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Re:Hyperloop by potatolicious on Monday August 12, 2013 @05:17PM (#6202042)
Currently you get up and go to the bathroom at the end of the car.

I've only had time to skim the full PDF, but there's something about experiencing 0.5g of acceleration - unsure if that is a constant or if that is simply right at the very beginning.

If you're going to experience 0.5g of acceleration over a prolonged period, letting passengers get up and move about is going to be a bad idea. It also doesn't look like there's enough roof to get about in that capsule. 0.5g doesn't sound like a lot until you think about it as 50% of your body weight tacked on, in a direction you're not used to having it tacked on. Pretty simple in a seat, much less simple trying to walk.

Re:Hyperloop by praxulus on Monday August 12, 2013 @05:27PM (#6202121)
Assuming it's very smooth acceleration, it's just like standing on a 26º slope, feeling slightly heavier than normal. Healthy individuals should have no problem at all in such a situation.
Re:Hyperloop by thedufer on Monday August 12, 2013 @05:40PM (#6202240)
> until you think about it as 50% of your body weight tacked on

That's not how vectors work. It's only 11% extra weight. If its reasonably smooth, that's easy walking.

Re:Hyperloop by mason55 on Monday August 12, 2013 @05:33PM (#6202180)
> unsure if that is a constant or if that is simply right at the very beginning.

If the top speed is 700mph then you'd have 142 seconds of 0.5 g acceleration to get to top speed. How often you'd be accelerating or decelerating would depend on how many intermediate stations there are.

Re:Hyperloop by jarek on Monday August 12, 2013 @06:16PM (#6202519)
Curves are also specced for 0.5g. That will account for quite a bit more of the total acceleration time than just speeding up and slowing down.