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Tech NewsThis Depression-Era Carphone Was Way Ahead of Its Time
Today if your car breaks down or you’re in an accident, help is little more than a phone call away. It’s something that many drivers of the 21st century take for granted, what with our Space Age smartphone technology. This automotive safety net, of course, wasn’t available in the 1930s. But one visionary who was … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech News
Our Hyperloop Liveblog Starts Right Right Now
In just a few minutes, Elon Musk will finally reveal his plans for the Hyperloop, a revolutionary transit system that’s capable of getting you from downtown Los Angeles to downtown San Francisco in 30 minutes flat. At 5 pm, he’ll hold a conference call to explain Hyperloop in detail. And we’re going to liveblog the … Continued
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Tech NewsSploid
This could be the transport of the future—or the coolest fantasy ever
Elon Musk—the man who invented the dreadful PayPal and then went to make electric cars and space rockets—will unveil his crazy new plan on Monday: The Hyperloop will take people from LA to San Francisco in 30 minutes using a completely new and magical technology. Here’s a graphic explaining all the details so far. https://jalopnik.com/all-that-we-know-about-musks-hyperoop-the-infographic-1066973247
By Jesus Diaz -
Tech News
1979’s Joystick-Controlled Car of the Future Was Pretty Retro Even Then
This automotive concept sketch from 1979 predicted a future where car interiors would resemble an airplane’s cockpit. But while this must have looked decidedly cutting-edge at the time, the inspiration, in a way, was pure nostalgia. Automotive designers began mimicking airplanes as far back as the 1930s, when Chrysler used Orville Wright’s wind tunnel to … Continued
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Tech News
Bon Voyage, Big Bertha! Seattle Digs a Cave For the Future
In coffee shops and bookstores across Seattle this summer, advertisements for concerts and gallery shows shared space with a less common urban invitation: to a party for a really big drill. The drill—specially designed to dig a tunnel underneath downtown Seattle, building new car capacity to replace an aging, earthquake-damaged viaduct that has dominated Seattle’s … Continued
Brooke Jarvis -
Tech News
Air Travel Today is a Damn Bargain
It might not feel like it, but air travel’s a steal compared to what it was a half century ago. Since the American airline industry was deregulated in 1978, ticket prices have fallen by about 40%. Of course, air travel isn’t quite as luxurious as some postwar dreamers imagined, but you can’t beat that price. … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech News
The Invention of Jaywalking Was a Massive Shaming Campaign
Before the invention of the car, jaywalking wasn’t a recognized concept. Want to get across the street? Then just walk across the street—nobody’s going to stop you. But the rise of the automobile posed a new problem for people of the early 20th century. While the median state-designated speed limit for American cities was just … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech News
Why the Biggest Obstacle for Elon Musk’s Hyperloop Might Be Tunnels
It all sounds so Jetsonian. A new 600 mph “Hyperloop” method of transportation connecting Los Angeles and San Francisco? That’s the buzz around the internet water cooler as people guess what Elon Musk has in store for the transportation of tomorrow. I say, sign me up! But if we take any lessons from past visions … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech News
The Best Guess at How Elon Musk’s Hyperloop Transit Fantasy Might Work
Earlier this week, Elon Muskannounced that he would publish an alpha design for his crazy-sounding “Hyperloop” by August 12. According to Musk, the diagram above is as close as anyone has gotten to figuring out how the super-fast transit technology might work. And it seems bonkers. For those of you who have been out of … Continued
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Tech News
Before Jetpacks, We Were Promised Butterfly Wings
The jetpack would emerge in popular American science fiction of the 1920s, and later become cemented into the popular imagination after World War II. But the idea of single-flyer personal transportation tech didn’t start with the jetpack. In the late 19th century, people were obsessed with flight. And they imagined a future where strapping a … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech News
Today in 1935: The First Parking Meter Is Installed
The next time you’re frantically rushing to plug your parking meter, you can curse Carl C. Magee. Because it was on this day in 1935 that Magee’s parking meters made their world debut, much to the chagrin of future drivers everywhere. The first three decades of the 20th century saw the rise of the automobile, … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech News
1959’s Electric Car of Tomorrow Looks Awfully Familiar Today
It may not be a Tesla, but this electric car was the height of cool when it graced newspaper comics pages around the world in 1959. Detroit-based commercial illustrator Arthur Radebaugh had plenty of practice dreaming up cars of the future. Many of Radebaugh’s clients were Detroit automakers who loved his futuristic flair, which was … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech News
UberX in LA: It’s Illegal. It’s Great. It Needs to Stop.
Despite the fact that it’s currently banned in Los Angeles, UberX is defiantly still up and running. I used it for the first time this weekend. This so-called ride-sharing service from San Francisco-based Uber Technologies is supposedly the future of cabs. Much like similar services Lyft and Sidecar, UberX seeks to “disrupt” the taxi industry … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech News
Sorry Uber, Los Angeles Has Been Banning Ride-Shares For a Century
This week the city of Los Angeles sent a cease-and-desist letter to ride-sharing app companies Uber, Lyft and Sidecar. The city and Los Angeles Yellow Cab claim that these services are “rogue taxis” that are “bypassing all safety regulations created to protect riders and drivers.” But this isn’t the first time that this town has … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech NewsTake a Hypnotic Trip on Tokyo’s Automatic Rails
You are not watching CGI. Despite the kaleidoscope of colors and shapes rising from the infinite horizon, this is all real footage of the 12-mile Yurikamome line in Tokyo. Hold onto your butts. The visuals were captured by photographer Gundam Videographer from the front of the train using a mirror then cleaned up and vertically … Continued
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Tech News
The Post-WWII Planes of the Future Had Legroom to Spare
It looks like American Airlines will soon be cramming even more seats into their already over-crowded planes. If this is the future, then where’s my legroom? Last week we looked at promises for futuristic homes during World War II and the attempt to dial back expectations for these “miracle houses” by the end of the … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech News
What Biofuel Is (And Where It Comes From)
Cars didn’t always run on gasoline. Henry Ford envisioned his Model T’s puttering along with tanks fully of ethanol. Early diesel engines ran on peanut oil. Of course, the discovery of massive petroleum reserves at the turn of the 20th century quickly put the brakes on that notion—why bother creating biofuel when gasoline and diesel … Continued
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Tech News
What Will Happen When Your Driverless Car Crashes?
Driverless cars are nearly here, at least if Google has its way. But what happens when we’re all zipping around, hands-and-feet free, nary a care in the world, and BAM! we’re in a terrible accident? Who’s responsible? And perhaps more importantly, will we make any attempts to stop it? When something goes awry and it … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech NewsThis Insane Highway Demolition Is the Longest Ever in China
Given the fevered pace of China’s infrastructure development, 16 years is ancient. That’s why the two-lane concrete Zhuan-yang viaduct running through the town of Wuhan, Hubei in central China had to go—a bigger and better six-lane freeway was in the works. But to demolish the original roadway without harming the surrounding homes, engineers smothered the … Continued
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io9Eye-Poppingly Gorgeous Underground Stations from Around The World
The history of rapid-transit began 150 years ago, with the opening of the Metropolitan Railway in London in 1863. In the next century and a half, dozens of architects and engineers have worked on underground tunnels and stations. Some are abandoned now, but others are as good as new. Here are some of the most … Continued