Imagine being able to make an otherwise six hour car trip in just about 30 minutes. That is the goal researchers hope to make reality through hyperloop technology. Hyperloop is a super-fast form of transportation somewhat like a combination between a bullet train and the pneumatic tubes you find at drive-up teller windows at banks. Although the concept has existed for more than a century, public interest has only recently led to funding opportunities for development. Since the hyperloop operates within a tube, there is less resistance and objects can travel at supersonic speeds. Magnetic levitation also allows the cars to be more aerodynamic. California currently has plans to build a high-speed rail line between San Francisco and Los Angeles that will reach top speeds of 220 miles per hour, a fraction of the hyperloop’s expected speed. Los Angeles-based startup Hyperloop One leads the new field and has acquired $100 million in investments to develop the technology. “It’s going to be absolutely turbulence-free. It’s going to be smooth. We’re talking grandma-friendly, dog-friendly, child-friendly,” said Brogan BamBrogan, co-founder and chief technology officer for Hyperloop One. “You get in, and you arrive at your destination.”

propulsion — the action of driving or pushing forward pneumatic — containing or operated by air or gas under pressure supersonic — any speed that exceeds the speed of sound, or Mach 1