Virgin Hyperloop to Transport People at 670 mph

A test hyperloop tube is seen at the Virgin Hyperloop facility
near Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S., May 5, 2021. (Reuters Photo)
A test hyperloop tube is seen at the Virgin Hyperloop facility near Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S., May 5, 2021. (Reuters Photo)
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Virgin Hyperloop to Transport People at 670 mph

A test hyperloop tube is seen at the Virgin Hyperloop facility
near Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S., May 5, 2021. (Reuters Photo)
A test hyperloop tube is seen at the Virgin Hyperloop facility near Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S., May 5, 2021. (Reuters Photo)

Virgin Hyperloop's cutting-edge technology can "comfortably, safely and quietly" shuttle customers along at speeds of up to 670 miles per hour, according to a new promo video from the transportation start-up, The Daily Mail reported.

A clip released on Monday explains how passenger pods accelerate through a near-vacuum via electric propulsion, gliding along without actually touching the track thanks to magnetic levitation that limits aerodynamic drag.

According to the promo, the company's proprietary design makes it ten times faster than the fastest mag-lev trains operating today in in Japan, China and South Korea.

"It unveils details on our smart vehicle, dumb road commercial system architecture, including the on-board levitation engines, propulsion engines, and high-power batteries that have never been publicly shown," a representative said of the clip. It also sings the praises of the trains as an efficient, economical and sustainable mode of transportation with zero carbon emissions.

Virgin Hyperloop's 670 mph speed is ten times faster than a typical commercial train and three times as fast as current high-speed rail. (The top speed for Amtrak's Acela trains is about 150 mph.)

It's even faster than most commercial jets, which reach cruising speeds of about 460 to 575 mph. Unlike commercial jets, the Hyperloop would have zero direct carbon emissions.

Hyperloop pods would travel in clusters but aren't connected like traditional railroad cars, and wouldn't have to be directed at the same destination.

"Just like a car taking an off-ramp, pods can split off while the rest of the convoy continues on," the representative explains. The swift, "on-demand" transport model would allow for "tens of thousands of passengers per hour, per direction."

In November 2020, Virgin Hyperloop co-founder Josh Giegel and director of passenger experience Sara Luchian became the first human Hyperloop passengers along the 1,640 foot white metal tube at its test facilities in the Nevada desert. The trip took just around 15 seconds to complete and the pod only accelerated to slightly more than 100 miles per hour.



Windows’ Infamous ‘Blue Screen of Death’ Will Soon Turn Black

A view shows a Microsoft logo at Microsoft offices in Issy-les-Moulineaux near Paris, France, March 21, 2025. (Reuters)
A view shows a Microsoft logo at Microsoft offices in Issy-les-Moulineaux near Paris, France, March 21, 2025. (Reuters)
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Windows’ Infamous ‘Blue Screen of Death’ Will Soon Turn Black

A view shows a Microsoft logo at Microsoft offices in Issy-les-Moulineaux near Paris, France, March 21, 2025. (Reuters)
A view shows a Microsoft logo at Microsoft offices in Issy-les-Moulineaux near Paris, France, March 21, 2025. (Reuters)

Nearly every Windows user has had a run in with the infamous “Blue Screen of Death” at some point in their computing life. Now, after more than 40 years of being set against a very recognizable blue, the updated error message will soon be displayed across a black background.

The changes to the notorious error screen come as part of broader efforts by Microsoft to improve the resiliency of the Windows operating system in the wake of last year’s CrowdStrike incident, which crashed millions of Windows machines worldwide.

“Now it’s easier than ever to navigate unexpected restarts and recover faster,” Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft wrote in a Wednesday announcement.

As part of that effort, Microsoft says it's “streamlining” what users experience when encountering “unexpected restarts” that cause disruptions. And that means a makeover to the infamous error screen.

Beyond the now-black background, Windows' new “screen of death” has a slightly shorter message. It's also no longer accompanied by a frowning face and instead shows a percentage completed for the restart process.

Microsoft says this “simplified” user interface for unexpected restarts will be available later this summer on all of its Windows 11 (version 24H2) devices.

And for PCs that may not restart successfully, Microsoft on Wednesday also said it is adding a “quick machine recovery” mechanism. This will be particularly useful for during a widespread outage, the tech giant noted, as Microsoft “can broadly deploy targeted remediations” and automate fixes with this new mechanism “without requiring complex manual intervention from IT.”

Microsoft said this quick machine recovery will also be “generally available” later this summer on Window 11 with additional capabilities set to launch later in the year.