Right, so as most of you know by now- my mega travels this summer included a whistlestop tour of China. Within that, I stayed in Shanghai. Within that I decided I had to go on the MagLev train. Mostly because I'm a closet physics geek but also because I remember A-level physics lessons being livened up by discussion of superconducters and electromagnetism. Which lead us nicely onto how you could harness this phenomenon:
Magnetically powered trains. With little resistance from friction as they 'levitate' above the rail. Awesome!!! What's not to love?
So, of course I had to go on this train, and so I did. For your viewing pleasure I took a short video of what it feels like to travel at 431 km per hour. It's fast. I think the 28 km journey was done in 4 minutes approximately.
Anyway: Yes! I want to see a super fast train journey!
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davij
Pro - 2008-10-10 @ 00:12:08
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MonkeyPie
- 2008-10-10 @ 00:44:58
Yeah, I guess- it was very much a city-city: good for it's nightlife and shopping but not so hot on the touristy stuff. Plus it smelt kind of bad.
I just loved the train. some of the buildings were cool but it was cloudy/rainy the whole time I was there... -
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mjohnson
- 2008-10-12 @ 14:18:56
OK Geek, but do you kno what happens when you put a superconductor in a magnetic field.
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/129607/electro_magnetic_anit_gravity/-
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MonkeyPie
- 2008-10-12 @ 14:55:49
I did know that
but thanks for the link, it's always good to see physics in action. -
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nice cloudy skies and few green on the vid.
did you like Shanghai, the city main?