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hiss  ·  4337 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Travel times across the US from 1800 onwards

This part of the future makes me feel very claustrophobic. I honestly don't know if I could ever step foot into one of those capsules, and I don't have a diagnosed phobia* or anything. It's just... jeepers.

That said, when I think of the dangers given the parameters set out on the page (e.g. NY <=> LA in 45 mins), one would be travelers suffering acute medical emergencies, such as a heart attack, en route. And then I compare same to air travel, which takes far longer than 45 minutes - even to make an emergency landing - and can't find any reason for this NOT to happen, given proper safety measures, etc.

Do you anticipate we'll see this even at a small scale before, say, 2050?

* and are phobias diagnosed? Never thought of it that way before. NHS suggests phobias can indeed be formally diagnosed.