560 Speaker 1: UK government would pass the Telegraphs Act, which nationalized the 736 00:42:37,600 --> 00:42:41,879 Speaker 1: telegraph industry and wrapped it into the Post Office, thus 737 00:42:42,080 --> 00:42:45,400 Speaker 1: meaning that the g p O acquired like really quite 738 00:42:45,400 --> 00:42:48,759 Speaker 1: a lot of pneumatic telegraph lines which various companies had 739 00:42:48,800 --> 00:42:51,640 Speaker 1: been privately building out over the past decade. Now this 740 00:42:51,680 --> 00:42:55,319 Speaker 1: is also interesting because again it mirrors what happened with 741 00:42:55,360 --> 00:42:58,759 Speaker 1: the subway system in London. The subways were built by 742 00:42:58,800 --> 00:43:02,239 Speaker 1: private companies, so you had a bunch of different independent 743 00:43:02,400 --> 00:43:06,600 Speaker 1: systems that were not connected together at first, until the 744 00:43:06,640 --> 00:43:11,640 Speaker 1: government realized that this was a serious public good good 745 00:43:11,920 --> 00:43:14,080 Speaker 1: and that you know, they wanted to help it out 746 00:43:14,080 --> 00:43:16,759 Speaker 1: as much as possible and conform everything so that it 747 00:43:16,760 --> 00:43:21,600 Speaker 1: could be used as widely as possible. Exactly the same. Yeah. Meanwhile, 748 00:43:22,280 --> 00:43:26,960 Speaker 1: across the Pond eight seventy an inventor by the name 749 00:43:27,000 --> 00:43:31,520 Speaker 1: of Alfred ELI. Beach begins construction on a pneumatic subway 750 00:43:31,800 --> 00:43:36,520 Speaker 1: in New York called the Beach Pneumatic Transit, obviously named 751 00:43:36,560 --> 00:43:40,080 Speaker 1: after the inventor. The subway did not transport commuters to 752 00:43:40,160 --> 00:43:45,040 Speaker 1: a magical New York beach sadly, but here's some interesting 753 00:43:45,120 --> 00:43:49,400 Speaker 1: and odd facts about that project. So first, Beach lied 754 00:43:49,960 --> 00:43:52,600 Speaker 1: about what he was doing I read somewhere that, um 755 00:43:52,719 --> 00:43:57,120 Speaker 1: that he had like personal disagreements with one of the 756 00:43:57,120 --> 00:44:00,600 Speaker 1: powers that were at the time, someone by the aim 757 00:44:00,600 --> 00:44:05,520 Speaker 1: of Boss Tweed. Oh well, here's the thing. Originally Boss 758 00:44:05,560 --> 00:44:09,760 Speaker 1: Tweed backed Beach, but Boss Tweed fail fell from favor 759 00:44:09,880 --> 00:44:14,000 Speaker 1: quite famously through corruption, and then after the fact Beach 760 00:44:14,080 --> 00:44:16,640 Speaker 1: said he was one of the men who stood in 761 00:44:16,719 --> 00:44:22,040 Speaker 1: my way. He changed the story, and people said okay 762 00:44:22,120 --> 00:44:24,359 Speaker 1: and went along with the story because they wanted to. 763 00:44:24,480 --> 00:44:27,400 Speaker 1: They wanted this system to be put in place, but 764 00:44:27,480 --> 00:44:29,640 Speaker 1: it ended up not being enough because there were other 765 00:44:29,680 --> 00:44:33,040 Speaker 1: issues that would follow. But yeah, originally Beach and Buss 766 00:44:33,040 --> 00:44:35,920 Speaker 1: Tweed were buddy buddy, and it was only after the 767 00:44:35,920 --> 00:44:38,399 Speaker 1: fact when when Boss Tweeds going down Beaches like, well, 768 00:44:38,480 --> 00:44:41,360 Speaker 1: I'm not going down with you like that guy was 769 00:44:41,400 --> 00:44:44,319 Speaker 1: always a pain in the butt. So so Beach really 770 00:44:44,320 --> 00:44:48,000 Speaker 1: wanted to create this subway system, um, and you know, 771 00:44:48,040 --> 00:44:49,560 Speaker 1: in order to do that, he would have to dig 772 00:44:49,640 --> 00:44:52,239 Speaker 1: up part of a New York street. He knew that 773 00:44:52,280 --> 00:44:55,120 Speaker 1: Tweed would not be excited about this thing. So he 774 00:44:55,200 --> 00:44:58,600 Speaker 1: was like, well, what if I were building a nomadic 775 00:44:58,680 --> 00:45:01,960 Speaker 1: male system. Yeah, you know what, we need a couple 776 00:45:02,000 --> 00:45:05,120 Speaker 1: of couple pneumatic tubes. Want to send mail one way 777 00:45:05,160 --> 00:45:07,239 Speaker 1: one to bring mail back the other way. Clearly we 778 00:45:07,280 --> 00:45:10,400 Speaker 1: can't have both going the same tube because if messages 779 00:45:10,440 --> 00:45:14,680 Speaker 1: need to be sent in both directions or it's not 780 00:45:14,680 --> 00:45:18,560 Speaker 1: gonna work. Yeah, dogs and cats. So what we need 781 00:45:18,600 --> 00:45:20,879 Speaker 1: to do is have two tubes. And so they said, 782 00:45:21,120 --> 00:45:23,520 Speaker 1: all right, that that proposal we can get behind you 783 00:45:23,560 --> 00:45:26,279 Speaker 1: can you can build your your male pneumatic tubes. And 784 00:45:26,320 --> 00:45:28,439 Speaker 1: then he says, all right, well, what I'm gonna do 785 00:45:28,600 --> 00:45:31,560 Speaker 1: is I'm gonna house this pair of tubes within a 786 00:45:31,640 --> 00:45:34,480 Speaker 1: larger tube to protect them. So so I'm gonna need 787 00:45:34,520 --> 00:45:38,080 Speaker 1: to dig pretty big tunnel. It's gonna be it's gonna 788 00:45:38,080 --> 00:45:40,600 Speaker 1: be pretty big. So Beach also came up with a 789 00:45:40,760 --> 00:45:43,360 Speaker 1: tunneling shield, and we talked about those in the Subway 790 00:45:43,400 --> 00:45:47,360 Speaker 1: episode two. Tunneling. Tunneling shields are essentially a tunneling tool 791 00:45:47,800 --> 00:45:51,080 Speaker 1: that holds up the integrity of the tunnel while you're digging, 792 00:45:51,440 --> 00:45:54,200 Speaker 1: so that people behind you can shore that up with 793 00:45:54,280 --> 00:45:58,560 Speaker 1: brick or whatever they're using to seal it off. So 794 00:45:59,480 --> 00:46:02,279 Speaker 1: he goes and he starts digging this tunnel. Everyone thinks 795 00:46:02,280 --> 00:46:05,400 Speaker 1: he's digging tunnels for humatic mail. Tubes. He's like, ha ha, 796 00:46:06,160 --> 00:46:09,360 Speaker 1: I now have this wonderful device that I'm going to 797 00:46:09,440 --> 00:46:12,319 Speaker 1: demonstrate to people, to show them how magical this is. 798 00:46:12,920 --> 00:46:16,920 Speaker 1: You can ride in a carriage underground, thus avoiding all 799 00:46:16,960 --> 00:46:19,839 Speaker 1: the dangerous traffic that's happening up on the surface level 800 00:46:19,880 --> 00:46:22,359 Speaker 1: where you've got you know, horse drawn carriages going willy 801 00:46:22,480 --> 00:46:26,760 Speaker 1: nilly all over the place and passing pedestrians everywhere. Exactly 802 00:46:26,800 --> 00:46:29,759 Speaker 1: back to the cats and dogs. So he ended up 803 00:46:30,360 --> 00:46:33,960 Speaker 1: buildings a a track that was only three feet long 804 00:46:34,080 --> 00:46:38,360 Speaker 1: or about yeah, and the tunnel was eight feet in 805 00:46:38,400 --> 00:46:41,520 Speaker 1: diameter or two point four meters, and about twenty people 806 00:46:41,560 --> 00:46:44,319 Speaker 1: could ride on the carriage at a single time. And 807 00:46:44,360 --> 00:46:49,360 Speaker 1: he himself funded the construction almost entirely out of his 808 00:46:49,440 --> 00:46:53,040 Speaker 1: own pocket, So hundreds of thousands of dollars that Beach 809 00:46:53,440 --> 00:46:57,239 Speaker 1: personally put forward to this because he really believed in it. Uh, 810 00:46:57,280 --> 00:46:59,279 Speaker 1: if you wanted to take a ride on it once 811 00:46:59,280 --> 00:47:02,359 Speaker 1: it opened, So he opens it and you actually had 812 00:47:02,400 --> 00:47:06,720 Speaker 1: to go in through a department store. They had a 813 00:47:06,719 --> 00:47:10,840 Speaker 1: an entrance to the station quote unquote station through their basement. 814 00:47:12,239 --> 00:47:15,360 Speaker 1: The station itself was lit by gas lanterns, had a 815 00:47:15,400 --> 00:47:21,239 Speaker 1: fountain with gold fish in it. And two statues of mercury, uh, 816 00:47:21,440 --> 00:47:27,160 Speaker 1: flanking the tunnel. Yeah, very understated, was Mr Beach. And 817 00:47:27,239 --> 00:47:31,800 Speaker 1: so if you wanted to ride, you needed two bits, 818 00:47:31,840 --> 00:47:34,200 Speaker 1: so two bits in order for you to ride, and 819 00:47:34,360 --> 00:47:36,000 Speaker 1: that would give you a trip to the end of 820 00:47:36,000 --> 00:47:40,279 Speaker 1: the line and back again. And all ticket uh, all 821 00:47:40,280 --> 00:47:43,040 Speaker 1: tickets that were bought, all that money was given to charity. 822 00:47:43,080 --> 00:47:45,040 Speaker 1: In fact, I think it was given to charity for 823 00:47:45,400 --> 00:47:48,920 Speaker 1: children whose parents were whose fathers were soldiers who had 824 00:47:49,040 --> 00:47:52,640 Speaker 1: who had died, So it was it was all going 825 00:47:52,680 --> 00:47:58,040 Speaker 1: to a charitable cause and it was yeah. Yeah, So 826 00:47:58,120 --> 00:48:01,560 Speaker 1: it was supposed to be the birth of the subway 827 00:48:01,600 --> 00:48:05,920 Speaker 1: system of New York, but it did not get much traction. 828 00:48:06,800 --> 00:48:11,960 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, so uh boss the Boss Tweed corruption scandal 829 00:48:12,040 --> 00:48:14,800 Speaker 1: happened and then Beach had to distance himself from Boss Tweed. 830 00:48:15,320 --> 00:48:19,080 Speaker 1: Then uh he there was a stock market crash which 831 00:48:19,239 --> 00:48:21,719 Speaker 1: ended up pulling a lot of funding away from any 832 00:48:21,760 --> 00:48:25,360 Speaker 1: possibility of extending this outward. Also, there were people saying 833 00:48:25,400 --> 00:48:30,160 Speaker 1: like could this actually be efficient? Um, we couldn't necessarily 834 00:48:30,239 --> 00:48:33,279 Speaker 1: run multiple trains on a single track. It would all 835 00:48:33,280 --> 00:48:36,760 Speaker 1: be one train per track because you couldn't you couldn't 836 00:48:36,800 --> 00:48:40,520 Speaker 1: control their movement between stations otherwise, like how would you 837 00:48:40,920 --> 00:48:43,560 Speaker 1: how would you get train a to you know, unless 838 00:48:43,560 --> 00:48:46,480 Speaker 1: you have like a really complex system of blowers. Um. 839 00:48:46,560 --> 00:48:48,960 Speaker 1: So they started saying, well, this doesn't look like it's 840 00:48:48,960 --> 00:48:51,280 Speaker 1: going to be very efficient. There's not there's no money 841 00:48:51,280 --> 00:48:56,000 Speaker 1: to support it. And so also the rise of electricity 842 00:48:56,520 --> 00:49:00,080 Speaker 1: meant that ultimately it became moot. And again you and 843 00:49:00,080 --> 00:49:02,279 Speaker 1: listened to how subways work to learn about the rest 844 00:49:02,280 --> 00:49:07,960 Speaker 1: of that story. So, while it was never really taken 845 00:49:08,320 --> 00:49:13,920 Speaker 1: seriously as a means of transportation for passengers, Beach's original 846 00:49:14,000 --> 00:49:17,520 Speaker 1: proposal to build those pneumatic mail tubes, which he totally 847 00:49:17,560 --> 00:49:21,719 Speaker 1: wasn't serious about, did actually catch on, not as he 848 00:49:21,760 --> 00:49:24,800 Speaker 1: originally imagined them, which were these like ten ft diameter 849 00:49:24,880 --> 00:49:28,040 Speaker 1: tubes above city streets designed for both people in mail, 850 00:49:28,400 --> 00:49:34,239 Speaker 1: which he was calling the US pneumatic dispatch, right, so 851 00:49:34,520 --> 00:49:37,560 Speaker 1: that never happened. As I'm sorry, clearly he was he 852 00:49:37,719 --> 00:49:42,360 Speaker 1: was influenced at least in part by the London pneumatic dispatch, 853 00:49:43,000 --> 00:49:45,440 Speaker 1: which was being successful as far as the mail goes, 854 00:49:45,520 --> 00:49:49,799 Speaker 1: and um, so he would his his work would live 855 00:49:49,880 --> 00:49:53,400 Speaker 1: on within that system, although I think he died before 856 00:49:53,880 --> 00:49:58,839 Speaker 1: before it was actually built. Yeah, yeah, there's well, I mean, 857 00:49:58,880 --> 00:50:01,919 Speaker 1: you know, progress is built upon a lot of hard 858 00:50:01,960 --> 00:50:06,080 Speaker 1: work and sacrifice and not. In some cases it comes 859 00:50:06,080 --> 00:50:09,240 Speaker 1: to us at the expense of ideas that seemed awesome, 860 00:50:09,320 --> 00:50:13,799 Speaker 1: but ultimately we're untenable. However, something is you know, salvageable 861 00:50:13,800 --> 00:50:18,720 Speaker 1: from the idea, and I think that's the case with Beach. Now, 862 00:50:19,160 --> 00:50:21,920 Speaker 1: we just got through eighteen seventy. But we still have 863 00:50:22,040 --> 00:50:24,480 Speaker 1: some more history to get through. Plus we have to 864 00:50:24,480 --> 00:50:27,560 Speaker 1: talk about how pneumatic tubes are being used today, so 865 00:50:27,600 --> 00:50:30,239 Speaker 1: we're going to save that for episode number two. But 866 00:50:30,280 --> 00:50:32,879 Speaker 1: trust me, the rest of the story is just as 867 00:50:32,920 --> 00:50:36,279 Speaker 1: interesting and in some cases just as crazy, So you'll 868 00:50:36,280 --> 00:50:38,239 Speaker 1: need to tune in. Lauren, you'll be joining us for 869 00:50:38,239 --> 00:50:41,120 Speaker 1: that one as well, right indeed, And where else can 870 00:50:41,160 --> 00:50:44,880 Speaker 1: they see your work, Lauren? Well, these days I am 871 00:50:44,880 --> 00:50:49,000 Speaker 1: working on other How Stuff Works shows such as brain Stuff, 872 00:50:49,680 --> 00:50:53,840 Speaker 1: Forward Thinking, and what the Stuff? Yep, you can you 873 00:50:53,880 --> 00:50:56,200 Speaker 1: can find all of those on how Stuff Works dot com, 874 00:50:56,360 --> 00:50:58,640 Speaker 1: or you can go to varrain Stuff show dot com, 875 00:50:58,800 --> 00:51:00,879 Speaker 1: or you can go to f be You Thinking dot 876 00:51:00,920 --> 00:51:04,760 Speaker 1: com or the YouTube's go to the YouTube. You can 877 00:51:05,000 --> 00:51:07,160 Speaker 1: just google Lauren Vogue o Bomb if you can spell 878 00:51:07,280 --> 00:51:10,400 Speaker 1: Lauren voge O bomb Um. I mean even if you can't, 879 00:51:10,480 --> 00:51:12,759 Speaker 1: really you can. You can find me out of faith 880 00:51:12,800 --> 00:51:14,879 Speaker 1: in you guys excellent. And of course if you want 881 00:51:14,880 --> 00:51:17,520 Speaker 1: to drop align to me and have a suggestion for 882 00:51:17,560 --> 00:51:21,040 Speaker 1: a future topic, whether it's you know what, an actual 883 00:51:21,840 --> 00:51:24,160 Speaker 1: podcast topic, or someone I should have on as a 884 00:51:24,160 --> 00:51:26,400 Speaker 1: guest host or someone I should have on as an interview, 885 00:51:26,840 --> 00:51:30,040 Speaker 1: let me know. The email address is tech stuff at 886 00:51:30,040 --> 00:51:32,479 Speaker 1: how stuff works dot com, or drop me a line 887 00:51:32,560 --> 00:51:35,439 Speaker 1: on Facebook, Twitter or Tumbler. The handle it all three 888 00:51:35,520 --> 00:51:38,080 Speaker 1: is tech stuff hs W and we'll talk to you 889 00:51:38,120 --> 00:51:45,960 Speaker 1: again really soon. For more on this and thousands of 890 00:51:45,960 --> 00:51:57,600 Speaker 1: other topics, is a house stuff works dot com